Falling Free: What happens in Vegas... (The Fall Series) (18 page)

Nina gave me a mock slap across
the face, and the two of us stood there hugging and laughing like two sisters
who hadn’t seen each other in years.

“I’m going to ask Steve to bring
us something from the kitchen when his shift is over. Do you want anything?”

“No thanks, I’m really not
hungry. I think I’m just going to go to bed. Can I get you anything else?”

“Unless you have a hot fudge
sundae hiding somewhere in this place I think I’m all set,” she giggled.

I shook my head. “No, sorry. You
better call Steve,” I said as I walked toward my bedroom.

“I will. Goodnight, Lo!”

“Goodnight, Nina!”

I dug my phone out of the bottom
of my purse and plugged it in on my nightstand like I did every night before
bed. An uneasy feeling swept over me at the sight the flashing light that
represented several missed calls. There were three missed calls from Parker,
and oddly one missed call from Jake. I unplugged the phone, deciding to let the
battery run out instead and made a mental note to change my phone number as
soon as possible. Then I climbed into bed for what would be one of the loneliest
nights I’d spent since my mom died.

THE UGLY TRUTH

I left the meeting a few minutes
early. I missed most of it anyway, because I couldn’t stop thinking about when
we could see each other again. I came up with a plan to visit her as soon as I
got back from Australia. I would have a three week break between tournaments,
and I couldn’t wait to tell her the news.

Waiting in the elevator, I
checked my watch. We had four hours left together, and I didn’t want to waste
one more minute. I burst through the door, flipped my phone up on the kitchen
counter and briefly noticed a package sitting there. I wondered who it was
from, but decided it could wait. I was on a mission to find her and make sure
she wouldn’t forget who she belonged to when she was three thousand miles away.

I checked her room, her bathroom
and the workout room. Nothing. I couldn’t stop smiling as I headed to my
bedroom with visions of her naked and waiting in my bed. I was lovesick and
needing a fix, but she was nowhere to be found. That’s when panic set in. I
went back to the kitchen for my phone and dialed her number. No answer. Again.
No answer. Then I called the front desk.

“Get me the manager now.”

“Of course, Mr. Blackwell. Is
everything okay?”

“No, I need to speak to Beverly
right away.” A few minutes later Beverly was on the other end.

“What can I do for you, Mr.
Blackwell?”

“Bev, my lady friend is missing.
You may have seen us together the past few days. She’s medium height, long
blonde hair, beautiful and amazing and fucking perfect?” I was losing it.
Where
the hell could she be?
“Did the front desk call a cab for her within the
last hour? Can you check the salon, the gift shop? Fuck! Anything, Bev,
anything you can do to help me find her. Please.”

“Yes, Mr. Blackwell. I get on it
right away.”

“Thanks. Call my cell as soon as
you have any information please.

“Will do.”

Next I called Alex’s office. Her
assistant was screening her calls.

“I’m sorry Mr. Blackwell. Alex is
in a meeting right now. Would you like to leave a message?”

“No, Seth, no message. Just get
her on the phone right now.”

“I’m sorry. I’m afraid I can’t do
that. She gave me strict instructions not to...”

“You can, and you will, Seth, or
I’ll come down there and find her myself. Do you understand?”

Alex was instantly on the other
end and madder than hell. “What could be so important that you would feel
compelled to threaten my staff, Mr. Blackwell?”

“I’m sorry, Alex, but Lo, I mean
Lauren, is missing. I can’t find her anywhere. Have you heard from her today?”

“Actually I have. She called and
asked me to get her an earlier flight,” she replied nonchalantly.

“AND? Did you?”

“I did. She left for Michigan
about half an hour ago.”

I pounded my fist on the counter.
“Why? Did she say why?”

“I’m not at liberty to discuss
that with you, but she was very upset. I’d give her a few days if I were you.”

I sat there with my head in my
hands. I was two seconds away from calling the airport and having my jet
prepared for the flight to Michigan when I spotted a white envelope on the
floor. It suddenly seemed strange that the package arrived while I was gone.
Something wasn’t right.

I reached down and picked up the
envelope. The first thing I noticed was the words
Walker, Inc.
stamped
on the outside. No alarms were sounding yet, but in hindsight they should’ve
been blaring. I read the note and realized what happened. She had read it, too.

I wanted to punch something. I
wanted to rip something apart. I should’ve told her everything.
Why didn’t I
tell her everything?
Because I did some things I wasn’t proud of that’s
why, and because what I found out would only hurt her. The last thing in the
world I wanted to do was hurt her again.
Fuck! What now? Would she give me a
chance to explain?

I tried her cell one more time.
Voicemail. There’s no way I could tell her on the phone. There was only one
option left. If I wanted her back she had to know the truth, and it was going
to hurt. I had to tell her everything that I tried so hard to protect her from.
Only now I couldn’t tell her. She wouldn’t speak to me. I would have to find
someone else to tell her. Someone else who loved her. Someone who would be
there for her when she broke down and cried.

The thought of her crying was
like a blow to the gut. For a minute I considered keeping it to myself just to
save her from the pain, but I couldn’t. Maybe I was being selfish, but I loved
her too much to let her go, and I couldn’t sit back and watch her get hurt
again. I had to do something. Desperate, I made one last call.

“Stan Urban here.” Stan’s gravelly
voice fit his burly appearance. As a retired cop turned private investigator,
he came highly recommended, and the information he dug up for me was worth
every penny.

“Yeah, Stan, it’s Parker Blackwell
calling about that job you did for me in Michigan. Could you mail a copy of the
documents and pictures to someone for me?”

“Sure, where do you want me to
send them?”

“Send them to The Grandview Inn,
please. Attention Nina Davis. Oh, and Stan? The sooner the better.”

IT’S NOT OVER
‘TILL IT’S OVER

For the next two days Nina stayed
holed up with me in my suite. Steve brought food up twice a day like we were a
couple of prisoners. By the third morning I practically pushed Nina out the
door.

“For the ten millionth time,
Nina, I’m sure. I’m okay.”

“Okay, Lo, but I’ll be back to
bring you something for lunch.”

“Okay great. Now go. Have fun!” I
called after her as she walked out. She and Steve had been taking yoga classes
together, and I didn’t want her to miss another one on my account. Besides, I
could use a few minutes alone to unpack without having to explain how I ended
up with a designer wardrobe. I told Nina enough, but I didn’t tell her
everything,
and I didn’t feel up to explaining the rest right now.

I knew I would have to face the
rest of the world eventually. Nina told the staff that I arrived home exhausted
and that I’d caught a case of the flu on the plane. It was the perfect cover.
No one disturbed me for days, but I couldn’t hide out forever. Time was running
out, and I would have to tell everyone the truth about The Grand sooner than I
cared to admit. In fact, it was about time to face it. It was time to set up
the appointment to talk about putting The Grand on the market, and I decided to
call Barry when Nina returned with lunch. Just the thought made me sick to my
stomach, and I didn’t want to make the call without her by my side.

At twelve o’clock sharp Nina came
bounding up the stairs with containers full of chicken noodle soup, warm bread
and salad. Everything smelled great, but I was in no mood to eat it. I watched
from the couch as she started setting the table for us, and my heart swelled
with gratitude.
What would I do without her?

“Hey, Nina!” I called from the
other room. “Do you think the new owners would consider hiring me as the
general manager?” I was half joking and half serious. All kinds of crazy
thoughts crossed my mind the past few days, but mostly I’d been wondering how
the hell I could ever leave this place. I would have to move. I would have to
leave my home, my parent’s dream and all the memories that it held. It seemed
impossible.

Nina turned around white as a ghost.
“Lo! Why would you say such a thing?”

“Because it’s reality, Nina. It
might be the only chance I to stay connected to this place.”

“Ugh! I can’t even listen to
this, Lo! Have you lost your mind? You still have a couple months to figure
this out. You can’t just give up!”

Teary eyed I asked her to come
sit by me on the couch. “Listen, I want to hold on to this place more than
anything in the entire world. I’ve spent hours and hours trying to come up with
something, anything that would make sense, Nina. Believe me. I went over every
scenario. The truth is, we’re not profitable enough right now to get a loan in
this economy, and even if I found an investor I’d be in the same situation. I
can barely pay Evelyn her monthly profit checks as it is. How would I pay an
investor?”

“Don’t give up. Please!” Nina’s
was crying, too.

“I’m not totally giving up. Not
yet anyway, but I might have to accept it.”

“I know,” she managed as she
squeezed my hand tightly.

“I need to call Barry today just
to talk about what’s going to happen when we put The Grand on the market. Will
you stay with me while I call? Oh, and I need to use your phone. I decided to let
mine die until I can change the number.” We both laughed and wiped away our
tears as Nina got her phone for me.

The feeling of impending doom
swept over me as I called Barry Stanton’s office.

“Hi, Barry. It’s Lauren.”

“Lauren!” Barry’s voice boomed
through the receiver, and I quickly switched it to speakerphone to save my
eardrum and also to save me from having to repeat everything to Nina when we
were through.

“I’ve been trying to reach you
for days!” he continued, “I left you three messages, and when I finally called
the front desk someone told me you were sick. I hope you’re feeling better.”  

“Thanks. Listen, I want to set up
a meeting to discuss The Grand. I don’t want to go into too much detail, but
have you heard from Parker Blackwell?”

“As a matter-of-fact I have.
That’s why I’ve been trying to reach you. All the papers are ready to sign.
Evelyn and her attorney were here yesterday and signed off on the deal. Now we
just need your John Hancock and it’ll be official.”

“Wait a minute! What do you mean
Evelyn signed yesterday? We need her signature to put The Grand on the market?
This was all her idea!”

“Lauren, Parker wired the money
days ago. The Grandview Inn is yours as soon as you sign on the dotted line to
make it official.”

A chill went through me at the
sound of Parker’s name. He did it. He sent the money. I was flooded with pure
relief. I started sobbing, and Nina was hugging me so tight I could barely breathe.
The nightmare was finally over! The Grandview was mine!

I managed to choke out the words,
“I’ll be there tomorrow, Barry,” before hanging up. Nina and I were screaming
and jumping up and down like little kids. When we finally settled down we just
stood there and looked at each other completely dumbfounded.

“I can’t wait to tell the staff,
Nina! I want to tell them as soon as I leave Barry’s office tomorrow. Can you
call a meeting for tomorrow afternoon?”

“Absolutely! I can’t wait either!
Can you believe that Parker Blackwell paid Evelyn off for you? I mean thank God
he did, but I never thought he could do something so completely unselfish. Do
you have any clue why he would do that?”

“I have a few ideas.” I touched the
little silver locket around my neck and smiled. “There’s a lot you don’t know
about him, Nina. He can be a really nice person when he wants to be.”

“Yeah, and a lying, manipulating
self-serving bastard when he wants to be, too! Let’s not forget about that,
Lo.”

“Oh, don’t worry. I won’t, Nina.”
My heart isn’t going to forget anytime soon…

“So let’s get you out of here and
go celebrate. I’ll call Steve. He can be our DD. What do you say?”

“Celebrating sounds good, but I
don’t think I quite ready for that yet. Give me a little bit, k?”

Nina eyed me suspiciously. She
knew I was never one to turn down a celebration, especially at a time when
there was so much to celebrate. “Okay, Lo. Spill it.”

“Spill what?”