The Running Series Complete Collection: 3-Book Set plus Bonus Novella (144 page)

“Now is that any way to speak to an old friend?  Ask me politely.”

I take a deep breath and try to remain calm.  He’s just trying to get under my skin and force a reaction from me.  I can’t let him get the upper hand.  “David, we are not friends and I won’t pretend that we are.  I’m staying at the Conrad Hotel and Resort.  Can you come over right now or not?”

“As luck would have it, I’m sitting in the bar at the Hyatt, just two blocks away.  Do you want to meet at the bar like last time?”

“No!” I tell him.  “I don’t want anyone to spot us.  Come up to my room.  I’m on the twenty-first floor, room 2106.”

“Oh, how romantic, Kitten.  Inviting me up to your room alone.  You’re not going to try anything funny, are you?”

“I’m not in a very funny mood, David.  Are you coming or what?”

“I’m on my way.”  Not wanting to waste any more of my time on this childish conversation, I hang up the phone and get ready.  Hidden in my overnight bag is a pocket full of cash.  Carefully, I verify the amount is still intact, and I stow it in the top drawer of the desk. 

No one knows about this meeting and I know it has to be that way.  But I don’t want to be stupid about this.  I have to consider all possibilities.  Suppose something goes horribly wrong and David ratchets things up?  Suppose he has additional demands or makes threats?  I have to protect myself. 

There is only one person I trust never to betray me or judge me.  I pick up the phone and call Auggie.  Luckily he doesn’t answer, so I leave him a voicemail telling him that I’m meeting with David today to hear what he has to say.  “I’ll call you when he leaves and let you know what happens,” I tell him.  I know he’s going to worry, but if he doesn’t check his messages right away, he won’t be worrying for very long.  I put the phone on silent and finish preparing for my meeting.

Within minutes there’s a knock on the door, and I take one final look to make sure everything is right.  The door to the bedroom is closed tight. 

I take a deep breath and open the door.  David is standing there.  I open the door to let him in, and as he walks past me I get a whiff of his cologne.  It’s the same cologne he used to wear when we dated.  It brings back bittersweet memories.  I close the door, and when I turn back around, he’s staring at me.  This time I notice a few other familiar things.  He’s wearing the Colorado Rockies baseball hat I bought him, along with the blue flannel shirt we bought together on a trip to Boulder.  But then he smiles and I’m immediately reminded that he has no soul.  There is no warmth or joy behind his eyes, only coldness and emptiness.

He walks around the room, checking to confirm we’re alone.  First he checks the bathroom, then the door that leads to the bedroom.  “Did you think I’d have an assassin hiding in the bathroom?” I ask.

“You never know.”  Satisfied, David sits on the couch and pats the seat next to him, inviting me to join him.  “Come on, Jette.  Sit down.  I won’t bite.  Unless you ask me to.”

Refusing to play along, I take a seat in one of the armchairs across from him.  “Can we please get this over with?  I want you long gone by dinner.”

David reaches into the pocket of his shirt and pulls out the SD card.  “Is this what you want?” he asks.

“It’s the only reason I’ve agreed to see you.”

He places the memory card back in his pocket.  “I think we have a few details to iron out first, Kitten.”  He sits back on the couch, crosses his legs, and stretches his arms across the back of the sofa.  God, I want to choke him so badly right now.

“I have your money, David.  But first we need to come to some sort of an understanding.  This is the last you’re going to see of me. This is the last time you will
ever
get one dime out of me.  I will not be your cash cow.  I’m giving you what you demand, but it ends here and it ends now.”  My hands are trembling badly. I hope he can’t tell.  I grip the arms of the chair tightly, hoping to gain some modicum of control over my body’s reaction to the stress of this situation.

I get up, walk over to the desk, and retrieve the wad of cash.  I toss the money onto the table and sit back down.  David reciprocates by tossing the SD card onto the table too.

“Well, I suppose it might be best to lay all our cards on the table, so to speak.  See, I have one more video I think you might be interested in.  Do you remember that night we all went camping at Estes Park in the Rocky Mountain National Park?” 

I look at him, wondering where he’s going with this story.  About ten of us went hiking and camping, and from what I remember, we had a lot of fun that night.  “Yeah, what about it?”

“What do you remember about that night?” he asks.

Unsure of where he’s going with this, I play along.  “We played Thumper and Bizz-Buzz with shots of Captain Morgan all night.”

“Do you remember anything unusual that happened
after
the game?” 

I think hard, and honestly, I’m not sure.  I don’t remember who put out the fire.  I don’t remember who went to sleep first.  All I remember is waking up with one hell of a hangover.  I was disoriented, confused, and dehydrated. “David, why am I having trouble remembering what happened after the game?”  He looks at me and smiles.  I’m suddenly nauseated.

“It’s hard to say.  It might be the dozen or so shots of Captain Morgan, or it might be the Molly I slipped you and Reese.”  He actually seems pleased with himself. 

“You drugged me and my friend?  What the fuck is wrong with you?”

“Oh, please.  Drop the holier-than-thou attitude, Jette.  We both know you’re no fucking angel.  We’ve smoked weed together.  And I know you used to take Ben’s Adderall during finals.  Besides, I didn’t mean to slip one to Reese – that one was entirely your fault.  I made you a drink and you gave it to her.  Lucky for me, I had an extra just for emergencies.”

“You’re a fucking pig.  Why are you telling me all this?  What’s on the goddamn video?”

“Let me try to refresh your memory.  After the tenth or twelfth round of Thumper, you suggested we play a new game: Flip, Sip, or Strip.”  I gasp.  I vaguely remember begging someone to find a quarter so we could play. 

David continues.  “At that point, everyone else turned in for the night, leaving just the three of us.  Both you and Reese were feeling very
friendly,
and in no time at all, the two of you skipped the flip and sip and went straight for the strip.”

I cover my face.  I don’t want to hear what I know he’s going to say next.  “Being the true gentleman that I am, I offered the two of you our tent to finish your little
game
.  It was the hottest thing I’ve ever seen, Jette.  I swear to God.  You can’t blame a guy for wanting a keepsake of such a memorable evening.  It was the first time I recorded you.  I have to admit, I’ve watched that video a hundred times.  I’m going to miss watching you, Kitten.”

“You’re lying,” I accuse.  “It never happened.  I would never.  Reese would never.  It’s not possible.” 
God, please tell me it’s not possible.

“Oh, it’s possible.  But just in case you still don’t believe me, how about we take a stroll down memory lane?”  David pulls out his phone and cues up a video.  “Want to see?”

I hold out my hand for him to pass over the phone.  Instead of passing me the phone, he grabs my hand.  He gives a little tug and pulls me toward him.  “Come on, don’t be shy now.  Let’s watch together.”

I reluctantly agree, but only because I need to see for myself.  I sit on the couch beside him and he pinches the screen so I can see up close and personal exactly what he’s talking about.  There, right in front of my eyes in full color, is everything he claims. 

I get up from the couch and walk over to the window, unable to look at him.  All I want to do is curl up in a ball and cry.  I’m ashamed, humiliated, and shocked by my own behavior.  I can’t let anyone else see this video – ever!  “I have no more money,” I whisper, barely audibly.

David gets up from the couch and stands beside me, gazing out the window.  “Don’t play me for a fool, Kitten.  You must have money coming in from that fancy restaurant of yours.” Out of the corner of my eye, I can see him greedily counting the money to make sure it’s all there.

“I have nothing.  We opened the bar late in the busy season, and now all the tourists have gone home and won’t be back until the spring.  I had to borrow
that
from a friend.” I tell him, barely fighting back the tears.

“Well you’ve certainly moved up in the world.  I bet you could find another friend to give you the money.” 

“And what if I did?”  I turn to him, grab the money, and toss it onto the couch.  “What if I got you another ten thousand?  Then what, David?  How many more?  How long is this going to go on?  Are you going to show up at a PTA meeting one night with more pictures?  Or at my daughter’s first ballet recital?  When does it end, David?  Please tell me.”  I can hear my voice cracking under the strain.  I want to be strong.  I want to find the inner strength to stand up to him and force him to retreat and back off.  I just don’t know how.

“Don’t be scared, Jette.”  He puts his hand under my chin and makes me look at him.  “There are no more.  This is it, the last one.  I swear.”

I mutter, “It doesn’t matter.  I have no more money.  I have no more rich friends.  I can’t pay you.  I have nothing left to give you.”

He releases my chin and tucks a stray hair behind my ear.  “That’s not entirely true,” he whispers in my ear.  I feel his warm breath on my neck and it repulses me.

“I don’t understand.”

“Oh, I think you do.”  He walks over to the couch to collect the money I tossed.  “You’re wrong about me.  I can be reasonable.  Maybe you have the money for one more deal, and maybe you don’t.  So I’ll give you three choices.  One – you make one final payment and we part ways, for good.  Two – I sell it to the
National Tattler
for a hefty sum.  Or three – we have our own private exchange between the sheets.”

“David, please!” I beg.  “I swear to you, I have no more money.  Please don’t do this.”

“I like it when you beg, Jette.  Do you remember how good it was?  I do.  I’ve seen pictures of Big Mac doing that fucking Calvin Klein underwear ad, all ripped and jacked up.  I bet his dick is a shriveled-up mushroom.  He probably can’t even keep it up for very long.  Wouldn’t you like to be with a real man just one more time?”

My mind is sluggish.  I’m having trouble thinking.  I don’t know what to do.  I walk over to the mini bar and fumble with the small bottles of liquor.  I grab one at random, pour it into a glass, and force it down, hoping the effects will immediately help to calm me.  Nothing.

“That’s a good idea.  I think I’d like to have a drink too.  You know, just to take the edge off.”  David walks over and joins me.  He finds a bottle of JD and pours it into one of the crystal glasses, adds ice, and takes an experimental sip.  “Mmm.  Not bad.”  His eyes rake over me, following the curves of my body, lingering on my breasts.  “Have I told you lately how beautiful you are, Kitten?  Each time I see you, I swear you’re more beautiful than the time before.”

I don’t know what to do.  All I do know is that there is no
right
answer.  I cannot pay him, that much I know. 

What would happen if I allowed him to release the video and collect his money?  Evan and I would face public humiliation and poor Reese would be dragged into my nightmare.  I could deal with the public shaming, but what would it do to Evan’s career? He’d probably lose all his endorsement deals.  Worst-case scenario, if they even suspected he was involved in pornography or extortion, he could be released from his contract with the Sentinels.  We’d most likely lose customers at the restaurant and possibly even go bankrupt.  Dozens of people depend on Rush for a living; they would all lose their jobs.  The repercussions of my decision would be enormous and devastating.

Suppose I sleep with him just this once?  The only one harmed would be me.  No one else would have to know.  I’d be lying and betraying Evan, and I’d have to live with that.  We’re not married yet.  I could do this.  I’ve faked it with David before.  Just one more time and I’d be free.

I grab another random bottle, pour it into my glass, and drink it down as fast as I can.  “Okay.”

“Okay what?” David asks.

“I’ll sleep with you.”  I take a deep breath and turn to face him.  “Take out the SD card from your phone and give it to me.”

With a smirk of satisfaction, he walks back over to the couch, grabs his phone, and opens it to remove the memory card.  “Here you go.  It’s yours.”  I grab it from his hand, swipe the one still lying on the table, and walk them both into the bathroom.  I toss them into the toilet and, without hesitating, I flush them.  I stand there staring at the water as it swirls around, first emptying the bowl and then refilling it again.  They’re gone.  It’s over. 

I feel a pair of hands on my hips.  David leans over and watches right along with me.  He moves my long hair to the side and whispers in my ear, “I made good on my promise.  Now it’s your turn to make good on yours.”

He takes my hand and leads me through the sitting area and into the bedroom.  He takes off his stupid baseball hat first, tosses it toward the chair, but misses. I turn away from David so he cannot see me laughing at him.  Evan would never miss a toss from only a few feet away.  I can’t look at him, so I walk around the room, closing the curtains and shutting the door.

I hear his zipper coming down and the unmistakable sound of his jeans being pulled off.  I still can’t look at him.  How am I going to do this?  How will I ever be able to look at myself in the mirror again? 

I take a deep breath and turn around.  The room is dark thanks to the blackout curtains and the closed door, but there is just enough light for me to see him.  The familiar form of his boyish body standing near the foot of the bed makes my skin crawl. 

He cannot hold a candle to Evan.  He isn’t a fraction of the man Evan is.  And that’s not just because of the obvious physical comparisons.  David is deeply flawed and crushingly cruel, and I cannot imagine a woman alive who would find any redeeming qualities within him.  Not now.