The Truth of Yesterday (62 page)

     The door we'd come through earlier-had it really just been a matter of minutes?-swung open and Fenton Black stepped into the hall. It only took a moment for his gaze to fall on the two of his. His eyes swept over Jake with a look of annoyance. His expression when he took me in was harder to read. There was definitely surprise there, and recognition; the other emotion was less definitive, but I didn't need to know what it was to know it was dangerous.

     “Go,” Jake hissed.

     I didn't need to be told again. I was on my feet and racing down the hall before the word was off his lips. I heard Black yelling angrily behind me, but he wasn't pursuing. It only took a few more seconds for his words to sink in for me to realize he wouldn't need to chase me. He had the entire security staff at his beck and call. I risked a glance back to see him screaming into a small walkie-talkie.

     I started looking frantically for an exit. I spotted one up ahead just as a door to my left burst open and a burly security guard blinked at me in surprise. For a guy his size, his reflexes were quick; he made a lunge for me. Luckily, I was quicker. For once, size was on my side. I slipped under his arm and bolted down the hall. Another guard, shorter and thinner than the first guy, came around a corner in front of me, but fortunately, the exit was between him and me. I slammed into the exit door with my full weight and was very gratified to feel it fly open in front of me. Some small part of my brain had been worried that it might be locked. I didn't take the time to breathe a sigh of relief, however. The chase was still on.

     I sprinted across the parking lot and ducked behind a car. I tried to control my breathing as the door exploded open again and the guards raced through it. They had been joined by one more. They all three stopped just outside the door and looked around. I stayed very still, trying not to make any sounds.

     “Should we look for him?” the shorter one asked.

     “He's gone by now,” the tall one said. “Why'd we want him anyway? Was he a gate-crasher?”

     “I don't know. All I know is that Mr. Black wanted us to catch him,” the burly guy responded.

     
Shorty
snorted. “Well I guess we know why Black wanted him, a pretty boy like that.”

     “Yeah, we
shoulda
just let him go even if we had caught him,” Stretch said with a snicker.
“Poor kid.
He probably just didn't want to play with Mr. Black.”

     Burly elbowed him in the side. “Why don't you both shut up?” He lifted his radio to his mouth and reported that they'd lost me. A burst of static mixed with curses was their response. Mr. Black was not happy.

     Neither was I. I might have just escaped from an immediate danger, but I knew Black had recognized me. I was still very much at risk.
Probably even more so now.
I waited until the guards retreated into the building, tails between their legs. I quickly dug out my cell phone and dialed Micah's number.

     “Where are you?” he demanded as soon as he answered. “I looked around and you and Jake were both gone, and now I can't find Black anywhere either.”

     “I'm the parking lot behind the hotel,” I said.

     “What are you doing there?”

     “It's a long story. Go get the car as quickly as you can and come pick me up.”

     “Killian, what happened?”

     “I'll tell you when you pick me up. For now, let's just say I'm in big trouble.”

Chapter 26

     I stayed hidden, crouching behind a bright red Firebird, until I saw Micah's car come around the corner. It was a tense wait, as I expected the security guards to return with reinforcements at any moment. I tried to remember if they carried guns or not. As soon as Micah appeared, I ran to the passenger side, yanked the door open, and leaped in.

     “Go,” I shouted before the door was even pulled shut.

     “Go where? What's going on?” Micah demanded.

     “Just drive. I'll tell you when we get away from here.”

     I slumped down in the seat as he finally drove off. He was silent until we were well away from the hotel, then, “Killian, what the hell is going on?”

     “I may have messed things up a bit,” I said carefully.

     “Messed them up how? You said you were in trouble, what kind of trouble?”

     “Ok, well, Jake saw us at the Ball, and apparently he's seen me following him a few times. Apparently, I'm not as good at this whole detective thing as I thought.”

     “So he saw you? How did that get you into trouble? Did he confront you?”

     “Yeah, you could say that, in the hall that runs behind the ballroom. We had a huge argument. He ripped into me, told me I'd been a lousy friend and that I had no right to care about him now when I didn't care about him before.”

     “Ouch.”

     “Yeah, and the worst part is, he's right.”

     “Killian...”

     “No, he is. I wasn't there for him as much as I should have been. I even knew he'd been having a hard time back in
California
. We talked a couple times right after he got back. I knew that and I wasn't there for him. I was too caught up in my own problems. I was a lousy friend.”

     “Ok, so maybe you could have been a better friend. What's done is done. How did that get you in trouble?”

     “Well, it seems Jake is dating Fenton Black, or at least he's Black's kept boy.”

     “Oh. Oh! So that's where all his money is coming from.
And the gifts and clothes.
How did he get tangled up with Fenton Black?”

     “That I don't know. But while we were arguing, Black came looking for Jake.”

     “Shit!”

     
“My thoughts exactly.
I didn't know what to do but Jake told me to run so I did. Black called security and they chased me, but I managed to get away from them in the parking lot. Not that they tried that hard once they were out of Black's sight.”

     “So Black now knows that you know who he is, and he knows that you know Jake, or at least that you were talking with him. To him, that will probably imply that you're investigating him, which makes you a very real threat.”

     “Like I said, I'm in trouble.”

     
“Trouble?
Killian, trouble doesn't begin to cover it. You're in danger, serious danger.”

     “Yeah, I know. I just need to figure out what to do next. Should I go to the police?”

     “Are you listening to me? You're in big-time serious danger!”

     “Yeah, I got that, Micah. I don't really need you to tell me.”

     “Then act like you understand what that means.”

     “And how is that? How am I supposed to act, scared? Well I am, but I can't let that interfere with the investigation. I feel like I'm right on the edge of figuring this whole thing out.”

     “You should be scared. This is a very dangerous man. He's killed before and I seriously doubt he'll hesitate to have you killed.”

     “Then we have to stop him before he gets a chance.”

     “How are we supposed to do that? You're not superman.”

     “I never said I was. Do you think I should go to the police?”

     “And tell them what? That Fenton Black is a bad, bad man? I'm sure they'll jump right on that.”

     “I can tell them he runs a prostitution ring.”

     “Why should they believe you?
Just because you say so?”

     “I have contacts in the police department.” At least I hoped I did. Hank Kaplan had helped out a lot in Caleb Cohen case as few months ago.

     “Even then, they'd have to investigate on their own. You could be dead long before they found out anything concrete. This guy is smart. He knows how to hide his tracks. He's gotten away with worse than this in the past.”

     “So I'll have to think of something else. Just stop yelling at me.”

     We fell into a heavy, tension-filled silence. I could tell Micah was terrified for me. I could feel the fear rolling off of him like a physical wave. I tried to force my mind to go over everything I had learned tonight, from Micah and from Jake. I knew there was something in there I was missing and that it was important.

     “Where are we going?” Micah asked after a few minutes of driving.

     I thought about it for a minute.
“The bed and breakfast.
I'd be safest there, I think. I don't want to go home. It would take him less than five minutes to find out where I live. And I can't go back with you, Jake knows we're dating and he might tell Black. It would take him longer to find out that Steve is Adam's partner and that he owns a B&B, and even if he found out, he wouldn't know what room I was in and he couldn't very well just bust in and start breaking into rooms.”

     “I don't know if I'd put anything past him, but you're probably right, the bed and breakfast would be the safest place for tonight.”

     “You should stay there too. You wouldn't be safe at your apartment.”

     “I think I'll sleep at the office tonight, if I sleep at all. I want to get back to work on this story. It occurred to me earlier tonight that Black quite possibly could be involved with the whole county council scandal. It would be right up his alley and, as I said, he already has most of the officials in his pocket. At the very least, he would have had to know about it, even if he wasn't directly involved.”

     Several things fell into place in my mind. I fell quiet again as I began to drop the puzzle pieces into place in my head. After a few minutes, I began to talk out my thoughts. “You said that Neal, who we now know is really Fenton Black, never met any of his escorts, but what if he did.”

    “What do you mean?”

     “What if he did meet with one of them? Or maybe that person just found out his identity by mistake?”