Equity (Balance Sheet #3) (11 page)

With the last of my coffee drained, I held the warm mug in both of my hands, staring into space. A blurry figure came into focus.

Friendly eyes with a hint of crow’s feet peered into my own. When my own smile matched hers, she spoke. “Are you running from someone?”

It wasn’t exactly the question I expected from a stranger. Her eyes tracked down to the bag at my feet.

With a deep breath, I said, “Not exactly.” It was the truth.

“I’ve been where you are,” she began. “If it wasn’t for someone helping me, I wouldn’t be here.” She surveyed the room with a sweep of her head.

There wasn’t anything I could think to say.

“I think we could help each other,” she said. The curve of her lips made the tiny wrinkles in her face disappear.

She stood. “Follow me.”

There was a hesitation before I stood and slung my bag on my shoulder. It felt right, as weird as that sounds. It felt as though I could trust her as we walked through the back and out through a door she used a key to open.

In the corridor beyond, there was a stairway. We hiked up the first flight, which felt like it would go on forever. There was a solitary door, but we passed it. By the time we crested the second landing, I was panting a bit.

She stood in front of the single door on this top floor. “It’s presumptuous of me, but you look like you need a place to stay. And maybe we can help each other.” Her voice bounced off the walls.

I had no idea where I was going to sleep. Could find a place that accepted cash or risk using my credit card? The other option was to listen to her offer.

“I don’t know if you noticed it or not, but I had a sign looking for help.”

With a shake of my head, I confirmed I had not. “I don’t have a work visa,” was the first thing to pop out of my mouth.

“Which is why we could work on the barter system. I can offer you a place to stay if you would help me in the café when we are short or busy.”

The sceptic in me made me question her motives. “Why?”

“If not for the help of another on a day like this…” She shook her head and started anew. “I never got the opportunity to pay back the woman who helped me. I call it fate that you stepped into my café for a reason. Now it’s my turn to help someone else.”

“You don’t know me,” I stubbornly protested.

“I don’t have to.”

She moved to face the door and produced a key. She opened the door to a small sparsely furnished space with high ceilings and windows on either side. The views were that of the buildings on either side. In fact, I was certain I could probably reach out and touch the façade of either.

“It’s not very large. There’s the living room.” She pointed to the solitary sofa. “And here is the kitchen.” There was a room with a miniature refrigerator, a half stove and a sink. “Over here.” She pointed towards the back. There were two doors. “Here on the right is your bedroom.”

When I stepped inside, it felt like Lizzy’s closet. A tiny bed and a half dresser filled the room. I followed her out only to open the other door to a one person sized bathroom with a shower, toilet and half sink.

“It’s okay?” she asked. I nodded. It was more than I ever had back home. And all together it was bigger than the dorm room I’d shared with Lizzy.

“There is Wi-Fi, so you can connect with the Internet. Sorry there isn’t a TV.”

“That’s okay,” I said as if it was a foregone conclusion that I was staying. “I don’t watch much anyway.”

“We open early, but just stop down when you wake up and I can show you around. We can talk about a schedule after that.”

Just before she left, I said, “But I’m not sure how long I’ll stay.”

My hope was to hear back from Turner by the end of the day. I couldn’t be sure of my plans after that.

Her face brightened. “That’s fine. We’ll make it work for however long you need.”

And she was gone. It sure felt like someone above was looking over me. Luck had been on my side. I was already trying to figure out how to give my thanks and do what I could to pay back this woman who offered me shelter when I was in need.

I set my bag down on the table in front of the sofa. I pulled out my laptop to test out my Wi-Fi connection.

Amazingly it was strong. After I sent an e-mail to Lizzy, we connected on Skype.

“Lizzy,” I breathed. “It’s so good to see your face.”

“Oh how I missed you.” Her face filled the screen bringing with it the light that filled all the dark spaces in me. “Your sister is so cute.”

“How is she?”

“She’s like a kid in Times Square Toys-R-Us.”

My sister came into view to the left of Lizzy’s head.

“Are those my jeans?” I teased, finding a grin in me. Violet looked down at herself. “I’m just kidding. What’s mine is yours, just like when we were kids.” She relaxed at my last words.

Then Matt came into view on Lizzy’s right hand side. I didn’t think he knew I could see him because I saw him apprise my sister the way a man does when he’s interested in a woman. When she finally looked over to him, I guessed she blushed. I couldn’t see her very well but how she looked down and away painted a perfect picture.

“Matt’s there,” I said.

Lizzy turned. “Matty, say hi to Bailey.”

Matt turned and gave me his sexy grin. “Hey Bails.”

“Matt, I saw you,” I said cryptically.

He winked at me.

“Where are you?” Lizzy finally asked.

“Has Turner called?” I asked, not answering her question. She shook her head. To hide my disappointment I moved to another question. “Did you tell Matt not to tell Kalen?”

Matt answered. “I haven’t told him where you are, but he’ll figure it out. You should just let him know you’re okay.”

Suddenly, I was looking at the back of Lizzy’s head. I didn’t have to see her to know she’d folded her arms across her chest. “He doesn’t control her. And if he didn’t act like an asshole, she’d still be in Scotland.”

The screen wobbled. It took a second before I understood Lizzy was moving the laptop. When I saw the bed draped in white, I knew Lizzy had gone to her room.

“Ignore him,” she said.

“Tell me about you,” I said. “This isn’t all about me. I want to hear about what’s going on in your life. I miss our talks.”

“What do you want to know?” she asked. The display rolled and I was disoriented for a few seconds. The way the camera landed on Lizzy with her hair splayed on the pillow, I knew she was on her back with her laptop on her chest.

“Tell me about Hans.” I had no idea if she’d cut him loose yet.

“Hans… beautiful, pretty Hans… Hans with the penis the size of lipstick.” I cracked up. And she continued. “Did I ever tell you he has the oral skills of a god? I mean, the guy can eat pussy like no other.”

I continued to laugh and it felt good.

“I guess when you’re working with such a small package, you have to have other skills,” she babbled on.

“You’re terrible.” I covered my mouth so I wouldn’t snort from the hilarity of it all. “Is it that bad?” I asked, already knowing the answer.

“Yes,” she sighed. “But we’re working on alternatives. I was never an anal girl, but honestly, I think it’s working for us.”

“TMI, TMI,” I said between guffaws.

“I’m telling you, Bails. Anal isn’t that bad when the guy isn’t packing a Colt forty-five. I mean, he doesn’t even have a twenty-two.”

The snort finally erupted from me. “You’re killing me.”

“Seriously though. The guy is beautiful to look at. I guess he couldn’t have it all. But damn, I bet he wishes he was a hairy guy instead of dickless.” She paused as if in thought. “And I know this is bad. He’s a great guy. He treats me right and tries his best to please me sexually as best he can. But damn, can I live with that for the rest of my life? And the guy’s got like three million followers on Twitter and Facebook. Girls send pics begging him to take them out.”

She put a hand on her forehead. “If they knew what I know…”

“Honestly Lizzy, the guys who made you scream in bed couldn’t keep you. Yet you’re still with Hans.”

She held my gaze. “Maybe I was jealous. I saw you and Kalen and wished I had something like that.”

“Yeah, and how did that turn out?”

“He’s still into you. Did I tell you how he called and demanded that I tell him where you are?”

I clutched my chest. “He just didn’t want to tell Turner he lost me.”

She half-heartedly chuckled. “I don’t think so, babe. That guy’s got it bad.”

We talked for a little while longer before my voice broke and I said, “Tell my sister I’ll call tomorrow.”

“He’ll call,” Lizzy implored. She was talking about Turner. He should have been in Scotland for hours. “I could call Kalen.”

I shook my head. “He has to make the decision to contact me on his own.”

“I love you, babe.”

“Back at you,” I said and kissed my fingers and pressed them to the screen before it went dark.

The first call I made after leaving Keely’s house was to my security team. I’d given them the particulars, not wanting Griff to have to deal with it. So when they called back within five minutes, I was more than surprised. Relief filled me, knowing that Bailey was safe. However, there was one more important thing I had to do before I arrived back at the house.

I dialed the number, hating the call I had to make. I would have preferred to tell him this in person. With Turner cooling his heels, I knew I would have many questions to answer for him once I stepped inside the house.

“K,” Griff said.

“G.” I wanted to laugh because when I said his initial it came off false and forced. In a sketchy voice, I said, “Listen, there’s something I need to tell you.”

“Whatever it is, tell me you are on your way back. That dude’s got some serious crazy. He’s wearing a hole in your ma’s floor.”

“I’ll be there in a few.” Without a pause, I dove into what needed to be said. “I went to see Keely.”

Silence. “I hope you went to apologize for being such an arse.”

He would say that. The guy wore his heart on his sleeve for her. Too bad what I had to say next most likely would forever change his feelings for her.

“That was my purpose, but…”

“But what? Pride stopped you from doing the honorable thing.” There was an edge to his voice that said he was considering the terms of our friendship. Damn.

“She wasn’t alone.”

Silence.

I waited a beat more until I knew he wasn’t going to say anything. “Keely’s a big girl. She’s allowed company,” I began. Still he said nothing. “Sandy was there.”

Disbelief filled his words. “What ye havering on about?”

“Aye, this comes at a shock to me too. The dobber had his hands on her, if you follow.”

“Bawbag,” he cursed. “Aye cannae.”

This wasn’t unexpected. “She quit and I’ve already talked to security about removing her access to anything at work. I hate to think it, but I have to look into whether or not she or Sandy had anything to do with the money being stolen from my company.”

“Fuck,” he finally said.

“I’m sorry, mate.”

We ended the call. I wouldn’t give him a hard time about this. Keely had been important to us both. Now I had to decide what I would say to Turner.

As it stood, Turner had a lot to say to me. He was waiting on the porch with his head hanging low and hands clasped together like a man utterly lost. Once I stepped out of the car, he looked up and slowly stood. I approached him like I would approach a wild animal, wary and cautious.

“Tell me again what happened before she disappeared.”

“I should tell you we found her.”

He waved me off. He’d been doing some thinking and had come to the same conclusion I had. I searched for Griff, but he hadn’t come out. He was probably hitting the bottle, dealing with his own pain.

Sighing, I gave him the edited version of events of the day before. No use in bringing up details that wouldn’t help either of us.

“She was helping out at the pub down the way.” I paused. “There was a drunkard who pawed on her. I went to intervene. I may have been irrationally pissed that she was even there. I said some unkind things to the arse that dared to touch her, then I took my anger out on her.”

“And she left because of that?”

I warred within myself as to what to say next. “Not right away.” I left it at that and hoped he would too. Honesty wasn’t always the best policy.

“I don’t get it,” he said, shaking his head. “Why would she leave just because of that? There had to be more.”

My lips were dry. Part of me wanted to toss in the rest and prove that I still affected her very much the same way she affected me. The man before me though was a guy I could call friend under the right circumstances. Thus, giving him the truth wasn’t satisfying at all. Hell, I shouldn’t be the one telling him this.

“I need the truth, Kalen. Man to man. I need to know, no matter what it is.”

Truth
. That was the hard part. “I said and did some things I’m not proud of. I was angry... pissed she’d chosen you over me.” He gave me the no bullshite look. “I might have done something to piss her off.”

Straight-faced, he asked, “You tried to make her jealous?” I paused, hoping that would be enough answer, but I nodded when he didn’t look like he was going to give me any ground. He gave a humorous laugh. “And it worked.” He said it more to himself as he half turned while raking a hand through his hair.

“I can’t believe this,” he muttered to himself. “Who am I kidding? She all but told me there was someone else. And I thought I could convince her.” He didn’t look at me through his whole speech. It didn’t appear his words were meant for me.

Before I could comment, Griff blasted through the door, swaying on his feet. It hadn’t taken him long to get plastered. “Whi ye fanny bawbags dae ‘e noo?” He only paused for a second before looking between both of us. He settled on Turner and changed to more English. “Both of ye are like fuds over a fud.” He laughed at his own joke.

Turner looked to me for a translation. My mouth had formed a grim line. “He basically said were pussies over pussy.” I shrugged before I said to Griff, in English out of respect for Turner, “Speak for yourself.”

Griff came between us, and slung an arm over each of our shoulders, putting him in the middle of Turner and me. “The lassies are making us radge. Dae ye fancy gon fur a wee swallae doon the pub?”

So much for the English, I thought. I tried to shrug him off. “You’re already pished.”

He cocked a brow not denying his drunken state. I knew Turner was lost in translation, but there was nothing for it.

“I could use a drink,” Turner said. He’d put some or enough of it together to figure out what Griff was talking about. Maybe it was the sound of the words
swallow
and
pub
that clued him in.

“We need to talk about Bailey,” I said, feeling odd I was the one to want to finish the awkward conversation.

“About what?” Turner asked.

“Where she is and if you want to go there.”

Turner wore a blank expression. I couldn’t tell if he was looking at me or through me.

“It doesn’t matter. I’m not going,” he said defiantly.

Griff let us go and I faced Turner, leaving Griff standing somewhat between us on the outer rim.

“Why?” I asked. This had to be the craziest thing. If Turner stepped away, there wouldn’t be any more competition for Bailey’s heart. That was the thing, though. I’d already removed myself from the game. If Turner didn’t go, she stood to lose the both of us.

“This is the second time she’s just left me without a word.” His eyes met mine with a clarity I knew all too well. “Besides that, she couldn’t overlook whatever you’d done to wait less than a day for me to show up.”

His head shook like he was clearing his head of cobwebs. “I can’t do it anymore.”

“What are you going to do then?” I asked.

Griff drank his ale and followed our conversation as if he was watching a tennis match.

“What I was planning in the first place,” he retorted. At my confused expression, he continued. “I’m going to the Peace Corp. And if she wants me, she can chase me for once. What about you?”

“Bailey’s safe in Dublin.” I watched Turner for any reaction and got none. “I have someone who’s going to watch over her. She’s probably safer there for now. I’m going to head back to New York,” I said resolutely.