Part 26 (1/2)
He was also with a woman-a girl, really-who wore makeup as if she were trying to win a contest for the largest number of gallons used in one single application. She was putting on lipstick as she followed him out of the men's room, as if she'd just smeared the half tube she'd previously worn all over the skinhead's d.i.c.k, and yes, the back off, b.i.t.c.h back off, b.i.t.c.h hate-filled glare she gave to Eden was definitely reminiscent of high-school-age territorial behavior. hate-filled glare she gave to Eden was definitely reminiscent of high-school-age territorial behavior.
Except the man she was with was so un-high-school, it was almost funny. He was old enough to be the girl's father, and really, it was not fair for Eden to judge her for that. She herself had once been the queen of terrible choices when it came to choosing whose d.i.c.k to suck-and Danny clearly thought she still was-but Lord, so much of what and whom she'd done had been out of anger and hurt, and from just wanting, desperately, to feel as if she mattered, somehow, to someone.
Except, by doing what she'd done, she'd become exactly what she'd feared she was: a worthless empty sh.e.l.l with a willing mouth and open legs.
But here and now, the man was looking at Eden with eyes that were pale gray and flat-and narrowing slightly because, yes, she was standing there, staring back at him. She'd also exhaled an involuntary little ”oh” upon recognizing him, which she quickly covered by pulling out her cell phone-pretending its vibration had startled her-and pus.h.i.+ng open the ladies'-room door.
”Naomi, are you in here?” she called as she leaned down and scanned for feet, but the room was definitely empty, ”because Mama's calling me again, and...”
She let the door close and opened her phone and put it to her ear.
And if this man was a cop, then the world was also flat, Elvis lived in Ohio, and Eden herself was next in line to be the pope. Whoever he was, though, he seemed satisfied that she wasn't a threat. But as she said, ”I'm here, Mama, I'm here,” he took the time to give her one last appraising look that succeeded in completely undressing her.
It was a nearly palpable look, meant to intimidate, but she'd learned not to respond. She'd learned that she she had the power, and she could shut him down and shut him out quickly and effortlessly. had the power, and she could shut him down and shut him out quickly and effortlessly.
The day she'd been hired at D'Amato's, she'd gotten a crash course in men, from Nicola Chick, aka Chestee von Schnaps of the basketball b.o.o.bs. Nic had taught Eden to recognize and identify the different types of men who came into the club to watch the women strip. They all wanted eye contact with the strippers, but some men would pay more for a f.u.c.k you f.u.c.k you look in response, instead of a look in response, instead of a come hither come hither smile. But certain men-such as this one-seethed with such danger and misogynistic hatred that Eden-on Nic's sage advice-would have done neither. smile. But certain men-such as this one-seethed with such danger and misogynistic hatred that Eden-on Nic's sage advice-would have done neither.
If this man had looked at her like that in the club? Eden would have gone blank. Zero expression, n.o.body home-so that any rudeness and impropriety would bounce off, avoiding any potential escalation. She'd mark him, though-be aware of where he was sitting, and be alert as to if and when he moved. And she'd avoid eye contact after that, and would be sure to point him out-discreetly-to the bouncers as well as the other women, after she left the stage. And And she'd take a taxi home after her s.h.i.+ft. she'd take a taxi home after her s.h.i.+ft.
Yes, Nic had been full of good advice, all of which Eden had heeded.
She'd also told Eden to save the acting for the stage. Men could be total boneheads (Nic had used a different, more colorful word), so it was best for a beautiful woman to wear a safely neutral expression when the room wasn't filled with bouncers to protect her.
Right here and now, though, she wasn't Eden the stripper and she wasn't Eden the civilian, either. She was Naomi's beleaguered sister, who was browbeaten by their mother. She most certainly hadn't attended Nic's impromptu stripper school, so Eden let herself cower and turn away from the skinhead-but not so far that she couldn't monitor him in her peripheral vision.
Her reaction again apparently satisfied him, because he followed BJ-Girl down the hall to the food court-to where Izzy was no doubt asking everyone he saw if they'd seen Neesha. Who Ben had been convinced was in some kind of danger, which was why Eden and Izzy had come to the mall.
Was it a coincidence that this man was here? Was he looking for Neesha, too, as Ben believed? Eden didn't want to take that gamble. Plus, Izzy had said earlier that the man was armed. And she saw it now-a bulge under his left arm, beneath a jacket that he definitely didn't need in this heat, except to conceal the fact that he was carrying a weapon.
Besides, she'd hung around with plenty of losers who pretended to be tough guys, and some of them actually were. And she knew enough to be willing to put big money-in fact all all of her savings-on her gut, which told her that this man was beyond dangerous. of her savings-on her gut, which told her that this man was beyond dangerous.
”She's not in there, Mama.” Eden continued her charade, pretending to talk on her phone as she began walking swiftly, following the two of them. ”I will. I will. I will.” She exhaled hard. ”I am am running, Mama. I'll be running, Mama. I'll be right right there.” She snapped her phone shut and with a murmured, ”Excuse me, I'm there.” She snapped her phone shut and with a murmured, ”Excuse me, I'm so so sorry,” she pushed her way past the skinhead and the girl. sorry,” she pushed her way past the skinhead and the girl.
And sure enough Izzy was talking to the men who worked the stir-fry counter. He was laughing at something one of them said as he kept scanning the food court, eating his ice-cream cone.
Eden's heart actually leaped when she saw him. He was so big and strong and true, and when he saw her coming toward him, his sudden smile of pleasure made him look impossibly handsome, and that, combined with the simmering heat in his eyes...
She knew in that instant, as if she'd been struck by a bolt of lightning, that this situation with Ben was one of the best things that ever happened to her, because it had brought this man roaring back into her life. And she knew that even though Izzy was here, he didn't trust her completely-why would he? And she also also knew he was trying to make their time together be all about the s.e.x-why wouldn't he? She couldn't blame him for that. Besides, she was glad for it, because she knew it made him want to stay. And if she could just keep doing that-make him want to stay... knew he was trying to make their time together be all about the s.e.x-why wouldn't he? She couldn't blame him for that. Besides, she was glad for it, because she knew it made him want to stay. And if she could just keep doing that-make him want to stay...
Maybe he'd never leave.
But there was no time to jump into his arms and kiss him senseless. Skinhead wasn't far behind her, and whether he was a police detective or not, he was dangerous. And the last thing she wanted was an altercation with a dangerous man in a nearly empty mall, or even worse, a deserted parking lot. So she ran toward Izzy, widening her eyes at him, hoping he'd understand and play along. ”Come on, Billy Bob, we gotta run. Mama's got her panties in a twist!”
He laughed his delight as she grabbed his hand and pulled him toward the entrance where they'd parked. He was clearly happy to be part of whatever game she was playing, even when his ice cream fell off his cone and hit the floor with a splat.
”Hang on there, Irma Lou, I gotta clean up this mess,” he said as he refused to be pulled farther, as he dutifully stopped to clean up the spill.
”Izzy, come on, just leave it, we've got to hurry,” Eden whispered as she looked back toward the food court to see the skinhead talking to the Haagen-Dazs counter girl, who turned. And pointed.
Directly at Eden and Izzy. As if she were saying, Yes, that's the man who was asking me questions about the same little Asian girl that you've been looking for... Yes, that's the man who was asking me questions about the same little Asian girl that you've been looking for...
Skinhead turned, too, which was when Izzy spotted him, as he tossed the wad of ice-cream-covered napkins, cone and all, into a nearby trash container. ”Whoa, isn't that...?”
”Yes,” Eden said, as Skinhead shouted, Hey! Hey! ”Run!” ”Run!”
Someone was in the apartment.
Dan caught Jenn's arm and hauled her back behind him as he put his finger to his lips.
”Light's on,” he told her soundlessly, and her eyes widened. They'd left the place dark after throwing on their clothes and hurrying back to the hospital after Eden's latest distress call, but now there was a faint glow coming from the bedroom window.
d.a.m.n, he was tired, he was sore, and he didn't want to do this right now. But what he wanted even less was for Jenn to look at him the way she was currently looking at him, like he was some kind of invalid.
”It's probably nothing,” he breathed as he pushed her even farther back from the door. ”The landlord or the super or whoever the h.e.l.l runs this place probably dropped off a package. Or maybe came in to fix that freaking annoying dripping faucet in the kitchen sink.”
He'd been planning to do that himself, first thing in the morning, because holy Christ.
Jenn wasn't convinced as she dug through her handbag, frowning slightly. ”Still, you always tell me that the right thing to do is to call the police.” She pulled out her cell phone, flipping it open.
Danny stopped her before she dialed 9-1-1, because he seriously doubted that whoever they were going to encounter on the other side of that door was engaged in any felonious activities. What were the odds of Eden actually having anything that anyone would want to steal?
”Seriously,” he said, ”if I really thought someone dangerous was in there? I'd make you go downstairs.”
”Make?” Jenn repeated, eyebrows rising.
”Ask you to go downstairs,” he amended to appease her, even though his asking asking wouldn't have borne any kind of question mark. It would have been delivered as a command. wouldn't have borne any kind of question mark. It would have been delivered as a command.
He could tell from the look Jenn gave him that she knew that, too.
Still. Potential landlord visit aside, it was probably one of Eden's ex-boyfriends who'd turned on that light. Or maybe it was a current boyfriend who was going to be disappointed when Dan showed him firmly to the door and took away his booty-call key. And in the cosmic scheme of things, it was probably better that this happened now, while Zanella wasn't here to make it uglier than it had to be.
And come to think of it? It was significantly better that it happened now, instead of whoever-he-was creeping in, in the middle of the night, and crawling into bed with Dan and Jenn. No doubt about it, if come to think of it? It was significantly better that it happened now, instead of whoever-he-was creeping in, in the middle of the night, and crawling into bed with Dan and Jenn. No doubt about it, if that that had happened, someone would have gotten hurt, and it wouldn't have been Dan or Jenn. had happened, someone would have gotten hurt, and it wouldn't have been Dan or Jenn.
Even with his injury, Dan would have kicked some serious a.s.s.
”Just be ready in case I'm wrong,” he told Jenn now.
She was not happy about that. But she knew him well enough to not tell him-unnecessarily-to be careful. He d.a.m.n well knew his limitations, although they would go completely out the window should he in fact be wrong and the threat be real.
It was one thing to have to go back to the hospital to get his leg repaired for breaking the rules about strenuous s.e.x, but another entirely to do it after taking out an attacker who'd put his woman at risk.
Still, Jenn was watching him carefully-and he didn't want her to accuse him of being reckless, so he stepped to the side of the door, and pushed it open with one hand, with a bang, then dipped his head into the doorway, lower than where a head should be, for a quick look-see.
There was no immediate threat-no gunmen standing in a horseshoe, waiting to cut him into pieces with their room brooms. In fact, there was nothing that he could see that looked out of the ordinary besides those lights being on, so he gave Jenni one last stay back stay back look and moved inside, keeping close to the wall. look and moved inside, keeping close to the wall.
And there was their intruder-a girl-kneeling on the mattress that Jenn and Zanella had put out on the living-room floor, as if she'd fallen asleep waiting for them to come home. The expression on her face was one of sheer terror, and Dan immediately held his hands palms out and down in a nonthreatening position. ”Jenni, I could use you in here...”
Jenn entered the open doorway far less theatrically, but her very female presence didn't reduce the panic in the girl's eyes by as much as Dan had hoped it would.