Until I'm Found Page 2

  Unless someone had given her the money and helped her get away from him, she must have been planning, scheming, and hiding money for quite a while in order to jump a bus and disappear. That was the part that really pissed him off. She had spent all that time looking him in the eye each night after work, smiling at him, saying all the right goddamn things, when the whole time she had been watching and waiting for the moment to split.

  Well, two could play at that game. He could be patient and wait to make his move as well.

  Amy must think she’s so smart. She’d managed to stay hidden from him for these past few weeks. That was all right; he would let her think she won. He would let her think she’d accomplished what she set out to do, which was obviously to make him look like a fool. But she couldn’t hide forever.

  Ethan was sure Amy was convinced she had thought of everything when she’d saved up her money, turned off her cell phone, and cancelled her credit cards. Yes, she even had the audacity to cancel the cards.

  Our credit cards. That had pissed him off, too.

  There was just one thing that his dear Amy had forgotten in her meticulous planning of her escape from him. She had seriously underestimated him and his love for her.

  I will hunt you down, he had said to her. He’d meant every word. It irked him that Amy would think she was smarter than he was, and that he would never find her. To underestimate him to such a degree was not only dumb but incredibly dangerous. He had every intention of proving that to her the moment he found her and looked her in the eyes. He smiled ruefully at the thought of the fear that would resonate within her frightened gaze the next time he saw her. He anticipated that moment.

  But he would wait.

  CHAPTER THREE

  The bar was already in full swing when he came in and sat down at the only vacant bar stool. I was pulling beer from the cooler four at a time and mixing drinks, having to wipe down the bar down constantly to clean up the spilled alcohol and condensation rings. I had a smile plastered on my face as I shouted back and forth with the patrons about what drink they wanted and how much they owed me, but my smile was beginning to become forced.

  It was unexpectedly busy for a weeknight, and things were even more difficult because Ryan wasn’t there. He had taken his regularly scheduled Thursday night off, usually heading home to get things done around his own place that had been neglected throughout the rest of the week. That left only myself and Maria to tend bar, and we were feeling the pressure.

  Maria was Ryan’s other fulltime bartender and she was good at her job. Confidence oozed from her every pore as she mixed drinks the same way Ryan did, like each concoction was a masterpiece in the making. She hadn’t talked to me much since I’d started at Rustic’s, but I already knew that I was envious of Maria, both for her personality and her mere presence. When Maria was there, she owned the space she occupied and looked good doing it.

  Perhaps it was because I was trying hard to follow Maria’s lead and do well at my job, or it could have been due to the fact there were so many people crowded up against the mahogany bar, that I couldn’t even catch a glimpse of the door.

  Whatever the reason, I didn’t see him come in. I still can’t figure out how he managed to squeeze through the throngs of people and find an empty seat. All I know is when I turned to face him, I stopped in my tracks for a split second. The look on his face was something I couldn’t quite read. Was it a glimpse of unexpected familiarity? I didn’t recognize him, but did he know me from somewhere? I tried to shake the thought away, but I couldn’t quite let it go.

  “What can I get you?” I said, pressing my hands against the smooth wood of the bar. I tried to watch his features closely, but not too closely, which was difficult considering his gaze wasn’t leaving mine.

  He gave me a crooked smile and a slight nod. “A Budweiser, please.” Then he arched an eyebrow at me. “You’re new around here.”

  It wasn’t a question but I gave him a curt nod and turned to get the beer from the cooler. I pulled the cap off the bottle and passed it across the bar to him.

  “That’ll be four dollars,” I announced.

  He immediately put his hand out to grab the beer, his fingertips colliding softly with mine. When the heat of his fingers brushing against mine registered in my already confused mind, my stare flew up to meet his. He was looking a bit shocked at the sudden touch as well, but he was also smiling faintly as he dug around in his jacket pocket for his wallet. I quickly pulled my hand away, a sharp intake of breath escaping my lips that I was glad couldn’t be heard over the blaring music.

  He slid a five dollar bill across to me, and his smile faltered when he saw my reaction to his touch.

  “I’m sorry, Amy, I didn’t mean…”

  But I didn’t hear anything else he was saying. My mind was screaming at me; this guy had just called me by my name, and I hadn’t told him what it was. That was when I realized what was going on.

  He was sent here by Ethan.

  It was a trap. It had to be. This guy knew who I was and he was showing an interest in me. I didn’t know him. I knew I would remember his face if I had seen him before. This was Ethan’s doing, it had to be. He had found me, and now he was sending an attractive man, probably one of his friends I’d never met, into the place where I worked to make me think he was interested in me. If I walked out of here with him, Ethan would be waiting for me in the parking lot. I was being baited by a predator seeking his prey.

  I grabbed the money from the bar and took a step back. Then I glanced down to confirm my purse was near my feet on the shelf below the bar.

  “You can keep the change,” he said to me over the music. His expression was now one of uncertainty. I knew I was undoubtedly pale and wore a deer-in-the-headlights look but I didn’t care. If he was sent here by Ethan, I needed to construct my escape plan, and quickly.

  It was then that a sandy-haired man in a baseball cap came up behind him and slapped him on the back in greeting. “Hey, man! Cole, it’s been ages since we’ve seen you around here! Where you been, buddy?” Cole turned his attention from me and began an obvious reunion with an old friend.

  I’d been holding my breath and hadn’t even realized it. He was a local, someone who was known around here. He wasn’t someone from California, someone Ethan had coerced into helping him ruin what I’d worked so hard to achieve. This guy belonged here.

  Maybe I was the one who didn’t.

  ***

  The bar remained busy for the next hour or so but it was the longest hour I’d experienced in weeks working there. I didn’t even bother to try to serve the dark-haired man another beer because I couldn’t stand the thought of having to look him in the eye again. My paranoia had gotten the best of me and I’d let myself jump to conclusions about someone who had merely come into this place looking for a beer and a little refuge from the hectic ways of the workweek.

  He had accidentally touched my hand and sent me into a mental storm of fear. Then he’d used my name and I’d immediately concluded that he was nothing more than a pawn in a game of cat and mouse. No, there was no way I could face him again after letting my paranoia drive me over the edge, no matter how brief the encounter was. I was just too embarrassed.

  If Ryan had been here, I may have had to suck it up and do my job, but he wasn’t so I was going to allow myself a moment to rein in any remnant of dignity I may have had left and ignore the man. The quicker I could forget about this little incident, the better off I would be.

  However, it seemed Cole wasn’t going to allow that to happen. I hadn’t known his name until his friend announced it, but it was quickly confirmed when I realized he was no longer sitting at the end of the bar, and I found only an empty beer bottle with a note on the napkin and a couple dollar bills remaining in his place. I shoved the bills into my tip cup and then plucked the beer bottle and napkin from the bar. If the writing scrawled across the crumpled napkin hadn’t caught my attention, I’d have tossed it into the trash bin. I unfo
lded it and bit back the shallow wave of guilt that washed over me.

  Hello. I’m Cole. It was nice to meet you. Sorry if I scared you.

  This man had only interacted with me for maybe five minutes and I’d already managed to make him feel as though he had something to apologize for. Wow, starting over in a small town was really working out well for me. I shook my head abashedly and tucked the napkin into the pocket of my jeans.

  Later on that night, in the comfort and silence of my own home, I’m not sure why but I tucked that napkin into the corner of my bedroom mirror and stared at the words for a long while. I hoped that in the morning light I would look at the note and be a bit easier on myself for making this total stranger feel like he did something wrong. Tonight, however, I supposed I wouldn’t let myself off the hook that easily.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  I decided to go into work a bit early the next afternoon, wanting nothing more than to sit on one of the bar stools and drink a cup of coffee while enjoying idle banter back and forth with Ryan before I donned an apron and started my shift again. However, that hope was quickly shattered when I walked into the dimly lit bar and saw Jeremy Allecks turn around in his seat at one of the tables beside the bar and smile ruefully at me.

  I sighed, sending a quick glance in Ryan’s direction which confirmed exactly what I thought. Ryan was wearing a look of frustration himself, and that told me he’d done his best to ignore the officer. Jeremy wasn’t making that easy.

  “Well, hey, princess.”

  “Jeremy.” I gave him a half-hearted smile and made to walk directly past him, intent on pouring that cup of coffee and chatting with Ryan. Jeremy seemed to have other plans. He reached out and put his hand on my arm as I walked by. His touch was surprisingly gentle, and my expression as I glared from his face to his hand and back must have shown exactly how I felt about him touching me. Jeremy quickly withdrew his hand. It was the first smart move he’d ever made toward me.

  “Sorry, I was just hoping you’d maybe sit with me for a few minutes. Then I’ll be out of your hair.” He looked at me with an expression that caught my attention. It was the first time I’d actually seen Jeremy look uncertain. He knew he had crossed a line by putting his hand on me but he wasn’t sure exactly how to fix it. All I could think of was the fact that he was now the second man to apologize to me in less than a day. I immediately felt bad. My expression softened a bit.

  “It’s fine. Just let me talk to Ryan for a few minutes and I’ll come back over in a bit, all right?” I couldn’t believe I was agreeing to sit with someone I frankly couldn’t stand, but guilt can make you do funny things. Maybe I was looking for a way to make myself feel better about how I’d treated him and Cole, maybe I was just starved for a little social interaction. Either way, he nodded with a surprised smile and I turned and headed back behind the bar to pour myself that coffee I so desperately needed.

  “What was that all about?” Ryan whispered low, polishing a wine glass as he turned his back as though to shield our conversation from the eyes and ears of anyone else in the bar.

  I shrugged, which is a difficult feat when you’re trying to pour hot coffee into a mug. Ryan didn’t move from his protective stance, so I could tell he was waiting for more of an explanation.

  “I don’t know, Ryan. Nothing. He just wanted to talk, I guess.”

  “Jeremy never just wants to talk, Amy.”

  I placed the coffee pot back on the burner and swung my purse up onto the bar. I crawled onto the bar stool in front of him and looked at him squarely. “He doesn’t know me, Ryan, and I don’t know him. He asked me to sit with him for a few minutes, not go into the back alley so he can have his way with me.” I raised my eyebrows at Ryan over the rim of my coffee mug, but it was obvious that he didn’t see the humour in my response.

  “Just be careful, Amy. Be wary of him.”

  “You keep saying that.” I set my mug down. “Why, Ryan?”

  He lowered his eyes to the bar towel in his hands. I could see the gears working in his mind as he tried to decide how to respond. “He’s just a player, Amy. Been known to ruin relationships. Takes what he can get, moves on to the next woman, and feels no remorse for the trail of hurt feelings and broken hearts he leaves behind.”

  I nodded, not knowing what else to say. What could I say? I didn’t know him, I’d admitted that much, and I wasn’t a local so I couldn’t confirm or deny such an allegation.

  “I’ll keep that in mind,” I said. “Thanks.” When Ryan didn’t say anything in return, I did my best to diffuse the situation by giving him a sly smirk and using my best overly dramatic voice to add, “God, you’re so overprotective, Ryan.” I chuckled, trying to ease the tension. Thankfully, he took the bait and a faint smile tugged at his lips when he looked at me again.

  “Sorry. I’ll do better next time.”

  I knew the awkward moment between us had passed. I also knew that he was the third man to apologize to me today. Damn it, I was batting a thousand, for sure.

  “Don’t apologize. Just pour me another coffee and we’ll call it even.” I laughed as I pushed my half empty mug toward him. I still had more than forty minutes until I needed to get behind the bar and work, so he obliged me and poured me another cup. I nodded my appreciation as I shook some sugar into the mug without measuring.

  “So,” Ryan began, “I heard that Cole was in last night. He came in and asked about you earlier this morning.”

  I knew my instantaneous blushing was going to give me away but I chose to play stupid instead, in the hopes of giving myself time to decide what to say next.

  “Cole? Who’s Cole?” I couldn’t meet his gaze. I was a bad liar to begin with but lying to Ryan was even worse. He’d been good to me since I’d moved here, and although he never really gave me much to go on about who he really was outside the walls of this bar, I kind of felt like he was a genuine person—the same at home as he was here.

  He lived out on Serrick Road, only a mile or so from the bar, but he was rarely there. He spent all his time here at the bar, and he loved it. His friends were here, his job was here, and he didn’t seem to have to fight to keep the boundaries between work and personal life in check. For those reasons, I trusted Ryan and believed he was pretty open and honest with me. That was precisely why my choosing not to be honest with him about something so trivial was a hard pill to swallow. When he leaned in and gave me a knowing grin, I swear I could have choked on that pill.

  “I know he left you a note, Amy,” he whispered. “And Maria saw you put it in your pocket.” He laughed then, enjoying catching me in my lie. I felt the heat flush in my cheeks but I stood my ground as best I could.

  “Oh, him. It all seemed a little creepy to me, Ryan. Some random guy leaving me a note on a napkin. I tossed the note out when I got home. Who was he, anyway?”

  Ryan shrugged, not even bothering to try to hide the grin on his face. “He’s a good guy, Amy. No need to be worried about the creepiness factor.” He seemed to have more to say but Maria came in, her amused expression mirroring Ryan’s. She pointed at him.

  “You tell her about Cole?” she asked.

  Ryan nodded. “Just finished getting the words out of my mouth, Maria. Relax.”

  She beamed brightly at this. “Good.” She turned her gaze to me. “Cole’s a good man, Amy. Don’t you be ignoring him when he comes in here again, especially when you caught his attention as soon as he sat down. Don’t think I didn’t notice!” she scolded, but she was radiating excitement when she said it. Maria was almost always enthusiastic about everything she said. I was a bit surprised at her interest in all of this, but I couldn’t help laughing at both of them.

  “You know, if I didn’t know any better, I’d accuse you guys of playing matchmaker or something.”

  It was Maria’s turn to roll her eyes. “He asked about you, that’s saying something. Besides, the fact that Cole is—”

  “A good friend of mine,” Ryan interjected quickly, sending a quick
glance to Maria that I didn’t quite understand. “Cole is someone I know and can vouch for, that’s all. We’ve kind of picked up on your trust issues around here and—”

  “I don’t have trust issues,” I stated. Maria stood by Ryan on the other side of the bar. She wasn’t in the arguing mood, I guess, or else she may have tried to help Ryan get his foot out of his mouth. She stayed surprisingly quiet, though. He was on his own.

  “Oh, yeah?” he arched a brow at me. “Where are you from, Amy?”

  “California. I told you that.”

  “Where in California?”

  “Why?” I saw where this was going. Ryan and I had been here before; I thought he’d accepted that I didn’t like to offer a lot of information if I didn’t have to.

  “Why not?” he challenged.

  Maria took my expression as a cue to find somewhere else to be, so she gave an awkward wave and disappeared out of my line of vision to check on one of the tables she was looking after.

  “You’ve made your point,” I declared as I stood and picked up my purse and coffee cup. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have an officer over there who would like to talk to me.”

  I didn’t even wait for Ryan to reply before I turned and walked over to Jeremy’s table by the window.

  ***

  “Why won’t you go out with me, Amy?”

  I almost spit my coffee all over the table as I looked into Jeremy’s eyes incredulously. I had only been sitting at the table a mere minute or two and he was already begging for me to dump my hot coffee in his lap. Maybe I should have just spit it all over him and pretended it was an accident.

  “Jeremy, please don’t ask me that again. I’ll be forced to tell you that your daily trips into this bar are driving me clinically insane and that your stellar reputation seems to supersede you.” I knew it was a mean thing to say, but I was hoping maybe a little brutal honesty would get him to back off a little. Jeremy seemed to be pondering my words as he finished off his coffee. He took one last gulp, tipping the cup back dramatically before setting it down on the table in front of him and looking up at me.