But the later it got, the more concerned he grew. He’d expected Emery to come through the door long before now and was beginning to worry that she hadn’t. The cookie store closed at ten and it was after one.
Where was she?
Aiyana had gone to bed and his two youngest brothers were gaming in one of the bedrooms since he, Seth, Ryan and Taylor were using the TV in the living room. They’d flipped off the lights, stretched out on the couches and put on a movie—a good one. Dallas should’ve been completely engrossed, and he would’ve been, except he’d finally broken down and texted Emery about twenty minutes ago to see where she was, and he still hadn’t received a response.
Was she angry with him? He’d known things were going to be awkward between them as they tried to navigate their friendship without sex, but he’d thought they could still communicate—until even his second plea went unanswered.
He thought of Cain and the night she’d had dinner with him. Had she met up with someone else from high school? Maybe she was having drinks with an old girlfriend and wasn’t checking her phone.
It had to be something like that, he told himself.
But she was in a lawsuit with her ex-boyfriend, and he’d heard the threats Ethan had screamed at her over the phone.
“What are you doing, man?” Seth asked, distracted by the light of Dallas’s phone going on and off every few minutes.
“Nothing,” he replied but when he stood, Ryan paused the movie.
“What’s up? Where are you going?”
“Mom told you about Emery Bliss, right?” Dallas said.
It was Taylor who answered. “Of course. That’s why I’m sleeping in the same room as Ryan.”
“Well, she should’ve been home by now. I’m going to drive to town, see if I can spot her car.”
Seth started to get up. “Should I go with you?”
“There’s no need to miss the movie. I’m sure everything’s fine. I’ll be back soon.”
It was one-thirty by the time Dallas spotted Emery’s car in the parking lot at the Blue Suede Shoe. It hadn’t taken long to find. Since that was one of the only places that would be open so late, it was the first place he’d looked.
He called himself a fool for being so worried and would’ve driven on past it and returned home, assuming she was inside enjoying herself—except he spotted a piece of paper shoved under her wiper that made him curious enough to stop and get out to see what it was.
A group of two men and three women came out of the bar. He could hear them laughing and talking as they made their way to their various vehicles, but the parking lot was quiet otherwise.
He pulled out that paper and turned it over.
I mean it, bitch.
Those four words, written in black marker, took him back. He stared at them for a second, almost unbelieving. Then he looked around to see if he could spot anyone who might’ve left it or seen the person who did.
The three women and two men who’d come out were in their cars, pulling into the street and driving off. It was late enough that most of those who crowded into the Blue Suede Shoe Friday and Saturday nights had gone home.
He shoved that paper in his van and decided to park so that he could go inside. But as he drove down the row of cars that remained, still looking to see if someone was lurking about, he spotted police lights flashing behind the building.
What was going on? A sick feeling came over him as he parked, got out and walked over. Two police officers—one male and one female—were talking to someone who was crouched on the ground and huddled against the back of the building.
As he got closer, he could tell it was Emery.
23
Someone had choked her. Not bad enough to kill her, but bad enough to give her a good scare—and make him mad as hell. Dallas couldn’t believe Ethan would have the balls to send someone out here to do what he heard Emery describe to the police, and he was determined to make him answer for it and everything else.
“You should go to the hospital and get checked out,” the female police officer—an Officer Valentino—told Emery after she and her partner had finished taking the report.
Dallas agreed, but Emery wasn’t having any of it.
“No. I’m okay,” she insisted. “I don’t want to go to the hospital. I got a couple of bumps and bruises, that’s all. This was just a warning.”
Dallas had so much adrenaline pumping through him it was difficult to stop himself from dropping Emery off at home and driving to Ethan Grimes’s house tonight. But with Aiyana’s wedding in the morning, he couldn’t leave. Even if he could make it back in time for the ceremony, which wasn’t until midday, she’d freak out if she woke to find him gone. And he didn’t want her big day to start out like that, not now that Emery was safe with him. He could take care of Ethan later—especially because there was no telling what might happen once he got there. The confrontation could easily turn into an altercation, and fighting risked winding up in jail.
The officers promised to get in touch once they had a chance to investigate. As they went inside to see if anyone at the Blue Suede Shoe could identify the man Emery had described to them, Dallas helped Emery over to his van. They’d have to leave her car in the lot and pick it up later; there was no way he was going
