She texted back, and I called her to let her know about my dilemma.
“Just come by,” she replied.
“Cecilia, I don’t think—”
“Honey, he’s not here right now. I gotta run soon, but if you hurry—”
“I’ll be right there, and I have his key, so I can lock up if I’m holding you up.”
I could hear the smile in her voice. “Sounds like a winner. See you in a bit.”
Five minutes later, she answered the door dressed for work. “Sorry, Cassie, I’d stick around for five minutes while you do what you need to do, but I didn’t realize how late it is. You sure you have the key, so you can lock up behind yourself?”
I nodded. “I’m sorry, Cecilia. I didn’t mean for you to run late because of me.”
She shook her head, throwing her purse strap on her shoulder. “No biggie. Later!”
When I walked into the bathroom, I didn’t expect to see my brush front and center, but I also didn’t expect a completely clean counter either. I pulled open the two drawers on either side of the sink and found Gabe’s electric razor, shave cream and a disposable razor in one drawer; and three tubes of hair gel, a pick, and a cheap round roller brush in the other. I opened the cabinet doors, but found only cleaning supplies, cotton balls, and a box of tissues.
“Well, shit,” I whispered to myself.
“Can’t say I feel the same way,” a male voice said from the doorway, making me jump.
I turned, and Asher blocked my way out of the bathroom. My mind froze for a moment before I got myself together. “You can’t be here. I have a restraining order against you.”
“How was I supposed to know you’d be at my buddy Gabe’s place? You’re the one in violation of the restraining order, Cassie. Gabe and I work together.”
My eyes narrowed, and I remembered Wendy saying she’d processed paperwork for a new employee on Monday. Ryan had meant to have me do it on Thursday before he started, but it’d slipped his mind.
I raised my voice, “Get away from me, Asher.”
He raised his hand and I vaguely noticed he held something shaped like a gun, but I knew it wasn’t a gun. Then everything went black.
Gabe
I THOUGHT I’D HAVE a clearer head about my problems after some sleep, but I didn’t.
Maybe superstition wasn’t what had kept me from sharing with Cassie about my investment plans. The look on her face when she saw it was me talking to Pruitt. You’d have thought I broke her heart by investing in that club. Then my damned temper got the better of me when she said she was trying to protect me, when the entire point of sacrificing my money was to protect not just her, but her father, too.
She couldn’t tell me why investing in the club was a bad idea, and that made no sense. How could it be a bad idea for me to invest when her father was already invested in it? That angered me the most. She grew up learning about investments, but did she think I knew nothing about money?
Tuesdays and Thursdays were going to be a bitch the next fourteen weeks. My major was Recreational Management, but there was nothing recreational about my classes. In some ways I was excited about that, because the challenging classes meant my interest would be held the entire semester.
My reflex was to call Cassie, but I wasn’t ready to talk to her yet. She hadn’t exactly done anything wrong to me, but at the same time, she hadn’t done anything right by me either, since she wouldn’t tell me why I was making a bad investment. Then again, I couldn’t tell her why it was imperative for me to invest in the club.
As I walked into the apartment, I noticed my bathroom light was on. That was unusual, because Brock didn’t often use it, and since she’d only been living with us for two months, to my knowledge Cecilia hadn’t ever been in it.
As I stalked to the small space, I saw the drawers were open as were the cabinet doors. I dialed Brock on my cell.
“I’m working, Gabe.”
“You or your woman hunting for something in my bathroom?”
“Gabe, like I said—”
“Brock, I just got home, the light in the bathroom was on, both drawers are pulled open and the doors to the cabinet are both wide open. What the fuck? If you didn’t do it, why the hell would your woman need to be in here?”
He sighed. “Give me ten minutes, maybe twenty. Since her shift hasn’t started yet, I should be able to reach Cecilia. I don’t think she would’ve done that though. You been through the rest of the place?”
A prickly feeling crept up the back of my neck. “No. But I’ll do that now.”
“Call you in ten.”
I had no weapon, but I still took my time going through all the bedrooms and checking the balcony. When I realized I hadn’t checked the laundry area, I grabbed a butcher knife and checked there too, only to find an empty room.
“What the fuck?” I whispered.
I put the knife back in the holder, and my cell rang.
“Yeah, Brock,” I answered.
He didn’t say anything for a moment, but he sighed. “Was the door locked when you got there?”
“Brock. What aren’t you telling me? Cut to the chase.”
“Cecilia let Cassie in before she left. Cassie said she had a key, and could lock up afterwards. She wanted a brush she’d left behind. Cecilia didn’t lock the door behind herself because she didn’t think it would take Cassie but two minutes to get her brush and get out.”
That prickly feeling wound its way around my chest. “Cassie was here,” I whispered.
Brock sighed again. “Yeah. Was her brush in the bathroom? Maybe she was being vindictive... though that doesn’t seem like her.”
“No,” I said in a low voice.
