Page 23 of She Found Me

“What’s the worst that could happen? Come on, let’s give it a try,” Lucia begs.

Thinking for a moment, I have a quick look outside the bathroom to see where the guards are. One is stood at the front entrance and one at the back. We can’t walk past them, as they’ll see us. I think of a plan to get them to move away from the doors.

“Okay, let’s do it. But we need to hurry up. We’ve been in here a while now, and the guards will be getting suspicious.” I can’t believe I am agreeing to this.

“You go back into the event, Mia, and make sure the guards see you. Get yourself a drink, then come back. Buy us some time while we make the girls look more like us,” Lucia instructs excitedly.

“I’ve got my cordless straighteners in my bag, so I can do their hair,” Marisa states while Lucia ushers me out of the door.

I make my way around the room, and speak to guests situated in front of the guards. I then go to the bar and ask for a glass of water. I sense one of the guards approach me from behind.

“Is everything okay, Miss Alboni?”

“Marisa drank a little too much. She is in the bathroom. I’m just getting her some water.”

“Would you like me to arrange a car for her back to the hotel?”

“No, thank you. I’m sure she will be fine. You can arrange for the car to pick us up in one hour. I will be ready to go then. And stay by the door, please. I don’t want any drunk idiots trying to get in.” I point to the door where a group of men stand arguing with the bouncers.

“Yes, Miss Alboni.” He then returns to the door, and I go back to the bathroom.

Chapter 13

Mia

Suddenly I feel guilty. Marco is going to hit the roof when he finds out the guards lost us. I start to have doubts that this is even going to work until I walk into the bathroom. The girls have done an amazing job. Brooke and Alice now have their hair curled similar to Marisa and Lucia’s, and Arianna’s has been straightened to look more like mine. I’m impressed. All that’s left to do now is swap clothes and accessories.

Once we are changed, I look at us through the mirror. Marisa, and Lucia, and I tie our hair up. I’m wearing Arianna’s plain black dress that actually looks pretty good on me, considering it was bought from a high street chain.

“Okay, you three go into that cubical and lock the door. When the guards come in, stay nothing so they don’t hear your voices and realise it’s not us until they break down the door. Just bang on it so they know you’re in there.” Luckily the doors are floor to ceiling, so they can’t look over. “We will go back in one by one. I’ll go in last, then call the guards and tell them we are locked in the cubical. When they come to the bathroom, we will make a run for it. Just tell the guards we paid you to do it, and you have no idea where we have gone.” I hand the girls a wad of £50 notes to make it believable. “Give it half an hour before you join us at the club, and make sure you’re not followed.”

The girls do as I instruct, and I enter the party unnoticed. I keep my head down and make the call to the guards. When I see them both go to the ladies’ bathroom, I make a dash for the front exit, where I’m joined by my girls. We casually exit before making a run for it down a back street. Once we are far enough away, we all laugh and hug in excitement.

“I can’t believe we did it!” exclaims Marisa.

“I know. But we need to get moving, as it won’t be long until they realise. Do either of you know where we are going?”

“I’ve got the tickets here. I’ll put the address in Google maps.”

Seeing Lucia’s phone makes me realise. “Shit. I’ll have to get rid of my phone.” Knowing Marco, he will have put a tracker on it.

“It’s fine, we’ve got our phones. You can use them if needed,” offers Marisa.

After logging out of my iCloud, I dump my phone in a bin.

“It’s a left down here.” Lucia leads the way.

We are walking down a main road, and I sense a car driving slowly behind us. There’s no traffic, and I notice that the road is closed to drivers at this time in the evening, leaving it free for pedestrians. I continue talking to the girls so not to alarm them and take out my compact mirror to check behind me. Seeing the black vehicle curb crawling behind us, I know we are in trouble. It’s not one of our cars. Dread fills me.

Noticing a narrow alleyway to our left, I grab both girls and pull them in. “This way, girls—quick.”

“But the map says it’s to the right,” Lucia disagrees and holds up her phone.

Hearing the doors of the car open, my worst fears are confirmed.

“Take your shoes off and run,” I instruct.

“Bloody hell, how did they find us so quick?”

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