Page 71 of Melody

The one thing she noticed was that Kyle wasnotlooking her direction—not that she blamed him—but she hoped he’d check his phone before the band left.

If he doesn’t see me after the show, I need to learn to live with it…because that will be my signal that it’s over for good.

As more customers approached the bar for a drink, she had less time to pay attention to the band, but she knew the show would start soon. And, when it did, she was able to appreciate the music, the songs she had actually been learning the words to without even trying, but she wasn’t able to look at the stage much.

It was near the end of their set that she had the one customer she had never expected to see.

Tommy Nogales.

Even surrounded by dozens of people in a packed bar, Melody felt fear gripping her body as panic ripped through her veins. Her mouth went dry and she felt like a rabbit, trapped in a corner, unable to escape.

But surely he wouldn’t do anything to her here.

Would he?

He was just crazy enough.

“Mel, what are you gonna give me?”

Please don’t let my eyes give away just how scared I am.Tommy was the kind of guy who got off on making people feel uncomfortable—she’d seen that firsthand. She didn’t wantto give away just how vulnerable she felt—but she knew she couldn’t stay. She had to get away.

Could she make her voice sound firm and fearless? “What are you going to pay for?”

“No. The better question is what areyougonna pay for?”

What the hell did that even mean? Was he talking about a drink or was he blaming her for his most current arrest? Although she didn’t know if her visit to the Silver City PD had had anything to do with it, he might blame her anyway. How many times had he blamed her in the past for his bad luck or for other stupid things that were out of her control?

More than she wanted to remember.

“What are you doing here?”

The smile that spread across his face sent chills down her spine. “This is a bar, isn’t it? I’m here for a drink. Isn’t that what you do? Serve customers?”

She hated how he was enjoying toying with her—but she could play that game. “Let me find the perfect drink for you.” She had no idea if he’d buy it, but she had to try. For a moment, she considered grabbing a big bottle of whiskey and trying to hit him over the head with it, but that wouldn’t work. There was no way she could leverage it over the counter; besides, he was much taller and she’d have to get up on something to really do the trick. She also considered grabbing one of the paring knives but as crowded as the bar was, she knew she’d be more likely to hurt someone else.

Tommy, too, wouldn’t care at all about collateral damage.

Her only hope was to leave—to get the hell out of here.

To get in her car and speed away, just like she should have done when he’d first shown up. Because, as much as she realized she cared about Kyle, she knew her life was in danger as long as Tommy knew where she was.

She never should have allowed herself to become complacent.

When she walked the length of the bar past Denise, she reached up to one of the bottles of gin and took it down. Turning, she saw that Tommy was still sitting at the same stool—which gave her an advantage. Setting the bottle down, she lifted the bar flap and exited into the flood of people.

Besides the element of surprise, she had another thing working in her favor—her height. She was short enough that Tommy wouldn’t be able to see her easily in the crowd. As she walked through all the people, she got as far as she could from him while making her way toward the side of the stage where the hallway was that led to the office—and the back door. Already, she’d planned to grab her coat. Although she didn’t have her purse or any of her belongings, she had her keys in the pocket of her coat. After getting the coat, she’d head out the back and run to her car parked on the side street and leave Silver City. She didn’t know exactly where she’d go, but she knew she’d drive west for a while, because that would lead her farther away from Tommy’s turf.

Even though the crowd was tight, she was able to slowly but surely get closer to the hallway—and, as the band finished their penultimate song, she made her way through the last of the tightly packed bodies. Here by the side of the stage there was far more elbow room and, even though she knew she shouldn’t, she turned around to see if Tommy was right behind her.

He wasn’t.

But that didn’t mean anything. She couldn’t afford to slow down.

Rushing down the hall past the bathrooms, she opened the door to the office and grabbed her coat. When she wrapped her hand around her keys, she headed for the back door and her only shot at freedom.

CHAPTER 26

Like he’d felt over the past year off and on, Kyle had been in a state of mourning, trying to figure out what had gone wrong with him and Melody. And he’d reached out to his therapist too. She’d suggested that maybe the breakup hadn’t been his fault at all. He knew that he had been a big part of the problem with his relationship with Hayley, so this breakup had been shocking and devastating—and hard to understand. But his therapist had helped him put it in perspective.

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