Page 9 of Inevitable

CHAPTER FIVE

Friday, July 21st

“I’m not going to die,” Claire murmured to herself as her heart beat a staccato against her rib cage.

Panic—that’s all this was.

Leaning against the wall, she dragged in deep breaths and wondered if the couple going at it in the bathroom were going to be done anytime soon.

How she had ended up in The Loose Caboose on a Friday evening with a woman who wanted her dead was not something she was going to understand right away. Looking down the long hallway, she saw her date, Roy the mechanic, and the woman who had just threatened her, smooching like their lives depended on it. Seemed when he described himself as single on his online profile, he hadn’t been totally honest. A more accurate description would’ve been “tied up with a psycho.”

Seeing the bar lights bounce off the woman’s impressive tatted biceps made her believe that the threats she had spit out earlier were a real possibility. So, how to get out of here in one piece?

If it was just the one crazy lady, she wouldn’t have worried, but like most colorful people, she had a lot of friends who were a skosh crazier. And, apparently, they were all in the bar tonight.

When she and Roy had dinner earlier, she never would’ve guessed that her evening would end at a bar without a ride home. The moment she could get a signal, she was going to call an Uber and get the hell out of there. All she had to do was make it through the bar without catching the attention of Roy’s psycho and her friends.

Maybe she could get one of the guys to come down and get her out of here. Nobody would mess with any one of the operatives of TRG. Mentally going through the list of possibilities, she tried to come up with the person who would give her the least amount of grief. No way was she asking Quinn. He’d put her on lockdown if he saw where she’d ended up. Hunter and Miles were on duty with the actress. Kane was out of town visiting his family, and she didn’t want to pull Brock away from his girlfriend. Which left Brady. Who was the last person she wanted to call for a rescue.

Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad if she just strode down the hall and right out the front door. She knew a thing or two about self-defense and she could probably hold her own. Glancing at her phone, she realized she had a signal. She clicked the Uber app and prayed she could get a ride. When no flashing cars showed up on the map, she wondered if drivers avoided this area. Cabs—they still existed…right?

A crashing sound came out of the bathroom, and she figured the sex had gotten a little out of control. Which meant at least someone’s Friday night wasn’t in the shitter.

Feeling the air-conditioning across her shoulders, she shivered. She looked down at her cute top and jeans and felt like an idiot. All that effort and she was huddled in a dive bar with a woman who wanted to do God knew what to her.

Better see if she could find a cab and make a break for it. Searching her phone, she came up with a number and called. When she gave the operator her location, she was greeted with a snarky laugh. Then the call was ended.

Crap.

Taking a deep breath, she fortified herself and dialed Brady. This was going to suck, but not having a ride home clearly sucked more. She lived on the opposite side of the city, so it’s not like she could’ve hoofed it home. Also, there was the small detail that she probably wouldn’t make it out of the neighborhood to consider.

“Darlin’,” Brady said as he answered the call.

Hearing his deep voice sent a wave of happiness over her fractured nerves. “Sorry to call you so late, but I was wondering if you could come and get me.”

“Are you okay?” he asked. “Did the guy touch you? I’ll fucking kill him. I knew that you shouldn’t be goin’ on dates with strangers. This shit is ending tonight, Claire.”

Hearing keys jangle and a door slam told her that he was walking to his truck. Which meant that whatever lecture Brady wanted to give her was going to be worth it.

She looked down the hall and saw Roy shoving his tongue down psycho’s throat, which meant that first thing in the morning, she was going to do some interesting things to his public records. Not only was the guy an asshole, he was dangerous. Who in his right mind would drag an innocent person into this mess?

“Claire, where the hell are you?”

“The Loose Caboose on McKinley.”

“Nice place for a date,” he said. “I’m not going to ask how you ended up there. Are you okay for a bit?”

“Yeah, sure. I’m hanging out in the hallway and listening to a couple of people having sex in the bathroom. It’s been going on for about fifteen minutes, which is kind of impressive, considering the conditions. I mean…do people expect a lot of foreplay when they’re banging in a public bathroom? It seems more of a quick thing, but these two are groaning and moaning, and if I wasn’t slightly concerned about a woman who seems to want to rearrange some of my features, I might find it entertaining.”

“What about the douche you were on a date with?”

“Yeah, turns out he wasn’t honest about his relationship status. Single, he is not. In fact, he’s playing tonsil hockey with his psycho girlfriend right now. Which I think is rude, considering the woman threatened me. Talk about a lousy date. This one takes the cake.”

“Which is why you’re not going on anymore,” Brady said succinctly. “There are crazy assholes all over the place and they don’t need to be anywhere around you.”

“I have to go out on my last two dates. I promised myself that I would see it through.”

“No!” Brady shouted into the phone.

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