Page 38 of The Perfect Deception
He turned and ambled out, heading back down the hall.Ryan, who seemed to be about to call the man back, glanced over at Jessie.She could guess what he was thinking without a word, considering Golden's total cooperation so far, would it be overkill to bark an order that he turn around and come back?
Before she could offer her opinion, she heard something that indicated that Ryan’s instinct wasn’t overkill at all.What she heard was the sound of someone running.
She jumped out of her seat and was already out the door before Ryan could shout his first expletive
CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN
By the time they pushed open the glass business center door and darted into the main hallway, Jessie saw that Tommy Golden was already near the far end of it.
“Damn, I’m an idiot,” Ryan muttered as they chased after him.“I can’t believe I fell for that act for a second.”
Jessie, already at a full sprint, wasn’t in a position to respond.Even if she could have, she wasn’t inclined to give him a hard time.For the five seconds it took Golden to escape, she’d allowed herself to be suckered too.
They reached the end of the hallway, which dead-ended in a “T” at a huge glass wall with an indoor pool on the other side.To the left was the women’s locker room.To the right—the direction Golden had gone—was the men’s.
Jessie didn’t pause for propriety as she dashed in.Once they rounded the corner, she found herself in a spacious, carpeted space.Off to the left side were several cushy easy chairs facing a huge, wall-mounted TV monitor.Beyond that were countless lockers and more than a few men, some of whom were in various states of undress.But she saw no sign of Golden.
One man, overweight and gray-haired, with a towel wrapped around his waist, glared at her.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing in here?”he snarled.
She ignored him, moving deeper into the locker room, hoping to catch sight of Golden.
Ryan responded for her.“A tall blond trainer named Tommy Golden, just ran through here.Which way did he go?”
“I’m not answering any of your questions,” the towel guy barked back.“Now get thatfemaleout of here!”
But Jessie wasn’t focused on the towel man.Instead, she took note of one of the locker room attendants, a Latino man in his fifties.Without saying a word, he pointed off to his left, in the direction of what looked like the restrooms and showers.She nodded and headed that way.
After rounding another corner, she realized that the locker room area was larger than she'd anticipated.There were restroom stalls off to the right, a half dozen sinks in the middle, and a long hall of showers off to the left.But beyond them, she saw a sauna, a steam room, and a whirlpool bath.One thing she didn't see was Golden.
She was considering running down the row of shower stalls and pulling back curtains when she noticed a door in the far back left corner with an “exit” sign above it.A small glimmer of light snuck through just before it closed.Someone had just gone through it.
“That way,” she said to Ryan as she hurried over.The floor was damp and slippery so she had to move slower than she liked.An elderly man, sitting in the whirlpool and clearly naked under the bubbles, stared at her, open-mouthed.
“Did a blond trainer just go out that door?”she asked.
He nodded, his mouth still agape.
“Thanks,” she said and started for the door.Before she could open it, she felt a hand on her shoulder.
“Jessie, please let me go first,” her husband said.
She didn’t want him to see the irritated look on her face so without looking back, she stepped to the side.
“Thank you,” he said.“Weapon ready, just in case.”
Then he kicked open the door and stepped outside.Jessie waited until he gave the all clear, waving for her to join him.One she did, she found that they were in a parking lot behind the club.But Golden was nowhere in sight.
“Maybe he ran around the corner,” Ryan offered, pointing off to the left.
“Let’s find out.”
They ran in that direction, with Ryan right in front of her.They were almost to the corner when Jessie heard a loud revving sound right behind her.Looking over her shoulder, she saw a silver Honda Civic about thirty feet away, coming directly toward them.Tommy Golden was behind the wheel.
She spun back around and realized that Ryan was further out in the middle of the driveway than she was.Unless Golden swerved, he’d hit Ryan.
“Look out,” she screamed as she sprinted to catch up to her husband.
