Page 37 of Pulse
“This isn’t your problem. You’re not even supposed to know about it.” She grips the back of a leather chair that faces his desk. “I’m going to call the police. Then I’ll go home, get a few things, and leave town.”
As if Ford’s waiting for my reaction, he turns to me with an expectant look.
There’s only one solution to this. While it might make things messier in the long run, and I wish to hell there was another answer because this is going to kill me, I trust no one else. It has to be me.
I nod and answer his unspoken question. “Vacation.”
Lincoln walks toward us. “I have a house on Kiawah Island. You can’t even get on the island without credentials. There are roaming security guards, gatehouses, and then I have my own security system, of course.”
“Jason Brewer owes me a favor,” Ford says, taking his phone out of his pocket. “I’ll borrow a Brewer Air plane. You’ll be there in a couple of hours. You can land at the executive airport and take a car to the island.”
Dahlia scoffs. “While you wrap up your vacation plans, I’m going to my desk to make some calls.” Her eyes widen in disbelief. “I don’t know if this is my resignation, Ford, or if … yeah. I don’t know.”
Ford chuckles. Lincoln grins. I look at the ceiling because I know her better than they do.She’s gonna be pissed.
“I’m glad you guys think this is funny,” she says, irritated.
Ford comes around the corner of his desk. “You’re not resigning, Dahlia. You’re going on a paid vacation.”
Her forehead wrinkles.
Ford looks at me.
Sure. Let me deliver the news.
“Do you know how I didn’t know if I was going to Laina’s or taking a vacation?” I ask.
She crosses her arms over her chest. “Yeah.”
“I chose a vacation.”
“Good for you.”
“And you’re going with me.”
She takes a step back, her eyes wide. “What?”
Lincoln chuckles, a shit-eating grin plastered on his face. If this weren’t a serious conversation, I’d tell him to fuck off.
“I’m not going on a vacation with you,” she says, laughing in disbelief. “Have you not heard what I just said? Someone’s threatening to kill me, guys.Kill me. I have to leave.”
“You are leaving,” I say. “With me.”
“You are out of your mind, Castelli.”
“Quite possibly.”
She throws her hands up and turns to Ford. “You can’t be serious. I don’t know who’s after me. I don’t know when I can come back. You can’t pay me for … who knows how long. And what about Troy? You have stuff for him to do.”
“This is, at the end of the day, your decision,” I say, as much as it pains me. “But if you don’t go with me, I’m going to have to follow you around. And while I’m sure that would be entertaining, it would be a lot easier and more comfortable to let me take you to Lincoln’s house until Ford figures this out.”
“Oh, so you’re gonna stalk me, too?”
“Yes.”
She opens her mouth, but nothing comes out. She just stares at me.
“Dahlia, I wish you would’ve called one of us last night,” Ford says.
