Page 25 of Deceiver

I thank him once more for his help and then retreat to my room where I sit on the edge of the bed, dropping my head into my hands. What do I do about this situation? Do I go to the cop and get his help? Do I just give Bill what he wants until I can think of something better? Western already hates me, adding this will only make it worse.

Exhaling, I close my eyes.

I need to come up with something, and quick, or I’m going to run out of time.

Twenty-four hours.

That’s all I’ve got.

To make a choice that could, quite literally, change my life.

I just hope I make the right one.

~*~*~*~*~

“I’M ALL DONE,” I SAYto Luna the next night, giving her a forced smile as I finish up my shift for the night.

It has been over twenty-four hours, and I’ve yet to come up with a plan that’s going to keep me safe. Bill is going to come for me, and I don’t know how I’m going to avoid that. I don’t know what I’m going to say, or do, to buy myself some more time. I’ve gone over scenarios in my head, but none of them seem to equal my safety.

“Is Leo here yet?” Luna asks, glancing around the crowded club.

“Not yet, I’ll go and get changed and wait with Mick at the front for him.”

She nods, stepping up close and giving me a hug. “Call me when you get home.”

“I will.”

I undo my hip apron and hang it up, before going out the back to gather my things. I then make my way toward the front door. I can’t see Leo yet, which is odd because he’s always waiting for me. I scan the crowd, wondering if maybe he saw someone he knows and got caught up, but there is no sight of him. Frowning, I turn and make my way toward the bathroom. I’ll freshen up and that’ll give him a bit more time to make it to me. I’m not going to go outside alone.

After washing my face and using the bathroom, I pull out my phone and dial Leo, but there is no answer. Feeling uneasy, I leave the room and make my way back through the crowd, heading toward the bar once more. I’ll wait with Luna until he gets here. I’m just passing through the crowd of people dancing when something firm pushes against my back. For a moment, I’m certain it’s just someone bumping into me, but when a gravelly voice fills my ears, I know it isn’t a stranger.

“Walk. If you scream, I’ll make you wish you hadn’t.”

Bill’s voice is icy and chills run down my spine.

How the hell did he get in here?

They’ve been alerted to be on the lookout for him, so how did he make it through the doors?

My eyes dart toward the bar, but Luna is nowhere to be seen and the crowd is far too big for her to notice me.

I could scream, but that might just end up causing the kind of chaos that this club can’t come back from. Not to mention I could be putting other innocent lives in danger, and I’m not about that.

Think, Bonnie.

Think.

Bill walks me to the back of the room and through a door that leads out toward the cleaners’ rooms. Is that how he got in? The cleaners have an access out back they come through when the club is closed for the night. It is locked, though, so he must have bribed one of them to get hold of a key. The lengths this man will go to, to get what he wants, is alarming.

The moment we’re in the large storage room, the door slams behind us, and I’m spun around to face Bill and one other man, a man I don’t know. Bill has a gun aimed at me, and my heart leaps into my throat, because I know for certain he’s more than willing to use it. Fear, unlike anything I’ve ever felt in my life, rips through my body. I can’t get out, not unless I go through them. I can’t scream, nobody will hear me in here.

I’m trapped.

“Your time is up,” Bill says, running his finger down the barrel of the gun.

“I’m going to help you,” I blurt, thinking as quickly as I can. “I’m going to see the club tonight. It wasn’t easy getting them to meet me. They’re not my biggest fans, as you can imagine.”

Bill tips his head to the side, studying me. “And you expect me to believe you because ...?”

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