Page 6 of Deceiver

“He’s not here.”

I turn, seeing Luna’s pretty eyes focusing in on me, her arms crossed over her chest, a towel tossed over her shoulder. She’s pissed, and I can’t say I blame her. I didn’t just lie to Western, I lied to her, too. We are friends, at least, that’s what I thought we were. Now, I’m not so sure. Judging by the look she’s giving me, I’m guessing she isn’t on board for our friendship any longer.

I came into the club tonight in hopes that Western would turn up.

He didn’t, and I suspected he might not, but it was worth a shot. The club won’t let me anywhere near them, so this was my only option, and I’m not going to leave any stone unturned. I need to talk to him, I’m almost desperate at this point. The feeling of not having closure, of being desperate to say something and not being able to, is all-consuming.

“I’m sorry, Luna,” I say, because there isn’t any point in saying anything else.

“For which part? Lying to me the entire time, or actually pretending to be my friend?”

I exhale, closing my eyes for a moment, the loud music in the background making it incredibly hard to concentrate.

“I was doing my job,” I answer. “I understand what I did hurt people but that was never my intention, believe me. As for pretending to be your friend, that wasn’t an act. I care about you, Luna. A lot.”

“If you cared about me, you would have just told me what you were doing. I would have helped you.”

I shake my head. “That’s not how it works. Trust me, I wish it was.”

“Releasing that story ... It was brutal, Bonnie.”

“I didn’t release it,” I say, my shoulders slumping. “Someone else did, and I don’t know who it was. I would have never released it because the more I dug, the more I realized I was out of my league, and now my life is in danger and Western hates me. So, trust me when I say, there is nothing you can say that is going to make me feel any worse than I already do.”

She stares at me for a moment, then exhales. “Dammit, I can’t even be mad at you. You look like a wounded puppy. Come with me.”

She calls out that she’s taking her break and we walk out to the back room, where it’s quieter and I can actually think. Luna turns to me once the door is closed and steps forward, putting her hands on my shoulders. “What kind of danger?”

I explain it to her as best I can, and the more I speak, the wider her eyes get. When I’m done, she drops her hands and shakes her head. “You need to go to the police, get some sort of protection.”

“That would be a fantastic plan if the police weren’t as corrupt as the rest of them when it comes to this.”

“You could get hurt, Bon, or worse. Surely there is someone that can help you?”

I purse my lips, and a name springs to mind.Nathan.

He helped me with all of the information; if I call and tell him I’m in danger, he might be able to help me out. He is in law enforcement, after all. I’m sure he has someone he trusts that he could put on the case.

“I do, and I’m going to make contact with him, but I wanted to come and see you first and explain.”

“So Western has shut you out completely?”

I nod. “He blocked my number, everything.”

“You could try my phone,” she says, pulling it out of her pocket and wiggling it around.

My eyes widen.

I didn’t think of that.

“Really?” I say, pulling out my phone to get his number.

“It’s worth a shot, right?”

She hands me her phone, and I punch in Western’s number. I pause before calling. I don’t know what I’m going to say, hell, I don’t even know if he’ll hear me out. My heart leaps into my throat, and my hand begins to tremble. Luna reaches over, squeezing it. “You have to try.”

I nod, taking a deep breath, then I hit the dial button.

It rings, and rings, and rings.

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