He grabbed his jaw and began to rub it. "We"re done, s.l.u.t! You hear me? Done!" He turned and stormed out.
Rebecca hoped he was still acting. She had walloped him pretty good. She turned around and straightened her dress, attempting to regain her composure.
Wiley walked over to her. "Are you okay, Miss?"
"Yes, I"m fine. Thanks."
"Good. But you"ve lost your escort. Could I buy you a drink?"
"Oh, don"t feel obligated just because my boyfriend"s a jerk."
"I don"t. Not at all. But you can do better."
"Thanks." Rebecca smiled. "Oh, sure, I"d love to have a drink with you."
He looked at the hostess, "Is my table ready, Cindy?"
"Always, Sir."
Wiley winked at Rebecca. The hostess led them into the restaurant and over to Wiley"s table in the center of the room.
He ordered two gla.s.ses of expensive wine. Rebecca didn"t like wine. It was just as well, since she had no intention of consuming any more alcohol tonight.
"So, what"s your name, Honey?"
Rebecca went blank. What had she planned to call herself? She blurted out, "Julie."
"Julie what?"
"Jones. Julie Jones."
"That"s okay. You don"t have to tell me your real name."
"That is my real name."
"Okay. Sorry. It sounds fake. I"m sure you get that a lot."
She smiled and nodded.
"Well, my name is Wiley Smotherburn. Of course, you probably already knew who I was."
"Glad to meet you Wiley." She extended her hand. He took it in both of his hands and rubbed it gently. "Soft skin."
Rebecca nearly laughed out loud. Her hands were not soft. He must have already had a drink or two, she thought. The alcohol was deadening his sense of touch. She could only imagine how that would affect him in the bedroom. Although it didn"t matter, since she would not be joining him in any bedrooms. "Thanks." She withdrew her hand.
"Yeah, my dad owns this place." He looked around. "It"ll be mine one day soon."
Not if Joey Ketrousie had his way, thought Rebecca. Obviously, Wiley didn"t know his father was dead.
"And I"m going to make some changes. Big changes."
"Like what? Do away with the nudity?"
"h.e.l.l, no. I want even more nudity. If topless can bring in this kind of business, imagine what total nudity would do."
Rebecca looked around at the waitresses. She could barely stand to eat in this room as it was. Total nudity? Barf.
"And I"ll add a cover charge. Thirty bucks to get in the door."
The waitress brought the wine bottle and filled their gla.s.ses.
Wiley gulped his down immediately and motioned for the waitress to refill it.
Rebecca pretended to take a sip of hers.
"Are you hungry?" He sucked down his second gla.s.s of wine.
"No, not really."
He put his hand on her arm and leaned in. "Want to go to my place? I just bought a house." He grinned.
"Uh, sure."
He staggered out of the restaurant, hanging onto her for support. Rebecca decided he must have already had several drinks before she got there. "I"ll drive."
"What? No, I"m fine."
"I"m not going with you unless you let me drive."
"Oh, alright." He took the keys out of his pocket and handed them to her.
His address was programmed into his car"s GPS system. It was a good thing, since he was in no condition to give directions.
"You"re a very beautiful woman, Judy."
"Julie."
"Oh, yeah. Sorry, Julie. You"re a very beautiful woman, Julie. Did anybody ever tell you that?"
"A couple of times."
"I love your long, long..." He seemed to get stuck on the word. "...long, long...legs...Julie." He reached over to put his hand on her right thigh.
"Take it easy, Big Boy," she said. "I"m trying to drive."
"Oh, sure. Sorry."
"Are you and your dad close?"
"Huh? Oh. Not really."
"I mean, how often to you see him?"
"Usually just at the office. Or sometimes at the cafe."
"So, did you see him today? Or talk to him?"
"Uh, yeah, I think so. Yeah, I saw him at the office today."
Rebecca drove in silence.
"Why do you ask, Julie? Are you looking for a job? Do you want me to put in a word for you with my dad?"
"Yeah. Maybe." She pulled into the driveway, as instructed by the woman"s voice in the GPS. "Well, here we are."
Rebecca helped Wiley make it up the steps and into the house. "This is a nice place you"ve got." She was surprised at how neat it looked.
"Thanks." Wiley plopped down on the couch.
Rebecca noticed the pictures on the mantle. "Is this your dad?"
"Yeah." He got up and joined her. "And that"s my stepmother, Kimberly." He stepped in close to the picture, his nose two inches from the gla.s.s. "Die, b.i.t.c.h!"
"So, you and your stepmom don"t get along."
"You could say that." Wiley was beginning to sway.
Rebecca took his arm. "Maybe you"d better sit back down." She led him to the couch.
He fell onto the couch, pulling Rebecca down with him.
"I think you"ve had way too much to drink."
He had already pa.s.sed out.
"Maybe I"d better go."
He began to snore.
She took a few seconds to look around the house, but didn"t see anything of interest. So, she walked outside and called for a cab. She was gone within ten minutes.
Once the cab had driven away, Wiley stood up and took out his phone.
"Hey. We may have trouble. Rebecca Ranghorn showed up at the club...I don"t know. I did my drunk act...yeah...totally fooled her...no, don"t worry...I"ve got it under control."
CHAPTER 8 - Tuesday, 1:16 a.m.
Rebecca paid the cabbie and got out. As she walked to the front door, she saw Gabby unlocking it from the inside.
She heard something whizz by her head. Then a pop. In the split second it took for her to realize somebody was shooting at her, another bullet hit the doorframe.
Gabby opened the door and Rebecca ran inside. As he closed and locked the door, the window shattered.
They ran for the back stairs, and flew up to the third floor.
"What the h.e.l.l, Becca?"
"Kill the lights."
Gabby flipped the switch.
"We pushed somebody"s b.u.t.tons," said Rebecca.
"What did you tell Wiley?"
"Nothing. And it couldn"t be him. He was pa.s.sed out on the couch."
They heard more gla.s.s breaking downstairs.
Rebecca crouched down and scurried to the front window.
"Get back. They"ll shoot you."
"They can"t see me in the dark."
Gabby joined her at the window. "They"re inside. See. They turned the lights on." The glow from the shop lit up the sidewalk and street, and began to flicker. "Wait-is that fire?"
"I"m afraid so."
"My beautiful dresses." He bolted for the stairs.
"Gabby, stop. They may be waiting for us down there."
He ran down the stairs anyway. Rebecca ran after him.
By the time he reached the bottom of the stairwell it was filled with smoke.
"It"s too late." Rebecca grabbed his arm. "I"m sorry. We"ve got to go back up."