And he couldn’t find her, so he found someone else. Someone blonde. Someone with blue eyes. Someone who looked enough like her.
Someone who’s dead now.
Someone else’s daughter. Someone else’s best friend. Someone who had people waiting for her texts.
She just happened to have blonde hair and blue eyes and be in the wrong place.
“Anyway. Dahlia. I think her name was. Beautiful and she was so eager, you know.”
“That was her name or the club?” Dom asks.
“Fuck, I don’t know.”
“Who saw you together?”
“I met her on my way out.” Another clink. He must have refilled his drink. “So I don’t know.”
“Specific. I need specifics. Otherwise I can’t clean this up.” Dom demands.
Clean this up.Not defend. Clean up.
“The stoop. I was lighting a cigarette and started walking. I didn’t see her until she asked for a smoke. She was alone.”
“Good. That’s good.”
“What are you doing?” the man asks.
“Getting my guy to grab the cameras by the club.”
His guy.
Dom has a guy for this. For grabbing security footage. For erasing evidence.
This isn’t improvised. This is a system.
“Oh, that’s smart. Very smart.” The client blabbers. “Right, so I was like yeah, I have a smoke for you. And that’s when she took the one I had out of my hand.”
There’s a pause and I hear Dom very quietly, but I can’t make out what he’s saying.
“Go on.” Dom demands.
“Is anyone else here?” the man asks.
“Dylan. She’s in the stacks.” He pauses. “Let me call her.”
I freeze, my whole body flooding with adrenaline.
Only my phone doesn’t go off. I left it on the floor in the stacks.
“No answer. Guarantee she fell asleep.” Dom supplies, but my heart pounds harder. “Go on. I’ve already shut off everything. Cameras, all of it.”
That explains the elevator.
“Right, so she took the cigarette and walked down this alley. And I followed because I needed to follow. I couldn’t help myself.” He says it like he’s making his case. Like he’s explaining why this isn’t his fault.
“Get to the point.” Dom’s voice is hard.
“Okay, so we’re in this alley and she’s smoking my cigarette and I was wearing one of my fur coats, you know the ones.”
