Page 197 of LA King

He shrugs, nonchalant. “Depends who gets the job. Might not be me.”

I resist the urge to slap him upside the head. “Look, my friend is really close by, and I just need to get to her. Will you please just wait? I’ll pay whatever you want as soon as we get back to my house. You know I’m good for it. You saw my house.”

“Lady, just because I picked you up outside some fancy Bel Air mansion, that don’t mean you live there.” He rolls his eyes.

Dammit. I scramble in my purse for some cash and find seventy dollars. I hold it out. “Please take this and wait. I swear I’ll be a few minutes.”

He takes the cash, eyeing me suspiciously. “Can’t wait longer than five minutes,” he grumbles.

Aware I’m running out of time, I take what I can get and grab my purse. Then I jump out of the car and scour the street for any sign of Lucy.

I dial her cell, but it goes to voicemail. The neighborhood isn’t a great one. The street is full of boarded-up storefronts, but there’s an alley that looks like a good place to hide.

I hear a scream and run in the direction of the sound until I find her pressed up against the wall by a huge man with his hand around her throat. Her phone lies in pieces on the ground beside her.

“Hey!” I shout. “Get your goddamn hands off her!”

The brute turns and glares at me, and without another thought, I run toward him, adrenaline propelling me forward. He slaps Lucy across the face with the back of his hand and throws her to the ground. “Stay out of this bitch,” he says as he advances on me. “This is between me and her.”

“The hell it is,” I snap. “Leave her alone and get out of here before I call the cops.” I hold up my phone, but he moves faster than I expected and snatches it from my hand. He throws it against the wall, and it smashes into pieces.

Crap! What the hell am I going to do now? I took a self-defense class in college, but all I remember is what to do if you’re attacked from behind. This guy is coming at me head-on, and he’s huge. His hands reach for my throat, and I scream at Lucy to run and duck out of Blake’s way. He stumbles forward, giving me time to shout to Lucy. “There’s an Uber in the street. Run to it. Tell him to call the cops.”

Blake regains his footing and grabs me by the throat. He’s squeezing the air from me as Lucy runs past us with tears streaming down her face.

She’ll find the Uber. She’ll get me help.

Blake yells at her to stay where the fuck she is, but she’s reached the end of the alley. “Alana! There’s no car here!”

I try to wrench away from Blake, but he holds me tightly.

“The street is empty,” she cries.

Suddenly, I remember the first rule of self-defense—always go for the nut sack. I bring my foot up and kick Blake in the balls as hard as I can.

He lets go of me and doubles over, clutching his groin and cursing.

“Run!” I scream at Lucy, and she stares at me for a few seconds, her eyes wide. But then she starts running.

I do too, heading in the opposite direction to give her a chance, and thankfully, Blake comes after me. He grabs me by the hair and pulls me backward. Pain lances my scalp. Then he spins me around and slaps my face hard enough to make me see stars. But the pain has adrenaline lighting up my insides, and I focus on that.

Blake’s face is purple with rage, and his anger makes him clumsy. Heart pumping, I duck away again, and he lunges at me, but all he can grab is my purse. I shrug it loose and run into the street, screaming for help at the top of my lungs.

There’s no one around, but Blake doesn’t know that for sure.

A quick glance back at him finds him standing in the alley. If he comes after me, I’m not sure I can outrun him. He obviously comes to the conclusion that I’m not worth getting arrested for because he takes off in the other direction, which is fortunately also away from Lucy.

Chapter

Forty-Five

Alana

Ipop into the first open place I find—a diner—and choose a quiet booth with a full view of the door. I don’t think Blake followed me, but my heart still pounds in my chest and my blood thunders in my ears.

I have no idea where Lucy is. I need to make sure she’s okay, and I need to get home before anyone notices I’m missing. But I gave the driver all my cash, and my phone is in pieces back in that alley. What the hell am I going to do? I don’t want to risk walking the few blocks back to the shelter in case he’s out there, waiting for me.

A waitress comes by the table. “You okay, sweets?”