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The “unless they can’t help it” part doesn’t really give me the warm fuzzies, but I get her point. “So they offer protection services?” I ask, my stomach clenching in nervousness. Have I eaten today? I’m not sure.

Jade nods. “They have other, shadier dealings, but one of their main legitimate fronts is bodyguarding. They guard some of the most powerful people in the country.”

“And they’ll make a deal with little, insignificant me?” I scoff. “C’mon, Jade. I’m nobody, with a nobody’s budget. I can’t pay for scary legal bodyguards, let alone illegal ones.”

“I can’t say more, but you won’t have to pay. Not the usual way, anyway.”

I recoil from my friend. “I’m not whoring myself out for protection either!”

Jade just laughs darkly before pulling up in front of Madame Pearl’s shop. “Not that either. It’s . . . different. But you won’t mind, honestly.”

“Why are you being so sketchy and cagey about this? What will they ask me to do?”

“Look, I can’t tell you. Like I said, I signed the mother of all NDAs. But it’s nothing illegal or morally objectionable.”

“You really can’t tell me? How would they know?”

My friend grimly shakes her head. “They would know. Especially if I told someone like you who’s, well, not connected to that world.”

Nothing makes sense to me. They would know if she told me about them, in the car, on the street, with just the two of us? Why? How? My stomach does an unhappy little flip. I definitely need to eat something.

I tell her the truth. “Jade, you’re scaring me.”

Jade pulls the car into park and turns to look at me. “That’s good. You should be scared. I’d never have even thought of pulling you into the Fraternity’s orbit, but, sweetie, you've got no options. If you want to fix your problem by Monday and stay in New Orleans, this is your only play.”

That pulls me up short. I’d forgotten about my deadline. Bruno’s last mercy. My dream job is going up in smoke if I can’t fix my stalker problem over the weekend.

I sigh, already regretting this. “Nothing illegal? Or sexual?”

“Nope.” Jade pops the last syllable like she’s blowing a bubble.

Shaking my head, I wrap my arms around my middle, trying to stave off a sudden chill. “Then what is the plan, exactly?”

Jade smiles, but it doesn’t completely make it to her eyes as she says, “It’s like this, okay . . .”

∆∆∆

THE NEXT NIGHT COMES BOTH too fast and at a snail’s pace. Staying locked in a windowless basement isn’t the cheeriest place to spend time, but after the day before, I never really want to leave again. But when I think of Jade’s plan, I have to go out tonight. Just my luck that it’s raining, I think to myself as I get ready to leave. I’m wearing a silver wrap dress that used to hug my curves and make me look like sin itself. Now it’s a little big on me, but I don’t have enough money to buy anything new. I apply my makeup, going for a more innocent look with a light eye and nude lip. Jade said to make myself look pretty but pathetic. Never hurts to be easy on the eyes and pull at the heartstrings, she said.

I wish she were going with me, but Bruno gave me the weekend off, not her. Her position in the ensemble is even more precarious than mine. If singers are easy to replace, then dancers are a dime a dozen in this town. Bruno would have no issue telling Jade to hit the bricks if she tried to play hooky tonight to go with me. Not that she didn’t offer anyway, but I wouldn’t let her. I can’t have my only friend left sticking her neck out for me, especially since she already is asking her ex, Mr. Scary, for a favor on my behalf.

Putting the finishing touches on my face, I grab a beer from the ancient fridge and take a swig to calm my nerves while ordering an Uber. It’s an extravagance that I can't really afford, but I can’t walk all the way across town in heels in the rain. Not to mention, last time I went for a walk, Colton found me. I’ll have to take the hit and pull from my grocery money. Not that I’ve been eating more than maybe one instant noodle a day anyway. I just don’t have the appetite.

I finish my beer, waiting for the car, and decide to eat my last piece of bread to soak up the alcohol. I want to be relaxed, not tipsy, and that’s what drinking on an empty stomach will do to me.

My phone buzzes as I swallow the last dry bite of crust. My Uber’s here. I head out, going through my ritual of unlocking my many deadbolts and then locking them again. Heading to the front, I see a car with its windshield wipers going at full speed. Even though I’m getting soaked, I check the license plate before sliding into the back seat.

“Andi?” asks the driver.

“Yeah,” I reply. “Paul?”

“Yeah,” he says, before smiling in the rearview mirror. He’s young, maybe only eighteen, and looks like a clean-cut college kid. Probably drives as a part-time job. If I had a car, I’d do the same thing.

The driver pulls out from the curb, and I look nervously behind us, but I can’t see anything in the heavy rain. Hopefully, no one’s following me, but I wouldn’t be able to tell right now. I'm still not sure if Colton knows where I live, or if he just figured out a possible route I could take to the theater. I didn’t run into him until I was pretty far from Madame Pearl’s.

“So where are you headed?” asks college boy. I’ve already forgotten his name.

“Sacrilege,” I answer, a little warily. Normally, I wouldn’t just give out my destination like that. I’ve learned better. But he’s my Uber driver, so he’d see it eventually, anyway.