“You’ll see him when he visits Penni’s office.”
“But not every day?” Her stomach started twisting in knots so badly that she was having trouble catching her breath.
“No, not every day. Maybe once every few months or so. Are you okay? You don’t look like you feel so hot.”
“I’m fine. Is he mad at me? Did I do something last night? He was acting strange when I left….”
“Zoey, Stump was watching you because Ice ordered him to. Now, Ice has another job for him. It’s as simple as that.”
“But, is he still my friend? Can I call him?”
“I would give him a couple of days before you call…. He’s kind of busy.”
She unconsciously started rubbing her belly, trying to ease her stomach’s painful clenching. “Okay, I’ll get dressed so we can go to my office.”
“Don’t you want to take your run? I brought an outfit to change into—”
“I better not. My stomach is acting up.” She doubled over at the vicious cramp that struck her.
Jackal reached out, taking her arm. “You want me to take you to the ER?”
“No, it’ll pass. I need to meditate. That always makes me feel better.”
“Meditation isn’t going to help if there is something seriously wrong.”
“If I don’t feel better after lunchtime, I’ll make an appointment with my doctor.”
“I’ll wait out here, then. Don’t be long, or I’ll come in and check on you,” he warned.
“Give me thirty minutes.” Zoey hastened inside, calmly closing the door.
As soon as Jackal could no longer see her, she took off at a run to the bathroom, vomiting into the toilet. Running water in the sink, she then silently chanted to herself, trying to find the calm to relieve the anxiousness that was tearing her stomach apart.
Putting her hands under the water to wash her face, she realized she was crying. It took several minutes to get herself back under control and find the energy to leave the bathroom and get dressed.
Putting on a flowery wraparound dress that fell past her knees, she went to her dresser to do her hair. Braiding her hair into several braids, she placed a braided leather band across her forehead, tying it behind her head. Sliding on her purple wristlet because the dress didn’t have pockets, she then went outside.
Assuring Jackal that she was feeling better, she drove to work without turning on her radio. She had to force herself to press on the brakes when she would have run a red light, strumming her fingers impatiently on the steering wheel, waiting for it to turn green. When it did, she floored it, wanting to get to the office.
In the parking garage, she was out of her car and walking to the elevator when Jackal pulled in. Pressing the button, she was tempted to go ahead, but from his angry expression that she could see from where she was standing, she decided to wait.
“What’s the hurry? You nearly ran down that old man at the crosswalk.” He punched her floor button as if he wanted to punch her instead.
“I waited until he was back on the sidewalk. Cecil has a bad habit of ignoring the crosswalk signs. I’m going to talk to him about it when I see him at the gym again.”
“Why were you going so fast? Stump says you usually drive too slow.”
“Did you call and tell him I was driving too fast?”
“No.” He gave her the same look Stump gave her when he thought she had lost another card out of her deck. “He’s probably still asleep.”
“I thought you said he was too busy to run with me because he had a job to do for Ice?” Dejectedly, she walked hurriedly down the hall, disappointed that neither Grace nor Penni were in yet.
“He has to do it today, not this morning. He slept in.”
Turning from Penni’s door, she raised her hands to her hips. “Why didn’t he want to run with me?”
Jackal opened his mouth to reply, but she stopped him before he could.
“And please don’t tell me it was because he has a job to do for Ice. He could have run with me if he wasn’t still sleeping.”
Jackal gave a long sigh, running a frustrated hand through his hair. “Call him.”
She narrowed her eyes at him. “I’m going to do better than that.” Storming back down the hallway, she pressed the down elevator button.
“Where you going?”
“I have an agreement with Stump. If he’s going to break it, I want to know why face-to-face, not over the phone.”
Going into the elevator, she didn’t care if Jackal followed her or not.
He managed to get in before the doors slid shut.
“You can’t go to the clubhouse.”
“Why not? I was there last night when I was watching Hannibal.” She crossed her arms over her chest, impatiently waiting for the elevator to go down.
“No one was there last night. The club is full now. Some of The Last Riders spent the night there.”