With his own phone to his ear, Mason met my eyes. “We’ll handle it.” He arranged a suite, and Joe made it to the High Roller, making a few extra turns in case anyone was following us.
Luckily, we
got out and in the building before anyone noticed. Minutes later, I was in my new room, making a list of things I needed. Considering my bags were all held up in the other suite, it was a long one. “I need you to do something for me.”
Mason leaned over and glanced at my list. “I’ll go and get that for you. I don’t trust sending Joe out for things right away, and your assistant should stay on lockdown, as well.”
I’d wait until he was out of the room so I could call Luna. I was afraid of what she might have suddenly remembered about last night. I looked around the room for a charger and thank God, the place came with a full set up of any kind of charger known to man.
Mason took the list, but made no move to leave me. “You should call your family and get your assistant on her way. Warn her about the press. Things won’t be getting any better anytime soon. She should call home, too, and let her family know she’ll be gone a while.”
“Tell me how bad this could get.” I kept my eyes averted to the floor. “Let’s stop pretending the press is my worst concern right now. What could happen to me?”
“We’re waiting for the evidence to come back from the labs. I’m sure that they have expedited it, but that doesn’t mean it will be fast. The process could take days.” He let out a long breath. “Where the fuck were you all night?”
“I was at the Serendipity Hotel and Casino. I only left once to go across the street, and Luna was with me the entire time. I gave my speech, and then we celebrated over dinner, hung out with some guests, and drank a hell of a lot.”
“That’s perfect! You have an alibi. More than enough people saw you and as long as the time of death for both women occurred during that window of time, you’re in the clear.” He brushed off his pants legs and met my eyes. “What time did you get in?”
“It was about three a.m.”
“Good, let’s hope the time of death helps your alibi. I’m going to take care of you like I did with that lawsuit.” He stood and went to the mini bar.
He’d been a good friend and I couldn’t ask for a better attorney, but I couldn’t believe that my luck had come down to what time they’d died. These were women I’d kissed and fucked and taken to my home. They had been girlfriends that I’d spent countless hours talking with and had those warm and fuzzy feelings of fresh attraction over.
“I can’t believe they’re dead. And what’s worse, I can’t believe anyone would think I did it. I mean, I can see the coincidence of it, but…”
“I think we need to throw coincidence out the window, friend. I think we need to face the reality that you’re being framed.”
Chapter Five
Luna
I felt like a prisoner. I’d been so anxious to get back to my hotel room, hoping it would ground me and make me feel safer – not because the place had acted as my home base for the past few days, but because it was familiar and that’s where my bags were. It seemed that’s where I was supposed to be and certainly not upstairs in the suite belonging to Gabriel. Instead, it felt like another holding cell, another birdcage to the reporter outside waiting for me to chirp.
I stared at my hands, which were wringing in my lap, and contemplated calling my father. He must have been worried sick if this was all over the news. I hoped if it were, he hadn’t yet seen it. What was I going to tell him? I had been putting off my call home to him because I had no idea what to say. How could I explain that I was safe when my boss, the only other person I knew in Las Vegas, had been arrested for murder?
I checked the time on my phone and realized I couldn’t put it off much longer. He’d never forgive me, and I said a silent prayer that his not calling meant he hadn’t heard anything. He’d have called if he had seen it, of that I was sure, unless he’d panicked and something terrible had happened.
Don’t even think that! I sank down on the sofa and covered my face with my hands as I took a deep breath and mustered up the courage. But it was too late. As I heard the phone ring, I knew it was going to be him. Sure enough, I looked down to see his smiling face in his profile photo.
I swiped the screen and put the little black phone to my ear. “I’m fine, Dad.”
A strong release of breath sent static through the phone. “Praise God.”
There was silence, and I could imagine the look on my father’s face. His eyes were no doubt closed as the news sank in, and he was probably shaking his head until he found his next words. I’d seen him give that look to too many people over too many years. “I was scared to death when you didn’t call me. You know, it takes all of two seconds to pick up a phone!”
I sat and took the scolding, not because I appreciated him yelling at me, but because I understood the shock of it all. “I know, I was about to call you. I had to go out, and the media is swarming the hotel. They are camped outside my room as we speak.”
“Don’t talk to anyone! I’ll come and get you and-”
“No, Dad. I’m fine. They can’t sit there forever. Besides, I think the police are going to want to talk to me.” Think it? I knew it, but I didn’t want him to worry more.
“Well, if they’re accusing him, they’ve got a damned good reason. You should have an attorney on standby. Jesus, help us all.” I listened as he struggled, and though I doubted there were any tears in his eyes, I knew they were close.
I was all the man had since my mother had passed away. He’d been driving her back from a dinner party and had had a little too much to drink. One tiny slip up and the car went off the side of the road into a small canal. My mother had died on impact, and my father had never forgiven himself.
Because he always blamed himself, I grew up thinking that if I could be perfect and make him proud, he’d have some sense of joy, and so I lived to make him happy. When I went off to college, he’d had a hard time, but then he found the church. He’d learned to forgive himself and was all about second chances. Thank God for that.