Read If I Were You Online

Authors: Lisa Renee Jones

Tags: #Fiction, #Romance, #General, #Erotica, #Contemporary, #Suspense

If I Were You (27 page)

BOOK: If I Were You
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I have no concept of how much time has elapsed when I
retrieve my cell phone and curl into a ball in the bed. Steeling myself for a
message I am sure is from Chris, I glance at the screen.

Please let me know you are home safe.
Then ten
minutes later.
Sara. I need to know you are okay.
The messages continue
until the final one, five minutes before.
If I don’t hear from you soon I’m
coming to check on you.

I’m fine,
I type and drop the phone onto the
mattress, but I’m not fine at all.

 

***

 

The next morning I barely pull myself out of bed and when I
glance at the clock, I know Chris is gone, in a plane, headed to another city.
I have a week to think, a week to miss him. A week to get my head on straight.
I’m drinking coffee when I begin to think about what he’d said.
Give me a
chance to explain.
The memory hits me like a cannonball, shaking me to the
core. He craves pain so he doesn’t feel other things. What other things? Deep
down is a growing certainty that there is far more to Chris’s past than I know.
What has he endured and how can I judge him when I have no idea how horrific it
might be?  

I walk to my bed where I’ve laid out my black skirt and
beige blouse, but a sudden need to be close to Chris sends me to my new
suitcase, where I pull out the final dress from my gift bags, a cream-colored
dress with a flare to the skirt.

When I open my front door to depart, I freeze at the sight
of a large yellow envelope, with my name written in Chris’s handwriting. My heart
squeezes and I reach for it, opening it with eager, unsteady hands. I stare at
the drawing inside, unable to catch my breath. It’s a black and white draft of
me, naked and leaning against the window of his apartment, the brilliant lights
of the city behind me. Attached to the drawing is a piece of paper that reads —
You are all I need.

I drop my head to the paper, and fight the burn in my eyes.
“Oh Chris,” I whisper. I love this man. Logic is screaming it’s too soon to
feel such a thing but my heart has won this battle. And I am almost certain
Chris is going to rip my heart from my chest before this is over, and yet, I
can’t wish him away.

 

***

 

I arrive at work and for the first time since the club,
worrying about facing Mark, only to hear from Amanda that Mark is off site for
most of the day. It is the best news I can get; the space that allows me to
regroup.

Needing something other than Chris and Mark to think about,
I dive into my work, starting with a call to Ricardo from my cell phone. He
answers immediately. “This is Sara McMillan from the Allure Gallery.”

He rambles in Spanish and I’m fairly certain every word is
not a nice one. “I do not have time for this call, Ms. McMillan.”

“I have a client who wants a private viewing of your
collection. He adores your work as so many of us do.”

Silence. “You admire my work?”

“Immensely. I was at the charity event and hoped to meet
you. It would have been an honor. I would be thrilled to do so now.”

More silence. “Come to my private gallery Wednesday evening at
seven o’clock. If I feel you are competent then I’ll invite your client to the
next meeting.”

“Excellent. Yes. Thank you.”

“Do not bring Mark, Ms. McMillan.” He hangs up.

Mark
. Not Mr. Compton. An uneasy shiver goes down my
back, and I worry that he and Mark have a private club connection.

My cell phone buzzes with a text while I’m holding it and I
click on the message to read,
I don’t want to miss you but damn it I already
do. Don’t run, Sara.

I inhale against the emotion in my chest and know I can’t promise
him I won’t.
I miss you
, I type, and God, it’s so true.

Then come here and be with me.

I can’t. You know that.

I wait for a reply and wait some more. Finally I get a
simple,
I know
. I know? What does that mean? It feels important to me to
reach out to him somehow, to send him the message that I am here, I am trying
to understand. 

I wet my lips and type.
But I wish I could.

He doesn’t reply and I don’t know what to think.

Lunchtime comes and I rush to the apartment building where
Rebecca had lived, only to be told they can’t give out private information, and
Rebecca no longer lives there anyway. I’m not going to let it discourage me.
I’ll find another way to reach Rebecca. Visiting the club with Chris has me
thinking about how easily Rebecca could have gotten into something too deep,
too intense, and ended up hurt. My determination to find her is renewed with a
new, fearless vengeance.

I stop by the coffee shop hoping to find Ava there and just
outright ask her the name of Rebecca’s boyfriend. She’s out of town again. I
spend the rest of my lunch hour calling through random numbers I’ve found in
Rebecca’s phone directory getting nowhere. I decide to go the storage unit and
dig around after work since it will be early when I get off.

By late afternoon, I haven’t heard from Chris and it’s
driving me crazy. I have no idea Mark is in until he pokes his head into my
doorway. “Mary is in the bathroom throwing up and I’m headed out to another
meeting. I need you to work late.”

“Yes. Okay.”

“Good.” He is gone that fast.

I check the times the storage unit is open and I’ll have an
hour to dig around if I leave right at eight.

 

***

 

I arrive at the unit at eight-fifteen, and I still haven’t
heard from Chris. It’s making me crazy. He makes me crazy and I’m ready to
throw myself into searching Rebecca’s unit for answers, hoping this makes me
feel like I’m doing something worthwhile.

The instant I park and stare at the concrete building with
orange doors, I remember how much I hate this place, but remind myself this
isn’t about me. It’s never been about me. Rebecca is missing. I don’t believe
for a minute she’s on vacation and ditched her apartment and left all of her
things behind. It makes no sense. Why store her items? Still, doesn’t the unit
infer she made an active choice to leave, and why am I still not buying that?

Remembering my last visit and the juggling act I’d pulled, I
decide to leave my purse in the car so I have less to carry when I leave the
unit. With my keys in hand, I step out of my car and under a flickering light,
noting the absence of anyone else around. “Cue scary music,” I mumbled as I
start walking, mocking my ridiculous nerves.

The exterior doors are open and I make my way to Rebecca’s
unit and unlock it, reaching inside to flip on the light. Goosebumps lift on my
skin as I stare at the neatly packaged personal items. Everything seems as I
left it.

After considering shutting the door, creepy images of
getting locked inside make me think better. With no time to spare, I head to a
box and use it for a chair, wishing I had on a pair of jeans.

I’m digging through some papers when I hear a loud pop. I
frown and still, listening. There is a sudden chill in the room, and I stand
up, every nerve ending I own on edge.

Another popping sound and the lights go out. It’s pitch
black and I open my mouth to scream but some instinct makes me bite it back.

Another pop.

A footstep.

Someone is in here with me.

 

The exciting conclusion

Being Me

&

Revealing Us

Coming soon!

 

About The Author

 

 

Booklist says: Jones' suspense truly sizzles with an energy
similar to FBI tales with a paranormal twist by Julie Garwood or Suzanne
Brockmann. Alpha, military, and paranormal romance readers will want Jones'
entire series. (About the Zodius Series -- Storm that is Sterling)

 

In 2003, award winning author Lisa Renee Jones sold her
Austin, Texas based multi-state staffing agency and has since published over
thirty novels and novellas across several genres. Her staffing agency LRJ
Staffing was recognized many times by The Austin Business Journal and also
praised by Dallas Women Magazine. In 1998 LRJ was listed as the #7 growing
women owned business in Entrepreneur Magazine.

 

Her debuts with Blaze and Nocturne hit Bookscan's Top 100
list and her Blaze Hotzone trilogy made a showing on the list in 2011 also.
With a new Blaze trilogy, a short story for Spice, the third book in her Zodius
series published with Sourcebooks, as well as an rapidly growing indie
following, the future will bring many new stories to her readers.

 

Lisa is active on Facebook and Twitter, and you can find her
at

www.LisaReneeJones.com

BOOK: If I Were You
12.51Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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