Infiltrating Your Heart (21 page)

I shrug.

“Well, yeah. Gabriel’s hard not to
like.”

“You’re impossible not to like,”
Patrick says.

I smile shyly, my cheeks reddening.

“I’ll let you get ready for your
interview, then.”

Patrick stands up. I do the same.

“Okay. See you later.”

“Good luck.”

I nod,
and Patrick leaves. I look at the floor. If I’m to steal Gabriel’s heart, I need
to increase my game. It’s time to bring out the big guns.

That night, I have another
assignment. As I’ve had final exams, I took the liberty to not take any more
requests from clients. Today, I’ve accepted, particularly because the client
said he’s not expecting sex. I don’t know why, but I’m feeling…loyalty towards
Gabriel. I really don’t want to be in bed with any other man.

Who knew? For the first time since
I’ve been an escort, I wish I wasn’t one. Sure, they pay’s great and I enjoy
having sex and receiving compliments for my body. I just never thought it would
be an inconvenience for my dating life. I had assumed that any guy interested
in me wouldn’t mind what I do for a living.

At around ten thirty, I arrive at the
address where the client will meet with me. I look out through my window and
see that it’s a motel. And it’s not on one of the nicer neighborhoods in the
city. I frown.

Well, if some dude expects easy sex,
at least I’m getting paid for it.

I step out of my car and lock it.
Then I walk toward the building. I am supposed to stand outside the entrance.
Someone will recognize me.

I stand there, looking up and down
the road. There’s no sign of a soul anywhere near me. I look at the time on my
smartphone. It’s a quarter to eleven.

Standing there, I wish I’d brought
something to distract myself with. Maybe a book. This isn’t the first time a
client has made me wait, and it doesn’t feel good.

As I’m examining my dark red high
heels, I feel a hand close around my mouth. I try to gasp, but obviously I’m
unable to. An arm grabs me around the waist.

I struggle against my captor,
unwilling to let him take me. He’s quite strong. Just my luck.

Using all my strength, I stomp my
heel down on my attacker’s foot. He yells, but doesn’t budge much. I try again,
but this time he’s prepared.

“You’re coming with me, bitch!”

Trying another tactic, I stop holding
my weight. The dude lets me fall a half inch. In that second, I wish I weighed
more than my one hundred ten. My captor might as well be holding a guitar.

The guy starts dragging me down the
street. I struggle against him. I wish I had my gun on me.

“Stop trying to escape,” the guy
hisses.

Still not giving up, I struggle
harder. I strike backward with my head using all my strength. This time, I
manage to daze the guy. His grip relaxes enough for me to escape. I put some
distance between us before facing him.

My captor is tall, and quite
muscular. No wonder I had trouble escaping from his grip. Under that dark, bald
head of his is a bleeding nose. He’s holding a hand against it. His eyes stare
at me with hatred.

The guy dashes toward me. I do the
first thing I can think of. I fall to the side and use my leg to trip him. It
works. He lands on the ground with a loud thud. I stand up and kick him on the
side.

Argh
. I might as well be kicking a motor
engine.

“Go find someone else to steal money
for your next coke fix!” I snap. The guy tries to stand up. I get up behind him
and place my arm around his neck. He stands up with me on his back. He
struggles to free himself. I hold on with as much strength as I can muster.

The guy’s dark skin is turning
purple. Right now, I wouldn’t care much if he ends up dead. My vision has
turned red with anger.

As a last resort, the guy lurches
backward. My back slams against a wall. It hurts, but I don’t relax my hold. He
falls to his knees. When I can no longer hold his weight up, I let him fall
down. He drops to the ground. I think that he’s unconscious.

I fall to the ground as well. With
the adrenaline gone, my strength fades. I stay in a sitting position, resting.

When I recover enough, I look around.
I’ve just realized that my purse is missing. I need my phone to call for help.
When I stand up, I spot my purse on the sidewalk halfway to where my car is. I
walk to it and retrieve my phone. Then I look to the unconscious man. I wonder
how long he’s going to stay like that.

Not wanting to take any chances, I
grab some rope from the trunk of my car. Yeah, I do bondage, but nothing too
hardcore. I walk back to the guy and tie his wrists and ankles. Satisfied, I
stand up.

I don’t realize tears are falling
down my face until the wind cools my cheeks. I wipe the moisture and hold my
phone up. I call the only person I can think of.

“Yes?”
a male voice answers on the other
end.

“Gabriel. I need your help.”

Gabriel immediately catches my tone
of voice.

“What’s wrong? Are you okay?”

“Yeah. I was just…I’m fine.”

“You don’t sound fine, Mercedes. Do
you need me to pick you up?”

When he asks that question, I wonder
why I even called him. I’ve got my own car. There’s no one else here left. I
hope that the police will find my attacker.

“No, I’m okay. I have my car. I just
wondered if you teach self-defense classes.”

“I know a bit about it, but no. I
only teach fitness and swimming.”

I nod, and then realize Gabriel can’t
see me.

“Oh. I see.”

“I do know a guy, though. May I ask
why the sudden interest?”

“Nothing. It’s just that summer’s
coming up, and I’d like a…productive way to spend my free time.”

“Sounds good. Do you have something
to write with?”

“No.”

“Oh. Then I’ll text you the guy’s
information.”

“All right. Thanks, Gabriel.”

“You sure you’re okay?”

“Yes, I’m fine,” I lie, not wanting
to worry him. I still owe Gabriel a lot for having my car fixed.

“Okay. Good night, Mercedes.”

“Good night,” I say, and then hang
up. I lean against the side of my car. It has gotten darker since I arrived. I
look toward where the guy is. He’s stirring.

Not
wanting him to see I’m still here, I get into my car. I rev the engine and turn
into the opposite direction, then drive forward away from the scene.

~*~
Gabriel

I had a bit of trouble sleeping last
night. Mercedes’s phone call left me worrying about her. I wonder if she truly
was fine. She sounded upset. If Mercedes had told me where she was, I’d have
driven to her.

The fact that I’m so worried about
Mercedes worries me. I can’t let Evelyn find out. She’s a mild jealous type,
meaning she’ll be angry but won’t throw a fit.

I’m brought back to Earth when one of
my students calls my attention. I shake my head.

“I’m sorry. Can you repeat the
question?”

The student does so, and I answer. I
focus on class, clearing my head.

As soon as class is over, I walk to
my office. I was a bit antsy the whole time. I haven’t heard anything about
Mercedes yet.

While I’m sitting there, I think
about my errands for the day. After work, I’m supposed to check out this other
restaurant I found. It’s the Zuni Café. Ciara likes it, so I’m hoping that
Evelyn will too.

A few moments later, someone knocks
on my door.

“Enter,” I say. The door opens, and
Evelyn walks in.

“Hi, sweetheart!” she says, smiling.
I stand up.

“How are you, baby?”

“Good. I thought I’d use my time off
work to come and see you.”

“I’m glad you did. I was just
thinking about you.”

Evelyn smiles. I lean forward and
kiss her.

“You look like a zombie, but you seem
energetic.”

I scoff.

“What do you mean?”

“Have you looked at yourself in a
mirror? You look like you couldn’t get a shut-eye last night.”

I shrug, not knowing what to say.

“I’ve been busy.”

“You know, that’s something I wanted
to ask you about. Will you be busy this afternoon?” Evelyn asks.

“No. Why?”

“I was just thinking that we haven’t
taken some time for ourselves lately. It’s Friday, so I thought you’d be up for
a night out.”

That sounds like a perfect idea.

“I’m definitely in for that. What do
you have in mind?”

“I don’t know. We could go to the
park, or watch a movie. We haven’t done that last thing in ages.”

“It’s funny how time has flown. I’ll
check what movies are available to watch.”

“So you won’t be busy tonight?”

“Only with you, baby. Only with you.”

Evelyn giggles. I put my arms around
her and meet my lips to hers again. I love this woman.

What about Mercedes?
an intruding thought pops into my
head. I try to ignore it.

“I’ll see you at six, then?” Evelyn
asks. She’s oblivious to what’s going on in my head.

“Make it six thirty,” I say.

“Good. Are you heading out for lunch
now?”

“Maybe. Yeah. Want to go with me?”

“Of course. I only have a half hour
left, though. It’s getting really busy over there.”

“I can imagine.”

Evelyn turns, and I follow her
outside. I don’t know why, but suddenly I wish I could take Mercedes out on a
date. The idea sounds so tempting. I think I must be losing my mind. She’s
getting under my skin, and she most likely doesn’t even know it.

Mercedes

Earlier, Patrick texted me with the
place Gabriel is going to be this afternoon. After classes, I have a couple of
hours before I have to intercept him.

Since I’ve got more than plenty of
time, I decide to visit the martial arts instructor that Gabriel recommended.
I’ve actually taken aikido classes before, but that was until I turned
thirteen. By then, I’d had two years of training. My father’s illness caused me
to withdraw. The money vanished, so I couldn’t keep paying.

Dismissing my thoughts, I drive to
the karate studio. It’s owned by a guy named Shane Howell. I’ve never heard of
him. Gabriel claims that Shane’s the best self-defense instructor in the city.
I wonder if that’s true.

I pull up into the parking lot and
kill the engine. A few moments later, I’m walking through the door.

The first room is sort of a small
reception area. There’s a section to the right side which I assume is the
receptionist’s counter. No one is there right now.

Before I can make any decision, a man
walks in from the larger room farther up.

“Good afternoon,” he says. “May I
help you?”

“Yes. I wanted to ask about these
classes. Do you work here?”

“I do,” the man replies with a wry
smile. “My name’s Shane Howell.”

“So you’re the owner,” I reply. The
man offers his hand and I shake it. “Gabriel O’Hara referred me to you.”

“Mr. O’Hara, huh? He was one of my
best students. Not a man you’d want to sneak up on.”

“I can imagine.”

“What’s your name?”

“Mercedes Roberts.”

Mr. Howell nods.

“So, what specific question did you
have?”

“I wondered if there’s a class I
could sign up for. I’d like to make myself harder to abduct.”

Mr. Howell laughs, most likely
thinking I meant that as a joke. I let it slide.

“You came at a good time. Sign-ups
for my summer session end next Friday. The classes themselves start the week
after.”