My stomach sinks. “You think Brittanie is a part of what’s happening?”
“I don’t know why else Molly would have wanted to go.” His jaw tightens.
We step into the neon-lit bar. It’s crowded, and a DJ behind a raised table at the opposite end of the dance floor plays house music loudly.
“I need a beer,” he says in my ear. “You want anything?”
I shake my head no, and Mark goes to the bar. Evie is waiting on my reply to her text, and I’m trying to decide how to tell her everything with my thumbs. Ultimately, I settle on, Still working. Hope to have more soon.
Good luck, she replies.
Take care of my baby for me. As I type the words, my chest hurts. I miss my little girl so much.
Don’t worry.
I wish that were possible.
“Who are you texting?” Joshua is across from me looking as anxious as I feel.
“A friend. She’s watching our little girl.”
He nods in the direction of the bar. “He’s a good guy. How long have you been together?”
My mind races through the ups and downs of Mark and me, from the day he saved me at the theater to him taking me down the alley for food, to our night on the town, to his attempt to fight off Guy’s men, to our surprise meeting on the train in Canada, to the glorious weeks we spent in Nice when I was pregnant, to him finding me again at Roland’s…
“Almost eight years… sort of.”
“Sort of?”
“It’s so complicated.”
Mark returns carrying two beers. He hands one to Josh. “Figured you could use this.”
Joshua takes it and clinks their glasses. “Thanks. Cheers.”
They take long sips, and the house music seems to grow louder around us. We’re in the middle of a sea of bodies swaying, nodding, or full-on dancing. Lights strobe and flicker in excited patterns, and I’m not feeling any of it.
My lungs are too tight to breathe, and all I can think of is Molly in a deadly situation. Not to mention, we haven’t done what we came here to do, if it’s even possible anymore.
Mark said Gavin only saved the videos that incriminate us. Is it just for insurance in the event we come after him, or is he building a case against us, trying to trap us? We can’t take that chance.
“Want a sip?” Mark holds his beer toward me, and I smile before taking a long gulp.
His warm hand finds my waist, fingers tracing the skin just above my waistband. It gives me comfort in the way only Mark is able to do, and just when I think I’ll go crazy from waiting, Joshua nudges me and lifts his phone.
He studies the face, my heart beating faster, then he types a quick reply.
“What’s happening?” I ask.
“Candi’s on her way here. She said one of the girls who works with Brittanie at the piercing salon is with her. She might know where they went.”
“They’d be that lax with security?” Mark’s deep voice is near my cheek.
“I doubt it.” Josh takes another sip of beer. “But Brittanie would. She’s pretty immature, talks a lot.”
I cringe at the implication. Of course Molly is all over this situation. It’s her own nightmare replaying in front of her.
Mark’s hand tightens around my waist. “If this piercing chick knows anything, I’d say Gavin is slipping.”