I receive a text from Riggs and scan it really quickly. Karina is definitely in trouble.
I lift my fist and knock on the door.
I see movement on the other side of the door, a shadow crossing over the peephole.
I lean in toward the door. “Hello. My name is Knox. Hollywood sent me to check on you.”
I wait, but the door doesn’t open.
“Karina, I’m not leaving until I talk to you.”
Karina
The knock on the door scared me so badly I practically flew off the bed.
I don’t recognize the man on the other side of the door. He’s ruggedly handsome with short hair and a scruffy beard, but I don’t recognize him as one of Hollywood’s friends, and I’ve met a lot of them. Plus, there’s no way that Hollywood could find me... not that quickly. Blake’s twin could get anyone to come up to my room to be a friend of Hollywood. I’m not going to trust him.
I watch him through the peephole thinking that maybe if I’m really quiet, he’ll just leave.
“I know you’re in there. I can see your shadow under the door and behind the peephole,” he says, and I move to the side of the door away from the peephole as if he can see me looking at him through it.
“Get lost, you’ve got the wrong room,” I tell him in my deepest voice.
“I don’t have the wrong room, Karina. Look, you don’t know me. I get it. I’ll text Hollywood, and he’ll call you and let you know I’m all right, and you can let me in.”
I watch him through the peephole as he puts his phone up to his face and types into it. When he’s done, he puts the phone back in his pocket and just stands there, almost as if he’s bored with the whole situation.
A moment later, my phone starts ringing.
I go back to the nightstand where I plugged my phone in and pick it up. It’s Hollywood, and I answer the call. “Why is there a guy here saying you sent him? How do you even know where I’m at?”
“I did send him, Karina. We’re worried about you. What are you doing?”
I notice he doesn’t answer the question of how he knows where I’m at. I should demand an answer, but there’s no point. The team Hollywood is a part of is able to get any information they want and pretty easily too. I shouldn’t be surprised he knew exactly where I was.
Determined not to get emotional this time, I take a deep breath. “I’m here for an interview. I just got a little overwhelmed when I talked to Kassie earlier and a little homesick. I’m fine.”
I can tell he doesn’t believe me. “Good, then let Knox in so he can call me and confirm that you’re not blowing smoke.”
Knox
I can hear through the paper-thin walls her talking to Hollywood and see the shadow under the door as she returns. But the door still doesn’t open.
“How’d the call go?” I ask with one hand on the chipped wallpaper next to the door. I’m looking in the peephole, wishing I could see her, wanting to see her face.
“I’m fine. Please leave.” Her voice sounds strong, but I’m not going to just give up. Hollywood wouldn’t ask me to come check on someone if he wasn’t convinced there was a threat. And Dylan sent me the information. She is in fact being followed. Regardless of what she thinks, I can’t walk away from her. Not now.
“Listen, Karina,” I say, leaning closer to the door. “It wasn’t hard for me to find you or the room you were in. The guy in the front will give anyone information for twenty dollars. Heck, he probably would have given me a key to the room if I’d asked for it. If I can do that, whoever is looking for you will be able to find you just as easily. Why don’t you let me in? Maybe I can help.”
A few seconds go by before the door opens, and I’m surprised by the glare on her beautiful face, directed right at me. “You can’t help.”
She’s beautiful. I knew from the picture on my phone that she was, but up close and in person, she’s breathtaking. It’s like there’s a heavy weight pressing on my chest as I look at her. Her eyes are tired, and I’ve never seen anyone look as sad and almost defeated as she does right now. No, there’s no way I’m leaving here without her.
“Maybe I can give you some advice then? Or money to help out?” I offer. I’d give her or promise her anything at this point. She’s scared, and knowing that pisses me off.
She steps back, and I don’t waste any time sliding into the room. She closes and locks the door behind me. I watch as she puts the chain on and slides a chair up against the handle.