le, but before she could let herself out, he placed a hand on her shoulder. “I’ll drive you to your car.”
“It’s just around the corner.”
Did his fingers clench a little over her upper arm? Did his expression darken a bit?
“Only a couple of blocks. I need the air.” She opened the door and half expected him to try to restrain her.
He dropped his hand. “Oh, and Cassie,” he said before she slammed the door shut. “Give Cherise a break, would ya? I know you don’t like it that she’s working for me now, but it’s not her fault that Allie . . .” He let the end of the sentence slide and started the engine.
“That Allie what?”
“Doesn’t matter,” he said under his breath as he rammed the Tahoe into gear. “I guess nothing does.”
She barely got the door slammed and had stepped away from his SUV before he gunned the engine, narrowly missing the car parked in front of him as he took off with a roar and chirp of tires.
What a waste of time. All she’d learned was that someone had texted McNary, or he’d done it himself. It wasn’t beneath him to use this as a ploy for publicity. The man ate up everything written about him, good or bad. He enjoyed being the Hollywood bad boy and it didn’t bother him a bit that his face was plastered all over the tabloids, and he was fodder for the gossip mills. He loved it. Once, she’d overheard him say to Allie, “There’s no such thing as bad publicity.”
She started walking away, half surprised no reporter had been purposely tipped off about their private meeting. It would be just like McNary to set that up, another way to keep his name trending on social media. Her stomach turned at the headlines: Star of Dead Heat Caught with Missing Costar’s Sister. No, make that Married Sister.
Yeah, she should never have come here.
As she hurried through the rain, she noticed the streets were now nearly deserted, the night thick, the glow from the streetlamps watery and weak. She pulled her cell from her purse and saw that Trent hadn’t called again. Nor had he responded to her text. She figured she’d call him when she was driving east. For now, she didn’t want to be too distracted, needed to be aware.
Her car was parked in a space she’d found near a hospital, only a few blocks from the restaurant. She half jogged along the sidewalk, not waiting for the pedestrian crossing lights to change, feeling suddenly anxious and alone. She considered calling Trent, just to hear his voice, but she didn’t want to go into everything with McNary yet.
Her breath fogged. Her head still ached. The park was eerily empty as she passed it, a stray dog sniffing a trash can, the distant sound of the freeway a steady hum. The storefronts were lit only by security lamps, a few of the apartments rising above showing warm patches of light or the flickering blue illumination of a television, though most of the windows were dark, the world asleep.
Jabbing her hands deep in her pockets, she felt the rain drumming against her hood. She turned a final corner and heard a hint of footsteps behind her. Someone else out this late at night? Her pulse leaped. The footfalls worried her a bit and she turned, trying to see around the edge of her hood, but she could see no one.
Still, she definitely heard steps running behind her through these empty city streets.
The hospital, a red brick edifice, was only two blocks away. If someone were really following her, she could walk inside. Sure, there were security people who would be questioning her before allowing entrance, but that would be fine. More than fine.
The footfalls seemed to increase over the insistent pounding of the rain.
Cassie broke into a run. Rain slid down her face and she kicked up water, her shoes sodden. But she didn’t care. The hospital was close. A behemoth of a structure that was, at its heart, over a hundred years old, though it had gone through several renovations to modernize and expand it over the past century. Now the hospital and surrounding clinics were connected by sky bridges and tunnels and sprawled over several city blocks.
Rounding a corner, she saw the red letters for the Emergency Room burning brightly through the curtain of rain. Thank God!
The footsteps behind her seemed to quicken.
From where?
Oh, God.
Breathing hard, Cassie craned her neck, this time looking behind her a little frantically.
Nothing!
Was she imagining the sounds?
Where the hell was the runner, the person following her?
Faster. Run, faster! You’ll be safe—the hospital, just a few more feet and—
“Hey!” a deep voice shouted.
She stopped short, tripped, pitched forward.