Page 86 of Such A Bad Girl

“Text me the location and meet us there — now!” West barked, hanging up the phone.

In a furious rush, we all sprang into motion.

Chapter Sixty-One

EVERLEIGH

West raced to the Hotel Shangri-la, with Kaylee in the passenger seat. Violet and I sat in the backseat. The drive seemed to last for hours. Traffic flooded the freeway, and it took almost twice as long to get there as it should.

“Maybe he’s fine,” West said. “Maybe he just needed a break to get away.”

“The Hotel Shangri-la doesn’t seem like a place Theo would go to get away,” Violet offered. “Who opts for a run-down hotel in lieu of their nearby mansion in the Palisades?”

We all knew it didn’t make any sense. West was trying to soothe my nerves, and maybe his own in the process.

Violet wasn’t going to allow that. “I just think we need to be prepared for anything.”

“That’s why I have an army of security guards meeting us there.”

“If they don’t get caught in traffic.”

“I have my gun,” Kaylee said. “I can call for backup if we need it.”

None of us had any idea if Theo was really in trouble, but at least now we had a lead.

We finally pulled into the parking lot. “Well, his car is here.” West pointed to it.

“I’ll go find him,” I said, my hand on the door handle as soon as West pulled to a stop. I was terrified of what I might find, but I was determined to make sure Theo was safe.

“Don’t be ridiculous, Ev. Stay in the car. You’ll start a riot in the hotel lobby when everyone recognizes you.”

“And they won’t recognize you?” I snapped.

“Everyone stay in the car,” Kaylee said. “Let me go in and talk to the hotel clerk. I’ll be right back.”

We couldn’t argue with that. Even Violet would have been recognized. At that moment, I regretted ever getting into show business. All I wanted to do was go in and find Theo, make sure he was okay and safe and alive.

Instead, I was forced to wait again.

“This fucking sucks,” I muttered to myself. I grabbed my phone, texting Theo for the millionth time that morning. “I’m sure it’s Jill. You remember her, right West?”

“Yes, I do,” he said. “I remember she was really into Theo back then. I hadn’t thought about her in years.”

“I can’t take this,” I complained.

“Damn, are y’all always this tense? Fuck,” Violet said. “Theo’s probably just sleeping off a bender, just like Rian was.”

I flashed her a wide-eyed look and she quickly recounted.

“Well, not just like Rian. Minus all the pussy, I guess…”

I shook my head, my thoughts spinning. When I saw Kaylee coming back across the parking lot, my heart soared.

She leaned her head into West’s window.

“He arrived at midnight and went upstairs. They don’t know which room because he didn’t check in. They think maybe he’s on the third floor, but they aren’t sure.”

“Great, so we have to search the entire fucking hotel?”