Page 67 of Jump on Three
Brian.
Brian has a brain.
Oh, dear. I shouldn’t have allowed that thought to enter my mind. Now Brian was going to be on my brain all night.
“Oh, Brian,” I whispered in the back seat of Brian’s slash Brain’s Toyota RAV-4. It was black with a gray interior, not a single speck of personality to be found.
“What was that?” he asked, eyeing me through the rearview.
“Nothing. Well, I was wondering if you’ve been to Lyot before?”
I couldn’t find pictures of the interior online, which was frustrating. Going to places blindly wasn’t something I did if I could help it. I couldn’t help it in this case, and I was so determined to get inside and solve the Ivan mystery I wasn’t nervous about it.
Well, to be fair, I was nervous about this entire endeavor, so not having a preview of what I was getting into was only another block in the Jenga tower.
“I have not,” Brian gruffed. “Ain’t you too young to get in a place like that?”
“Yes, but I plan to sneak in.”
He made a huffing noise that sounded almost like a laugh. “Good luck with that.”
“Thank you, Brian. I don’t think I’ll need it, though. The last time I tried to sneak in was a disaster. The odds of two disasters happening are low.”
“Oookay.”
Brian was quiet the rest of the drive. Once he dropped me off a block down from Lyot, he pulled away from the curb so fast his tires squealed.
Hopefully, my next rideshare driver would be a little nicer. No one could top Sally Forth, and I didn’t expect that. But it would be nice if it didn’t feel like my driver wanted to pull over on the side of the road and dump me in a ditch.
That was a concern for later.
Standing all by myself on a dark sidewalk in LA, action was the most pressing matter.
I smoothed my hands down my dress—the same one from last time. Since no one had gotten to see it aside from Sal and Bella, I hadn’t felt the need to buy a new one. Plus, I knew for certain it blended well with the shadows.
I made it to the alley and stood at the mouth, my hands on my hips. I’d left SA before Ivan normally did, planning to be inside before he arrived and gone before he had any idea I’d been here.
He’d been very clear he did not want me anywhere near Lyot. He didn’t want me near him either. I drove him mad, and I didn’t mean to. But this, not knowing what this place was and what he did here night after night, was driving me just as mad.
This was it. Once I had my answers, I could leave this behind.
Jump. Just jump.
My lungs expanded as I filled them with a deep breath.
It was time to make myself as invisible as I could. I snuck down the alley, avoiding the light. When I got to the door, I positioned myself to the right of it against the brick wall.
My fingertips pressed into my thighs. One, two, three, four. I was nervous being in the dark by myself, nervous this wouldn’t go right, but I wasn’t afraid for my safety.
I just had to keep breathing. Slow and steady—
The door swung open so abruptly I nearly flew out of my skin. Luckily, I’d stopped myself from yelping. The next thing I knew, a man with a mop of curls tromped out, a bag of trash swinging from his fist.
This is it.
I moved before I could think about it, slipping through the propped door while the man’s back was turned. Once inside the brightly lit hallway, panic struck.
Where now?