Page 113 of Burning for You
The man would’ve got a black eye if not for Sam, who puts himself between me and Zac.
“Caro, come on,” Sam whispers, gently pulling me away.
“You’re in it too, huh?” I say to Zac. “How much did Josh pay you?”
“You’ll regret this, Miss Meyer,” Zac says, looking at his broken camera lens.
“You stay away from her!” Sam says as he guides me back to the car.
As we drive along Fifth Avenue, something catches my attention. Actually, someone.
I study the dents and scratches on my phone. Someone has tampered with it! It was no accident that I was pushed yesterday.
“Stop! Sam, stop.”
I get out of the car and approach the man sitting on a cardboard mat in front of a convenience store, staring blankly at a lone one-dollar note placed inside his open hat. He’s wearing a torn fake leather jacket, which I recognize.
“Hi,” I say, squatting.
“Good day, missy. Spare change?”
“Did someone pay you to bump me the other day?” I say. “About fifty yards, that way?” I point toward the Saks store.
I flash him a hundred-dollar bill. His eyes perk up.
Shoving the note loosely into my shirt pocket, I ask, “Did someone pay you so they could steal my phone?”
The man’s gaze is fixed on the corner of the bill poking out of my pocket, as if he could fish it out using his eyes. He says, “It was a guy.”
I open a photo on my phone, a random man from the internet, just to test him.
“Was it him?” I ask.
“No.”
I show the guy the photo of Anton.
“No.”
“Him?” I flash a photo of Rupert Teller.
“No.”
I gulp, and this time I show him the photo of my ex, Josh Bright.
“Yeah. That’s him.”
My knees wobble, recalling one of Rupert and Josh’s conversations:
You and I will have fun drowning her in scandal after scandal.
Is it one of them? What lies have they fed to Levi?
* * *
I landat Bozeman Airport with my mind, and legs, racing. Miraculously, my tummy seems to have settled. I didn’t even puke once on the plane. Perhaps baby Holt knows he or she is going to see Daddy soon.
One more time I call Levi, but it’s the same outcome.