“Sure,” he chuckled. “Want some coffee?”
I want to crawl into a hole and die. “Yeah,” she said instead. She sat up slowly and winced at the bright Nevada light blazing through the window. “Ow,”
“Hangover?”
“No.” Her head swam and she took a deep breath. “Maybe.”
“Come sit down. I’ll make bacon and eggs. It’s a hangover cure.”
Still feeling embarrassed and angry at herself she eased out of bed straightening her clothes as she did so. Her tee-shirt was twisted and her bra felt like it was embedded in her skin. She didn’t even want to know what her hair or makeup looked like. She walked softly to the table and sat gently hoping the less she jostled herself the less the chances of throwing up or causing her splitting headache to get worse. Xander grinned at her as he sat a cup of coffee, bottle of milk and a canister of sugar in front of her.
“Good luck,” he told her. “If you can keep that down your head will feel better.
She couldn’t even meet his eyes so she just stared at her coffee as he went back to the kitchen. I can’t believe I did that. I almost had sex with Xander. The memory of his saying “stop” and holding her hands away burned from the inside out. She could feel her face turning redder. I can’t believe I let things go so far. Sydney ran a hand over her face. He did say he didn’t want to do it while I drunk. That’s why he stopped—she ended that line of thinking before it went further.
Getting involved with him is a horrible idea. Well it’s a damn good thing he said no. If we’d had sex that would have complicated things so much more. What if I have to leave him behind and run? That’s still possible. That could be what saves his life and would I still be able to do that if I was any more involved with him? Sydney sighed and rubbed at the make-up she was sure was smeared under her eyes.
A few minutes later Xander sat a plate of scrambled eggs and bacon in front of her. At the sight of the greasy bacon and fluffy eggs her stomach growled audibly. Xander laughed. “Think you’re going to be able to do it?”
“I think so.” With the food in front of her and the smell of the bacon teasing her nose her body seemed to forget it might throw up and demanded the food. Her mouth watered as she cautiously took a bite of the salty strip of meat. “Mmmm,” she moaned happily.
“Look,” Xander began tentatively.
Syd looked up in alarm. He was looking at the table almost remorsefully and her blood turned cold. Oh, man, I don’t want to talk about this.
“I’m sorry about last night.”
She drew back, surprised. Why is he sorry? “
I really shouldn’t have done that. We were both drunk.”
A lump formed in Sydney’s stomach. “I know,” she tried to brush off her embarrassment.
“I care about you a lot.”
“Don’t.”
“Huh?” Xander looked up from the table surprised.
“Give me the ‘I care about you but this would be a mistake’ speech.” Xander opened his mouth to speak but she interrupted him. “I agree, you just don’t have to say it. I am the one sorry about last night. I acted awful and I know better than that.”
“That’s not…”
“Xander. Please. Just let it go. We both just need to agree to not let it happen again.”
“Sydney, shut up.” It was her turn to stare at him open mouthed. “You can try to tell yourself you and I would be a bad idea all you want. But the only bad thing about you and I is jumping into things before you realize you are ready or what you want.” Speechless, she looked at her lap. “I meant what I said last night. You are the one who needs to decide what you want, and not when you are drunk or high.”
Sydney couldn’t find any words, so she just ate instead. After a moment, Xander resumed eating as well, but with enough force that she could tell he was annoyed. Finally, after her plate was empty and her stomach felt better she took both their dishes to the sink. “I’m going to take a shower,” she said softly, feeling contrite. “Do you need in the bathroom?”
“Nah, I showered already.”
When she looked at him confused he smiled and her stomach tingled traitorously. How can one smile from him make me feel like a love-sick teenager?
“I’ve been awake for hours,” he explained.
“What time is it?”
“It’s almost noon. You’ve been asleep for over half a day.”
“Shit.”
“Yeah, I was starting to worry.” He looked at her pointedly but she ignored the look.
She really didn’t want to talk about her condition on top of everything else. “Alright. Well, I’ll be ready to go soon.”
***
By twelve-thirty they left their room and were heading towards the Luxor. Neither of them spoke much and slowly, Sydney was letting go of her embarrassment and it was slowly turning to anger. She was mad at Xander for starting things, but angrier at herself for going along with him. She needed time to think about what Xander had said. She knew that he was right to a point. But he was ignoring the fact that her life was practically the definition of insanity.
She realized one of the reasons he was helping her was because he apparently cared about her—as bizarre as that is to say. And that is the main reason why she would be an awful person to keep dragging him into worse and worse situations. She had done enough damage to his life. Even though she was mad at him for stopping things before they went too far, she was grateful too.
They were forced to leave the car in a parking structure since there was no street parking at the casinos. Xander wasn’t happy about it. “If we need to make a fast getaway it will take too long to get to the truck.”
“Well, unless you want to stay here, we don’t have any other options.”
“I told you no, I want to meet this guy. Plus you know I’m not going to send you off alone where I can’t be your back up.”
“Then quit complaining,” Sydney growled. Xander muttered something under his breath that sounded suspiciously like “grouchy-ass” but she ignored it as they fought their way through the crowd of gamblers and tourists. It took fifteen minutes for them to find the bank of slots surrounding a solid white Lexus that sat on a huge six-foot pedestal. She looked around for a clock but found none. “What time is it?”
“Twelve-fifty,” he answered looking at his phone.
“I was afraid we were going to be late,” she said looking around for Pandaren.
There were so many tourists that it was going to be hard to keep an eye out for anyone unusual, a lot of the people here could be considered unusual. “I don’t see him yet.”
“I don’t either. I guess he didn’t feel the need to show up early today?”
“Apparently not.”
As the minutes ticked by, Sydney grew more and more worried. She and Xander were leaning against a pillar out of the main flow of traffic. She found it hard not to be distracted by the design of the Luxor. It was constructed to look like they were inside a pyramid and, looking up, she could see rooms circling the open floor of the casino. Workers darted expertly through the throngs of people in stylized clothing of ancient Egyptians, turning them into caricatures. She felt like she was in a different world and it caused the throbbing in her head to increase.
“Hey!” Xander’s voice caused her to jump. “Isn’t that him?”
Sydney looked in the direction he had nodded. In the shadows near a cashier’s window, she could see the tall skinny shape of Pan watching them. He was wearing the same clothes he had worn the day before. “Yeah, come on.” She hurried towards him and she knew Xander was following without having to look back.
When she was within ten feet of Pan, he stepped back further into the alcove. He waited for them near an unmanned shoe shine station. “Hi,” she tried to get a good look at him but his hood was pulled low over his face. His whole demeanor was twitchy and uncomfortable. Because of Xander? she wondered. He must have had the same thought because, when she looked behind her, he
had hesitated near the corner staying back about five feet.
“You OK?” she asked Pandaren.
Instead of answering he jabbed a finger in Xander’s direction. “Who’s that?’ he practically spat.
Sydney answered his question slowly, trying to keep her voice soothing. “This is Xander. He’s my friend I told you about yesterday.”
Pandaren stared at Xander for a moment before he shook himself clear of whatever he was thinking. “Sorry. I forgot.”
Sydney’s brow furrowed. “OK. Are you feeling alright?”
“Not really,” Pan admitted.
“What happened?”
“I’m just...I don’t know. I just don’t feel good. My head hurts worse than ever.”
Xander moved closer once Pan seemed calmer. “Have you gone to the doctor?”
“No.” Neither man made a move to shake hands. “I doubt that would be a good idea,” the harsh tone to his voice returned.
“Just thought I would ask, man.”
Pan turned back to Sydney. “Here.” He held out a box with a picture of a phone on it. “It’s secure. And my secure number is programed in it. I’ve got to go.”
Sydney didn’t miss the new bruising on his hand. Or the scratches near his wrist. She could feel Xander tense beside her and knew that he saw them too. “Th-thanks,” she took the box, careful to not touch his long, thin fingers. For reasons she couldn’t explain, she didn’t want her skin to come into contact with his. Maybe it was the fact that he was clearly sick or maybe it was the slightly sour body odor wafting from his clothes, but either, way her skin shuddered at the idea of touching him.
“Why are you leaving so soon? Have you found out anything else? Have you been able to contact any of the others?”
He stared at her from the shadows of his hood long enough to make her squirm and Xander reach out to put a hand on her shoulder as if he was preparing to pull her away if he needed to. “It’s not safe here. You should go.”
“The casino’s not safe?”
“Las Vegas isn’t safe,” he growled and brushed past them both.
Sydney and Xander quickly stepped out of his way and watched him go. After a moment, Xander pulled her arm. “Come on. Let’s follow him.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
It wasn’t hard to keep track of Pandaren as they ducked into the flow of people traffic. He was tall enough, and his red jacket bright enough, that he stood out in the crowd. “What if he sees us?” Sydney asked.
“Then we were going this way already,” Xander shrugged next to her. “We would need to go this way to get to the parking garage anyway.”
Sydney wondered how they would hide following him to his car or out of the garage after getting their own vehicle but focused on one problem at a time. Once Pan reached the east side of the casino he turned left, towards the main entrance instead of going straight ahead to the garage.
“Shit,” Xander cursed.
“You go get the truck. I’ll keep following him.”
“Uh, that’s a no.”
“You have a better idea?”
“Shit,” he spat again. “Fine. Text me and let me know if he goes north or south.”
“OK,” she agreed, hurrying after Pan so as not to lose him in the swarms of people on the street.
She blinked rapidly against the scorching sun and her eyes watered but she wiped away the tears and continued following the red jacket. Once he reached Las Vegas Boulevard he turned left and headed north. Sydney pulled out her phone and texted Xander. She kept following Pan, worrying that he would turn and see her at any moment, but he never did. She stayed at least a hundred feet behind him though, just in case. As he passed people he didn’t bother to dodge them, instead he bumped into and off them as he went, leaving a trail of confused and annoyed people in his wake.
Once she reached the Bellagio a shout caught her attention. She turned towards the street and saw Xander waiting for her in the truck. She sprinted off the sidewalk and across the road with a group of people who were also jaywalking. Horns blared but none of the pedestrians seemed to care.
“Come on,” Xander waved at her to move quickly. “You keep an eye on him, I’ve got to watch the traffic.”
Sydney watched on Pan as Xander weaved in and out of the traffic. “Where is he going?” she muttered, not expecting an answer. Xander’s only response was cursing at two drunk guys who had stumbled in front of the truck.
They kept following Pan for over thirty minutes. He had long since left the Strip and it was becoming harder to follow him and be inconspicuous. It only took a few blocks from the Strip before the streets became less populated and more suburban. Finally, Pan abruptly turned right onto the walkway of a stucco, two-story apartment complex. Xander, thinking quickly, swung into the back parking lot of a pawn shop keeping a block between them and Pan’s destination. From their vantage point they could see him climb the metal stairs to the second floor and walk into the corner apartment.
“I guess that is his place?” Sydney wondered out loud.
“I would assume so, since he just walked in.”
Sydney scowled at Xander’s sarcasm. “What do you think we should do?”
“Fuck if I know. Wait and see for now?”
“Something is wrong with him,” Sydney knew she was stating the obvious.
“I wonder if something else happened.”
“I think so. Did you see his hand?”
“Yep.”
“It wasn’t that bad yesterday.”
“You said he has a girlfriend, right?”
“Yeah.”
“What’s her name?”
“No idea.”
“I wish I hadn’t met him yet,” Xander muttered a few minutes later.
“Why’s that?”
“Then I could go up there and make up some kind of story, see if I could get a look inside.”
“That wouldn’t be weird at all.”
“Well, what do you suggest? If we go in now he could freak because we followed him.”
“Good point,” Sydney conceded. When she noticed a group of kids practicing skateboard moves on the side of a gas station behind them a smile spread across her face. “I’ll be right back. Keep an eye on the apartment.” She pulled some bills from her purse and opened the truck door.
“Where are you going?” Xander asked alarmed.
“Improvising,” she grinned and shut the door. She knew Xander was watching her as she hurried across the street and inside the convenience store. Five minutes later she came back out with a handful of candy bars. She approached the three boys who all looked to be about twelve years old and handed them the candy after some negotiations. When she jogged back to the truck she had a grin on her face.
“What did you do?” he asked as she climbed back inside. The group of boys were walking towards Pan’s building.
“I gave them the candy and asked them to go to his door and offer to sell him candy bars. Told them to tell him it was for their school. I asked them to try to see what they could inside and to come back here and let us know what they saw.”
Xander looked impressed. “And what makes you think they won’t just run with the candy?”
“I told them I’d give them five dollars each when they came back.”
“What if he buys candy?”
“Then they can keep that money too.”
“Not bad,” he chuckled.
Together they watched the boys climb the stairs and approach Pan’s door. The neighborhood wasn’t great, but the kids didn’t act scared or uneasy. They were locals, she figured. That probably explained why they weren’t suspicious of her strange request. They had been more concerned with her actually giving them the money. She’d had to point out that even if she didn’t give them money and if Pan didn’t buy from them, they still had free candy.
The boys knocked for a solid minute before the door finally creaked open. The apartment was too dark, and they were too far away for Sydney to be a
ble to see inside, but the two boys in the back took a step away and her heart thumped in her chest. She pulled her phone out of her pocket just in case Pan did something crazy to the boys and she needed to call 911. It had only just occurred to her that she could have put these kids in danger though she told them not to go inside under any circumstances.
After some gesturing on the lead boy’s part the door slammed and all three kids jumped. The leader flipped the closed door off and they raced down the stairs laughing. They didn’t stop until they reached the truck. Giving Xander a narrow eyed look, they circled the truck to Sydney’s side. These kids weren’t stupid, Sydney smiled at them.
“Thanks guys,” she held up the three fives fanned out so they could see them clearly. “What did you see?”
The two in the back glanced at each other, but the leader kept his eyes on Sydney.
“Man, we couldn’t see shit,” he spat on the ground. “It was too dark, and he wouldn’t open the door enough.”
“It stank though,” the tallest boy in the back announced.
The leader glared back at him for speaking out of turn. “Yeah. That’s true,” he nodded in agreement.
“What did it smell like?” Xander leaned over.
“Who the fuck are you?” the leader kid asked. Xander’s mouth fell open and he raised a brow at Sydney. “If you ain’t holding the money I got nothing to say to you.”
Sydney suppressed a laugh. “What did it smell like?” she repeated for Xander as he returned to his side of the truck.
“I don’t know. Sour,” the kid answered seriously.
“No shit?” she asked, wrinkling her nose.
“No shit,” he confirmed. “It was rank.” The two boys in the back nodded vigorously.
“OK,” Syd answered, her voice clearly troubled. She held out the money. “Thanks for your help.”
“Any time Beautiful,” the kid actually winked at her before snatching the money and running away with his two companions on his heels laughing.
Sydney snorted and turned to Xander who was glaring after the kids.
“What a brat,” he growled.
“Oh, come on. I bet he’s just like you were at that age.”
Don't Let Them Find You Page 16