Drop of Doubt

by C. L. Stone

  Janet beamed. “Absolutely. We’ve got a package deal today, if you’re interested. There’s the couples deep tissue massage, with a European facial, pedicure and Vichy shower.”

  “Swap out the shower for a manicure and you’ve sold me.”

  Janet smiled. “Of course.” Her eyes fell eagerly on me. “Do you want the manicure or I could throw in a haircut and style, too.”

  “I know you want to,” Victor said, holding his hand up in a stopping motion. “Gabriel’s already claimed her hair, and he’d kill me if I let her anywhere near a pair of scissors.”

  Janet started a soft pout. “You need to convince Gabriel to come work for me.”

  Victor laughed.

  Janet led the way around the front desk and down a narrow hallway. She opened a door near the end, and ushered us inside.

  The room was wide, with two massage tables in the middle. The front of the room had a wide window that overlooked a garden with a second koi pond and fountain. There was another fountain inside against the wall, the water trickling down into a small cluster of bamboo plants in what looked like an antique tub.

  “There’s a partition,” Janet said, pointing to a white wicker folding wall near the corner. “There’s robes and towels behind it. Would you like me to set the partition up between the tables?”

  “No, thank you,” Victor said absently, entering further into the room.

  Janet flashed a smile at me, shared a wink. “Adam and Lei should be with you shortly. They’ll get you started.” She closed the door.

  Victor turned to me the moment Janet was gone. The fire eyes were lit up to a gentle roar. “I think you’ll love this.”

  “It’s a pretty ... room,” I said, wanting to be excited as he was but unable to comment much. “Janet is nice.”

  “She’s my favorite. I love this place. There’s spas downtown but they’re always so stuffy. Janet loves her work.”

  “This is her place?”

  “She worked pretty hard to build it up,” Victor said. His hands went to his shirt. He started unbuttoning. “I think she did great with it. I want to say I wish it were in town, but I don’t want any of those snobs knowing about it.”

  My eyebrow lifted as he removed his shirt, and tossed it onto a nearby chair. “What are we doing, exactly?”

  He blinked at me. “Getting massages,” he said. He untucked the ribbed undershirt, pulling it up over his head. He tossed it alongside his shirt.

  “Am I ... um ...” I wanted to ask a question but the sight of his bare chest was causing my mind to blank out.

  He grinned at me, his hands going to his hips. “Yes, you get naked. Or maybe ... no, you can leave your underwear on if you want. I usually don’t.”

  “O—oh,” I said, half turning toward the wall, my eyes going to the open wide window. “What am I supposed to do?”

  Victor chuckled. “I’ll go behind the partition, okay? Get undressed.” He moved to the white foldable wall. He reached behind it, finding a small towel and handed it to me. “Put this around your waist and climb onto that table. Lay face down. There’s a pillow for your head there.”

  I held back a whimper, eyeballing the table. It looked comfortable, but I wasn’t sure if I was ready for massages.

  Victor disappeared behind the partition. I could hear him unbuckling his belt. I hurried to get undressed. I wanted to be down on the table before he came back out. I threw my clothes off, including my underwear, and tossed them next to Victor’s things. I scrambled indelicately onto the table, realizing too late I probably needed to wrap the towel around my waist first before I climbed up. I readjusted the towel around my hips awkwardly before lying face down onto the padded table.

  I was just in time before Victor came around the partition again. Maybe he’d seen quite a bit of my body earlier when he found me in the shower, but now my modesty was catching up with me. To be honest, being flat on my stomach and with my butt covered, he probably saw more of my skin when I wore my bathing suit. My important parts were covered, but I felt so exposed. It wasn’t a horrible feeling with him. I trusted him. I just wasn’t sure what to think of it.

  Victor clutched his own white towel around his hips. The cord with the silver medallion still hung from his neck. He strolled over to me, lowered down until he planted a kiss on my forehead. “You’re going to love this. Don’t look so scared.”

  “What does your medallion mean?” I asked. I’d been wanting to ask for a while and kept forgetting. Now I didn’t have anything else to talk about and I didn’t want to think about being naked anymore.

  He moved back and leaned against the second massage table. His fingers fluttered up until he was touching the medallion at his neck. “This thing?”

  “Yes,” I said. “Does it mean something? I thought there was a heart in there, but I wasn’t sure.”

  His eyes lit up, the smoldering roaring to life. “My mother gave it to me when I was younger. It was on one of those trips to Europe. You see the heart?”

  I nodded. The interweaving lines in the middle made a heart, but it was broken up by another symbol that I wasn’t sure at first.

  “The other symbol is a triangle shield—protection. Protect your heart. My mother used to tell me that.”

  “Why?”

  His lips twisted in his smile, as if he was hesitant to tell me. “My mother always used to warn me that girls were going to be a problem.”

  I almost wanted to mention that Silas had once told me that girls were throwing themselves at him because he was a famous, rich musician. “Are they a problem?”

  “Oh god, yeah,” he said. “They’re monsters. They bat their fake eyelashes like they’re about to go blind and tell me to buy them things. No ... telling me isn’t the right word. Demand? Demanding in a high-pitched voice that more resembles whining? That’s probably closer to what it is.”

  “What do they ask for?”

  “Expensive things.”

  “Like birthday cards?”

  He smirked. He reached out, popping me on the bare thigh with his palm. “Shut up or I’ll buy you a car or a yacht or something.”

  “Don’t buy me a car.”

  “You didn’t say no to the yacht, so I’ll get you one of those.”

  “Victor!”

  He was still laughing when the door opened. Two male attendants entered. My cheeks flared hot. I knew this was going to happen, but I guess I wasn’t prepared for it as much as I thought. I lowered myself more, until I was nearly squishing my breasts into the table. I tucked my arms into my sides, trying to mask my nakedness a little.

  “Good morning, sugar dumplings,” the taller one said, with Adam written on his nametag. “Ah. A new face. Let me introduce myself. I’m Adam. This is my partner, Lei. Victor, I’ve seen you before, welcome back.”

  “Hi, Adam,” Victor said. He pushed himself onto the second massage table. He lowered himself onto his stomach and propped himself up on his elbows. He nodded toward me. “This is Sang.”

  “Sang,” Adam came closer. He picked my hand up, untucking it from my side and pressing his lips briefly to my knuckles before releasing it. “Any friend of Victor’s is welcome here. Lei’s going to be your partner today, okay?”

  “Okay,” I said in a quiet voice. I had a choice?

  “We’re good with a deep tissue massage this morning? And then manis and pedis and a facial? Oh god, her hair. Tell me we’re playing with her hair.” Adam reached out, his fingers smoothing over a lock that had fallen out of the clip in my hair.

  Victor leaned up on one elbow, his face in his palm. “I don’t even know if I’m allowed to let you touch it. Gabriel’s claimed her.”

  “That rotten bastard. I won’t cut it but will you let me style it? Please? I won’t even charge.”

  Victor’s eyes met mine. “It’s up to you.”

  I didn’t know what to say. My face lit up similar to Victor’s eyes. “If Gabriel won’t be mad.”

  Adam grinned. “I won�
�t tell him if you won’t. Or I might. He’s cute when he’s pissed off. I keep thinking one of these days he’ll come bat for our team.”

  I shot silent questions at Victor but he only slightly shook his head. He wasn’t going to answer me now.

  Adam snapped his fingers. “You two relax. It’s time for us to take over.”

  I don’t know what I had envisioned before when Victor talked about the spa. Maybe it was from reading about them in books or from watching something in a movie, but I’d always thought they’d be uncomfortable and boring.

  I was uncomfortable for a total of sixty seconds, just long enough for Lei to warm up his hands against my back.

  After that point, I think I was in a daze. I’m pretty sure I moaned louder than at any other point in my entire life. It only took a few minutes before I totally forgot I was naked. I didn’t even care anymore. Lei’s hands were magic.

  After about an hour, Lei released me. The muscles in my body had been massaged thoroughly.

  I sensed Victor getting up. “Sang,” he called to me. “Princess. Time for round two.”

  “Nu uh,” I said, slurred since I was talking to the pillow my head was on. “I want round one again.”

  Victor laughed. His hand dropped down on my thigh and he tugged at me. “Come on. You’ll like this next part, too.”

  Victor’s promise was the only thing that got me up off that table. We were given robes and directed to another room. This one had warm, enveloping chairs that leaned back. A couple of girls were called in, and they dipped our feet in warm tubs of water, massaging our calves as we soaked and softened. My girl used a scrub against the bottom of my feet. I felt on edge during it. Lei made me comfortable despite not knowing him. Now, I wasn’t so sure I liked being touched by people I didn’t know. I wasn’t sure why.

  “I can tell you go barefoot way too much,” the girl said.

  “She loves it,” Victor said.

  “I’m okay without shoes,” I said.

  Victor beamed. “’Cause you’re weird. Most girls like shoes.”

  I shot him a look.

  During the pedicures, Adam came back, tailed by Lei. They both hovered over my head, discussing in murmurs things they wanted to do to my hair. I wanted to catch Victor’s attention, but Adam’s body was in the way.

  From that point on, I was polished, brushed, sprayed, combed, styled and other things I didn’t know the name of.

  I wasn’t sure how long it took, but it felt like hours before I actually saw Victor again, even though he’d been next to me the entire time. My nails and toenails were a light shade of pink. My hair felt different. They hadn’t cut it, but they managed to sweep most of it off my shoulders, and the rest they set into soft curls.

  When Victor saw me, his eyes widened and his smile lit up like his eyes. “Gabriel might have a rival in you, Adam.”

  “Please tell me he’s got the formula for this color,” Adam said. He curled one of the locks of my hair between his fingers. “I need to know what he did.”

  “That’s all her,” Victor said, beaming. “Not a drop of dye on her head.”

  “You’ll have to bring her back. I want to try to match it.”

  I grinned at Victor. For another massage, I’d let Adam cut off all my hair and glue sequins to my bald head.

  Victor laughed at my expression. “I think you’ve won her over. If I knew that was all it took, I’d have brought her here sooner.” An eyebrow cocked. “Or learned to do it myself.”

  “Anytime you want to learn, come by. I teach a class.”

  Victor had to drag me away from the guys when it was time to go. By then it was noon, and I was starving. I buried my cheek against Victor’s shoulder as he swiped his credit card at the front desk. As I did, my stomach started growling.

  Victor laughed, shaking his head. “You’re welcome, Princess. And yes, we’ll go to lunch. Where do you want to go?”

  “Someplace you like.”

  “There’s a little bistro not far from here.” He signed the receipt. I tried not to glance at the slip, but I couldn’t help but notice Victor leaving a tip that matched the price of the spa package and I nearly choked. Victor gave 100% tips. He hooked my arm through his, turning me away from the spa. He waved at Janet standing by the front desk. “We’ll be back,” he called to her.

  “Just give me a call,” Janet said, waving goodbye.

  “Victor,” I said as he opened the door.

  “Yes?”

  “I like the spa.”

  He leaned over, his lips planting a kiss at my temple. “I know.”

  A spark lit up my heart. I couldn’t find my voice to tell him what I was really thinking. I did like the spa.

  I really liked him.

  I was leaning against him as we approached his car in the lot. My fingers intertwined with his. I was wondering how I could tell him what I was thinking. It was in my heart and I wanted to let him know. I felt like him with his inability to keep a gift for too long. I wanted to say it right now before I forgot or before this feeling escaped. I simply couldn’t find the words.

  “Sang,” he said and he stopped a few feet away from his car.

  The way he said my name had me confused only for a second. It was distressed, and so out of sync with the last couple of hours that I thought perhaps I did something wrong. I straightened, caught his line of sight and followed it.

  The hood of the car had a manila folder stuck to it. My name was scrawled in red on the outside.

  “What is it?” I asked him.

  “Get in the car,” he said. He hit the button on his set of keys. “We need to leave.”

  He opened my door for me. I got in. He closed the door behind me before jogging around the car. He snatched up the envelope, flipped open the folder and gazed at what was inside. His eyes widened, the frown deepening. He half crumpled the folder in his hand, as if ready to toss it away. He stopped midway through, looked again, and stuffed it under his arm as he opened the driver’s side door.

  “What is it?” I asked as he sat inside.

  “I don’t want to show you,” he said. He closed the door and jammed his keys into the ignition, turning the engine over.

  “I want to see it,” I said. “It had my name on it.”

  “You don’t want this.”

  “Show me. Don’t keep it to yourself. Something’s wrong.”

  He frowned, but pulled the folder from his arm. He turned in the seat, holding it up to me. “Do you remember how you felt inside the spa? Do you remember how nice Adam and Lei were? Do you remember that feeling?”

  I nodded. “Yes.”

  “I don’t want this to change that. This shouldn’t be here at all, and I don’t want this to ruin what just happened. This wasn’t Adam or Janet or any of them. Okay?”

  “Victor?”

  He sighed, passing along the folder to me.

  Suddenly I didn’t want to look inside. I couldn’t help it though. Victor knew. I’d asked. I needed to know.

  Inside of the folder was a collection of pictures.

  Each one was of me. Each one was a progression of me walking into the spa, then me inside the spa through the big window in the back room, getting undressed, then me talking with Victor, then Lei massaging my back.

  And each one had the same message, a message scrawled over my face like the one that had been delivered to their phones.

  I’ll squash you like the leech you are.

  REROUTE

  “Where are we going?” I asked Victor.

  “We’re getting our phones changed and then I’m dropping you off with someone else.”

  “Why? What’s happening?”

  “This guy is following us.” His hands twisted on the steering wheel. “He’s following you around. This isn’t phone harassment any more. He’s stalking you.

  “I don’t get it. He tried to get me into the car last night trying to talk to me like he wants to help me, and here he is doing things like this.”
/>   “He’s crazy, Sang. Chances are there’s some weird rationalization only he knows that we wouldn’t be able to understand.” He changed lanes, weaving around traffic to hurry along. “What we need to do now is ... I don’t know. I don’t have a phone to reach anyone.”

  “No one else has their phones, either.”

  “Mr. Blackbourne always has one. He’s got an emergency one.”

  “Mr. Blackbourne carries a second cell phone?”

  “That surprises you?”

  I wasn’t sure what to think about it anymore. “Would anyone else be by a land line phone?”

  “Possibly North and Luke if they’re at the diner. I might be able to pass a message through Uncle if he’s there. Maybe Dr. Green.” Victor snapped his fingers. “That’s it. Yes. I’m taking you to Dr. Green’s after this.”

  “Why can’t I stay with you?” I didn’t mean to sound like I didn’t want to visit Dr. Green, but whoever was following us, he was following Victor, too. I didn’t want him to be alone.

  “I’ve got to go back to the spa.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I’m going to check out security cameras, talk with some people around there. We need to do this quick. First I want to get a phone so I can reach you. I’ll call in someone to go with me.”

  Victor turned into a cell phone store parking lot. I jumped out of the car before he could open my door. I thought we didn’t have time for that kind of thing. He hesitated for only a moment, before snatching up my hand.

  At the door of the store, he stopped to open the door for me. I bit my tongue. I wanted to tell him not to worry about it, but I couldn’t help feeling the warmth of the little things he did to look out for me.

  We stood in line to wait our turn at the counter. Victor’s thumb slid across the back of my hand at a rapid tempo. I couldn’t blame him. Every two minutes, I turned around to check out the car, watching out the window for anyone flashing pictures or trying to leave more photos on his windshield.

  When Victor was at the counter, he ordered four brand new iPhones with new phone numbers, all under his name. The man behind the counter eyeballed him, but when Victor yanked out the black credit card, the guy started ringing it up and opening the boxes to start the process of getting them working.