by Kayn, Debra
She tied her sneakers she'd slipped off earlier and walked over to the couch. Brushing the hair off of Shayla's face, she leaned down and whispered, "Hey, sleepyhead. I need to get back to town."
Shayla wiggled deeper into the corner of the couch. Nova reached out and grabbed the edge of the blanket.
"Let her sleep. I'll take you." Emmett stood.
"Oh." Nova glanced at Nick, hoping he'd step up and offer a ride.
"Yeah, I'm beat. Swing shift is kicking my ass." Nick pushed himself off the couch. "See you tomorrow, man. Emmett will get you back safe, Nova."
She stared at her cousin's back as he left the room. Just like that, her family left her with a stranger. Again.
Chapter Six
She was going to kill Shayla for falling asleep.
Emmett pulled into the Federal Inn, ignoring Nova's request to drop her off under the viaduct. She glanced at her phone for the sixth time since sliding into his 'Cuda. In forty minutes, the sun would rise and signal Marci to walk into the kitchen upstairs at Red Light and start the coffee pot.
The risk of her getting caught quadrupled with each passing minute. Anyone walking down Cedar Street could catch her climbing to the balcony of her room. The bikers that hung around Jeremy had a habit of stopping in at all hours. Marci, Tiff, or one of the other ladies could come to her room and knock. If she failed to answer, she'd be out of a job.
She opened the door. "Thanks for the ride."
"No problem," said Emmett, his deep voice. "I'll wait out here until you get inside."
Her stomach rolled, and she squeezed the door handle. "That's not necessary."
"Yeah, it is." Emmett lowered his voice. "I wouldn't be a gentleman if I let a woman walk alone in the dark."
"It's almost morning."
"Sun isn't up."
"Do you ever listen to what I'm saying?" She shook her head in irritation. "Fine."
She left the car and hurried down the sidewalk, hoping the inn kept the main door open during off hours. If not, she was screwed.
Her backup story would be over, and she'd need to stay away from the trailer park, away from her cousins.
In front of the sliding door, she glanced behind her. An exhausted sigh escaped her. Emmett remained in his parking spot true to his word.
"This better work," she mumbled stepping forward.
The glass doors slid open. She hurried inside on a burst of energy. Not wanting to attract the attention of the woman behind the counter in the lobby, she continued walking to her left and down a hallway without the inn employee even raising her head from her computer screen. An exit sign lit up the door at the end of the hall, and her luck turned.
Outside, she jogged around the building to the front, peeked around the corner, and blew out her breath on a relieved laugh. Emmett had left.
Now all she had to do was make it back to the Sterling Building and get upstairs to her room in Red Light.
She set off jogging, aware of every car that passed her and the dogs in the yards that lifted their heads and barked. She cut through a back street, down an alley, and arrived in front of the building within ten minutes of being dropped off at the Inn. She leaned against the building to catch her breath.
Out of shape, she couldn't believe how slow she ran across town. At one time, she could put her feet on the ground and run forever. Fear and adrenaline usually played to her advantage in her teen years when she'd ran the streets with her backpack of art supplies, participating in the game of tagging.
One street artist would start a picture, and she'd finish it in her style. Whoever declared the piece completed earned the right to sign the art. The name Nova probably remained on more buildings, trains, and billboards back in Long Beach, Washington than she could count. God, she missed the time in her life when the town was her playground and the adventure and danger associated with painting gave her the biggest high.
She hustled over to the abandoned building that shared an alley with the Sterling Building and grabbed the broom from the recess of the doorway. The twine she'd used last time too fragile to risk again, she'd found an old push broom in the utility closet upstairs at Red Light, snuck it to her room after dinner, and escaped with it last night.
Glancing all around, she took her chance and ran over to her balcony. The handle of the broom long and sturdy enough, she easily pulled down the emergency extension ladder for her to reach. Once in the room, making sure the door was completely shut, she slipped the cardboard piece she used to stabilize the security system off the trip wire.
Standing beside the bed, she held her breath. The occasional creak and thump on the other side of her door signaled Marci in the kitchen. She hid the broom under the bed and then flung herself down on the mattress and closed her eyes. Two straight nights out were too much for her body. She only wanted to sleep until it was time to work.
Her eyes burned behind her dry lids. She slipped her arm under the pillow and let herself slip off to sleep.
A loud banging woke her. She scrambled for her phone on the bed and looked at the time.
Shit.
She'd only slept twenty minutes.
Shit.
"Nova, wake up," shouted Marci from the other side of the door. "You have a doctor's appointment in a half hour."
Shit.
She pushed herself off the bed, groaning at the tight pull of her muscles refusing each step. Wiping her finger underneath each eye to remove last night's mascara smudges, she opened the door.
"Oh, good. You're up and dressed." Marci's smile fell. "Are you feeling unwell?"
"No." Nova shoved her hand in her hair. "I had a rough night. I kept tossing and turning. It happens during the first week I'm working at a new place."
"Can we help?" Marci pointed down the hallway. "We have extra pillows, blankets, and even one of those back massage mats you can lay on to relax."
"Thanks, but I'll be fine." Nova stepped back. "Give me a few minutes and I'll be ready for my appointment."
"Sure thing. Go ahead and meet us all downstairs by the back door when you're ready. Just make sure you're on time." Marci turned on a hop and scurried down the hallway.
Nova shut the door and let her head fall back. Staring at the ceiling, she had doubts that Dr. Brandof would believe she slept well and adapted to working at Red Light. The doctor's intense gaze behind his glasses noticed everything, playing part gynecologist and part psychologist.
Fifteen minutes later, she'd washed, brushed, primped, and snarled in the mirror at her reflection. Then she walked downstairs and joined Tara, Tawny, Kathryn, and Marci.
Already familiar with the walk to the doctor's office down the block, she trailed Marci. Each woman silent and dragging their feet. Obviously, she wasn't the only one tired this morning.
She claimed the chair closest to the door, folded her arms, and dropped her chin to her chest, closing her eyes. The soothing respite relaxed her body. She tuned out the conversations around her.
Her next conscious thought was the nurse calling her name. She startled out of her seat and ignored Tawny's giggle. Past the point of caring where she caught her cat naps, she looked forward to laying on the paper-sheeted table in the exam room.
"Go ahead and hop up on the table and I'll take your vitals." The nurse followed her and put a blood pressure cuff around her bicep.
The gauge on the band went up to one hundred and sixty. Nova looked away and read the domestic violence poster on the wall to distract her from the tightness. Six out of ten women would experience physical and mental abuse in their lifetime. Nova exhaled. Good reason never to get married or fall in love.
"One hundred and five over seventy-two. Are you tired?" The nurse ripped the Velcro apart and removed the device.
"Yeah. I'm exhausted," said Nova.
"Thought so." The nurse smiled holding a thermometer device against Nova's forehead until it beeped. "Ninety-eight. That's it. Go ahead and change into the gown I've placed on the pillow behind you and
Dr. Brandof will be with you in a few minutes."
"Okay, thanks." Nova waited until the door closed, stripped, and slipped her arms into the gown.
She laid on her back and let her legs dangle over the table. Her first day off in five days, she wanted to take care of her weekly doctor visit and go back to her room. Better yet, she wanted to return to Shayla and Nick's trailer, crawl into Shayla's bed, and listen to her cousin talk about unimportant things until she fell asleep. Just like she'd spent every night after she'd moved in with her aunt.
The door opened. "Miss Nova..."
"Morning, Doc." Nova opened her eyes, lifted her legs, and put her feet in the stirrups.
Dr. Brandof rolled his stool to the foot of the table. "Any problems you want to discuss?"
"Nope." She yawned.
The doctor's efficient examination, followed by a swab test ended her internal exam. At the snap of his latex gloves coming off, Nova put her feet down and curled into a sitting position. Weekly STD testing no longer bothered her. She appreciated the care the madams gave toward the ladies in the Network. Soon, she hoped to walk away from the business whole, disease-free, and richer than shit.
If Shayla or Nick wanted to live with her when she bought her new house, she'd move them in, too. No trailers. No loud neighbors. No gossip.
"I'll call the test results into Red Light tomorrow afternoon." Dr. Brandof wrote on the folder in his hands. "We're done here. I'll leave you alone to get dressed and then the nurse will be in to draw your blood, and you're free to go."
"Thanks, Doc." She hopped off the table.
Alone, she redressed. The nurse came in and poked her arm drawing a vial of blood. She returned to the waiting room. Tawny talked with Marci by the door. Nova spotted the nearest chair and sat down.
"Here she is." Marci raised her brows at Nova. "Do you want to walk back to the Sterling Building with Tawny? There's an escort outside waiting if you do. Kathryn's the only one left and should be done in fifteen minutes if you want to wait for us to walk you back."
She pushed to her feet, more than anxious to get back to her bed. "I'll go now."
Outside, the sun blinded her. She smiled hello at the biker wearing a Moroad Motorcycle Club vest and fell in line. Tawny kept a string of questions aimed at the escort leaving Nova alone. Trying hard not to let her second wind grab ahold of her, she slipped her hands into her back pockets and concentrated on missing the cracks in the sidewalk.
"It's so pretty here." Tawny leaned closer to the biker. "When the, um, woman's center said there was a safe place I could go after leaving my asshole boyfriend, I never thought they'd send me to the Rocky Mountains of Idaho."
Nova lifted her gaze. What was Tawny doing?
Tiff wanted them to stick to the story that she ran the upstairs of the Sterling Building as a safe home for women seeking to gain their independence, but the biker was a part of Jeremy's club. He could see through her lies and tell Tiff that Tawny was trying to flirt with him.
She walked faster, distancing herself from the lies. Everywhere she turned, she had another story ready. Nick, Shayla, the bikers, and even Emmett. They all knew a different lie.
"Let's cross the street, ladies." The biker stepped off the sidewalk and stopped in the road, guarding them against traffic that hadn't arrived yet. Nova grinned at Tawny. Chivalry wasn't dead. The big guy was cute trying to protect them in the case of a freak drive-by in a town without a stop sign.
Nova jumped up on the opposite sidewalk and headed down the alley without waiting for Tawny. It was best to keep her distance if her co-worker ended up getting a reprimand on her records for having a big mouth.
At the back door, she waited for the others.
A car squealed around the corner and headed up the backstreet. Nova gasped recognizing the gray primer-colored muscle car at the same time the biker and Tawny reached her side. Unable to look away, she shaded her eyes and strained to see through the front windshield.
Her escort stepped beside her to unlock the door. She shifted, and caught sight of Emmett staring at her through the window from behind the steering wheel. Heaviness landed at the base of her neck, and she lifted her hand to her chest, hoping he wouldn't recognize her in the daylight.
His gaze narrowed and looked away from her, but it was too late. She'd recognized the truth slapping him upside the head. But what truth?
Had he heard through the grapevine what happens upstairs at Red Light? There were a lot of prominent men who lived in Federal who visited the prostitutes. Her customers weren't all tourists. A quarter of them were miners.
Every visitor to Red Light followed rules, kept secrets, and remained discreet because they knew what was in jeopardy if others found out what kind of business was open right under their noses.
She walked inside the building afraid Emmett knew more than she thought. If he knew what she was doing in Federal, it was only a matter of time until all hell would break loose.
Chapter Seven
The dogs on the other side of the trailer park barked. John West, three trailers down from Emmett, yelled at his wife about not having dinner on the table by eight o'clock. Emmett shut the hood of his car and looked up at the sky. Another sprinkle of rain hit his face.
Nick walked out of his house and over to Emmett. "Did you get your car fixed?"
"Yeah." Emmett grabbed his flannel shirt off the seat of his car. "It should be good to go until the next part calls it quits. It's turned into a money pit."
"Worth the cash, man. You don't see ones like this in such good shape anymore." Nick pulled up the collar of his coat. "Looks like it's going to storm."
Rain would cancel the nightly gathering on his lot. Emmett rolled down the sleeves of his shirt. Glad for the break and time away from the others, he'd had a rough time sleeping the last two days and customer orders still hadn't arrived at the store. He had no reason for the bad mood, only knew he was better off if everyone stayed away from him. Maybe he'd finally get some sleep.
The rain picked up. He walked toward his trailer.
"Hey. Have you had dinner yet?" Nick hitched his thumb toward his place. "Shayla's got tacos going and I bought a six pack."
"Yeah, I could eat." Emmett hated cooking, and he'd planned on throwing a can of chili in the microwave and calling it good. "Payday?"
"Hell, yeah." Nick lifted his chin and motioned toward the single-wide. "Shayla will be back any moment. She went to pick up Nova."
He followed Nick into the trailer. Suddenly, his night looked better.
Nick grabbed two cans of Rainier out of the fridge. Emmett sat on the couch, took the offered drink, and popped the tab with his hand.
He wiped his chin. "Damn. That's nice and cold."
"Right out of a mountain stream called Frigidaire." Nick held his can up and grinned.
After he had finished his drink, a car pulled up outside. Emmett set his can on the coffee table and looked at Nick. Once Shayla and Nova entered the house, he wouldn't have a chance to ask Nick privately about Nova going into the Sterling Building in town or why it bothered him to find her hanging around with a Moroad Motorcycle Club member.
"What was it your cousin did for a living?" he asked.
Nick stretched out in the chair. "Works for some art place. Once she moved out from living with us, she started moving all over the damn place. Shayla loved Nova's phone calls and hearing about the different states she stayed in. I never thought she'd come to Federal, though."
"Why do you say that?"
Nick shrugged. "I don't know. She's got money now and could go anyplace she wanted on vacation. Growing up, she always wanted to move away, buy a fancy house, and be on her own."
"Didn't she say she was working in her room at the inn?"
"Yeah, I think she did say that." Nick laughed. "I'm not sure Federal Inn has enough money to buy her art pieces."
The door opened. Shayla hurried to the stove and the raw meat sitting in the pan. Nova walked inside smiling, caugh
t sight of Emmett, and halted.
He lifted his hand. "Hey."
She glanced at Nick before returning her gaze to him. "Hi."
The pan on the stove sizzled, and Shayla said, "Can someone grate the cheese?"
"I'll do it." Nova set her purse on the floor by the door.
Nick turned on the television, found a baseball game, and took off his boots. Emmett eyed the empty beer can and wondered if Nova drank. A few drinks and he could find out why she was at the Sterling Building. She had the body of a stripper.
Full breasts, flat stomach, and long, sexy legs. She moved with grace around the small kitchen, swaying with the movement of running the cheese over the grater.
Maybe she wanted to keep the fact that she was a Silver Girls dancer from her cousins. He'd gone once to watch the show when a couple of guys from the park took him out for his birthday last year. It was the only titty bar within fifty miles.
His chest tightened. If he were Nick, he wouldn't want her hanging out with a Moroad Motorcycle Club member. Bad news all around and if Nova were mixed up with the lot, he'd need to say something to Nick.
The trailer park needed no trouble from the bikers. It was hard enough to keep the park halfway clean and sober.
"I hope you picked up olives." said Nova.
Shayla pointed to the cabinet beside the sink. "There's a can in the sack of groceries. Lettuce and sour cream are in the fridge. The meat will be done in five minutes."
"Perfect." Nova moved to get the contents for the tacos.
Shayla looked into the living room. "Boys, wash up. Dinner is almost ready."
Emmett waited until Nick was done in the bathroom and followed the routine. He'd often come over and eat dinner with Shayla and Nick and looked forward to sharing a home-cooked meal.
He walked out of the bathroom and almost collided with Nova. Grabbing her upper arms, he kept her from falling into the paneled wall. "Sorry. I didn't see you."