“Damn, girl. Look at you. Hot!” Remington snaps her fingers in the air as I come walking into the living room. “You ready?”
“Yep. Let’s do this.”
We lock up and take the elevator to the ground floor where our driver is waiting. His eyes go wide as he takes in the sight of both of us, a sly smile spreading across his face. I lean in close, glancing around to make sure no one else is within earshot.
“Don’t get any ideas. I’m a cop and I will shoot you if you try anything stupid.” I warn him.
Remington smacks my arm, but I just ignore her. I know the horror stories that surround these rideshare companies. I’m not about to become another tragic story so I’m always sure to make it clear that I’m a cop and I carry before I get into any of these strangers' vehicles. A couple have refused to drive us, but I am okay with that. Without a word, he opens the back door for us, the smile now gone from his face, and we slide in. An hour later we’re pulling up outside of Skylines, skipping the line, and making our way up into the VIP section. Devon greets us at the door, leading us over to a table and waves down one of the waitresses.
“Lacey, these are my guests, Cam and Remi. Make sure they’re well taken care of, will ya babe?” Devon tells her.
“Yes sir. What will it be ladies?”
“Two shots of Patron to get us started, and then two dirty martini’s, please.”
“Coming right up,” she says, leaving us to fetch our drinks.
Devon leans in close to kiss Remington on the cheek before he excuses himself for a few minutes, leaving Remington and me to wait for our drinks. A huge television screen covers the one wall of the VIP room, streaming a live feed of the dance floor downstairs. The dance floor is packed with people, dancing to a mix of house, reggae and hip-hop music. Lacey shows up a few moments later with our drinks. Remington and I immediately clink our shot glasses together in cheers and toss them back. I’m not a big tequila drinker, but Patron goes down like water.
“Devon looks scrumptious tonight.”
“Girl, that is one man I just can’t get enough of,” Remington replies.
“Yet, you can’t remember his name.” I smirk.
“Who needs a name when he’s got a body like that?” She laughs.
“Remi, you are awful!” I laugh with her.
We make small talk about how nice the bar is, with its flashing lights on the dance floor and the low lights in the upper VIP section. We order another round of dirty martinis and move over to the railing to watch one of the large screens showing just one of the dance floors below.
I watch the screen for a while, sipping my martini as the people downstairs dance their asses off. You can tell who the professional dancers are by the circle of people surrounding them. It looked like something out of a movie, but I was enjoying the view. Then someone catches my eye, causing my heart to race. I lean forward, wanting to get a closer look at the screen to make sure I’m seeing what I’m seeing, but when he turns and looks directly at the camera it’s like all the air is sucked from my lungs.
“Cam, are you okay?” Remington asks, concern etching her lovely face.
I look at her, my mouth opening to answer but nothing comes out. So, I just shake my head as if saying no.
“What’s wrong?”
I inhale a deep, quick breath. “I need to go. I need to get out of here.”
“But we just got here!” Remington pouts.
“You can stay if you want, but I’m sorry… I have - I have to go. Now.”
I quickly get to my feet and make my way down the steps and out the door. Clicking on the rideshare app, I put in for an immediate pickup, praying they get here quickly. ‘What are the chances that we would ever end up in the same town, that wasn’t our hometown?’
I hear the doors open up behind me just as my rideshare pulls up.
“Camryn?” The voice is a little deeper than I remember, but the voice is one I would never forget. It takes a moment to register that the driver had gotten out to open my door as I stand frozen in place, afraid to move for fear the man whose voice I remember all too well will notice me. But it’s too late.
“Camryn.” He says again. His voice sends a shiver up my spine and I hear him take a step closer.
A moment later, Remington comes barreling out of the club after me. “Cam, wait for me, I’m coming with you,” she says, ushering me towards the open door. Without turning around, I take the few steps forward, and as I slide into the back seat, I glance up. Standing not ten feet away is the grown-up version of the boy I had planned to spend my life with. Just a memory of everything that could have been. Without saying a word, I just stare at him as the driver shuts the door and returns to the driver’s seat and we pull away.
Chapter 2
Owen
Entering my apartment, I toss my keys on the entry table, followed by my cell phone and my wallet. I rake my hands through my hair as I move across the room into the kitchen to grab a beer from the fridge. I twist the top off and chug half the bottle, before I let myself think about what happened earlier, or rather, what didn’t.
I still can’t believe I saw her. It’s been a little over eight years. Eight years of searching. Eight years of night after long night trying to figure out why she left without a word. Just like tonight, she left without saying one goddamn word.
I down the rest of the beer and open the fridge for another, taking it with me to sit on the sofa. My head is spinning with thoughts that are all over the place. ‘Why was she here? Where did she come from? Where did she go?’ I’ve spent every day since she left me, searching for her. Every waking moment wondering where she was and if she was okay. She was within arm's reach, not ten feet away from me, and she just walked away, again... and this time I let her. I should have gone after her, made her talk to me, tell me why she just left without so much as a goodbye.
Fuck me.
I twist the top off the bottle and throw it hard across the room. Taking a large swig of the amber liquid, I rest my head back against the sofa cushion. I think back on the night she left. We had made love for the first time. Sure, we had fooled around, made out, but never went all the way, until that night. ‘Was that a goodbye fuck?’ I had wondered that all these years. I guzzle the remainder of the beer and stand up; I toss the bottle in the garbage on my way to the shower. I can’t dwell on this shit right now, I have an early shift tomorrow, and six in the morning comes way too soon.
Chapter 3
Camryn
It’s been a week and I still can’t get the image of Owen out of my head. Seeing him again brought back all of the memories from years ago, making them seem like fresh wounds that hurt just as much, if not more, as they did then. It also made me even more determined in my search for MacKenzie. I have a feeling she’s somewhere near Sunnyville. All of my leads to this point have led me here.
“Barrett? You good?” Director O’Leary startles me out of my thoughts.
Margaret O’Leary is a tall woman, at least five feet ten. She doesn’t take shit from any man or woman, but at the same time, she will listen to what a person has to say. She wears her dark hair cut in a short pixie style and dresses professionally, usually in dark slacks and a button up. Her makeup is always simple, except for the bright red lipstick that always tints her lips. She once told me that it may be a man’s world, but she can play just as hard as they can, and still be pretty doing it. She has been my director since I became a special agent a year ago and we both were reassigned to the department here in Sunnyville six months ago.