I followed him for several blocks, getting cut off by a red light and traffic. From a distance, I watched him turn down a small side street.
As soon as the crosswalk signal turned green, I jogged after him, but once I got to the alley, all I found was a dead end. Iron security gates protected most of the doors, which I presumed were back entrances or emergency exits.
Where’d he go? I walked down the alley, but there was no sign of Jack. The only place he could have gone was that last door, which was boarded up. The nails were sticking out. Someone had pried open one side.
I wedged my fingertips under the plywood and pulled. Underneath, there was a glass door. Why would he go in here? The building looked vacant.
I grabbed my phone and hit the light function, wedging my hand into the opening. There appeared to be an elevator inside. Like the house from earlier, it also looked like no one had been here in a long time.
I worked the plywood up and slid under, making enough space to access the door, which had been left unlocked.
Once inside, I used my phone to look around the small lobby, only finding dust bunnies and a gold plaque with a big K on the wall next to the elevator.
K? Could that stand for King? A million thoughts rushed through my brain.
I opened the door leading to the dark stairwell, because there was no way in hell I’d take the elevator, if it even worked.
I took each stair carefully, using the light on my phone to navigate. The air smelled musty and damp. With each step, the air grew colder.
Jesus, it’s just like that house. Someone didn’t want people coming here.
I got to the first door and used my coat sleeve to turn the handle. Not hot this time.
I entered another small lobby with a door that had another plaque next to it. This had to be where he’d gone. If not, then maybe the roof?
Please not the roof. Please. I’d gone as far as my nerves would let me.
I stepped inside the loft with high ceilings and thick support beams every ten or so feet. The dusty windows facing the street below blocked out most of the light from the streetlamps.
“What are you doing here, Jeni?” Jack’s deep voice echoed across the dark room. He stood with his back to me, staring down at a desk—the only other thing occupying the space besides us.
“I saw you leaving the hotel. I-I called your name, but you didn’t hear me.” I wasn’t spying on you. I promise. “What is this place?”
“I am unsure, but I dreamed of it. I dreamed of this desk.”
I blinked at him, trying to process. “Do you think you worked here once?”
“Perhaps.”
Given the familiar ominous energy, I had to ask, “And the house? Was it yours, too?”
“I believe so.”
I wondered if the name Ten Club would mean anything to him, but maybe it was time to let go of all the questions and get to the answers. The cuff. But first, I wanted to tell him how I felt. For all I knew, this was my only chance. Once he had his memories back, he might not need me anymore. That blonde woman said I’d be useless to him.
“Jack, I need to tell you something.”
He kept his back to me. “I am listening.”
“When you kissed me earlier today—”
“That was a mistake,” he said calmly.
My heart sagged inside my chest. “Okay, but it felt like you kissed me before.”
“I assure you, I have not.”
“How do you know?” I asked.
He turned to face me and leaned against the desk. He was wearing a dark tie and a sleek suit tailored to his wide shoulders and lean, muscular build. He looked wicked and dangerous. Especially the way the light from the window cast a shadow over his sculpted cheekbones. It reminded me of the night we met. He’d looked so beautiful, like a dark angel coming to save me.
“How many men have you kissed in your life?” he asked.
My mouth flapped for a moment. “I don’t know. Four. Five?” Does Kevin in the seventh grade count?
“Kevin is not the fucking point. None of those men were me, because you would remember if my mouth had been on you before, I promise.”
Images of his mouth covering my body—lips, nipples, between my legs—flashed in my mind, sending a spike of heat through my cold body.
Fuck. I inhaled sharply, pushing my secret feelings away. I had no doubt I would remember him touching me. Just imagining it was something I’d keep with me forever. Nevertheless, “That’s not what I meant, and you know it. What aren’t you telling me? Why do I feel like you’re not a stranger?”
He continued staring across the dark room. “I believe it is time for us to part ways.”
Wait. What? This was the one thing I didn’t want. “Jack, you can’t walk into my life, turn everything into this fucked-up nightmare, and then say ‘see ya later.’ You’re the only one who knows what’s happening to me.”
“I do not have the answers you seek, and I assure you, you do not need me to figure out your path.”
“Jack!” I was losing my patience. “I can kill by wishing it, and you knew that the moment we met. You knew exactly what I’m capable of, so don’t give me this ‘I know nothing’ crap. You know way more than you’re saying, and I’ll be fucking damned if I let you ditch me.” Who would I go to for help? What if I killed someone who didn’t deserve it? How the hell did I get this way?
“All questions you can resolve on your own,” he said, reading my thoughts.
“Well, what if I don’t want to? What if—”
“You will take the first flight home,” he stated bluntly. “There will be no discussion on the matter.”
He was right. There would be no discussion because it wasn’t his damned choice. Ergo, nothing to discuss. I would go back to Florida when I was ready. Not before.
“Why did you bring me here?” I closed the gap between us. “What was the point of dragging me to San Francisco, of blackmailing me to get me on a plane, only to say I need to go now?”
Surely, he’d had a plan, a reason to make me come along.
He rubbed his stubbled jaw, mulling.
“At some point, you’re going to have to clue me in,” I pushed, “because either way, if I stay or go, shouldn’t I know what I’m up against? Don’t I at least deserve that much so I can protect myself?” At the moment, I was flying blind. Was an army of weirdos with freaking mind-control powers going to show up on my doorstep and try to kill my dad and me? Was that blonde woman going to come back and try to use me? Because she sure seemed interested in my abilities. Probably wants me to be her killer lapdog.
“Wait,” I said. “That’s it. That’s why you wanted me to come along, isn’t it?”
“Yes,” he said unapologetically. “I thought your unique gifts might be of use.”
I blinked at him. “So you brought me along to kill people? Great! Fucking great!”
“You come across as harmless—a very handy weapon. But things have changed.”
Glad to hear it, but…“How?”
“That is no concern of yours.”
Maybe not, but I couldn’t help how I felt about him. “Just tell me what happened. It was something in that house. Just tell me, and I swear I’ll go—if that’s what you really want.” Saying the words made my stomach knot. I prayed he wouldn’t take me up on that offer, because what I really wanted was to figure this out. I wanted to know why I felt like I did about him. A man who’d washed up on the shore right in front of my work after a hurricane. Dead one minute, alive the next. And now a fixture in my world.