Crush(102)

I laughed harder and held my hand out. “Come on, I’ll take you upstairs and get you changed.”

“Oh, I can do that, Miss Sterling.”

“Please, call me Elle. And you get dried off while I take care of her and then I need to get going.” Peyton opened on Wednesdays, so I could be a little late.

The rain had become a downpour by the time I pulled away from Michael’s house. The minivans, swing sets, and porch swings along the road were a blur. Rain or shine, I didn’t care. I was just relieved that I’d made it out of there without Michael coming home and without getting caught by Mrs. R.

That woodsy, pine-like smell was still potent in the car. I glanced in the backseat and saw nothing. When I got to the boutique, I’d have to check the trunk. Something had to be in there.

Taking the shortest way, I turned the corner and I swear I saw Michael’s car heading in the opposite direction, toward his house. I hoped I was wrong.

When I felt like I could mask my overwhelming need to vomit, I fumbled for my phone and called Logan.

“Are you okay?” he answered, worried. “I saw you called and tried you back. Why didn’t you answer?”

Even through everything, the sound of his voice made me smile. “I couldn’t, but listen, I’m on my way to the boutique and everything went well. More than well, in fact.”

“Did you install the program?” he asked, clearly concerned.

Suddenly, I felt a little proud of myself. I’d done it. “Yes, and I got into the safe room.”

“What the f*ck, Elle? I told you not to do that.”

“I know, but the code hit me and I had to try.”

His words were laced with anger. “I said it was dangerous. What don’t you understand about that?”

I wanted to argue with him, but I knew he was right.

“It was a stupid thing to do,” I agreed.

His sigh was heavy.

“Do you want to know what the code was?” I tried to extinguish his anger.

“Yeah.” His tone was still off.

“It’s Rose, Michael’s mother’s name.”

“Son of a bitch.”

There, he was fine. I laughed. “Can you believe it?”

“No. But you still shouldn’t have gone in there. What if you had been caught?”

The car in front of me engaged its hazard lights. I pulled around it. “Since when do you talk in the hypothetical?”

“Since there was no plan A or plan B,” he answered matter-of-factly.

The light turned yellow and I pressed the gas. “Okay, okay. Do you want to know what was in there or not?”

“Of course I do. Were the drugs still in there?”

“No, I looked everywhere. There were those crystals on the floor in one of the cabinets but nothing else. However, I found a note in there, and it was from my sister to me asking me to meet her. Michael must have gotten to it before me.”

There was knock on his door. “Meet her where?”

“At some address at One Park Lane.”

“Hang on,” he told me.

The rain started to fall harder and I turned the windshield wipers up. “Okay,” I said.

“Put him in the conference room and see if he wants some coffee, I’ll be right there,” Logan said to who I assumed was Sheila, his receptionist. “I’m back. Sorry about that.”

The car in front of me came to an abrupt stop and I slammed on the brakes. The car behind me honked.

“Where are you, Elle? Are you okay?”

“Yes, it’s just raining so hard I can’t see two feet in front of me, but I’m almost to the boutique.”

“Take it easy, okay? I don’t want anything to happen to you.”

“You’re sweet, you know.”

“Now, you’re pushing it.”

I laughed. “You are. Are you ready for the address?”

“Yes, shoot.”

“It was Six-fifteen One Park Lane.”

“That was one of the three buildings that cokehead pointed out to Miles.”

All the spots were taken near the boutique and I found myself weaving up and down the side streets. “I want to go with you when you go,” I said.

“No way.”

I decided to give in and pay to park in a lot. I hated the high cost and very rarely did it, but the rain was cause enough to splurge. The lot I found was farther away from the boutique than I would have liked, considering I didn’t have my rain boots. “Logan, please.”

“No, Elle. Let Miles go with me and then I’ll bring you there later if there’s anything to see.”

I switched the ignition off and fumbled for my debit card. “Do you promise?”

“Yes.”

My bags were on the seat beside me and I pulled them onto my shoulder. “Oh, by the way, Clementine loved her new Rosie.”

“Did she call her that?”

The lot was deserted. Everyone must have been waiting out the storm indoors. I opened the door. “She did.”

“She’s the sweet one,” he joked. “Listen, I have to go. I’ll call Miles after I meet with this client and let you know what we’re doing. I have a few other things to fill you in about.”

Water swooshed across my shoes with my first step onto the pavement and I swiped my card to pay the hefty twenty-dollar parking fee. I knew better than to complain to Logan about it because he’d offered more than once to pay the yearly astronomical fee for the parking lot just around the corner from the boutique.