Read Online Flashback by Ella Ardent - Free Book Online Page B

gone.
    For the moment, there was nothing more to
say.
     
    * * *
     
    Mike came home on Monday night,
despondent.
    Joanna had called in sick to work that day.
He knew she would call in the next day as well. The knowledge that
Eric was claiming her over and over again made Mike feel sick.
    That it was his own fault was just salt in
the wound.
    He should have talked to Joanna. He should
have made sure that this was really what she wanted. He should have
given her the chance to decline. Instead, he’d played master and
chosen for her.
    And lost her forever.
    It was his own fucking fault.
    He got a beer, then went to the window. He
could see the tower where Eric had that specially configured
apartment. It was dark at the top and he knew why. The windows were
covered, the walls soundproofed, the entry secured.
    What if Joanna really didn’t want what Eric
offered?
    It was too late to find out. Mike regretted
that he’d given the key back to Eric. He couldn’t even go there and
ask her, not now. Eric would never let him in, and Joanna wouldn’t
be able to. The keycard lock was one he couldn’t pick.
    But maybe he was just imagining that would
make any difference. Maybe he was seeing his desire instead of her
own. Maybe he really had given her exactly what she wanted.
    And lost what he wanted.
    He threw back half of the beer, then dug out
the business card of a friend on the opposite coast. Darcy had
tried to recruit Mike a dozen times, but Mike had always declined.
He’d chosen being close to Joanna over a better job opportunity.
Darcy had always said that Mike could take him up on the offer
anytime. He stared at the card, then finished his beer.
    Maybe it was time to make a change and start
fresh.
    He called Darcy, certain that a change of
scene would be the best way to move on.
    Not that he’d ever forget Joanna.
     
    * * *
     
    Leya had a house by the sea, a small house
with hedges all around it. She told Rex that it was owned in the
name of her alter-ego, a safe house that she’d never used. The
house smelled like it had been closed up, but they opened the
windows and cleaned away the dust.
    She wouldn’t let Rex go shopping for
groceries, but put on a wig and went herself.
    He paced.
    He was itching to boot up his computer and
find a wifi connection, impatient to know what was happening at the
Plume. Had everyone gotten out? Had the records really been
destroyed? If anyone had been arrested, had they been released?
    He debated his choices for a while, then
couldn’t stand it any longer. He took some cash, found a pair of
sunglasses and left the bungalow. He’d seen a convenience store on
the corner and bought a phone card there, then used the public
phone by the gas station to call Julius. It wasn’t nearly as secure
as he wanted to be, but he had to know.
    “Hi,” he said when Julius answered the
phone.
    The lawyer from the Plume obviously
recognized his voice - and he clearly wasn’t alone. “I’ve told you
a hundred times, Maria, don’t use the cellphone! You might think
you’re entitled to use whatever you find in my house when you’re
cleaning, but I’m not your sugar daddy. Stay away from the phone
and we’ll get along just fine.”
    “Done and done,” Rex said. He knew the lawyer
well enough to understand that the other man was giving him
necessary information, so he played along.
    “Thank goodness there were no real
repercussions,” Julius continued in a huff.
    “Everyone’s okay?”
    “I can manage the details, but you need to
understand that it’s your own call that caused all the trouble,”
Julius lectured. Rex was so surprised by this that he had no chance
to be relieved. “If you hadn’t called that number, I wouldn’t even
know what you’d been up to. No one would have found out if
you hadn’t been so stupid. If you hadn’t made that call, the police
wouldn’t have gotten involved. I’m sorry, Maria, but they want you
to turn yourself in.”
    Rex felt his eyes narrow. They