Page 56 of Just One More Moment

Soon the patrons were filing out the back door and being instructed to head to the front of the building. Despite the fear on some people’s faces, and the eye rolls from those who never believed in fire alarms or any other kind of threat, the crowd was impressively well behaved. Trampling was always a potential problem and Remy was happy there were no assholes in the group.

He glanced around for Raven, who had been by his side when he talked to the staff, only to find her holding open the door.

Meeting her gaze, he narrowed his eyes and gestured for her to move away from the exit. Ignoring him, she grasped onto the arm of a pregnant woman whose friends had obviously ditched her to get themselves to safety. People definitely showed their true colors in an emergency.

Remy’s gut screamed this episode had everything to do with Lance and that he’d finally made his move. But as the owner of the establishment and having asuggestionfrom the NYPD, or what appeared to be the NYPD, he was required to act accordingly and that meant being the last person out.

“Remy!” Stevie’s voice had him turning around. She pointed to a woman who was sitting in a chair, head bent between her legs, clearly having a panic attack.

Shit. No way could he leave her. “Get outside and call 911, make sure they’re sending an ambulance.” He didn’t want to take any chances. “I’ll help our customer outside.”

He spared another glance toward where he’d seen Raven earlier, but she was gone. His gut churned but he was unable to leave this panicked woman, whose breaths were coming way too fast, alone inside his place of business.

He knelt down to talk to her. “Miss? What’s your name?”

“M… Melissa.”

“Hi, Melissa. I’m Remy.” As he went through the motions of talking to her and coaxing her to her feet, his thoughts were on Raven.

He had to hope the security guard he’d hired had an eye on her, that Garrett had heard about the bomb threat and was on his way over, and that this whole fiasco was a false alarm. Most of all, he prayed his hunch was wrong. That this had nothing to do with Raven’s psychotic brother.

Unfortunately, Remy’s track record was pretty damn good and there was every chance Lance was about to strike.

***

As soon asRemy explained the phone call from the police, Raven got to work. As the manager, she needed to set a calm example for her employees and show them how to talk to the customers and escort them outside and to the front sidewalk in an orderly fashion.

She stood by the door, keeping an eye on the room and making sure everyone left. That’s when she noticed a heavily pregnant woman holding her lower back as she made her way, alone, to the exit.

Raven rushed over to help her. “Are you okay?”

The pretty brunette shrugged. “My lower back has been bothering me all day but I also have sciatica with this pregnancy. So who knows what it is? It’s my third.” She blushed at the admission.

Raven winced, hoping it was back pain and not labor. “Well, let’s get you out of here. Where are the women I saw you with earlier?” Raven asked.

The brunette frowned at the question. “They’re work friends not friend friends, if you know what I mean. And I learned they won’t ever fall into the latter category.”

They made it to the door and walked out. Except for Stevie, the barback watching the emergency exit, and Remy who was taking care of a woman who looked ill, everyone was out. She wasn’t worried about there being an actual explosive in the bar. Lance wouldn’t involve the NYPD and she was sure it was some kind of crime to call in a fake bomb threat. She had no doubt they would all be outside soon.

While she watched for them, she stood with the woman she’d helped, waiting for an ambulance. The sidewalk where they’d met up was crowded. To her surprise, instead of giving up and going home or to another restaurant, most of the patrons gathered and stayed, everyone talking, asking questions and mostly wanting to appease their morbid curiosity. She likened the people gathered to those who passed an accident on the highway and slowed down to watch, causing traffic on the other side of the highway.

An officer began to urge people to cross the street and move away from the building, or better yet, to disperse. Not many listened.

Two ambulances pulled up to the curb alongside the police cruisers, blocking traffic so they could park in front of the bar. The paramedics hopped out and took the pregnant woman inside one of the vehicles, leaving Raven to cross the street and try to look for Remy or the guard who he’d assigned to watch her.

With the growing crowd, she was being jostled and shoved. She wasn’t comfortable so she backed away from the tight group of strangers, instead walking along the periphery and occasionally rising onto her tiptoes to scout out someone she knew, to no avail.

She sighed and leaned against the building, away from the bulk of gawkers. She didn’t have her purse but she had her cell phone in her pocket and she pulled it out to call Remy. As she held it up to her face to open the screen, she got the feeling she’d had weeks ago, that someone was watching her.

She spun around, facing away from the gathered people, but didn’t see anyone. Her heart pounded harder and again she searched for Remy or a familiar face.

“Raven.”

At the sound of her name, relief that one of her coworkers had found her first filled her… Except it wasn’t a friendly face she saw.

It was Lance.

Chapter Twenty

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