Page 19 of Night Moves

“It’ll be okay. Tonight is just a meet and greet.” I’ll see you in the morning. Get some rest.”

After he leaves, I try to play with Eizlee but even she can sense my anxiety. I end up reading her every book we have.

Once she’s down for the night. I offer Silo dinner and he politely refuses and goes back to walking from room to room or staring out the massive picture window.

When I realize he’s also watching my every move in the reflection on the glass, I retreat to my room. I’m antsy and end up following Silo’s lead and walking from my room to check on the baby and to Diesel’s room and circle back. Close to midnight I’m exhausted and flop down on Diesel’s bed. His scent surrounds me, comforts me, and soon I’m falling asleep, arms wrapped around his pillow.

CHAPTER11

Diesel

I drive to a predetermined part of town, slip in the staff door of an exclusive hotel and walk out the front where Diego meets me with the limo. Playing the part like a pro, he opens the door and takes the driver’s seat.

Pulling into traffic he meets my gaze in the rearview mirror. “You’re rushing this, asshole. You could get yourself killed. Then what happens to that little girl?”

“My team takes care of her. And Willow. I already contacted our lawyer just in case.”

“I don’t like this. Willow’s holding back something important. She could be setting you up.”

“I agree she knows more, but she’s afraid, too. Do we have anyone inside?”

“Not working. But Roja knows you’ll be there tonight and will be there partying.”

“Willow warned me that they drug the drinks, even the closed water bottles somehow. Make sure everyone knows. Have you had a chance to review the baby cam video?”

“Yeah.” He rubs a hand down his face. “Watching that little baby—” His voice cracks. “These fuckers are gonna pay.”

I look out the window. They’ll pay. I’ll personally make sure they’re all taken down.

We set a pickup spot and Diego drops me off. Passing the general admission group, I go to the reserved seating line and show my code. The guy scanning looks at me then looks again. “You look familiar.”

I smirk. I’ve bulked up a bit and had to shave most of my beard down to the old style, but my life-sized image is plastered behind him on the wall. “You may have seen me around.”

“Oh my god! It’s you,” the woman behind me gasps. Turning to her friends she shouts. “D-Man is here. He’s here! OhMyGod. OhMyGod.”

My reputation is still intact and the reaction down both lines is exactly what I’d hoped for. No way current management can miss me now. Or my draw.

She clutches my arm. “Please, please can I have your autograph. Please.”

“Got a pen, Sugar?”

The girl behind her hands me a red marker. “I’ve got this.”

“For that, you can have one too. If you’d like.”

“Yes!”

“How do you want it,” I ask the first woman, and wink.

“How you always give it,” she quotes back the exchange I was known for. She pulls down her blouse exposing the sizable swell of her breast. I didn’t even practice, but muscle memory takes over. I draw a pair of lips and underneath scrawl my signature D-Man. While she bounces in place screaming, I do the same for her friend who lifts her short, short skirt and gives me her ass cheek.

By the time I’ve finished, security has arrived to escort me inside. I pause dramatically at the entrance hoping that Diego was in place with his long-range lens to get a photo. They walk me through the seating area to a side hall and up to the second-floor office. The one-way glass looking down on the floor is still in place, but the wall around it is lined with a dozen camera views displaying almost every corner of the building.

A bulky man a little shorter than me stands behind the desk and holds out his hand. “I’m Carl. I tried to find you when I bought the place, but you were totally off grid. I’d decided you were only a legend. Nice to finally meet you, D-Man.”

“Just Denz. Nice to meet you, Carl.”

We both sit. He’s supposedly the owner, but his hands are too gnarly to be a pencil pusher. His suit doesn’t fit well and he’s trying to hiding a shoulder holster. To top it off he wasn’t smart enough to even have a folder or piece of paper in front of him on the empty desk.

---