Page 92 of Moonlit Colorado

I stood up, quietly crossing the sitting area while keeping myself mostly hidden behind the fireplace. I watched the man’s back as he strode down the hall with purpose. Like he had somewhere important to be.

Who the heck was he?

I wasn’t going to let him vanish this time. At the very least, I could find out where he was going, and there would be security cameras around here that would catch an image of his face. The police could identify him. Unless the cameras conveniently “glitched” again, like the security cams at the ski resort…

No, I couldn’t let that happen. I had to get a picture of the man myself.

I followed as closely as I dared, while still keeping some distance between us. I kept my phone up with the camera ready, which would be an excuse to keep my head down in case the guy looked back. I would look like I was messing around on my phone and not paying him any attention.

The man turned a corner, and I took a few quick steps, hoping to catch up. I was about to peek around to see what he was doing. But then his voice rang out.

“Did you think I wouldn’t find you here?”

I froze up against the wall, expecting him to dart out and grab me. My heart thrummed so hard I couldn’t make out the individual beats.

Then someone else spoke. A woman. “I don’t have time to?—”

“You’ll make time. You’ve been avoiding me. Makes me think you have something to hide.”

I carefully angled my phone so that just the camera lens edged past the corner. Using my thumb, I snapped several photos. My phone was on silent, so it didn’t make any noise.

“I’m just trying to get by, like always,” the woman said.

“You do what I tell you to. Right now, I want to know where Nina is.”

My hand shook as it held the phone. They had to mean Nina Jamison. I switched the camera setting to video and hit record.

“I don’t know. Nobody’s seen her in weeks since that ski resort in Colorado.”

“But I’ll bet she’s been in touch with you.”

“Seriously, Vincent, I have no idea.”

So that was his name. Vincent.

“It’s not my fault she slipped away and disappeared,” the woman said. “Bother somebody else about that, not me. It’s not my problem.”

“Not your fucking problem?”

There was a scuffling sound, then a muffled cry. I risked glancing around the corner, still recording with my phone. Vincent had shoved the woman up against the wall. I hadn’t seen her at the wedding, but she was dressed in an evening gown, her blond hair up in a twist. His hand was over her mouth, while his other squeezed her roughly by the arm.

“Get this straight, Lexi. If I don’t find out where Nina is soon, I’m going to get suspicious that her friends are helping her stay hidden. And what do you think I’ll do if I find out you’re involved in that?”

Her eyes were wide and terrified. She tried to say something, but her voice was muffled by his hand.

“I’ll make sure that pretty face of yours can never be shown in public again. But I can already see that you’re not listening. You think it’s not your problem. So I’m going to have to show you that it very muchisyour problem.” He suddenly wrenched her arm at an angle that made me flinch in sympathy. I saw the agony in her eyes, and I couldn’t stop myself from taking a step toward them into the next hallway.

“Stop!” The shout left my lips before I’d even realized I was doing it. “Let her go!”

Vincent went still. His head swiveled in my direction. “Excuse me?”

I lifted my phone, still recording. “I’m filming this, asshole. So you’re going to let her go. Right now.” My whole body was shaking, but I couldn’t just hide behind the corner and watch him hurt her. It wasn’t right.

Somebody had to stand up to men like this, and if I stayed silent, what did that say about me?

“What’s happening here is none of your concern.”

Lexi shook her head, eyes begging me not to do this, but I stood my ground, lifting my chin. “It is now. Leave her alone.”

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