Page 25 of Hushed

She didn’t really care about the soda. She just wanted to be alone and calm down. When the server was gone, Kenzie pulled out her phone and scrolled to a number she hadn’t called in a long time.

“What’s wrong?” Gage sounded panicked when he answered, and if she weren’t so shaken up herself, she would have laughed.

“Why do you think something is wrong?”

“You’re calling me after ten at night. You work late. Did something happen at a gig?”

She blew out a breath. “No. I’m not even sure why I’m calling you.”

“What’s. Wrong?” he asked again, putting a point on each word.

“It’s stupid. You were probably sleeping.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. I’m at the club until two most nights. I’m in my office. Now spit it out, Kenzie. Now.”

“Do you keep your members’ addresses on file?”

“What?”

“Do you let them drink so much they don’t remember where they live?”

“Kenzie, what the hell happened? You’re freaking me out here.”

“Nothing happened. Not exactly. I just… I went to a kink club tonight. They made me put my address on a waiver. When I asked why they needed it, the girl at the door—an ex of yours, by the way—said it was just in case I drank too much.”

“We’ll come back to the ex of mine in a minute. Where did you go? Did anything else happen?”

“There was a guy. He said he was the head DM, but he kept trying to pressure me into switching wristbands or having a drink with him. Later, in the bathroom, I overheard two people talking about me. It sounded like this dude wanted to put something in my drink. And then they started talking about knowing where I lived. It just creeped me out. So now I’m sitting in a diner afraid to go home.”

“Which club?”

She hesitated, not wanting him to scold her for making a terrible choice.

“Kenzie, I swear to god if you don’t answer my question, I’m getting in my truck right now.”

She closed her eyes and laid her head against the worn leather booth. “The Cage.”

He let out a curse under his breath, and Kenzie winced. Silence hung between them, and she thought he’d hung up. But then he said, “That means you’re probably at Millie’s, yeah?”

That he pulled up a map and figured out where she was soothed her, and gave her a semblance of security.

“Yeah. Why did you curse like that?”

He sighed. “Because little imp. That club has a really terrible reputation. What made you go there? You know what? It doesn’t matter. You’re not there anymore, and I’ll make sure they lose your address.”

The server came back with her fries and soda, and Gage asked her to hold on for a minute.

She opened a straw and twisted the wrapper around one finger as she held the phone between her shoulder and ear. Most of the fries were too soggy for her liking, and Diet Coke tasted like crap, so she moved the fries around her plate searching for the crispy ones while she waited for Gage to come back and did her best not to worry about what he was up to.

“Kenz? You still there?” He startled her out of a daze, and she shoved her plate aside.

“I’m here.”

“Good girl. A friend of mine is on his way to pick you up, so you don’t have to take a rideshare anywhere. His name is Patrick Yates. He might have his wife, Austin, with him to make you feel safer. She’s an attorney and a good friend. In fact, she runs the firm that handled your copyright case a few years ago. They can be trusted, OK?”

Her bottom lip trembled as she tried to hold in an unexpected wave of tears. “OK. Thank you, Gage. You didn’t have to do that.”

“I’ll always take care of you, Kenz. Never be afraid to call me. Do you need me to stay on the phone with you or are you OK?”

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