Page 54 of Under His Sheets
What an odd thing to say.
“I’ll follow you.”
He told me to leave the guitar case in his den and then he walked me out to the large open-plan area that was half full of guests by this time.
“Let me get you a drink,” Paolo said, walking me over to the bar. I accepted a glass of cava, figuring it would help calm my nerves a bit anyway, which was good, because Ruiz was nowhere to be seen.
“Actually, do you mind if I use the restroom?”
“It is right down that hallway,” he said, pointing the opposite way from which we’d come.
I thanked him and walked with purpose but refused to scurry. I just needed a moment to collect myself and inspect the sweat damage. Once inside the room, I sloshed a bit of the cava on myself, cursed, and then I turned on the water with shaking hands and spoke directly into the top of the pin.
“I hope you can hear me, but Ruiz is gone. I don’t know where he is. We are playing at eight forty-five, and then I will try to leave.”
I dried my hands on a towel and put them on my stomach, trying to breathe through the nausea. The sweating was intense, leaving my suit feeling tight and scratchy, which heightened allof my anxiety to bordering on unbearable. I sat on the closed toilet lid and tried to slow my breathing.
I was on my own. I intended to get through this in one piece and the task force would hopefully get what they needed, but I wasn’t going to worry about it. I just wanted to do myjobjob, not this clandestine shit. And I wantedAlonsoAlonso. I was more worried about him than myself right now.
There was a tap on the bathroom window, and I jumped. It was frosted glass and I couldn’t make out who was there, but I had a feeling…
I opened it a crack and heard the most wonderful sound.
“I’m here, amor. Cuida’t.”
“Are you okay? Did you hear Ferrer asking about you?”
I couldn’t make out all of Alonso’s face in the darkness outside the window, but just hearing his voice and knowing he was out there eased my fear. I hoped he was well hidden.
“Don’t worry about me. Play and leave as quickly as you can.”
I nodded, then touched the screen.“I’m so glad to see you.”
He frowned, looked behind him, and then he was gone.
I washed my hands again and took a few deep breaths before I headed back out to the gathering. There were probably sixty or seventy people there, most of them older than me. I still hadn’t seen Pere yet, so I approached Doriana.
“Hey, sorry to bother you, but have you seen my date? I seem to have misplaced him.”
“Oh, I haven’t,” she said, but her smile seemed fake. “Please, come and meet some of the other parents from the school.” I shook a few hands and then they all started to introduce themselves and ask me questions.
“Thank you, I’m enjoying working with the students at Frederick Douglass very much. Um, senyora Ferrer? I was hoping I could see Pere for a few moments?”
“Oh, yes. That would be good. Let me have Jaume show you to his room.”
It seemed like Jaume was rarely very far from either Doriana or Paolo, and he certainly was an intimidating presence.
“This way,” he said, and he led me up the staircase to the second floor of the grand home. The views of the ocean from the bank of windows both downstairs and along the staircase were stunning. I was sure they’d paid quite a premium for this property. I’d heard about this side of Castelldefels. Heard that even fútbol player Lionel Messi lived in this area. That didn’t mean as much to me as it probably should have, but I’d smiled and acted impressed.
Pere’s room was at the end of the hall on the opposite side of the house from where all the action was taking place. I knocked on the door and pushed it open carefully.
“Pere? It’s senyor Sutter.”
The boy was sitting on the floor and didn’t look up from his book when he said, “Come in please.”
He was dressed in a tiny suit, his hair gelled back from his face as he turned his big brown eyes on me.
“Wow, you look so handsome,” I said as I knelt down next to him. “That’s a nice suit.”
