Hateful (Wicked West Rejects) by Cora Brent

Author:Cora Brent [Brent , Cora]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2022-09-12T16:00:00+00:00

Part Two

THE CITY…

Where the Scariest Stories

Have More Than One Villain

Chapter 15

Dani

I’m running late but I still manage to arrive first.

“Booth for two, please,” I tell the young orange-haired waitress who cheerfully leads me to an empty place along the back wall and hands over a pair of laminated menus.

The air blasting out of the overhead vent is a cool break from the soaring temperature outside. On the other side of the tinted window the pavement soaks up the July heat and city pedestrians rush to the next air conditioned refuge.

My blouse, woven from quality silk, sticks to my skin after the two block trek from the parking garage. I lift my thick curtain of hair to give my sweaty neck some relief.

Bree Lambeau breezes through the glass doors, removes her oversized sunglasses and scans the lunch crowd. More than a few eyes swing in her direction, perhaps recognizing the nationally ranked tennis player. Or perhaps they’ve seen clips of her interviewing all the big name athletes now that she works for a popular sports news site.

She smiles when she sees my hand waving in the air.

“Apologies for the fashionable lateness.” She squeezes me in a warm hug.

“I only beat you here by two minutes.”

This is one of my favorite lunch spots and I don’t need to look at the menu before ordering a Reuben sandwich with slices of fresh melon.

Bree sips a raspberry lemonade and swings her sleek black ponytail over one shoulder. “A shame Tess couldn’t join us.”

“I asked her but she couldn’t get away, not even for an hour. I don’t know if you heard, but her father is running for Congress now. Lately she spends so much time at his campaign headquarters it’s easy to forget we’re still roommates.”

“You’re living in that new high rise on Apple Avenue, right?”

“The Tower. Just finished six months ago, it’s a company-owned building. As a perk I received a fantastic deal on an apartment.”

I say this with some pride. After all, I had a big role in managing construction of the luxury building. Each time I take the elevator to my tenth floor apartment I’m reminded that I’ve come a long way from the little girl who haunted the worst city streets during the day and slept uneasily at night while gunshots, shouting and sirens raged outside.

Bree’s attitude shifts to concern. “By the way, Tess told me about what happened. They still haven’t caught the bastard?”

A chunk of my good mood evaporates. I try to hide it and speak matter-of-factly.

“The one who tried to run me over in the parking garage? No. I didn’t see the license plate number and the cameras were out of order so no video was recorded. He missed me and I hid behind a concrete pillar and ran for the door while he turned around. Good thing I’m fast in heels.”

I force out a laugh even though the memory of what happened three weeks ago fills me with anxiety.

I’d been working late and the parking garage was nearly empty when I finally made my way to my car.

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