Total pages in book: 64
Estimated words: 60018 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 300(@200wpm)___ 240(@250wpm)___ 200(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 60018 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 300(@200wpm)___ 240(@250wpm)___ 200(@300wpm)
* * *
One week passed, then another. After the first seven days, Garrett went back to work, stopping in daily on his lunch hour so Raven could take trips to her favorite coffee shop and an old-fashioned bookstore that was still in existence. No sign of Lance. A rookie friend of Garrett’s replaced him when he needed to work and on the nights Raven had poetry slam, he followed at a discreet distance. Not even Remy clocked his tail.
The longer this went on, the more frustrated both Remy and Raven became, to the point where they were snapping at one another instead of getting along.
Today, Remy gave an agitated Raven a wide berth. He still kept an eye on her but didn’t approach her. She hadn’t gone outside yet and he wondered if being fed up would make her do something rash. What, he didn’t know. Lance had mentioned enjoying their game and he was for sure playing one.
Remy just hoped it didn’t turn dangerous.
He was sitting in his office when the bar phone rang. “Remy Sterling here.”
“Mr. Sterling, this is Lieutenant Charles from the NYPD. A bomb threat has been called into your establishment. Although we can’t insist you evacuate your patrons, we highly suggest you do so until our bomb squad arrives and gives you the all clear to return.”
“On it,” Remy said, rising as he spoke.
Dammit. There was no way to know if it had been Lance on the phone or a real problem. He had no choice but to err on the side of caution. He gathered as many employees as he could and instructed them to calmly ask people to leave until the building was clear.
He asked one of the barbacks to check the bathrooms, office area, and to keep an eye on the emergency exit, one also used by the staff, so no stragglers ended up causing trouble inside.
Soon the patrons were filing out the back door and being instructed to head to the front of the building. Despite the fear on some people’s faces, and the eye rolls from those who never believed in fire alarms or any other kind of threat, the crowd was impressively well behaved. Trampling was always a potential problem and Remy was happy there were no assholes in the group.
He glanced around for Raven, who had been by his side when he talked to the staff, only to find her holding open the door.
Meeting her gaze, he narrowed his eyes and gestured for her to move away from the exit. Ignoring him, she grasped onto the arm of a pregnant woman whose friends had obviously ditched her to get themselves to safety. People definitely showed their true colors in an emergency.
Remy’s gut screamed this episode had everything to do with Lance and that he’d finally made his move. But as the owner of the establishment and having a suggestion from the NYPD, or what appeared to be the NYPD, he was required to act accordingly and that meant being the last person out.
“Remy!” Stevie’s voice had him turning around. She pointed to a woman who was sitting in a chair, head bent between her legs, clearly having a panic attack.
Shit. No way could he leave her. “Get outside and call 911, make sure they’re sending an ambulance.” He didn’t want to take any chances. “I’ll help our customer outside.”
He spared another glance toward where he’d seen Raven earlier, but she was gone. His gut churned but he was unable to leave this panicked woman, whose breaths were coming way too fast, alone inside his place of business.
He knelt down to talk to her. “Miss? What’s your name?”
“M… Melissa.”
“Hi, Melissa. I’m Remy.” As he went through the motions of talking to her and coaxing her to her feet, his thoughts were on Raven.
He had to hope the security guard he’d hired had an eye on her, that Garrett had heard about the bomb threat and was on his way over, and that this whole fiasco was a false alarm. Most of all, he prayed his hunch was wrong. That this had nothing to do with Raven’s psychotic brother.
Unfortunately, Remy’s track record was pretty damn good and there was every chance Lance was about to strike.
* * *
As soon as Remy explained the phone call from the police, Raven got to work. As the manager, she needed to set a calm example for her employees and show them how to talk to the customers and escort them outside and to the front sidewalk in an orderly fashion.
She stood by the door, keeping an eye on the room and making sure everyone left. That’s when she noticed a heavily pregnant woman holding her lower back as she made her way, alone, to the exit.
Raven rushed over to help her. “Are you okay?”