Unfortunately, tickets to England weren’t cheap. Not to mention the money she would need to live on until she got her first paycheck. Damn Grayson for losing his painting mojo and turning into such an ass. Now she would need to figure out another way to get the money.
Her thoughts were so wrapped up in her money issues that she almost walked into a teenage girl sitting on the sidewalk. The girl was strumming a guitar with a fast-food cup of change in front of her. She didn’t look to be over sixteen and had the same desperate, hungry look that Chloe had once had.
Regardless of her financial troubles, Chloe pulled a ten-dollar bill out of her purse and placed it in the cup. The girl stopped playing, and her eyes filled with gratitude. Which had Chloe jotting down the name of the flower stand on Fisherman’s Wharf and handing it to the girl.
“I’ll be leaving in a couple weeks, and the owner will need someone to help her. She doesn’t ask questions, and she pays in cash.”
The teenager took the paper, then hesitantly asked, “You were a runaway?”
Chloe added another couple of dollars to the cup. “I still am.”
After leaving the girl, Chloe headed to her apartment. It was a small studio, and for the rent she paid, it was quite a steal. Especially in San Francisco, where rent was as high as the Golden Gate Bridge. At one time she had lived there with Madison and Eden. But Madison had moved to a high-rise apartment downtown that went with her new top-model profile, and Eden had moved in with Nash. Now it was just Chloe who lived there.
When she arrived, Mr. Garcia was standing in front with his little dog, Scamper. She tried to keep her distance from the other tenants. But Mr. Garcia was hard to ignore. He was a suspicious old guy who viewed himself as the building watch. He took one look at her and started his interrogation.
“What are you doing off work? I thought you sold flowers on the wharf during the day.”
“I do, but I took the day off.”
His eyes narrowed. “You’re not going to start selling drugs, are you?”
“No, sir,” she said as the terrier raced over to greet her. Chloe didn’t like dogs. They were too easy to get attached to. But it was hard to ignore Scamper’s big brown eyes. So she bent down and gave his ears a quick scratch. The dog immediately rolled to his back and exposed his belly for more scratches as Mr. Garcia continued.
“It wouldn’t surprise me if you were into something shady. Especially with that tattoo and hole in your nose.”
Chloe touched the side of her nose that had once held a diamond stud. Zac had called it an engagement diamond when he’d paid for it and her piercing, but really it had been more like the ring placed in a bull’s nose to control it. She had stopped wearing the stud after he’d been arrested for running a prostitution ring.
The thought made her realize that Mr. Garcia was right. She had been involved in something shady, all because she had once been as desperate and hungry as the little guitar-playing girl. But never again. Never again.
She gave Scamper one last scratch before she rose. “I promise I’m not selling drugs or doing anything illegal.”
“Then explain why that detective was looking for you.”
It took a real effort to keep her fear from showing. Although her voice quavered when she spoke. “What detective?”
“The one who showed up here this morning.”
“What did he want?”
“He wanted to know if a Selena Cameron lived in the building.”
Selena Cameron. It had been so long since she’d heard the name that it sounded foreign, like it belonged to someone else. And technically it did. It belonged to an adorable baby in a fuzzy blanket. A sweet toddler in a frilly dress. A happy little girl in her father’s arms. It didn’t belong to a disillusioned young woman who wanted to forget the painful past.
“So what did you tell him?” she asked.
“I told him that I’d never heard of a Selena Cameron, and then he whipped out a picture.” Mr. Garcia squinted as he studied her. “The hair was longer and lighter, but the face was the same.”
Since the jig was up, there was nothing for her to do but accept it. She glanced at the front door of the building. “So is he waiting inside?”
Mr. Garcia looked surprised by the question. “Hell no. I’m not gonna let some stranger waltz into our building.” He paused. “Just like I’m not gonna give a stranger any information on the tenants who live here—I don’t care if he is a cop. We neighbors have to stick together.”
She released her breath in a rush. “Thank you, Mr. Garcia.”
He only nodded before he pulled Scamper down the street.
Once he was gone, Chloe hurried up the steps of the building. Relieved though she was that Mr. Garcia hadn’t thrown her under the bus, she still didn’t have any time to lose. The man looking for her wasn’t a cop, but she didn’t have any doubt that he was a private detective.
Once inside her apartment, she locked the door and then looked around to see what she would need to pack. Pots of flowers covered every available surface. There were orchids, African violets, begonias, hibiscuses, amaryllis, and a white peace lily that stubbornly refused to bloom. Probably because there was little peace in Chloe’s life. When she left, she would need to figure out what to do with the flowers. Maybe she would give them to Mr. Garcia as a thank-you for not giving her away to the private detective. Of course, the detective would be back. Which was why she couldn’t stay there.
Chloe headed to the closet and pulled down her duffel bag. She didn’t have a lot of clothes to pack but, thanks to Madison, she had two dresser drawers filled with lingerie. She chose only her favorite sets of panties and bras, skipping over the light pinks and lavenders for the darker reds and blacks. After tossing in a few toiletries from the bathroom, she grabbed the framed picture on the nightstand.
Eden had given it to her for her twenty-first birthday. It was of her, Eden, and Madison at the Bay City Marathon. They were standing by the finish line with their arms wrapped around each other. For once Chloe looked happy. Maybe because she’d goaded Madison until she finished a half marathon. Or maybe because Eden had just informed them that she was engaged to Nash. Or maybe because she had finally started to hope. Hope that she could forget the past and move on. She’d been wrong. There was no forgetting who she was. Or where she came from.
Placing the picture on top of her folded clothes, she zipped the duffel bag and then headed to the kitchen and the cookie jar where she kept the tips she’d made waitressing at The Lemon Drop bar. She knew exactly how much money was in the jar. She counted it nightly. She also knew that it wouldn’t be enough for a plane ticket to England, let alone enough for rent and food until she got her first check.
A pounding on the door interrupted her thoughts. She froze for only a second before she raced into the living area and stuffed the money in her duffel, then grabbed it and her purse and headed for the fire escape. She had the window open and one leg slung over the sill when the lock clicked and the door swung wide. The curvaceous blonde in the red designer dress was a welcome sight.
“I knew you were running from me.” Madison placed a red-nailed hand on her hip and pointed the key she’d just used at Chloe. “And I’m telling you, Chloe McAlister, that I’ve had about enough of your shenanigans. If you don’t want to be my friend anymore, just say so.”