Now all those terrible acts had finally caught up with me, as I always knew they would. The problem was that now when the most important part of my life was torn from me because of what I did, all I could do was hope that when I caught up with Nina that she’d see that Tristan didn’t exist anymore.
I checked my phone for any message or text from Nina. Nothing. Where was she? Was she alone? Images of West or worse, Karl, holding her marched through my mind. No! I couldn’t believe that. She was safe. She had to be.
My fingers tapped out a message I prayed to God she saw. I know what Kim told you, but I swear she’s wrong. Tell me where you are and I’ll come to you. Don’t do this. Don’t let everything we have mean nothing.
After ten minutes, I knew she wouldn’t be answering my text. I didn’t expect a few words to fix everything. The damage my past had inflicted on us would require far more than that. I didn’t expect anything, in fact. Nina had accepted all my demons, even if she’d done so unknowingly at times, but I’d made the biggest mistake of my life by not coming clean just days before as she and I lay in bed that morning for the first time in months. She’d practically begged me to tell her everything, and I hadn’t. I didn’t know why. Maybe I’d hoped I wouldn’t have to tell the woman I loved that I was a thoughtless, callous dick to someone who only wanted love from me, and my carelessness with her had led to her death.
Before I put the car in gear, I tried one more time, hoping at the very least she was receiving my messages and at best she was reading them. I know I promised to tell you everything, but sometimes a man wants to have the woman he loves see him as more than he actually is. I wasn’t trying to hide what happened then. Please believe me.
I got no response.
Daryl and Varo were waiting for me outside the house when I pulled up, their faces telling the story I didn’t want to know. Stepping out of the car, I asked, “Nothing? You’ve got no clue where she is?”
“Nothing yet,” Daryl said nonchalantly as he tugged on his beard, betraying how worried he really was. “What took you so long? I figured you’d be driving at the speed of light.”
Varo said nothing, but I could tell he had something on his mind. “You seem to want to say something. Speak up,” I ordered.
“I think you might have been right about West. I’ve been thinking about how he acted today at lunch. He was angry about having lunch with Nina and Jordan. She was playing matchmaker, so I figured he was annoyed about that, but now that he’s vanished, maybe it was more.”
Daryl spoke up before I could. “What do you mean more? Did he have something against Nina?”
Shaking his head, Varo frowned. “Not so much something against her but something’s been bothering him for weeks. I can’t put my finger on it, but something’s different.”
“Something’s bothering him? Something’s different? What the fuck does that mean? Are you saying he wants to hurt Nina?” I bellowed as fear tore through my body. West may have been the older of the two bodyguards, but she was no match against him. He could subdue her in seconds and she’d be gone.
“No, no. I just mean he seemed more resentful of things once I moved into the house. Even though it was only for a short time, I think he had a problem with that. I just can’t imagine he’d hurt her, though. If anything, I got the feeling his problem was with you, Mr. Stone.”
“Have you tried calling her?” Daryl asked, easing the tension around us only slightly.
“No,” I answered, shaking my head. “Only texts.”
“What the fuck is with your generation? A phone is for talking. You know, with your voice? You think she wants to hear from you through misspelled words? She wants to hear you, man. Call her.”
Maybe he was right. I took my phone out and pressed 1. Her phone rang, which was a good sign. At least I could still believe it was turned on and still with her. By the fourth ring, I’d all but given up on her answering, but then I heard her voice so full of sadness say my name.
“Tristan.”
I turned away from Daryl and Varo and walked behind the car. “Nina, I’m sorry. Please tell me where you are so I can come to you.”
“No, not this time, Tristan. I needed you to tell me the truth and you broke your promise. I can’t do this anymore.”
Her voice was barely more than a whisper. I pressed the phone hard to my ear to hear her, even as I dreaded her next words. “I know I messed up. I know. But you don’t know the truth. I need you to know that.”
With tears in her words, she spoke the worst thing I’d ever heard. “You’ve made sure I can live a comfortable life. Not happy, but secure. I just can’t do this with you anymore. Maybe if I’d been brought up in your world, but I wasn’t. I’m still that middle class girl, no matter how much the clothes I wear or the house I live in costs.”
“Nina, don’t hang up! Tell me where you are. Let me explain. Don’t let everything we’ve been through mean nothing,” I pleaded, knowing I had only the slightest chance of changing her mind.
“I can’t. I love you, but we’re just no good together. Goodbye, Tristan.”
“Nina! Nina!” I screamed into the phone, but it was no use. She was gone.
Hanging my head, I struggled to know what to do next. I had no idea where she was, and she didn’t want to see me anymore. To her, we were over.
“Tristan, what did she say?” Daryl asked behind me, but I couldn’t tell him. I couldn’t admit I’d finally lost her. “Tristan, did she tell you where she was?”
I shook my head and turned to face him and Varo. “No.”
“Then we can use the GPS tracking software to find out.”
“What? I don’t have that on our phones.”
Daryl smiled and for the first time since I returned, stopped pulling on his damn beard. “I’d hoped she would willingly tell you where she was, but when love doesn’t do the job, technology can. I had it installed on her phone right after you left. I figured that way if she was ever in trouble, we could find her.”
I couldn’t stop myself from smiling. “You’re not kidding? Then show me how the hell I find out.”
Slipping his phone out of his pocket, Daryl tapped his finger on the screen a dozen times and turned the screen to face me. “Time for a little trip. Better get that plane of yours revved up.”