Chapter Five

Cheryl’s POV

I woke up to the buzzing sound of my cell phone. Blurry-eyed, I rummaged for it, and without glancing at who it was, I slid my screen.  

"Goodness, Cheryl!! I'm just one minute from tagging you as a missing person. Where the hell have you been? I've been trying to reach you for hours! Mrs. Wellington told me what happened! I'll come to that shortly. Hell, I even went as far as going back home to find you because I know that you have nowhere to go. Where are you?!"

I snapped out of my groggy state immediately, and my chest tightened. Right! The fire! It wasn't a dream. It was real! My eyes roved around the room, and I caught sight of a telephone, an alarm clock, and a lampstand on a nightstand.

Fuck! How did I get here?

Abruptly, I got up from the rumpled white sheets.

"Can you even hear me? Where are you, Cheryl?"

"K-Kathleen..." Was that thick voice, mine? If I didn't know better, I would swear I had a frog stuck down my throat. "I...I don't know how I got here."

"Where?" She asked, her voice impatient.

"I-I'm in a hotel room, but-"

"Oh no, Cheryl, tell me you didn't have a one-night stand with a stranger."

"No! Of course, not. You know I would never do that." I grimaced. "I-I don't know...I woke up alone here in this room...I – “ I caught sight of a clock on the wall. "Fuck! It's seven?"

"Why do you think I've been worried sick about you? No one has seen you in nearly twenty-four hours! Might I add that you haven't been taking your calls too? What the hell happened?"

Pacing about the room, I ran a hand through my disheveled hair. I racked my head for any detail at all that could answer Kathleen's question.

Right! I'd been on the roadside. I'd been conscious for a few seconds and caught the silhouette of a figure too...a man perhaps, who tried to prop me up. Afterward, there was a voice...gruff? Tight?

Gathering my thoughts was harder than I thought.

"You know what? I'll come to meet you. Which hotel are you in?" Kathleen's question jolted me out of my reverie.

Fumbling with my cell phone, I checked my location, and my eyes dilated the moment I stared at the name of the hotel, my mouth flew open.

"What? Ledridge Hotel?"

"You've fucking got to be kidding me! You are in Ledridge Hotel in San Antonio?! Oh, no. Tell me you didn't rob someone, Cheryl."

"Of course not, Kath."

"Then, how can you explain..." Kathleen paused to catch a deep breath. "Do you have an idea of how much it costs to stay there for a night?" Kathleen took a few breaths to calm herself. "You know what? I'll be there in a moment. Stay right where you are and don't even try moving an inch."

It took Kathleen thirty-five minutes to arrive at my door. Right after she dropped the call, I placed a call at the checking desk to inquire about how I reached the hotel, and my mouth went agape the moment the young woman at the checking desk confirmed.

"Cheryl." Kathleen enveloped me in a tight hug the moment she entered the room. "I'm so sorry about your apartment. You can stay with me for the meantime if it's okay with you."

"Thank you, Kath," I mumbled, a little embarrassed about the offer. Kathleen was right. I had nowhere to go.

"I had a hard time getting past the security men. Ledridge Hotel is a far cry from the regular." Kathleen took in the view of the room, and her lips parted. "How the hell did you get in here, girl? The grumpy woman at the checking desk is tight-lipped, she wouldn't say a thing."

I paused to take a breath. "Kathleen, there's a big problem. I discovered from the receptionist that the room was reserved last night for me under a Russell Walker's name." Swallowing excessively, my brows squished together.

"What? Russell Walker?" A loud chuckle erupted from Kathleen who waved her hand in the air. "That's impossible, Cheryl. You must have heard wrong. There's just one Russell Walker in the whole of Texas, and he's not the kind to help damsels in distress. Why in the world would Russell Walker bring you here? Besides, it's rare to catch a glimpse of him." She rolled her eyes.

"I-I don't understand either. Well, except someone is impersonating him, and my thoughts are jumbled right now, I can barely remember anything." My eyes darted around the room, and an envelope caught my eye. Kathleen's eyes followed suit too. Lunging forward, I reached for it and tore it open, removing the note which read;

“Hello, ma'am. How are you doing? I found you unconscious on the roadside along Converse. I thought you were dead because you weren't answering. I thought of bringing you here to rest well. Bye, ma'am. In case you need to reach me, my number is in the rear corner of the note.

-Tom Sullivan."

My eyes probed Kathleen's and my brows furrowed. "What do you think?"

The cell phone on the side table suddenly dinged and I scuttered toward it, reaching for it.

"Hello, ma'am. I wanted to ask if you would like to renew your-"

"No! I'm leaving now, thank you." Glancing at a musing Kathleen, I said, "We have to go now!"

It took about an hour to arrive at Canyon Lake, and an extra ten minutes drive to reach Kathleen's house. All through the drive, I was in my thoughts. I huffed when a text from Mason Lewis, an agent from Scorp Enterprise, popped on my screen.

I still have one goddamned month to pay up! Why does he have to pester me so much? My heartbeat accelerated at an image of me being cuffed and wearing orange prison jumpsuits.

"Are you alright, Cheryl? You look pale."

"I think heaven is in support of this." Kathleen flinched her head back slightly and her brows furrowed. "That's the only way I can explain this link to Russell Walker. You might be right after all, and as crazy as this sounds, I want to give it a try. I'll meet Russell Walker and convince him to marry me."