Stealing Phin (22 page)

“Byron would never do that,” I argued, taking a leap of faith. “He wouldn’t break his policy for the likes of you. In fact, I know that he quit working for you days ago. And you’re a pig for asking him to do what you wanted him to do.”

“That may be, but this pig’s not the one who’s going to squeal when these photos hit the internet.” He smiled cruelly. “Now
you’ll
know what it’s like to have your reputation ruined by one indiscretion. That is, if you decide to not cooperate.”

“These pictures don’t show anything except a girl having fun on vacation. Even the ones at the disco don’t really show me doing anything I should be embarrassed about. You’re holding no cards.”

“You think these are the only photos I have? Come on, Phin. You know me well enough to know that I save my biggest guns for when it’s time to negotiate the most important terms. You see, right before my Byron reneged on his contract, I demanded that he send me the juiciest stuff he’d captured up to that point. At first he refused, but then he wised up when I let him know I was more than willing to sue him for everything he’s got for breaking his contract. He sent me everything he had. I’ll spare you the details, but let’s just say the photos depicted you in some very compromising positions.

“I must say, Phin,” he continued with a malicious grin, “if you’d been half as adventurous with me as you were with Byron, things might’ve lasted longer between us.”

My blood boiled. I tried to keep my head on straight as my panic and fury rose to nearly debilitating levels. I didn’t want to believe that Byron had either recorded our intimate moments or sent them on to Douglas, but if he hadn’t, then how would Douglas know we’d been together?

Unless…Douglas was bluffing.

I’d seen him look this way when he played poker and tried to figure out the cards in the other players’ hands. He was a master at reading people’s faces, just as he was trying to read mine. But this meant he was guessing. Making a bet. It must mean he wasn’t sure of something.

“I don’t believe you,” I said, refusing to give up on the man who had my heart. “Byron wouldn’t have sent you photos of me and him together…” I trailed off as I realized I hadn’t seen all the pictures on Byron’s laptop. Who knew what else was on there? Had he somehow recorded us in the pool that night and sent the pictures to Douglas? Was that the
big
mistake
Byron had alluded to when I went to his villa the next day?

And then I realized I’d just given myself away to Douglas by confirming that Byron and I had slept together. If we hadn’t, then Douglas couldn’t possibly have anything on me. And this discussion would be moot. But I’d just revealed to him ammunition he might not have known he had. Until now. God, did I really think I could outsmart a lawyer?

Douglas was losing patience. “You wanna play games with me, Phin?” He put his finger in my face again. “You don’t stand a chance. This all comes down to one thing. Who are you going to bet on? The guy who fucked you for money, or the guy who could fuck you in worse ways if you choose to be stupid about this?”

Douglas and I stared each other down. I was at a distinct strategic disadvantage here. Douglas was a professional, trained in the art of bluffing. During negotiations, I’d witnessed him get what he and his client wanted time and time again, even when the other side had the upper hand.

Who
was
I going to bet on?

And then it hit me. This wasn’t about who I was going to bet on. It was about
what
I was going to bet on. I’d already decided back in the hotel room when I told Dez that no matter what, I’d follow my heart. And so, I did just that. I chose to bet on love.

I set the photos back onto the table and looked Douglas straight in the eye. “Better dust off your resume.”

It took a second for my words to sink in. “Are you serious?” Douglas said. “You bitch! Don’t be a fool.”

“Fool? This is the smartest thing I’ve done in a long time.” I stood up to leave. But the persistent scent of the rose followed me, and it filled me with a sudden and irresistible urge. I faced him again.

“Oh, and one last thing, Douglas,” I added as I picked up the stinking flower from the table. “Go fuck yourself.”

I stuck the rose head-down into his glass of scotch and left.

I ran out of the restaurant, across the boardwalk, and onto the beach. My feet slipped in the sand, causing me to stumble, but I kept going. The tears streamed down my face, but they weren’t tears of sadness. They were tears of relief. Mingled with their saltiness was the sweet taste of freedom—from my past, from the pain I’d been suffering, and from Douglas. So, I welcomed the tears.

As I sprinted at full speed, I could hear Dez’s voice behind me, shouting my name. She must’ve seen me take off from the restaurant. I knew I should stop and turn around to let her know that I was okay. That I was better than okay. That I was finally free from the shackles Douglas had placed on my heart. But I couldn’t stop. Not until I did what I needed to do more than anything else at this moment.

I ran all the way to the ocean’s edge and didn’t stop there either. My legs burned as I fought against the pull of the tide. I kept going, churning my legs until the water came up to my waist. I spotted a large wave rolling toward me, rising to a crest, and I dove under it. I swam downward until the only thing I could hear was the low rumble of the surf reverberating through the water. And for a merciful moment or two, the ocean became my sanctuary.

As the water drowned out and washed away all the final remnants of doubt, fear, and regret I’d harbored over Douglas, I felt lighter. My body turned upward, and I began floating.

When I broke the surface, I expelled the breath I felt like I’d been holding for the past week. The sun was setting, and I kept my eyes on the horizon as I slipped the promise ring off my finger. I took one last look at the ring, which appeared a lot duller than it was when Douglas gave it to me. I cocked my arm back and flung the piece of metal as far out into the sea as I could.

By the time I’d walked back to shore, my mind was clear, my soul felt cleansed. Dez and Estevan were waiting for me.

“Are you all right?” Dez asked with concern. “I was afraid that prick had finally driven you over the edge and you were trying to drown yourself.”

I smiled. “I’m all right,” I reassured her. “In fact, I haven’t felt this right in a long time.” I gave her a big hug.

“Thank God,” she said as she squeezed me back.

“Dez,” I said when I released her. “I need to borrow your phone.”

There must’ve been something in the tone of my voice that was different because Dez handed me her phone without question.

I dialed one of the many phone numbers I still knew by heart from my old job.

“Hi, Jim?” I said into the phone when the line picked up. “This is Phinegan Swift. I have something to tell you, but first, I have a big favor to ask.”

“Do you want the window seat this time?” Dez asked me as we stood in line to check in our bags. We were back at the Juan Santamaría International Airport in San José, this time in the departures terminal.

“No, you take it,” I said quietly as I gazed out the windows of the airport.

“You sure you’re feeling okay?” my friend said as she examined my face. “You look sick.”

“I feel sick,” I admitted. “Sick over the fact that I’m about to leave this country. And Byron.”

“There’s nothing we can do about it,” Dez said gently. “When I called last night, the policía said they’d already transferred him to a holding cell somewhere outside of San José. No one can see him except his attorney.” She looked at me sympathetically. “Maybe it’s best to just let him go. The same way you let Douglas go. They both did you wrong. You need to accept that and move on.”

“That’s just it, Dez.” I shook my head as we inched forward in line. “I don’t think Byron was acting under Douglas’s orders. Maybe he was in the beginning, but something changed. And when we were together…” My eyes filled with tears. “What we had was so real. It had to be real. Because if it wasn’t, then I’m afraid I don’t know what real is anymore.”

“It was Byron’s job to make it seem real to you, hon. And unfortunately, he was really good at it.”

I looked at her tearfully. “Do you believe he sent Douglas photos of me and him together, then?”

Dez looked me square in the eye. “It doesn’t matter what I believe, Phin.”

She was right. The only thing that mattered was what I believed. And despite all the questions, the holes, the gaps, the blanks in the story, I knew deep down inside what the truth was.

The truth was I loved Byron. And I believed with every fiber of my being that no matter what he may or may not have done, he loved me, too.

I came to a realization. When I looked at my best friend, my expression must’ve said it all because she simply nodded and said, “Do what you need to do, Phinny.”

She had hardly uttered the words before I set off running out of the airport. I didn’t have a plan other than to get to Byron by whatever means necessary. After all, I couldn’t leave my heart behind in Costa Rica.

When I exited the airport, I desperately tried to hail a taxicab. “Get in line, chica,” an annoyed tourist spat at me. I turned around and saw a huge queue of people waiting for taxis.

“You don’t understand,” I tried to explain, “this is an emergency!” A cab pulled up, and I pushed past the couple standing on the curb who were next in line.

“Hey, you bitch! What the fuck? This is our cab!” the woman yelled. She grabbed me by the shoulders as I tried to dodge past her to get into the cab. I heard the whistles of three airport security guards as they hurried toward me.

“Let go of me!” I yelled as I fought to get loose from their grasp.

“Phin!” I heard a familiar voice calling. The sound of it triggered instantaneous tears.

“Byron?” I turned my head in the direction the voice came from. And to my great relief and wonderment, I saw a man step out of a car—the man who had captured my heart and held it hostage. “Byron!”

With supernatural strength I didn’t know I had, I wrenched my arms free from the security guard’s grip and ran toward him, not caring if the guards started shooting at me. I was going to get to Byron no matter what. I would outrun their bullets if that’s what it took.

As I ran toward him, the world stood still, as if it were holding its breath to see what would happen next. All sights and sounds faded away and became a muted blur as I ran faster and faster. Was he just a mirage that would disappear as soon as I came within reach? Was this my love-sick mind playing tricks on me? Was this the moment I would cross irrevocably into the world inhabited only by those driven to insanity by losing the ones they love?

“Phin.” He held his arms out to me.

Please
don’t
be
a
dream.
And
if
you
are
a
dream,
then
please
don’t
let
me
wake
up.

As I closed in on him, I shut my eyes. I flung myself into the air.

It was only when I felt his arms catch me and then circle themselves around me securely that I dared to open my eyes up again.

“Is it really you?” I asked, breathless, almost afraid of the answer.

“Yes, Phin. It’s me.”

“I couldn’t leave. I just couldn’t leave here without you.”

“I know, Phin. I was just about to tear down the prison walls to try to get to you, when a man in a fancy suit showed up at my cell.”

“Who was it?”

“He was an attorney from Chicago. Said he was doing a favor for his friend, Jim. And that he was here because of you.”

“Jim came through,” I smiled broadly.

“Who’s Jim?”

“When I couldn’t find Carlito or get anyone at the Embassy to take me seriously, I’d thought I’d run out of options for helping you out of jail. But then, after I’d met with Douglas last night, I realized there was one more thing I could try. I called in a favor to one of the managing partners at his law firm. Since I’m the key witness in an important investigation of his, I figured he’d be willing to help. It didn’t hurt that he also hates Douglas.”

Byron’s happiness and relief melted away at my mention of Douglas. “You met with Douglas? He managed to find you here?” Fury colored his eyes a dark green and amber.

I frowned and nodded. “He came to see me last night. He tried to blackmail me with photos he claimed you sent. Of us.”

Byron shook his head. “I didn’t send anything to that asshole except the photos of you and Dez at the Lava Lounge. He kept pushing for me to get scandalous photos of you—either with Carlito or with me. And when I refused and tried to end the contract, he threatened to sue me. But I didn’t care. All I cared about was ending things with him so that I could start on a clean slate with you. That was why I made you leave the day you came to my suite at the Volcano Villa. I’d begun to have serious feelings for you, and I couldn’t be with you again in good conscience until I’d cut off all ties to Douglas. I’d always intended to tell you everything, but before I could, I’d found out Douglas was in the country. I’d figured he was trying to find you, and I wanted to find him first. One, to make sure he didn’t do anything else to hurt you, and two, to give him a piece of my mind, face-to-face, for hurting you in the first place.”