THE PERFECT TEN (Boxed Set)

around to open Angel’s door. She stepped down, eyes cautiously flicking about, which put him on alert.
    Inside the restaurant, a rotund Nikki, with a salt-and-pepper handlebar mustache, greeted Zane like a lost cousin. Nikki had a heavy crowd for this early on a Thursday night. Must have something to do with the upcoming holiday weekend when locals dined out the night before the tourists descended.
    As Nikki directed them to a small table in the back, Zane almost ran over Angel when she abruptly stopped in front of him.
    He caught her shoulders to keep from knocking her down.
    “What’s wrong?” he asked, quickly scanning the room, taking in the people and assessing everything for threats in a matter of seconds. Nothing appeared out of place. What had pricked her attention?
    The smile she offered him was countermanded by vivid apprehension in her eyes.
    “Clumsy. I stumbled.” 
    Nikki had noticed them not following and walked back. “Problem?”
    She smiled the way women do to make men think everything is fine. “Where’s your ladies room?” 
    Nikki pointed to the far side of the entrance. “To the left of the front door, next to the hostess stand.”
    Zane didn’t want to let her out of his sight, but what could he do? He’d sound ridiculous telling her not to go, especially while Nikki listened. He caught her by the arm as she stepped away. “Are you okay?”
    “I’m fine.” 
    She didn’t look fine. Something had rattled her.
    “Please, Zane, people are staring.”  Angel slipped from his hold and walked quickly back the way they’d come then scooted into the ladies room.
    He gave the dining room another once over before going to wait for her at the hostess stand. Nothing unusual stood out. He might be reading more into this than he should.
    Nikki stepped around Zane and asked, “Is there a problem, Mr. Zane?”
    Before he answered, Zane waited until a slender, middle-aged man in a gunmetal gray suit stepped past them on his way to the front door. Zane gave the man a second look, then grimaced at the direction of his thoughts. Here he was, acting suspicious of Nikki’s clientele when in truth Angel was the dubious one.
    He answered Nikki. “No. My friend hasn’t felt well and I’m a little concerned. I’ll wait to see how she’s doing before we sit down.”
    “Oh, poor thing. Not a problem. You just tell me if you want me to fix something to go.”
    “Thanks, Nikki. Oh, one more thing. Is that the only door in and out of the bathroom?”
    Nikki gave him a quizzical look. “Yes. That is it.”
    Ten minutes later, patience spent, Zane asked Nikki to send a waitress in to check on Angel.
    The girl returned immediately, wide-eyed and confused. “The bath-room is empty.”
     

Chapter 15
     
    Zane pounded his steering wheel.
    What could have spooked Angel?
    He’d been confident she couldn’t get past him. He knew the men’s room had no other way out than the door used to enter. Unfortunately, an exterior wall on one side of the ladies room held two old-fashioned crank-out windows, which she’d managed to slip through.
    His chest tightened at the thought of her alone again on the streets. The change of clothes helped to camouflage her, but she’d been worried about spending money on food. How far could she travel on limited funds?
    Another aggravating thought hit him.
    He still didn’t have a fingerprint. Damn.
    Zane kept methodically cruising streets around the area near the restaurant. Maybe she’d run a sufficient distance to feel safe and stop. If she saw his truck, he wanted to believe she’d trust him enough to come out of hiding.
    Trust him? She didn’t trust him at all or she’d tell him who was chasing her.
    He drove slowly through the residential sections near the restaurant, up and down back streets. Solitary streetlights illuminated crossroads, but not much else. She could be hidden anywhere within the unlit maze of thirty-year-old homes surrounded by enormous tropical vegetation.
    No lost female flagged him down.
    An hour later, he quit the hunt, frustrated at losing her a second time. His own stomach growling, he picked up a pizza on his way home. A mild wind blew through the silent parking lot of his complex as he locked the truck. He carried the pizza into his apartment, dropped it in the kitchen then walked through the living room to slide the door open to his patio.
    And froze.
    Angel was curled up in a corner, asleep and hidden from view by a thick bush on