Las Vegas Savior

A week later, Emily was back to her old self again and was just about to go off duty. Shelly had arrived and had just refilled a customers’ coffee cup when she looked out the front window at the black SUV that had just pulled up.

Two men in suits got out and Shelly nearly dropped the pot of hot coffee when she recognized one of the men as Derrick, from the picture Emily had shown her. She turned around and put the pot back on the warmer tray and tried not to act suspicious as she quickly walked over to Emily, who had just hung up an order on the spinning wheel for Henry and Jack. Shelly grabbed her by the arm and pulled her into the door to the kitchen.

“Hey, what’s wrong with you?” Emily started to object. “A simple come with me would have been enough.”

“He’s here! Derrick and some other man just pulled up out front. Get your stuff and go! I’ll try to stall them as long as I can. Wait till they sit down and then get out. Go the back way behind the dry cleaners, turn left twice and that will get you back to the road home. I’ll text you when they leave.” Shelly told her.

A quick look out the window confirmed that Shelly was right and it was indeed Derrick that was standing and stretching in the parking lot out front. Emily didn’t even hesitate but ran to her locker to get her purse and grabbed her coat off the hook by the back door. She pulled it on and pushed on the door and peeked outside.

She looked back at the window where they hung orders and saw Shelly watching the two men come in. “Take a seat anywhere, fellas’. I’ll be with you in a minute.” They looked around and took a seat at a table near the front door. Shelly looked over at her and nodded and Emily took off running.

Emily got in her car and shoved the key in the ignition. Her hands were shaking so bad that she barely managed to get it in and the car started. She normally would allow her engine to warm more but she was going to be running for her life again, if she managed to get away without Derrick seeing her.

She knew that Derrick would be able to see her car when she pulled out if she went the usual way but she was going to take the exit that ran behind the diner and the dry cleaners next door. She just had to get over the grass median that was now covered in snow and separated the two businesses. She prayed there was nothing in the grass that would either hang her up or puncture her tires.

Thankfully she had just filled her car up with gas and hadn’t been using it much, she had almost a full tank of gas as she followed Shelly’s directions. She made it to the road that came out to the main road about half way home.

She drove as quickly as possible back to her apartment and made sure she had her cell phone on as she ran inside. She dumped her apron on the bed, gathered up her tips and stuffed it down in her purse without even counting. Then she stripped out of her uniform, throwing them over the back of the recliner and pulled on the sweats she had worn to bed.

She threw the rest of her few belongings onto the sleeping bag and stripped the bed, rolling everything in the fitted sheet and ran back to her car. She threw everything in the trunk, slammed it closed and quickly got back in her car.

Ten minutes later she was on the highway heading south. Twenty minutes later, Shelly’s text came through. “They just left. Don’t know which way they are going but he showed me a pic of you. Looks like someone had photo shopped him out of the pic you showed me of the two of you together.

The other man asked if there was another diner in town and I told him about the place on the other side of town. He also asked about a hotel. Hope I don’t catch his cold! Be safe and God’s speed. Call me when you can to let me know you are okay. Take care!”

Emily drove the rest of the day, pushing the speed limit as much as she dared, not only because she was afraid she might get pulled over but because of the black ice that might be on the road. She drove well into the night, stopping twice for gas, a bathroom break and something to eat.

She finally made it to Las Vegas around one in the morning. She pulled into a small hotel off of the strip, where the sign said that rooms were only $35 a night and parked in a space that was not easily visible from the street and then entered the hotel lobby.

She asked the desk clerk for a ground floor room in the back, hopefully on the corner. Luckily the room she was requesting was available. She pulled around the building and parked her car in the visitor’s parking spot so that anyone who passed wouldn’t know which unit she was in.

She got her pack out of the trunk and walked across the parking lot. She unlocked the door and pushed it open. The small room was nondescript, like any other cheap hotel room she had ever stayed in but at least it was clean and the bed seemed fairly comfortable when she sat down on the side of it to take off her shoes.

She was finally going to be able to get a shower and get some sleep in a warm room. She had been watching her rear view mirror the whole time and had never once spotted a black SUV behind her so she was pretty sure that they had not followed her or at least they were not close enough to have seen her pull in here.

She used the bathroom and then texted Shelly to let her know she was safe but didn’t tell her where she was. She was slightly surprised when her phone rang almost immediately after she sent the text. The caller ID showed Shelly’s number and Emily tentatively answered the phone.

“Hello?” Emily said.

“Emily. Are you OK?” Shelly asked. “Where are you?”

“I’m not going to say but just know that I’m safe for now. You can’t tell him anything if you don’t know anything.” Emily said. “Sorry. It’s not that I don’t trust you but it’s safer this way.”

“I know. I just wanted to let you know that I think they are staying here overnight. I drove by the Holiday Inn on my way home tonight and the SUV they came to the diner in was parked in the lot. I wonder how they found out where you are?” Shelly asked.

“There’s no telling. I might have served someone he knows or maybe he’s circulating my picture around with the lord only knows who. I’m sorry I had to leave in a rush like that but thank you so much for helping me get away. At least this time, I managed to get all of my stuff before I left town.

I hate to ask anymore favors but do you think you can collect my pay and Western Union it to me? I’ll let you know where as soon as I can find a local office. Oh by the way, I left my uniforms in my apartment. Can you get them and turn them in so that he doesn’t charge me for them? Also if there is anything you want of the furniture that you helped me get, take it. I just hope the landlord isn’t upset that I left without telling them.”

“Sure. Not a problem. Let me know if you need anything and take care, Emily. Keep in touch. I hope our paths will cross again someday!” Shelly told her before she hung up.

Emily sat looking at her phone for a few minutes, wishing she could hug her right now. They had become close in the short time they had known each other and Emily felt like Shelly was her sister and not just her friend.

Emily plugged in her phone and went to get a shower. She thoroughly enjoyed being able to take her time and even sat down in the tub and shaved her legs before she stood up and washed her hair. She used the dryer that was hardwired into the wall by the vanity and dried her hair, then pulled on her nightgown and crawled into bed.

She piled the pillows up and leaned up against them as she grabbed the remote and turned on the TV. She watched for a little while but couldn’t find anything to really hold her attention so she turned it off and went to sleep. She had been driving for almost 12 hours straight and she was worn out.

The next morning, Emily woke up around 10 and took her time and drank both cups of coffee that the hotel had provided in the small one cup coffee maker that was bolted to one side of the vanity. She pulled on the last pair of clean jeans and her last clean T-shirt and hoped that the hotel had a laundry facility on the property. She had several things to wash because it had been over a week since she had done laundry.

She really needed to get some more clothes. Right now, she owned the set of sweats she’d worn while she had been driving, a pair of long johns, two pairs of jeans, three shirts, her worn out old nightgown, that she should probably throw away, two pairs of fuzzy socks, four pair of plain white socks that she could wear with shoes, her sneakers and her big fuzzy slippers.

She picked up the hotel phone and hit the button for the desk. The clerk answered and she asked if there was a washer and dryer available for guests to use on the premises and he told her it was located behind the office.

She got her sleeping bag and the sheets from the bed at the apartment out of her car then gathered up her clothes and her wallet and headed for the laundry mat. She found the laundry easily enough and loaded up her clothes in the machine and then looked for the soap dispenser but there wasn’t one.

She walked around the corner to ask the desk clerk and was told that the machine had been too unreliable and seemed to be constantly broken so they now sold the laundry supplies at the front desk.

The clerk passed her a card with the cost of each kind of detergent and she bought two of the cheapest ones and returned to the laundry mat where she added the soap to her two machines. She realized she also needed quarters for the washing machines and dryers, so she went back to the front desk and the clerk gave her five dollars in quarters and the rest in $5 bills in exchange for the twenty dollars she handed him.

She sure was glad she had changed out her tips in the diner register the day before yesterday. She thanked him and went back to the laundry room. She put the quarters in the slots and started the machines. She was just throwing the empty boxes away in the trash can by the door when a tall, very good looking man came down the sidewalk.

“Hello.” He said as he entered the laundry room, causing Emily to back up into the room. She hadn’t thought about it before but there was only one way out of here and right now he was filling up her only means of escape.

The look of fear must have been plain on her face because he said “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you.” His voice was not really deep but full and definitely male and his slow smile made her stomach feel like it was suddenly full of butterflies.

“Hello. And that’s okay. I was just about to go back to my room.” Emily finally found her voice as she looked for a way to get past him.

“Oh, I learned a long time ago not to leave your stuff unattended in these machines. Not everyone will respect your property if you don’t watch over them. My name is John. Who do I have the pleasure of meeting?”

“Hello John. My name is Emily. Are you a guest here?” She asked. She really would feel better if he would get out of the doorway and let her at least get outside. “Those machines are still available.” She added, pointing to the machines she was standing across from.

There were 5 washers on one side of the room and 5 dryers on the other side with a large folding table between the two rows of machines. She had taken the first 2 machines, just inside the door.

“Great. I’ll get my stuff and be right back. I only have enough for maybe one load but I’ll need clean clothes for tomorrow once I get a shower.” He said as he finally left the room.

“They sell the soap at the front desk and he’ll sell you quarters too.” Emily said. She debated about staying or going. He was a very handsome man but she couldn’t get involved with anyone right now.

“But would it really hurt to stay and at least talk to him?” Her little voice was obviously braver than she was lately. It had been a long time since she had even talked to a man she hadn’t been working with or waiting on their table.

She looked at her reflection in the glass on the dryer door and was horrified. From what she could make out, she looked a mess. She was just about to leave to go back to her room and at least brush her hair when John came back. He had what looked like a pillowcase with some clothes inside.

He dumped them all into the one machine and turned to her, “you said they have soap at the front desk?” He asked and she nodded.

He left to go to the front desk and she took off running for her room. She let herself in and ran for the bathroom. She used the toilet and checked herself in the mirror as she washed her hands. She decided to brush her teeth and then brushed her hair.

She wished she had something nicer to wear than the rather wrinkled t-shirt with the faded kitten trying to catch a butterfly on the front but all the rest of her clothes were pretty much the same and besides they were in the washer right now. At least her well-worn jeans fit her lean frame well.