Chapter 40

ALANA I RAN ALONG THE ROAD AND INTO THE FIRST OPEN PLACE I FOUND, WHICH happened to be a diner. I chose a quiet booth and looked around me. I didn’t think Blake had followed me but my heart still pounded in my chest and my blood thundered in my ears. I had to get home. And, I needed to call the shelter and make sure Lucy was okay. But now I had no cash on me. I had no cell phone. What the hell was I going to do? I didn’t want to risk walking the few blocks back to the shelter in case he was out there, waiting for me. Just then the waitress approached me. ‘You okay, sweets?’ she asked. I nodded and blinked back the tears. ‘I need … do you have a phone I could use?’ I asked. She tilted her head to one side and looked at me, as though measuring me up. ‘Sure, honey. Here take mine,’ she said as she took out her cell and keyed in her passcode before handing it to me. I dialed the only L.A number that I knew by heart – the hotel. I had a bunch of p