Elon spoke to the clerk at the front desk, and I heard them discuss a penthouse option with multiple bedrooms.
Sharing a common space was fine. I’m sure there was zero way Hunter could get past the front desk and then Elon to find Sam and me. Once again, I owed Elon.
Elon swiped his black card and told Sam, “Medical school and residency took me seven years. And I had the money to start my business right away.”
Elon offered me a plastic key card. I took it and said, “We’re not staying forever, Elon. It’s just temporary.”
I needed to know Hunter wasn’t around the corner waiting to hunt me down. We walked to the elevator. “You and I settling everything is all I ever hoped for.”
As the doors opened, I whispered to him, “Good, but let’s not get Sam’s hopes up.”
We stepped inside, and the doors closed. Sam asked, “Why not? He’s better than Hunter.”
I cringed. Sam had overheard me. I didn't want Elon to know I'd made one more awful choice in a lifetime of making terrible decisions. This time, it could have ruined my son’s life.
Elon asked, “Who is this Hunter?”
The elevator went up and up, and I wasn’t sure I had enough air to breathe.
Sam said, “Mom’s mean ex-boyfriend.”
The doors opened. Elon guided us to the door and slid his key card to open it. “Mean? How mean?”
We stepped inside, and I glanced around the room. I’d never been on the top floor of any of the hotels in Orlando. This penthouse had a view of the two parks. I could see the lights of the roller coasters and imagined we'd soon have a perfect view of the fireworks being shot from the lagoon. I was dripping wet from the rainstorm, so I took off my waterlogged shoes.
Sam did the same with his shoes.
Sam headed to the couch. Once I was sure I wasn’t creating a huge puddle that would need to be cleaned, I realized Elon was waiting for an answer.
I lowered my head. “He beat me up pretty bad a few weeks ago. I grabbed Sam, put him in the car, and we took off.”
Elon’s face went white. “Is Hunter the guy in the bar?”
I let out a long sigh. “No, that’s Paul. He’s a loan shark, and he’d lent Hunter the money for said car. I took the car to get away from Hunter. Turned out he had a way to track it, and I said I’d show up to meet him tonight, so we could figure out what to do about the car.”
“Good,” he said, and then the doorbell rang. I jumped to block Sam in case Hunter had found us. Elon opened the door to a bellman and accepted the luggage.
He closed the door and handed me one of the bags. “Let’s figure out who's sleeping where tonight as you both look exhausted. Room service will be here soon and hopefully perk you both up. We can take the jet tomorrow.”
The farther away from Hunter both Sam and I got, the better.
Elon walked over and gave Sam a bag as I opened mine to see what was inside.
Clothes.
And nice clothes, not from a warehouse of returned clothing or unclaimed items from the park's lost and found. I asked, “Where did you get these clothes?”
“Just in case you agreed to come with me, I texted my assistant to get you both some things sent over.”
Of course. He hadn't called my mom or dad, but people like my parents took care of people like Elon.
Sam took out an electronic watch and smiled. “Wait, are you rich?”
Elon shrugged. “Yes, and so are you.”
“No, he’s not.“ I cringed. Once Sam started believing everything Elon said, I was lost. And Sam was the only one who mattered.
“Mom!” Sam cried.
