He had a plan to flush out the stalker. If they thought Bethany was two timing Seth, then it had to happen—she needed to appear to be.
* * * *
Bethany made coffee as he outlined his plan. She let him finish talking and then said quietly, “Seth thinks it’s you this stalker assumes is my other lover. He assumed we were lovers and not siblings when he met us.”
Jake looked pained. “Not a great thought, but maybe he’s right. Okay, that’s even easier now. You don’t have to find another guy to flirt with.”
She grinned. “Let’s go and eat down at the marquee. I’ve asked Seth to go and we can talk with him. I’d like you two to be friends because I want him in my life. Also, in just chatting with him, we might uncover some subconscious information about who might love him enough to be hurt by my supposed two-timing.”
Jake looked at the pictures on his laptop. One of the cameras gave him a clear view of anyone approaching the trailers on the front path, as well as, the door to Seth’s trailer. He saw an actor he knew lived in the trailer a few yards away, walk up the path carrying a tray. Jake looked back up at Bethany.
“I’m taking an iPad to dinner. I don’t want any nasty surprises when we get back. For instance, some lunatic waiting here to get you as you walk in.”
Bethany’s cell received a message. Seth was ready to go and get dinner when they were. She waited until Jake brought his iPad from his bedroom and then they went over to collect Seth.
* * * *
They walked to dinner, looking like three friends—happy and with not a care in the world. Bethany deliberately linked arms with her brother, but periodically touched Seth’s hand. It would look clandestine to anyone watching and was part of the plan.
In the marquee, they ordered from Dougie. They went to sit together at a table a little way off from other tables where the people sat, in either small groups, or alone reading.
Jake positioned himself close to Bethany and sitting opposite Seth. He glanced around then taking in the reaction of other people to their arrival at the table. It didn’t look to his experienced eye as if anyone was remotely interested in them.
Seth was amused. “You two are in character as a couple, aren’t you? What’s the plan?”
She smiled back, but only nodded in answer and didn’t expand on the plan. When Dougie’s assistant called their order, Seth went up to the counter and Jake deliberately lingered leaning over his sister to give the impression of intimacy. Then he followed Seth, who had reached the counter and helped bring the food over to their table. Bethany casually looked around. She couldn’t see anyone watching them. A man looked down at the magazine he was reading as she scanned the nearby tables, but he wasn’t previously staring over.
Having placed the food on their table, they sat down to eat.
Jake spoke to Seth. “So, what do you make of this new twist?”
Seth put his fork down. “I’m frankly amazed. I’m worried for Bethany. I wish it would all go away. There’s a month of filming left and then I’m taking a break. About this plan of yours—is there anything I’m supposed to do?”
Jake shook his head. “Nothing out of the ordinary.”
They finished their food at the same time and talked about where Seth planned to go for his break.
The actor looked at Bethany intently. “I mean to stay home for a while but those plans can easily be changed.”
When they left the marquee, Bethany made a show of walking between both men. She brushed Seth’s hand with hers. The truth was, she desperately wanted to hold his hand.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Niall was in the canteen. He was shocked when Bethany, Seth, and that other man walked in. This woman is playing both guys for fools.
He looked down at his magazine and turned a page. He didn’t care about the other guy, but Seth was hanging on every word she said and that hurt him. He sighed because he really did love the actor. It was painful to want someone so badly and yet know there would never be any chance of them loving you. He drank some coffee and glanced at Seth. The least he could do was make sure this woman didn’t hurt him.
When they left, Niall waited a few seconds and then followed the three. He walked at a short distance behind them and hung around, hidden by the hedge as they parted at Seth’s trailer. To his horror, the woman and the other guy she was obviously seeing had a trailer only yards away.
* * * *
Bethany checked her laptop when she and Jake were in their trailer. She looked at the video recorded to make sure the trailers had not been approached.
“I want to go back to Seth tonight. I know we are putting the alarm program on. I was thinking I will go over in about half an hour and, once I’m in there, the program can be turned on.”
Jake burst out laughing. “I don’t think you should go. I want you where I can help you, should some weirdo decide to get you in the night.”
Bethany sighed. “Please, I’m only a few yards away and the alarm would go off if anyone came close to either trailer.”
Jake smiled at his sister kindly. “You need to take care.”
She nodded, acknowledging his agreement. She called Seth and told him she would come over in half an hour.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Niall hid behind the hedge, three trailer lengths away from where Jake and Bethany were staying. He considered what to do. His intention was to call on Seth and tell him about this woman. Seeing the couple with Seth made him pause. The actor knew them and so had to be complicit in the arrangement. It wasn’t the behavior Niall hoped for from his beloved Seth.
A garden seat ran half the length of the hedgerow with a litter bin situated at the end of it, alongside a garden light. Niall sat on the seat and sighed.
He stared at a ladybug on a blade of grass for a couple of minutes, thinking and then decided he would have to warn the woman off Seth.
Maybe I’ve aimed at the wrong target, he thought.
Maybe he should send a note to the guy she lived with and tell him she was screwing Seth? He might be the one to target. Niall didn’t like it. He decided to warn the woman off Seth by threatening to tell the guy she lived with about her infidelity. That would be his first step.
He got up and threw the magazine he had brought with him from the canteen into the litter bin. If he followed the hedgerow and skirted around the back of the trailers opposite Seth’s, he could walk between them. If Seth had his lights on and blinds open as usual, he would get one more glimpse of his beloved before he went home to his own trailer.
* * * *
Niall looked forlornly through the window at the actor. He must have been reading because he leaned his head on his hand and looked down at something. The line of Seth’s jaw had a slight growth where he hadn’t shaved for a day or so. The actor wore no shirt and Niall’s heart nearly stopped with love.
He reached for his notebook. There was a beam of light coming from the window of the trailer he stood next to. The blind was held away from dropping straight down by a large cactus in a yellow and red striped pot. Niall wrote a note by this light.
As he put his notebook in his back pocket, Bethany opened her trailer door.
Niall had seen the lights go out in her trailer and decided the couple had gone to bed. Now it would be safe to slide his note under the door if it would fit. He watched and caught sight of Bethany quietly closing her trailer door. He made a split second decision.
Dragging his T-shirt up over the bottom half of his face, he ran at her when she was midway between her own trailer and Seth’s. He was behind her and holding her around the neck in seconds.
Bethany tried to squirm away from him as she made a short cry of surprise. Her laptop fell to the ground, hurled a few feet away by the force of Niall’s sudden attack.
Niall hissed in Bethany’s ear, “Leave Seth alone. Stop seeing him or I will tell the guy you live with about you screwing around.”
He pushed her with great force onto the ground and fled. His note fluttered
down next to her as she sprawled in the grass.
Niall knew the place very well and was completely gone when she sprang up. Taking her Ruger from her pocket, she gave chase.
Chapter Thirty-Four
As Niall grabbed Bethany outside the trailers Jake leaned away from his computer just for a moment to slide his coffee cup nearer. He caught movement on the screen out of the corner of his eye, but Bethany was supposed to be out there anyway. Jake looked at the screen now and saw Bethany coming back to the trailer. She was putting her gun in her pocket and opening the door.
“What’s going on?” he asked turning to her.
She shook her head. Her eyes were wide and she dropped her laptop onto the soft bench seat. “The son of a bitch grabbed me and warned me off Seth.”
Jake leaped up. “What? Are you hurt? Did you see him? It will be recorded.”
Bethany checked her neck in the mirror by the hanging rail and Jake looked too. There was a vivid red mark where her attacker had held her in his vice-like grip. Bethany rubbed it carefully.
“I’m okay, but damned annoyed. He just leaped out of nowhere, silently. I dropped my laptop so I want to check that. I chased him but he melted away into the night.” She waved the note at Jake. “He left this behind.”
He took it from her and pressed a key on his own laptop.
“Your lady is screwing around.” Jake read aloud, as Bethany checked her laptop. “Short and to the point. This guy fell for our act. That means he was in the canteen tonight. This is the same notepaper as the stuff used to send the note to Seth. If you are okay, get over there to Seth’s trailer. I’ll watch you this time. As soon as you are in there, I’ll turn the alarm on. You set the video stream on your laptop and keep it by the bed.”
He turned and looked back at the screen. “Good Lord. I can hardly see the guy. Look at this. He pulled his T-shirt up over his face and he’s hidden by your head as he holds you. I can see he’s well-built. He works out a lot by the looks of this. He’s tall too. You sure you aren’t hurt?” Jake asked again, as Bethany came to his side to watch the replay of her attack.
“I’m fine—apart from angry with myself. I didn’t react fast enough. He had an iron grip. He smelled good actually. Yeah, apples and lemons, sort of herbal too. I can’t believe this happened in seconds. He must have been waiting and watching the trailer.”
She looked down at the knees of her jeans and brushed them.
“Grass stains,” she said. She took out her cell phone and called Seth.
Jake listened to her ask him if he was okay and if anything had happened. She told him it would be a few more minutes before she joined him and ended the call.
“Let’s make notes now, while the attack is fresh in my mind,” she suggested.
Jake continued watching the screen. “I don’t think he’ll be back tonight. Hell, we need to up our game.”
Bethany typed up her notes. Afterward, she read them out loud to him and then emailed him a copy. “I’ll tell Seth of course. What do you think about it?” She gathered her laptop and jacket again to go over to Seth’s trailer.
“I think the guy cares for Seth. It’s possible if he thinks you haven’t heeded his warning, he will escalate his actions into violence—possibly deadly. We must take this very seriously.”
He followed Bethany to the door. He stood on the step and watched her walk over to Seth’s trailer and into it. Sighing, Jake went to sit at the computer and launched the night watch program.
Bethany sent him a text stating she had her laptop on and was streaming the movements around the trailers. Jake replied to her saying to be vigilant in the night.
He knew the alarm would go off now if anyone approached either trailer at the back or front. They only need get within three yards of either and the alarm would alert both him and Bethany. Jake sat down to read their notes again.
Jake watched the recording of the attack on Bethany again. He scrutinized the man memorizing what features he could see clearly. He sighed and picked up his cold coffee. This development had taken him by surprise, but it was good because now they had something to work with. He watched the short video again and decided that nothing more was likely to happen that night.
Chapter Thirty-Five
Bethany put her laptop down on the bench seat as she entered Seth’s trailer. He left his small desk and walked quickly to meet her at the door. She put her arms up around his neck and kissed him before she spoke.
“I need to message Jake and then launch the surveillance program on my computer.”
Seth watched her swift movements. When she was finished, he put his arm around her shoulders.
“What’s going on?” He noticed the urgency in her setting up the computer security programs.
“Someone grabbed me. That’s why I was late.”
Seth’s eyes widened. “What? Who was it? What happened? Are you okay?”
He grasped her shoulders and looked her up and down. He saw the grass stains on her knees so he hugged her close.
His heart beat fast as he held and kissed her.
“It’s okay. I wasn’t hurt, though the guy was very strong. The muscles of his arm felt like iron as he grabbed me around the neck. Thankfully, he didn’t squeeze, just held me. He got me from behind and spoke into my ear. I was just about to throw him to the ground when he let go and ran off. It was over in seconds. He threw me to the ground, hence the grass stains on my jeans. I think it was so he could make a run for it. I don’t think he meant to hurt me physically. He had a note with him and dropped it as he ran.”
“That’s dreadful. I’m so sorry it happened to you. I feel so responsible. If he had hurt you, I couldn’t stand that. I’m afraid of losing you.” Seth held her close with his hand in her hair and his arm around her waist.
Bethany kissed him. She held him tight and felt the tension drain out of him as she kissed his mouth, tracing her tongue along the seam of his lips. Bethany had the usual melting sensation in her lower stomach when she felt Seth’s tongue against hers. She trailed her fingertips along his backbone.
Seth kissed her. He undressed her as he whispered, “I couldn’t stand to lose you. Make love to me. I want your hands on me. I want to feel you wet, hot, and tight as I push into you. Come to bed. I need you so much.”
He had taken off her T-shirt and her crop top. Now, he sucked a nipple gently as he unzipped her jeans. He pushed them down her thighs until he could put his fingers down into her underwear and feel between her legs. He found her wet for him as she gently guided his head back to hers to kiss him.
She whispered back to him, “I need you too. I want you inside me. I want you thrusting so hard that you’re all I can think about.” She kissed him.
She pulled his jeans down around his mid-thighs and stroked the length of his cock. She moaned into his mouth. “You feel so good. I love holding you. I want you in my mouth.”
She left his lips and dropped to her knees.
Bethany sucked his erect penis.
He moved his hips to thrust in response. After a few moments, Seth gently pulled her away from his cock. “Come to bed. Let me make love to you.”
Bethany pushed his jeans down to his ankles. As he stepped out of them, she ran her hands up the inside of his thighs. She needed to touch him again and held the weight of him, cradling his balls in the palm of her hand. She traced her fingertips over the head of his shaft until she had to close her eyes, which were heavy with lust.
Seth lifted her onto the bed. He finished undressing her—kissing and licking where he touched. He nipped up the inside of her thighs. He put his fingers into her and bent to suck her breasts, one by one, as he moved his fingers in her and his thumb against her bud.
Bethany breathed against his hair as he sucked at her neck down to the soft part of her shoulder.
He kissed her again. The sensation of his tongue against hers, as well as, his fingers and the feel of his palm against her gave her an orgasm that took her over like a wave
. It was deep and completely consuming. She moaned against Seth’s mouth.
He made sure she finished. Then he took his fingers from her and opened her legs wider. He knelt between her legs and thrust his cock into her as deep as he could.
Bethany sighed as she felt his hard, thick erection glide into her.
“That’s so good. Push hard. Tell me what you want.”
“I want you coming again. I want to drive into you so deep and completely that you will always crave me the way I crave you. Come for me, Bethany. Let me feel you come again on me.”
She gasped as he left her breast and held her face to kiss her as his orgasm ripped through him. Bethany did come again, this time with him. It made her say soft ‘uh’ sounds. Seth kissed her tenderly.
“I’m in danger of letting myself admit I love you. What would you say? I told myself not to love after the last time. Looking back, the last time I thought I loved someone it didn’t feel like I feel about you. What if I am in love with you? What if I love you?”
Seth hadn’t moved from her. He lay between her legs, supporting himself on his forearms and holding her face to kiss her lips between sentences.
The muscles of his arms were firm against the sides of her breasts. His kisses were delicious. His cock throbbed a little now and again inside her.
She held his hips. She loved the shape of them. It made her shiver with a spike of sexual feeling all the way to her bud and she clenched her muscles around his cock. Seth groaned into her mouth as she kissed him again.
He leaned his head back a little away from her face. His voice was soft and husky as he asked, “Answer me—tell me how you feel about me, because I love you.”.
She opened her eyes as Seth waited, wanting an answer.
“I love you. I knew I had fallen in love with you days ago. I want you to love me. I want to be with you. I don’t know how it will work, but I love you,” she told him.
He smiled and kissed her. “Thank you. We’ll make it work. I love you too.” He kissed her again, took a deep breath, and sighed.
The Last Time Page 10
