Viewing Room

by L. P. Dover

  Sara smiles at me when I walk in and I point at Kennedy’s office. “She’s free.”

  I knock once before opening the door, much to her surprise.

  “Hey,” I say, walking to the side of her desk and giving her a kiss. It’s chaste and work acceptable behind closed doors.

  “How’d it go?”

  “Fine. He asked some questions, though. Wanted to know if I was fucking Jennifer and that’s why Chad came after me, only he says it’s Freddie, but we know the truth. He gave me this.”

  I hand her the check for ten grand and watch her eyes go wide.

  “Hunter.”

  “I know. I mean, I’ll have to watch my spending, but it gets me through graduation. We should celebrate.” I grab my dick, which is already hard from being in the same room with her.

  “Not here,” she warns.

  I try not to laugh, but to no avail.

  “You’re going to hurt yourself even worse.”

  “I’m fine. I promise.”

  She looks away and that’s when I see it—something’s wrong and she’s trying to hide it from me.

  “What’s going on?” I ask, brushing my hand over her hair.

  “It’s Jennifer. I’ve been calling her for days and she hasn’t returned any of my messages. I’m worried about her.”

  “Maybe she went on vacation?”

  Shaking her head, Kennedy returns her gaze to mine. “No, she just came back and while she was gone, she called me, or called me right back every time I would phone her. With the stuff at the club and Chad being questioned, I’m scared that something has happened to her.”

  I lean forward and give her a kiss. “You’re a good woman, Kennedy. I’m sure she’s lying low after seeing the bombing. She has to know it was Chad.”

  Kennedy nods and melts into me. If my ribs were better, I’d crawl under her desk and feast on her, but getting into an awkward position won’t bode well for my body.

  “I’ll let you finish. I need to go home and jack off. My balls are starting to hurt.”

  “Geez, Hunter, seriously?”

  I shrug. “Can’t help it. It’s all you, babe.” I kiss her, this time letting my lips linger and move softly against hers until she gives me access to her warm mouth. Once our tongues meet, I have both hands in her hair and I’m pulling her out of her chair. She brushes against my bulge, reminding me that it’s not only me who has an issue with being attracted to each other.

  “I love you, Kennedy,” I say in between kisses.

  I leave suddenly, chuckling my way to the door. When I turn around, she’s standing there with a glazed look, so I do what any self-respecting boyfriend of a high powered attorney does and show her my dick before leaving.

  The thump I hear against her door after I shut it must’ve been her shoe flying at my head.

  I wink at Sara as I take my exit and watch her bolt to Kennedy’s office. I don’t even care if they’re talking about me.

  “Dammit, Jennifer,” I hiss, slamming down the phone. I can’t help but worry about her. She’s never not called me back before.

  Picking up the phone, I call her parents. I don’t care if it’s late; I have to know what they’re doing to find her. “Hello?” her mother answers, her voice thick with sleep.

  “I’m so sorry for calling you this late, but I’m Kennedy Vaughn, one of Jennifer’s friends from school. I’m not sure if you remember me or not.”

  “Yes, I remember. Jennifer told me you’re helping with her divorce. How are you?”

  “Not good. I’m trying to get in touch with her and she’s not answering. Do you know where she is?”

  “Oh, honey, she’s out of town. She called me a couple days ago and told me she had to get away.” She sighs heavily. “This divorce is taking a toll on her.”

  Why would she leave and not tell me?

  “Do you know where she went?” I ask desperately.

  “She didn’t say. Is something wrong?”

  Closing my eyes, I pray the sinking feeling in my stomach goes away. “I hope not. Will you let me know if she calls you?”

  “Of course.” I give her all my phone numbers and we say our good-byes.

  A knock sounds on my door and Chris walks in, his expression worried when he sees my face. We’ve all been working so hard even he looks worse for wear with his white shirt unbuttoned and wrinkled. “Everything okay?”

  Shaking my head, I glance down at my phone. “Jennifer’s missing. Her parents say she’s out of town, but I know she wouldn’t do that without telling me.” Chris sits down across from my desk and I look over at him.

  “Why don’t you call the detective? It doesn’t hurt to voice your suspicions.”

  I shrug. “The police won’t do anything if there’s no reason to suspect she’s missing. She obviously called her parents to tell them she’s leaving town.” It all makes no sense.

  Sighing, Chris stands and loosens his tie. “Doesn’t hurt to make the call. Detective Van Bryant is a friend of your parents. He’ll listen to you.” He starts for the door. “I’m heading out for the night. You okay here by yourself?”

  I wave him off. “I’ll be fine. I’m not far from leaving.”

  He walks slowly out of my office and I can tell he’s tired. Hell, we all are. Chris waves at me as he passes my office and I hear the front office door shut. All I have left to do is pack up my briefcase and I’m ready to go. I just wish I could get rid of this feeling in my gut. It’s like watching a scary movie and knowing something bad is about to happen.

  Before leaving, I call Van Bryant; he answers on the second ring. “Van Bryant,” he says.

  “Van, it’s me, Kennedy. I needed to talk to you about Jennifer Bates.”

  “Okay, what is it?”

  “I think she’s in trouble. It’s not like her to not call me back.”

  He blows out a breath. “Maybe she doesn’t feel like talking.”

  “That’s not it at all. I think something’s wrong. Her parents said she called them and told them she’s going out of town for a while. That’s not like her.”

  “Kennedy, you know there’s nothing I can do if she’s not reported missing.”

  The desperation inside of me grows worse. If I have to find her myself, I will. “I’m not asking you as the police to investigate, but I’m asking as a favor to a family friend. Something’s not right. Is there any way you can stop by her house to check it out? Maybe see if anything’s amiss?”

  The line grows quiet and then he huffs. “Fine, I’ll do it.”

  “Thank you, Van. I’ll make sure my dad gets you into that golf tournament you love so much.”

  He chuckles. “I’m going to hold you to that.”

  We hang up and I close my briefcase. Hunter’s going to be blowing up my phone soon if I don’t get home. The lights flicker out in the hall and my head jerks up. My skin breaks out in chills and the hair on the back of my neck stands at attention. They flicker again and I freeze. I’ve been in my office for years and the lights have never done that. Maybe I’m just being paranoid, but something tells me I’m not. If Chad has the gall to mess with me, he’s going to regret it.

  I pull out my phone and text Hunter, making sure to turn it on silent.

  Me: I don’t think I’m alone.

  His reply is instant.

  Hunter: What? Are you still at the office?

  Me: Yes. Something’s not right.

  Hunter: I’m on my way.

  The lights don’t flicker again, but I’m not about to wait around for something to happen. I grab my letter opener, clenching it tight in my hand before walking out of my office. There’s no one around, but I can feel eyes watching me. Hurrying to the door, I open it and lock it behind me. If anyone’s in there, they’ll have to bust their way out.

  It’s times like these I want to kick myself in the ass for leaving so late when no one is around. It’s dark, and once out in the parking lot there’s a ton of darkened corners someone can hide behind
. With my letter opener in hand, I can see my car in the distance. Why did I have to park so far away?

  I glance behind me and there’s no one there, no footsteps to be heard anywhere. I’m almost past the last darkened corner when I run straight into the wall … only it’s not a wall; it’s a man dressed all in black. I react instantly and stab him in the shoulder with the blunt blade. Growling in pain, he jerks the letter opener out, tossing it down the alley before slapping me hard across the face. I fall to the ground. The pain makes my head ring and all I can see is spots.

  “You stupid, fucking cunt,” he hisses. I can’t see his face, but I recognize his voice. Chad.

  He grabs me by the shoulders and hauls me back to my feet, slamming my body against the brick wall so hard I’m surprised my bones didn’t break.

  The air whooshes out of my lungs and I gasp, but I can’t get a breath in. His gloves are cold against my skin. “If you make one more sound, I’ll cut your fucking throat.” I look up at the top corner of my building, hoping to see the red light of the security camera, only to find it smashed. The only thing I can see of Chad is his cold, dark eyes and the knife he pulls out of his back pocket. Dread settles into the pit of my stomach. He moves closer, shoving his body against mine. “Don’t worry, cunt. No one’s going to hear you scream. It’s time you learn from your mistakes.”

  He slaps me across the cheek and my head snaps to the side. It stuns me and everything moves in slow motion as he pushes me to the ground, the concrete rough against my bare legs and palms. Tears fall down my cheeks but not out of fear, out of anger. I want to fight him off so bad, and I can’t; he’s too strong.

  “Help me!” I scream.

  Grabbing my hair, he jerks my head back, digging the knife into my neck. “As much as I want to hear you scream while I’m fucking you, looks like I’ll have to miss out.” He slams a piece of tape over my mouth and I panic, thrashing around as much as I can. I’ll fight to death before I let anyone violate me. He jerks my arms behind my back, and suddenly I feel of cable ties slicing into my wrists.

  “You should’ve seen Jennifer’s face when she showed up at home with me waiting for her. I showed her how much I missed her. I’m going to enjoy telling her what I did to you before I kill her.” Thoughts of him hurting Jennifer tear me apart. I can only imagine the things he did to her and will still do.

  My face is on the concrete, the small rocks slicing away at my skin as he puts all his weight on me. The second I hear him unzipping his jeans, I fight with every ounce of energy I have. My cries are barely audible, but I keep screaming to no avail. I know he’s going to try to kill me once he’s done with me.

  “Fuck, you’re a pistol,” he chuckles, trying his best to keep me still. I clench my legs together as tight as they can go as he tries to pry them apart. My muscles shake and I’m losing the battle. No!

  It’s then I hear Hunter’s voice screaming my name. I was so afraid he wouldn’t make it in time. “Kennedy!”

  Everything happens in slow motion. The weight is lifted off my back and I roll around to see what’s happening. If Hunter’s broken ribs are bothering him, he doesn’t show it. He has Chad around the throat, slamming his head against the brick wall. “You’re so fucking dead,” he shouts.

  The sound of it makes me sick and what’s worse is seeing the blood on the wall. It’s almost like Hunter’s a different person. I’ve never seen him so angry and full of outright rage. If I don’t stop him, he’ll kill him. Chad’s knife is on the ground so I pick up the knife and angle it as best as I can behind my back.

  I’m screaming for Hunter to stop, but he can’t hear me, not until I rip off the tape. The knife is sharp and slices my skin as I saw against the cable ties. Once they’re gone, I pull the tape off my lips, my eyes burning with the pain.

  “Hunter, stop!” I scream. Breathing hard, he drops Chad’s limp body to the ground and turns his attention to me. His body is tense and the animalistic look in his eyes give me pause, but I slowly get to my feet. “I’m okay,” I cry. There’s blood all over his hands and I’m too afraid to look at Chad for fear of what I’ll see. I just pray to God he’s not dead; he has to pay for what he’s done.

  Hunter hurries over to me and scoops me into his arms, his grip so tight I can barely breathe. I feel safe in his arms. “What if I was too late?” he chokes, his voice breaking. He lets me down and holds my face in his hands. There are tears in his eyes and I can see the pain; it breaks my heart. If he were too late, I wouldn’t be standing there talking to him.

  “You weren’t,” I murmur. “You saved me.”

  Shaking his head, he lightly brushes a thumb across my lips, his angry gaze surveying my wounds. There’s blood on my face from being slapped and pushed down on the ground, and my wrists are raw and torn; my whole body aches.

  “He hurt you, Kennedy. If I didn’t hear your growls, I never would’ve known you were down here. Just seeing him on top of you, about to …” He chokes up and his whole body shakes with rage as he looks down at Chad. His eyes are closed, and it’s so dark I can’t tell if he’s breathing.

  A part of me wishes he was dead, but the other can’t wait to face him in prison when he’s rotting for the rest of his life. I’m going to take everything away from him.

  Grabbing his cheek, I turn his focus back to me. “He didn’t, Hunter. That’s all that matters. It’s over now. We need to call the police.”

  He pulls me back into his arms. “And you need to go to the hospital.”

  I shake my head. “Not until Jennifer’s safe.” Eyes burning, I can’t stop the tears from flowing hot down my cheeks. “I know he hurt her, Hunter. I need to be there for her.”

  “You will, baby. We’ll find her.”

  The white sterile hallway gets on my nerves with each pass I make in front of Kennedy’s door. The staff kicked me out, not giving a shit about how I was feeling. Not caring about the fact that I witnessed a man attacking the woman I love, almost raping her. He would’ve too if I hadn’t gotten there. But the fucker tipped his hand and for that I want to thank him. If he hadn’t fucked with her lights, much like he did in the bondage room, she would have never texted me.

  Kennedy was already late leaving the office so I was getting antsy. I thought about texting her, but didn’t want to seem needy. Well fuck needy. Anytime she’s late I’m going to be on the phone asking her where the fuck she is. Some of these people she has to deal with, and subsequently me, have some major issues, which is why they’re going through a divorce. For Chad Bates, she uncovered his dirty little habit that destroyed his family, the club, and will be his end all. I hope he likes getting it up the ass because once he gets to jail, he’ll be bending over and grabbing his ankles.

  When I was in the hospital, Kennedy was able to see me with no questions asked. I kept asking for her even if they couldn’t call her. But now that she’s in, I’m regulated to the outside, watching as people move in and out of rooms, listening to the sounds of people talking or crying, and the machines beeping; catching glimpses of people holding each other, consoling one another while they grieve or pray for their loved one. No one is doing any of that for me.

  Her parents are in there with her right now. I called them because they needed to know. Luckily for them, they were still here and were able to rush right over. They know I’m her boyfriend and they know we live together, yet here I am walking around in circles, waiting to go.

  In fact, I called everyone that we work with—aside from my classmates—and even asked Chris to call her ex because I thought he would want to know that she’s okay. I can’t imagine what he would be thinking if he saw her office on the news and a woman being taken away by ambulance.

  I want to sit down and rest, but the plastic chairs do nothing to alleviate the pain I’m in. Picking Chad up and throwing him against the wall took more effort that I can admit right now. My ribs are screaming in pain, tender and sore, and honestly I would be surprised if they aren’t fractured again. It’s on
ly been a few weeks since the bombing and that shit takes time to heal. Although, I’m certain if I had followed directions and refrained from strenuous activities I’d be on my path to healing.

  Except the second I saw that man on top of her I went into robot mode. The only focus I had was causing him enough harm that he’d be out of commission. If Kennedy hadn’t stopped me, if she hadn’t had the wits about her to pick up the knife and cut her ties, I would’ve killed him. As much as I saved her tonight, she saved me in the long run. The last thing I want is to take another man’s life, even if he does deserve it.

  According to Van Bryant, he’s stable, but has a lot of damage to his skull. I don’t know if he told me this to reassure me or if he thought I’d care. It’s certainly not the latter because I’d like to see the fucker rot in hell. However, I am fearful that he’ll press charges against me for what I’ve done. Even with Kennedy being a lawyer, her focus is on family law, and I don’t think she’d be able to keep me from getting arrested. And once that happens, my job at the club will be public and I’ll be kicked out of the law program.

  But it’ll be worth it knowing that I saved Kennedy from being raped, and hopefully we’ve saved Jennifer, although we’re still waiting for Van to give an update.

  Kennedy’s mother walks out, dabbing her eyes. I can’t imagine what it must be like for her to get a call from a man she barely knows. She stops and when I look at her, she’s staring over my shoulder. My head turns slowly and the man I remember meeting at Kennedy’s is walking down the hall. It’s her ex. I know I’m the reason he was called, but I didn’t think he’d show up so fast.

  They hug and I instantly feel like I’m the third wheel on a date. I’m only the man who has been with her for the past few months, making her laugh and smile. Being the one to bring her out of her shell. I’m the one who makes her scream out in ecstasy at night. They don’t know that though.