Annie never doubted her father’s love, or that he was proud of her achievements. He cried when she left for Afghanistan and cried again when she returned. He was a strong man, not afraid to show his emotions, good or bad, to his daughter. But Annie wouldn’t bring a date home for fear of causing a scene. Annabelle always regretted that.
Annie’s cellphone rang, and she wiped her fingers before reaching for it. She didn’t recognize the number, so she introduced herself. “Annie Nichols.”
“Ms. Nichols, this is Larry Lewis with the Celebrity Inquisitor. Is this a good time to talk?”
“Sure. I take it you got my photo and write up on the famous author, Trudie Youngblood?”
“Yes, and we are intrigued. You said in the write up that you plan to pop the question in the very near future. The Inquisitor would like to be there when you do.”
“Uh…” Annie hadn’t anticipated that question. “I don’t think that will be possible, Mr. Lewis. It’s going to be a spur of the moment kind of thing, when I think the timing is right. Tell you what. If she says yes, I’ll send you some photos. Best I can do.”
“Fair enough. So tell me, how did you meet her?”
“I’m in the Air Force Reserves and met her at a book signing,” Annie fudged. It wasn’t a complete lie; Trudie did meet her military self that day.
“I have to say, that’s remarkably similar to how Ms. Youngblood met her first partner.”
“I know, right? What are the odds?”
“And you’re not afraid of the curse associated with Ms. Youngblood’s partner?”
“What kind of asinine question is that? Leigh was murdered by a lowlife, deranged fan who was such a coward that he snuck up on her, and then ran away, leaving poor Trudie to suffer horribly. That’s not love at all, in any sense of the word. No, I’m not afraid of loving Trudie, she is a gift to be cherished.”
“May I quote you on that?” the reporter asked.
“Absolutely.” This should bring that bitch out of hiding. “When will this be released to the public?”
“Tonight on our Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram pages. I’d like to get a quote from Ms. Youngblood first, if possible, so it may be in the morning.”
Good luck with that. “Can’t wait to hear it.”
Annabelle gave her a worried look and said a silent prayer that God would keep her foolish daughter safe.
***
The computer monitor showed an empty hallway and dark bedroom. The voyeur looked around the computer desktop and clicked on a folder labeled Annie. Inside were photos of Annie and Trudie together at the book signing. Disgusted, the stalker moved the folder to the trash bin, and then clicked on Trudie’s diary. This is not good.
*
Trudie stood at the living room windows, holding a glass of wine, watching as the sun began to set over the city, casting an orange glow over the river. This was her favorite time of day, when things began to slow down, as if in slow motion. With it being Sunday, there wasn’t as much traffic or people on the streets, but Trudie knew that tomorrow morning the city would be teeming with activity. Trudie loved the calm before the storm as much as she did after it.
She carried her wine over to the couch, where blankets and pillows still laid strewn about. She looked down at the empty bottle of antibiotics on the coffee table and smiled. She would never want to purposely catch pneumonia, but she wasn’t sorry she had. Not after the way Annie had cared for her. Trudie wasn’t always so dependent on others. She used to be a strong, independent woman with a mind of her own. But after watching her lover brutally stabbed to death on the street, she’d retreated inside herself and lost the will to care, to try, to live again. She went from a carefree extravert to a needy introvert overnight. But something was changing inside. A desire began upwelling in her blood, strengthening her heart, encouraging her mind. A desire to be with Annie.
Trudie set her glass down and then sat on the couch, pulling her legs up under her. She leaned against the cushions and turned her eyes back to the window, unconsciously twisting her wedding ring around her finger. Then she picked up her letter and held it to her heart, letting her imagination take her to places she could only dream of, places like Annie’s arms.
Monday morning was the same as every other morning for Trudie. The same breakfast, the same morning news, and the same shower. But this morning, the sun seemed brighter, the air fresher, and her spirit lighter. Standing in front of the mirror, combing the tangles from her wet hair, she looked closer at the tips. “Damn. Split ends. I’d better call my hairdresser and schedule an appointment.” She looked at Bruno, who was sitting on the counter, licking her paw, her razor sharp toenails extruding. “And I think you could use a trim, too.”
It was time for her session with Kelly, so Trudie refreshed her cup of coffee and then sat down at her laptop. Out of habit, she moved the mouse pointer down to the taskbar, expecting her program to be open. I don’t remember closing it down. She looked on the desktop for the icon and noticed her folder was missing. “Now I know I saved them to my hard drive,” she said out loud. “At least I think I did. Oh well, they should still be in my inbox.” Trudie clicked on her email account, already opened, and double checked to make sure the photos were in the photographer’s email. With a sigh of relief, she minimized her email and clicked on the icon for Skype.
“There you are, Trudie,” Kelly said. “I wasn’t sure you were going to make it.”
“Sorry I’m late, was having a lapse in memory there for a minute,” Trudie joked.
“Well, someone’s in a good mood this morning.”
“Yes. I got a good night’s sleep for the first time in a long while.”
“And why do you think that is?” Kelly asked. “What’s changed?”
“Everything. My heart has changed. My mind, my self-confidence... everything has changed.”
“That’s wonderful. What suddenly brought about this change?”
Trudie grinned. “I’m in love, Doctor. Head over heels in love.”
Kelly’s mouth fell open.
“Are you all right, Doctor?” Trudie asked.
“What, yes, of course. I just wasn’t expecting… so, who’s the lucky woman?”
“I showed you her picture last week. Her name is Annie Nichols, and she’s wonderful.”
Kelly shook her head. “You just met her, how could you already be in love with her?”
“I knew the first moment I laid eyes on her; I was just too scared to admit it.”
“Why were you scared?”
Trudie looked off in the distance. “I was afraid of living again,” she replied, looking back at the camera. “Annie changed all that.”
“Indeed. So, you’ve told her about your agoraphobia?”
“Yes, and the reason for it. She knows everything, Doctor, and she loves me anyway.”
“Trudie, I need to ask this, and I don’t mean to be harsh, but…”
“No, Doctor, I would never ask her to give up her life to live here with me.”
“I don’t understand then. Where do you see this relationship going?”
“Wherever she wants it to go. I don’t want to change a thing about her, so if she wants to go hiking in the Himalayas, then I’ll support her.”
“So, you’d be happy just to be the stay-at-home wife, is that it?”
“Yes, exactly. It’s more than I deserve or could ever hope to have.”
“Wait. Why would you think you deserve less?” Kelly probed.
“Because of me, Leigh was killed. I don’t deserve to love again, but love had other ideas.”
“We’ve talked about this. It was not your fault that Leigh didn’t heed the stalker’s warnings.”
“It was my fault because I didn’t take it seriously enough. I should have… I don’t know what I should have done, but I should have done something.”
“It is not your responsibility to control what others do, Trudie,” Kelly insisted.
“Obviously, or I
would have stopped the stalker the first time the bastard showed up,” Trudie sniped.
“And you’re not afraid of him coming back?”
Trudie nodded. “Hell, yes, I’m afraid. I’m terrified. And he is back, and knows about Annie. That’s why I tried to send her away, but she’s as stubborn as Leigh was.”
“And you’re not afraid that she will die the same as Leigh?”
“God, Doctor Rutherford, you’re pushing me today.”
“I’m sorry, but I need to bring you back down to reality.”
“Where do you think I’ve been for the last three years, damn it? I just wanted a little happiness.”
“I know, but I’m not sure this woman will bring you the happiness you seek. She will only bring you heartache, either because she gets killed, or leaves you because of your agoraphobia.”
“There’s a third option you’re not considering, Doctor.”
“And what is that?”
“She catches the murderer and puts him on death row, waiting for that pinch from the needle.” Trudie never believed in the death penalty before Leigh was killed, but now, even lethal injection would be to nice a death for the killer.
Trudie turned when she heard a knock at the front door. Then she turned back to the monitor. “Someone’s at my door. I’m sorry, I have to go.”
“I don’t mind waiting, if you’d like to answer it,” Kelly volunteered.
“No, that’s all right,” Trudie hedged. “I’ll talk with you next time.”
Before Kelly could say anything more, Trudie ended the call. She wasn’t trying to be rude; she was trying to keep her anger in check. She picked up her coffee cup and walked down the hallway. Lucy told her that it was a friend, and the monitor showed that it was Noella. She unlocked the door immediately.
***
“Damn, Sarge. You’ve done it now,” Jeff said as soon as Annie opened her apartment door.
“Thanks for coming over this afternoon.” Annie walked into the small kitchen and opened the refrigerator door. She pulled out two brown bottles of beer, picked up the bottle opener and popped the lids off of both bottles.
“Did you know that you’re trending on the Internet?”
Annie handed Jeff a bottle and then sat down at the kitchen table. “Yeah, pretty cool. If that doesn’t draw the creep out, nothing will.” She sat the beer on the table and picked up the barrel of her Beretta M9. The pistol had been disassembled and laid in pieces on a small cleaning cloth. “I just got back from the firing range,” Annie said, as she inserted the cleaning rod into the barrel. “I wanted to make sure I could still shoot this thing. It’s been a few months since I’ve fired it.”
“Have you heard anything from the bastard yet?”
“Not yet, but it’s only been a few hours. From what I understand, the guy stalked Trudie for months before killing Leigh. I don’t expect it to take that long this time because they got away with murder, and think that no one can touch them now.”
“You’re taking a huge risk, Sarge.”
“Yeah, I know. Before I enlisted in the Air Force, my friends and family all told me that I would be sent to Iraq or Afghanistan with the possibility that I could be killed by an insurgent or IED. I knew the risks. We all do. But we wanted to take the war back to them and keep our country safe. That’s exactly what I’m trying to do for Trudie.”
“That’s deep, Sarge,” Jeff quipped, and took a drink of his beer. “Seriously, you’re right. That’s why I signed up. Well, that and the college tuition. Not to mention the travel and adventure, oh, and the free clothes.”
Annie laughed. “Okay, enough of that. I need your help, again, and it’s not exactly legal.”
“Uh, how illegal is it?”
“I want you to hack Trudie’s computer. Is that something you can do?”
“Yeah, probably. But why would you need to see her computer?”
“Because I think the troll uses it to spy on her. Unless it’s Noella, but even then, she could still use it to spy on Trudie.”
“And if she uses Skype on her cellphone, they can see her when she’s not on her computer.”
“Well, shit. Nobody is safe on the Internet anymore,” Annie complained. “I’m almost sure it’s Noella, but I’m also leaning toward a crazy fan again. Someone even Trudie doesn’t know about. I’m hoping to God that I’m wrong, because I haven’t a clue how I would find them.”
“Maybe we’ll catch a clue when we get inside Trudie’s computer, Sarge,” Jeff said.
“That’s what I’m hoping, too. First I need to talk with Trudie. But how?” Annie suddenly jumped up and grabbed the keys to her Jeep. “Come on, we need to go shopping.” Annie stopped with her hand on the door knob. “Listen, don’t call me Sarge when we’re off duty. I feel funny doing this and you calling me Sarge. Okay?”
“Roger that, Sarge… uh, I mean Nichols.”
Annie grinned. “That will work, Davis, thanks.”
***
Noella came out of the bathroom and walked into the living room. Trudie was standing at the opened door, her back to Noella. She was trembling, almost to the point of convulsing.
Noella touched her shoulder. “Trudie, honey, come away from the door. Come on, I’ve got you.” Noella pulled her back, forcing Trudie to step back enough that Noella could close the door. As soon as the door closed, Trudie began to calm down.
The session with her therapist had bothered Trudie more than she wanted to admit. She wanted to prove her wrong, but all she managed to do was prove that she was right.
“I can’t. I can’t let her do this. Annie thinks her love will be enough for me to walk out of here, but it’s not, is it?”
“No, honey. I don’t think so,” Noella replied.
“Then I have to stop Annie. She can’t risk everything for this, for me. I won’t let her.”
“Then call her and tell her to back off,” Noella insisted.
Trudie reached for her phone and then stopped. “I just realized that I don’t have her phone number.”
“Seriously? Okay, I have it.” Noella pulled her mini-iPad from her purse.
“Why do you have it?” Trudie asked curiously.
“I had my assistant find it for me when you were so sick and I was in LA. If I couldn’t reach you, I was going to call her. Glad I didn’t have to do that.”
Trudie picked up her phone and pulled up the new contact option. “Okay, give it to me, please.”
Noella called out the numbers and Trudie typed them in, added Annie’s name and saved it. She started to call, when Noella startled her.
“Son of a bitch!”
“What? What’s wrong, Noella?”
Noella had signed up for email alerts on anything with Trudie’s name in it. Her inbox was suddenly full of emails. She clicked on a link and opened a browser. Frowning, she said, “Look at this. Is there something you’d like to tell me?” She handed Trudie the iPad with a picture of Annie and Trudie together on the Celebrity Inquisitor Facebook page. The bi-line read blissfully in love, wedding bells imminent.
“Oh, no!” Trudie gasped.
“Isn’t that what you were expecting? Your knight in shining armor and all that?”
“No, not at all. I thought… hell, I don’t know what I thought, but I know it wasn’t that.”
“She’s made herself a target now.”
“Oh, no. What have I done?”
“You?” Noella asked incredulously. “You did everything you could to drive her away, Trudie. She’s done this of her own volition. She knew the risks.”
“I should have tried harder, but I wanted it so bad.” Trudie picked her phone back up. “No, I’m calling her right now and telling her—” Trudie’s phone rang, and she hit accept before she thought to check the number.
“Hello.”
“I warned you,” a mechanical voice said. “No one touches what’s mine.”
Trudie dropped the phone on the counter as if it had stung her, and stepped back
. “Oh, God!”
Noella quickly picked up the phone and put it to her ear. “Who the fuck is this?” she demanded.
“Retribution,” the voice said and then ended the call.
“Oh, God. Oh, God,” Trudie lamented, her fingers quivering against her lips.
Noella guided Trudie over to the couch and helped her sit down. “It’s okay, honey. It’s going to be all right. Can you tell me what he said?”
“He… he…” Trudie’s lips quivered so badly that she stuttered. “He said he warned me, and… and no one touches what’s his. Oh, God, Noella. He’s going to kill Annie.”
“He’s just trying to scare you. He’s playing mind games, that’s all,” Noella advised.
“It’s working,” Trudie whispered.
“What I want to know is how they got your personal phone number?” Noella questioned.
Chapter Seventeen
“Are you sure you don’t want me to stay with you, Trudie?” Noella asked as she gathered her purse and jacket.
“There’s no need for you to babysit me, Noella. Your big, hairy guard will be here at any moment, and I always have my big hairy dog, Lucy, to catch anything that he doesn’t.”
Lucy perked up at the mention of her name. Then she went to the front door and growled.
“Ah, he must be here,” Noella said, checking the monitor. “What is your name, please?”
“Javier De Almeida,” the man replied. “I’m here at Ms. Rutherford’s request.”
He was a big, tall man, immaculately dressed in a suit and tie. A former offensive lineman for the Arkansas Razorbacks, he was large with a thick neck, huge arms, and buzzed cropped hair. He carried a black backpack over one shoulder, and Trudie could see a water bottle in the side pocket.
Noella unlocked and opened the door. She held out her hand toward Trudie. “This is your protectee, Trudie Youngblood. As I explained on the phone, she is a high-profile celebrity, and your job will be to keep anyone from ringing that doorbell who doesn’t meet with Ms. Youngblood’s approval. That includes deliver boys with pretty roses or candy, or people who aren’t on this list.” Noella pulled out a sheet a paper with a few names on it. “Anything and anyone else are to be turned away.”
Breaking into Prison Page 18
