“Great. Could you describe him for me?”
“Well, he was average height and build. He had black hair and I guess you could say he was hairy. He always looked like he needed to shave but he was a very nice man. Is everything okay?”
“Thank you for your help, ma’am.” Matt hung up and turned to Eric. “Do you know a Samuel Thompson?”
Eric thought about it and couldn’t place the name. “He’s average build and height and has black hair.” Eric shook his head, and Matt continued, “She said he was hairy.”
Eric’s eyes widened before he said, “Sam. Sam took her?” He jumped off the couch. “That son of a bitch, I’m going to kill him! He even came to work yesterday!”
“Who’s Sam? And not if I get to him first!” Matt stood, immediately ready to find the man that took his girl. Both men grabbed their wallets and headed for the truck.
Eric filled him in as they walked. “Sam is the school’s custodian. We’ve worked with him for years. He’s an odd fellow; I think he has mental problems.”
Instead of calling the police, which had been useless so far, they sat outside of Sam’s house. They watched him carry out several boxes and place them in his car. It looked like moving day.
Matt was itching to walk over and demand to know where Megan was but that never worked out well. He had to have patience. So he waited.
****
Megan woke the next morning after a fitful night of sleep. He arms hurt and her wrists were raw from trying to get loose the night before. Her stomach rumbled, reminding her that she had had one meal in the last 24 hours, which made her worry about the baby. She needed to find a way to get away from here. Deciding she needed to free herself, she tried bending her sore wrist enough so her fingers could work the knot. Hours passed without progress but she wasn’t giving up.
Hearing the familiar engine get closer to the house, she panicked and worked at the ropes furiously. Her wrists bled from the frantic pulling as she tried to free herself.
She heard the engine stop, the door open and waited for him to come in. He opened the bedroom door and smiled, “Hi honey, I’m home.” She swallowed hard but said nothing.
He walked over and sat on the side of the bed before cupping her face. He leaned down and kissed her. “Miss me?” he asked, but she just stared at him. He trailed his hand down her body before ripping her shirt off. Megan screamed as he kept up his assault. He shoved her bra up and cupped her breasts as he said, “I’ve dreamed about this all night.”
She screamed louder, “Get the fuck off me you freak! Don’t touch me!” He slapped her hard and she saw stars. As he grabbed her breasts again, someone tackled him.
Chapter 13
****
Matt and Eric followed Sam at a distance, not wanting to alert him that they were tailing his car. He left not long after they showed up at his house. They followed him for a couple of hours. He turned up a gravelly mountainous road and they had to stay back a little further than they liked. The dusty road told them which way he went.
They came to a clearing with a small log cabin with Sam’s car parked in front of it. Matt scanned the area before getting out. When he got to the front porch, he heard Megan scream. Not wasting anytime, he hurried inside and followed her screaming down the hall. When he spotted Sam fondling her breast, he saw red and tackled him to the floor.
Sam must have been stronger than he appeared as he fought back. He got a few good licks in before Matt straddled his body, punching him repeatedly. When he thought that he finally had knocked Sam out, he stood and looked at Megan. “Behind you!” she screamed. He spun around and barely missed the swipe of Sam’s long hunting knife. He grabbed his arm and when Sam continued to fight, he spun behind him, grabbed his neck and twisted. The crack echoed in the room as Sam fell lifeless to the ground. Matt stood over him, heaving.
When he lifted his eyes to Megan’s tear-filled glossy ones, he crossed the room in two steps and pulled her tightly to him. Eric tried to free one of her wrists, but he worked too slowly. Matt, pulled back and went to work but the knots were slick with her blood, so it took a little more time. She cried out when her wrist were set free. He grabbed her arms, inspecting her wrists, while Eric searched for some gauze. He came back in with a first aid kit that he kept in his truck.
“Thanks, Eric,” Matt said in a low voice. He appreciated the way Eric stood back and let him take care of Megan.
With her wrists bandaged, Matt reached over his head, pulled the shirt from his back, and slid it over Megan’s head, covering her breasts. She threw her arms around his neck and sobbed. “Shh, you’re okay. I’ve got you and I’m not going to let anyone hurt you.” He tried to soothe her as he gently stroked her hair.
“I was so scared!” she continued to sob.
“I know, sweetheart. You’re okay, you’re okay.”
“I called the police and they’re on their way. It’ll take them a little while to get here. The dispatcher said it would be between 30 and 45 minutes.” Eric said.
Megan let go of Matt, but just a little bit. “Eric?”
“I’m here, Megs.” He answered as he knelt down beside the bed.
“I’m so sorry.” She cried as she grabbed him and pulled him in for a hug. With one arm around Matt and the other around Eric, she cried as both men tried to console her. “I shouldn’t have gone to the store without you,” she hiccupped.
“Don’t worry about that, Megs. We know who it is now and he’ll never bother you again.” Eric rubbed her back as he spoke softly.
“I can’t believe it was Sam. I thought he was just a sweet man, if maybe a little strange. He said I was the only one that was nice to him.”
She cried and as she turned her head to look at Sam’s lifeless body, Matt held her head in place so she couldn’t see him. “Don’t look at him, sweetheart.”
“I didn’t even see him at the store. Someone just hit me in the head.” She continued to cry as she still held on to both men.
Matt carried her outside. All three of them sat on the porch and waited for the police to arrive.
Forty-five minutes later, the police showed up, along with an ambulance. They took statements and then told Matt not to leave the state until the investigation was over. Fine with him, he didn’t plan to leave Virginia without Megan. He carried her out and laid her down on the stretcher. Just as he let go, she grabbed at his arms, “Please, don’t leave me.”
He leaned over her and smiled gently. “I won’t.” He stroked her forehead brushing her tangled hair away from her face. He looked at the paramedic and sternly said, “I’m riding with her.” The look on Matt’s face gave fair warning not to argue. He needed to be with her and make sure that she and the baby were okay. Megan fell asleep holding his hand shortly after they left the cabin
Pulling up to the emergency room entrance, the two men unloaded the stretcher and pushed it inside to a trauma room. Matt stayed at her side. He worried that she kept dozing in and out of sleep.
An older gray-haired gentleman followed the stretcher into the room, along with a nurse who tried to start an IV. “Hi, I’m Dr. McGee.”
“Matt.” He extended his hand as Megan slept on the stretcher. “My girlfriend was kidnapped Thursday and rescued today. She’s pregnant.”
“I see. Okay, we need to do some blood work and an ultrasound to make sure the baby is okay.” He looked at the nurse to make sure she heard and then pulled out his pen light to check the reaction in her pupils. While the doctor examined Megan, Matt saw Eric slip in the door.
He walked over and placed his hand on Matt’s shoulder. “I’m glad you came. I wouldn’t have thought of calling the flower shops, and obviously, the police hadn’t either. Who knows what might have happened.” Matt shuddered at the thought, but didn’t say anything. They both knew what would have happened.
The doctor finished his examination. “She’s severely dehydrated. I’m ordering a fluid bolus, and I’ll redress her wrists.” After putting so
me antibiotic cream on her raw wrists, he wrapped them with clean white gauze.
With one liter of fluids in her, Megan opened her drowsy eyes and smiled when she spotted Matt standing beside her.
“Hi there,” Matt said as he gave her a little smile.
Someone rolled a big machine in the room. She turned her head and watched what was happening. He saw the question written on her face, and answered, “The doctor ordered an ultrasound to make sure the baby’s okay.”
The tech explained the procedure to them and with Matt at Megan’s side, holding her hand and stroking her forehead, Eric stood at the foot of the bed with his hands on her feet. “We’re going to see if we can get a picture but you may still be too early. We’ll see.”
All three of them watched the monitor and saw movement but nobody knew what they were seeing until the tech pointed it out. “This is the sack that holds the baby, and this is its heart.” They saw the heart and recognized the sound of the baby’s heart beating at a rapid pace. It sounded like a galloping horse. Matt’s heart and soul filled with warmth and love, as he’s knees grew week and he almost collapsed. This was his baby! He had to take a seat on the edge on Megan’s bed to keep from falling to his knees. He squeezed her hand but couldn’t tear his eyes from the screen as tears ran down his face.
The tech removed the probe from her belly and the monitor went dark. Looking down at Megan, he met her tear-filled eyes with his own glossy ones. “I was so worried about the baby,” she said as the tears freely fell.
“Everything looks great.” The tech informed them.
Matt felt his shoulders relax with that simple statement. Dr. McGee stood in the room and after glancing down at Megan’s chart he said, “Everything looks good. Lab works looks okay, the baby has a good heartbeat so I think we’ll give you some more fluids and then let you go home.” He smiled as he left the room.
Matt still worried though. He knew she had told the doctor that the bastard hadn’t raped her but he still wanted to know everything. What had that asshole done to her? The only problem was that he didn’t want to upset her. Not right now. All he wanted to do was take her home.
Chapter 14
****
Megan watched the ultrasound monitor and felt overwhelming relief when she heard the baby’s heartbeat. She worried that not eating and drinking for so long would hurt her baby. Now that she knew everything was fine, other things started to fill her mind. Like Sam. How could he have done that to her? Yeah, she’d been nice to him but that was because nobody really talked to him. He acted oddly and sometimes awkward, but always friendly. Now he was dead. Matt killed him with almost no effort. She couldn’t help but see him in a different light. He looked sexy and sweet but he could also be fiercely protective and violent. He knew how to fight. She guessed that’s why he owned a security company.
Two hours later, the nurse took out her IV and brought in discharge papers. She instructed her to eat and get plenty of rest. That sounded good to her.
Matt refused to let her walk and scooped her up in his strong arms as if she weighed nothing. Arms she now felt safe and protected in, the arms that had saved her from Sam. She wrapped her arms around him and buried her face between his neck and shoulder. They rode in silence as Eric drove them home.
After hitting a drive-thru, they arrived home two hours later. Eric opened the door for them and then announced he would go grocery shopping so there would be food in the house.
Matt carried her to the bedroom, and then he lay down beside her, pulling her close. She hugged his waist as her head lay on his chest. She never wanted to leave. After a few minutes of silence, she heard Matt quietly ask, “Will you tell me what happened? I know you told the police but I want to know what happened.”
Megan thought about it for a few minutes, not knowing what to say. “Like what?” she settled with.
“What he did to you, how he treated you.”
“He wasn’t there much. He knocked me out in the parking lot and I didn’t wake up until Friday morning. I probably should have told the doctor that. Anyway, I laid there all day tied to the bed. He said that he had gone to work.” She snorted at the absurdity of that. Why kidnap someone and go to work. “He brought take-out and let me get up to pee and eat, then tied me back down. He came back this morning and you saw what happened,” she shuddered, and then raised her gaze to look into Matt’s eyes. “He saw us on the porch together and honestly thought I’d cheated on him.”
“Some people are like that. They are delusional and have a hard time distinguishing between real and make-believe. Did he do anything to you?”
“Only what you saw. He said that he needed to pack and then we would start our new life together. He would have raped me if you hadn’t showed up.” She hugged him and whispered, “Thank you for saving me.”
They laid there together for a couple of hours, until someone knocked on her door. He went to answer it as she jumped in the shower. She should have showered as soon as she got home but couldn’t pull herself away from Matt’s arms.
She undressed and unwrapped the dressing on her wrist and looked at herself in the mirror. She noticed a few bruises, besides her wrists and that was it. She stepped into the hot steaming shower and let the water run over her head and down her back. She cried one last time as she released all of the pent up fear she held inside. The tears came fast and hard as she sobbed, letting the water carry them away. Megan didn’t know how long she stood there but the water has lost some of its heat.
She grabbed the shampoo just as Matt opened the shower door. She jumped a little, and then relaxed when he took the shampoo from her and poured some in his hand. He began washing her hair and messaging her scalp with his strong hands. She closed her eyes and enjoyed the feel of him taking care of her. As she rinsed the shampoo away, he took the washcloth from her hand and gently washed her. He was so gentle and tender; it made her want to cry again.
Finally clean, she stepped out of the shower and into the towel that Matt held up. “Thank you,” she murmured.
“You’re welcome, sweetheart. Eric’s in the living room and I don’t give a shit if he’s used to seeing you without much on, please put some clothes on before you walk through.” He smiled, and she let out a little chuckle.
When she walked out, fully dressed, she found Eric and Matt sitting in the living room talking. Her two favorite men were here with her and she couldn’t help but smile.
Eric spotted her first. He jumped to his feet and gave her a big hug. When he didn’t readily let go, Matt cleared his throat and everyone laughed, everyone except Matt that is. “I was so worried about you. Are you sure you’re okay?”
She walked over and sat down with Matt, “I’m sure Eric. Thank you for finding me.”
“It was Matt. He figured out who took you.” She didn’t doubt it one bit. She knew how smart and determined he was. He went from being the son of a nanny to owning his own company.
“Don’t let him fool you, it was a joint effort. All that matters is that you’re home now.” Matt said, and she watched the two of them smile.
“I guess you two know each other well now,” she mused.
“I had to tell him, Megs. One of your nosy neighbors told him I might be the father of your baby.” He looked pointedly at her. “I opened the door and found an angry man standing there and before I could say anything, he punched me.” Megan looked at Matt with wide eyes and he just shrugged as Eric continued, “Then he noticed how small my apartment was, and well…”
“I’m sorry, Matt. I should have told you about Eric. I planned on telling you when you got here.”
Matt looked at her with soft eyes, “It’s okay. I’m just glad everything worked out alright.”
They talked for a while, and then Eric and Matt fixed an amazing dinner refusing her help. She was happy that everyone was getting along. After having a great meal, Eric headed home, but said he would be back tomorrow. That left her and Matt alone.
Matt led h
er down the hall, where he had a full tub of hot water waiting for her. She lovingly smiled. He remembered how much she loved to take baths. “Do you mind if I join you?” He asked as she started to undress.
Stopping to look at him, she smiled a little. “No, I don’t mind.”
She sat in the tub with her back to Matt’s front, his arms around her, their fingers entwined. They talked about everything. She told him more about James and he told her about Carly. Not very romantic but she could feel herself growing closer to him, the bond getting stronger. Yes, they had the instant attraction but these moments were the things relationships were built on. Getting to know each other and depending on one another. She never thought she’d find someone like him, someone to love. Startled, she realized she did love Matt. With that thought, she turned and gave him a kiss. As she deepened it, she felt him grow hard behind her. He broke the kiss and said, “Not tonight, sweetheart. You just had a traumatic experience and tonight I just want to hold you.” She understood, but after realizing that she loved him, she wanted so much more. She wanted everything!
They slept in each other’s arms all night and the next morning they woke with legs and feet tangled together, her head on his chest. She wanted to wake up like that every morning.
“Good morning.” Matt said when she peered up at him.
“How long have you been awake?” she yawned.
He grinned, “Long enough to know that you’re beautiful when you sleep.”
She couldn’t help the blush that stained her cheeks. “What are your plans? How long can you stay?” She asked as she bit her lower lip.
“I’m not leaving you. I’ll work from here until I can convince you to move to New York.”
Megan gasped, “What about your mom? Your company?”
“You’re more important right now. My mother is okay. Colin is looking in on her.” She remained silent.
She thought about everything that he had told her. She couldn’t let him stay her forever and she didn’t want to be without him. She needed time, time to think. Just, time.
Finding Megan (The Kiser Series Book 2) Page 12
