This isn’t a normal reaction. Shit. She’s gone off the deep end. She’s going to grab a knife from the kitchen and kill me.
I don’t care. I’m done any way you write it.
“Baby?” I said tentatively.
“I believe you.” Her face glowed. “I believe you. You’re not Bill.”
I blinked. Could this be true? “Umm…not that I want to push my luck or anything…but….” I almost stopped. I was so afraid of losing her. I exhaled. “I’ve got to ask. What changed from a few minutes ago when you wanted to kill me to you believing me? Don’t get me wrong. I’m happy about it. Just…confused as hell.”
She nodded rapidly. “I know. I know.” That cleared zero up. I sat with my mouth hanging open, unsure of which way to move next. She put her palms on either side of my face and although it didn’t hurt, I flinched. “Babe. I believe you. I know you wouldn’t do that to me.”
She kissed me, and I threw my arms around her, squeezing the life out of her. I closed my eyes and suddenly I could breathe again. The phone rang. I pulled back. “Okay. Let’s talk to Dana. I don’t know what she will say. Whether she will lie or not….”
She bobbed her head. “I know. It’s okay.”
“All right.” I gave her one last look, and lifted it. She spoke before I had the chance to say anything.
“He sent it to you, didn’t he? The tape.”
Sam and I stared at each other.
“Not a tape, but a DVD, yes.”
“That’s what I was calling for. To warn you.”
“Well, excuse my French here, Dana but—what the fuck is happening? We didn’t…do…whatever it is on that tape.” I knew it wasn’t a tape, but I wasn’t thinking clearly.
“No. No. Kyle was a perfect gentlemen, Mrs.… I’m sorry. I never got your last name.”
Sam interjected. “You can call me Sam.”
“Okay, Sam. Kyle didn’t do anything wrong. He was only trying to help me.” She cried. “I was drunk and— Kyle. I have to tell you. I’m so sorry for this, but I didn’t have a choice. He was threatening me.”
She wasn’t making sense. “Slow down, Dana. Who are you talking about? Your ex-boyfriend?”
“No. No. This other guy.” She took a breath. “Years and years ago…I had broken up with my ex a few weeks before—the one who’s stalking me—and…I was on the road for business. I had too much to drink. A man came on to me in the hotel bar and I went to his room with him. You have to understand. I was young…and emotionally unstable.” She seemed to lose it again.
Sam and I exchanged a look. “Dana. It’s okay. We won’t judge you.”
“Okay. Okay.” She took a breath. “I have to get through this.” She paused for a moment before starting again. “We went back to his room, and things, sort of…got out of hand. I did some stuff I’d never done before with a man, stuff I’m not proud of. Anyway. I put it behind me and went on with my life. I married, and we have two children. None of them deserve this.” She stifled a sob. “About a month ago, I got a call from him. The guy. His name is Bill.”
At the mention of his name Sam and I locked gazes.
“I didn’t know it at the time. But the sick bastard was filming us. He threatened to tell my h-husband and I…I didn’t have any choice. I couldn’t let him see that…filth.”
Sam scooted closer to the phone on the coffee table. “What did Bill want from you?”
She was crying again and almost unintelligible. “I didn’t want to. I’m so, so sorry. You don’t deserve this either. That’s why I told my husband about it.” She sniffed and regained control. “He was, very understanding. Sam. You have to know. Kyle was as nice as could be. I was supposed to seduce him. That’s why I faked dropping the barbell at the gym.”
“You faked that?” It explained the lack of bruising….
“But, even when I asked him out for dinner as a thank you for his help, he wouldn’t do it. He told me he had to go back to his room and call his wife.” Sam squeezed my hand. “I didn’t know what to do. I was desperate. And he kept calling me, texting me, this Bill. So I pretended I was drunk—although, there was a sliver of truth to that—and…I made a pass at Kyle’s friend in an attempt to make him jealous, but it didn’t work. Kyle got mad, all right, but not in the way I wanted him to. He was mad at the guy for being such a dick and taking advantage of a drunk woman. I should have called off the thing right then.”
It made sense. I should have seen through it. Pretty convenient her passing out in the doorway, pretty much forcing me to take her into her bedroom.
“Go on,” Sam urged.
“I pretended to pass out, and Kyle carried me into my bedroom. I wasn’t sure what to do when he didn’t…you know…do anything to me. I opened my eyes but closed them quickly because Kyle was coming out of the bathroom with a trash can. When he reached over me, I grabbed him and kissed him. He…” She giggled, and Sam and I looked at each other, perplexed. “He slapped my hand and lectured me like I was a child. It was so cute.”
“Cute?”
Sam chuckled. “I can see him doing that.”
I frowned. Was I wrong for lecturing her? She was acting like a child.
“I almost laughed, but I got a grip on myself.” Dana’s laughter wound down. “Anyway, no matter what I did, he refused to play along. And on top of that, he continued to be nice. I would have had enough of me and walked away. But he didn’t.”
Sam mouthed, “Aww.” Heat flared in my cheeks.
“But your point is,” I said, taking over. “Nothing happened between us.”
“Nothing. Absolutely nothing. To tell you the truth, it made me insecure. Like, does this guy find me unattractive or what’s his deal? When Bill came to my room in the morning I had to confess I failed. He checked out the camera and told me it was okay. He had enough to ‘make it work.’ I came home, but I was swamped with guilt. And Bill had new footage of me and I didn’t trust him to not divulge that, so I confessed to my husband a few hours ago. After we talked things through, I called you to warn you.” She sighed. “And that’s the whole story. I’m sorry for my part in messing with your marriage. I really am, Kyle.”
“That’s okay, Dana. I understand. You were backed into a corner.”
“The one to blame is Bill,” Sam added.
“You know him?” Dana asked.
“Yes,” we both said.
“We know him,” I finished.
“Well, I’m glad I told you. I guess I’ll go but…Kyle, I want to wish you a good life. You’re a great guy. The world could use a few more of you.”
I cleared my throat. “Uhh…thanks, Dana. And thanks so much for calling.”
We hung up, and Sam and I stared at each other.
“That snake.”
I sat back, and she snuggled under my arm. “I can’t believe he would go to all that effort.”
“He’s a freak, man. I’m telling you. Something is wrong with him.”
“You don’t have to convince me.” I urged her closer, putting my palm against the side of her face and drawing her into my chest. “Oh, my God. I am so glad that’s all over.” I released her and shifted so I could see her. “Thank you for believing me.”
“I’m sorry for when I didn’t believe you in the past.”
I lifted her chin with my fisted hand. “I love you, Samantha. More than you’ll ever know.” I kissed her and held her again for a few minutes. “Well, I better go.” I hopped to my feet and grabbed my phone.
“Where are you going?”
“I’m going to beat the shit out of your ex-husband. Bye, dear.”
I left before she could argue the point.
Chapter 15
Hunter
It was Elise’s and my one month anniversary. We’d spent almost every day together. Sometimes, like today, it was at the pool, when I was working, so not ideal, but we had plans to celebrate our anniversary this evening. She was finally letting me take her to The Green Gateau.
I had regained Mr. Haggerty’s favor as I was the only one who consistently showed for their shifts. In fact, he was letting me open the pool in the mornings, which was kind of cool. I was whistling and twirling my keys as I walked to the gate to unlock the padlock when Elise’s MINI Cooper pulled into the lot. A smile automatically spread across my face and my heart warmed knowing the day would now be good. I knew I better get started on the lock, because it was finicky. That way I’d hopefully have it open by the time Elise got to me. She always parked in the middle of the parking lot, for some reason.
I lifted the lock and inserted my key. You had to have it in the mechanism perfectly, not all the way in, but close. And you had to jiggle the thing to get it to open, too. I fussed with it for a second but lifted my head when a car came screaming into the parking lot. A black car of some sort—maybe a Mustang—sped in and came to a rough stop about five spaces down from Elise, but not in a space, in the aisle. I watched, curious. Elise was turned, fishing stuff out of her back seat. Four girls emerged from the black car and walked toward her. It was the girls who had harassed Elise the first day we met. I could tell from even the distance I was at because the leader had a distinctive figure. Tall and large. That and they never wore pool attire. Just lots of black leather, ripped jeans, boots, and tons of jewelry.
What the hell are they doing here this early?
Alarm pulsed through me. They must have called out because Elise whipped around. That’s when I realized two of them were holding thick chains out to their sides. They separated and surrounded Elise. I could tell the leader was saying something to Elise.
Oh, shit. Oh, shit. Oh, shit.
Knowing she was in trouble, I worked on the lock.
“Come on. Come on. Damn it!”
The thing wouldn’t open for me. I raised my gaze. The sun glinted off something the leader held in her hand. A knife?
“Shit.” I jumped on the fence and climbed, worried Elise was too far away and I wouldn’t get to her in time. Motion caught my attention and I froze, peering at the group. It was clear it was all on. The girls with the chains twirled them. All four of her opponents were crouching a little with their hands out wide, trying to block any escape path, shifting their weight from side to side and closing in.
“No!” I shouted. Either my voice didn’t carry that far or they were ignoring me because no one turned to look in my direction. My gut dropped when the leader girl lunged at Elise, but Elise rolled to her outside, avoiding her extended arm and grabbing it as she passed. She spun under it, twisting it and lifting it as high as she could. The girl was doubled over in pain.
“Holy shit.”
My heart leaped though when one of the girls with the chains took a swing at her. Elise ducked under the chain, released the leader girl and kicked her in the ass, propelling her into the car. She sank to the pavement. The chain whizzed above Elise’s head but from her crouched position she struck out, swinging her leg in an arc and taking the girl’s feet out from under her. She went down hard. I was stunned, and honestly awestruck.
Another girl came at her but took too long twirling her chain. Elise ducked and came under it, grabbed the girls wrist and spun, her leg extended, kicking the girl in the stomach. She bent in half and stumbled away, but the fourth girl was already on Elise. She slashed at her, and Elise fended her off with her arm, raising it and using the beach towel covering it like a shield. The girl sailed past, but seemed to score a point as Elise grabbed her left biceps. The girl wasted no time and made another pass at Elise, but Elise spun, her leg extended, and caught the girl in her rib cage. That knocked her on to her heels a little, but didn’t stop her. She pushed forward. Elise brought her left fist up quickly and knocked the knife out of the girl’s hand while at the same time striking the girl in the face with her other hand. The knife skittered across the pavement, a good distance from the fray. Her attacker reeled back a foot or two, but she wasn’t done. She screamed and lunged at Elise, grabbing her hair. The leader girl was struggling to her feet.
I scrambled faster, flipped over the top of the gate, and whirled around. The leader girl had one of Elise’s arms, and the girl who lost her knife had the other. The leader barked at a girl who was slowly rising from the pavement. She swayed on her feet, but staggered in their direction. I jumped the rest of the way to the ground, shockwaves burning up my legs from the drop. I turned just in time to see a girl backhand Elise across the face and then follow that with a shot to her gut.
I screamed and ran in their direction, waving frantically. This time the girl who was hitting Elise twisted to see what the sound was, taking her attention from Elise. Elise stomped on the girl’s foot at her right. She let go, howling in pain. Then she did something to Leader Girl which snapped her head back and seemed to stun her. In the next breath the leader was somehow thrown against the car again and slumped to the ground.
Now Elise had two attackers on their feet. The girl who slapped and punched her, and the girl whose foot she stomped on. She adjusted so one was on her right, one on her left. The two girls circled warily, then one shouted to the other, and they took off running in the opposite direction of the pool where there was a wooded area. Elise spun to face leader girl. She was bracing herself against the car and pushing to her feet. Elise grimaced, rubbing her biceps, but she was still ready for an attack, knees bent, weight over her feet. I swung my gaze from her to Leader Girl as I hurried forward. The bigger girl had a hand raised in supplication to Elise, saying something while cowering. It was the funniest sight. Tiny Elise and this humongous girl, begging for forgiveness, or reprieve, or something. Elise said something and Leader Girl sidestepped in a broad circle, keeping her eye on Elise, until she got to her car, climbed in, and started the engine. The fourth girl, who Elise took out right at the onset, was staggering to her feet and shaking her head. The leader girl yelled something to her friend and banged the side of her car. Her friend stumbled sideways in the direction of the car. She went down on her front knee at one point, but floundered to her feet again and, leaning on the car, made it around to get in the passenger seat. They left as quickly as they had come.
I finally reached Elise. She was staring after the car. I touched her, and she spun, throwing an elbow, which she stopped right before it hit my face. I waved my hands. “Hey. Hey. It’s me.” She lowered her arms to her side. I was panting, but she hardly seemed winded. “Are you okay?”
“Mm-hmm.” She retrieved her towel and her beach bag. I stood back and watched her. She walked toward the pool slowly, her posture board-straight.
“Elise.”
She didn’t respond.
“Elise.” I rushed to catch her. The color had drained from her face. “Are you sure you’re all right?”
She nodded then sort of fell against me, her feet going out from under her. I moved her arm over my shoulder and half supported her to the curb.
“Let’s take a seat. Catch our breath.”
She bobbed her head numbly, staring, glassy-eyed, straight in front of her.
“Let me see if they hurt you.” The sleeve of her cover up was torn and bloodied. I gingerly moved it so I could get a better assessment, but the cut wasn’t very deep, a touch more than a scratch. She was lucky. I peered at her face. Her lip was bleeding at one corner and swelling. “Not too bad.” She turned to look at me for the first time.
“Hunter?”
“Yeah, baby.”
She fell against me, shaking and crying.
“Oh, honey. It’s okay. You…you kicked their asses.” That sort of got a chuckle from her. A car zoomed into the parking lot and she sat straighter. I was ready to bounce to my feet when I recognized Terry Kennedy’s car.
He pulled up nearby, turned his radio down and shouted out the window. “What’s wrong?”
“Some girls jumped Elise. Do you have a first aid kit?”
“Yeah, man. Sure.” He jumped out, leaving the engine running and door open while he rummaged in his back seat. He trotted over
a few seconds later, squatting and handing me a box. He put his hand lightly on Elise’s leg. “You okay, Elise?”
She nodded and lifted her head. “Thanks, Terry.”
He twisted to survey the parking lot, then faced us. “What happened? Did you chase them away, Hunter?”
I had the box open and antiseptic wipes in hand and was searching for some sort of bandage. I looked at him with a grin. “Are you kidding? I didn’t have to. Elise finished them off.”
“Elise?”
“Yeah, man. It was a regular action movie out here.” I focused my attention on my hunt.
Terry pointed at Elise’s arm. “How’d that happen?”
“A couple of them had knifes.” I found what I needed. Elise was sitting on her own now, so I swung onto my knees in front of her.
“A couple? How many were there?”
I was tearing open the antiseptic wipe envelope with my teeth. “Four,” I spat out, then the thing finally ripped. I glanced at Elise. “This might sting.”
She nodded. I wiped and she flinched and sucked in her breath, then was still while I finished.
Terry inspected the parking lot again. “Are those their chains?” He stood before I could answer and walked toward the Cooper.
“Yeah.” Throwing the wipe on the ground for the moment, I pressed a big non-stick pad on the wound. I lifted my gaze. Elise was looking much better, her color returned. “Can you hold this?” She held the pad while I wrapped gauze around it.
Terry came up with a knife. But didn’t say anything. He squatted in front of Elise and stared at her. She didn’t seem to notice. When I had tucked the end of the gauze in, I collected my trash. “What about her mouth?”
I squinted, examining it again. “Do you want me to try to bandage that, Elise?”
She poked it with her tongue but jerked it back, wincing. “Maybe just clean it a little.”
Hell Hath No Fury Page 17
