by Tiana Cole
A bomb threat?
I turned on the television in my office quickly, not surprised to see Breaking News scrolling across the screen, the building Zeya worked in covered from several angles.
“Shit!” I said.
Air traffic was going to be a bitch getting to where Zeya was. There was probably a chopper from each of the major networks hovering around, waiting for something to happen. I was going to have park the chopper somewhere else.
I made my way out to the chopper and climbed in, adrenaline coursing through my veins as I went through pre-flight in record time and guided the chopper into the air. I pushed the bird as fast as it would go, my mind racing with all the terrible possibilities.
I was tempted to ask the universe if this could get any more difficult, but I knew that tempting fate was a stupid thing to do. I watched the city fly beneath, staying on the headset, frantically trying to find a place to land before I got there. Lead after lead was dry, and it was looking like I would be setting down in the street. I mentally shrugged. It would be a first for me, but I didn’t much care. Zeya was in trouble and she needed me.
A voice broke through my headset, and I groaned aloud. They were asking all air traffic to avoid the hot zone. I ignored them, hoping that my little chopper would fly under the radar. I wasn’t surprised when air traffic control was in my ear, calling out my numbers and reiterating that I needed to alter my course.
“I can’t. I’m going in on rescue.”
“Taylor, you know you can’t do that.”
It was Bob. He was a regular; the voice I heard in my ear daily as I made my commute.
“Bob, I have to. I can’t waste the time going around.”
“There’s a bomb threat, Taylor. If there is a bomb and it goes off when you’re close it will knock you right out of the sky if you’re flying too low.”
“There’s no bomb. It’s a ruse.”
“What?”
All chatter in the background stopped.
“Don’t ask me how I know, please. I need clearance to land close. I need a helipad in that area. Can you find me something?”
Bob growled under his breath before he ground out, “Give me a minute,” and the line went silent.
I waited, stomach churning, a million possibilities flying through my head. I was twenty minutes away, and it felt like an eternity.
There was a crackle, then Bob came back on the line.
“Can you alter your course and head for five-six-three Beaker Way?”
He rattled off the coordinates and I plugged them in.
“Is that the closest you’ve got?”
“It is. It’s a mile, but there’s nothing closer.”
“That’ll do, Bob. Thank you!”
“Don’t mention it. And I mean really don’t mention it; I could lose my job.”
“If you do, I’ll take care of you.”
“Good to know. Good luck.”
“Thanks,” I muttered.
I was going to need it.
I pushed the chopper to its limits, not relaxing until I saw the building in the distance. It was a newer building, ten stories high with a large helipad with a large corporate chopper already parked on the building. I landed softly, turning off the rotors and climbing out of the chopper. I rode the elevator down to the first floor, silently praying that no one would try to get on and slow my progress.
When the elevator stopped on the first floor I took off running, passing confused men in hand-tailored suits as I went. I was sure I was a sight, but I didn’t have time to think about that.
I hit the sidewalk, stopping for a second to get my bearings and racing toward Zeya’s building. The closer I got, the more people there were, milling about on the sidewalk and spilling out into the street. The safe zone was horribly congested with foot traffic, and I had to slow to a walk.
I tried slipping between people, but everyone was focused on the building in the distance, waiting in earnest for it to explode. Everyone I passed was rooted to the ground as if planted there, and more than once I had to shove people out of my way to make room. I could see the gate to Zeya’s building. I was so close, yet an unfathomable distance away.
I felt a hand on my shoulder as I was about to break through the crowd. I turned, coming face to face with a police officer.
“You can’t go that way, Sir. You need to stay behind the yellow tape.”
I yanked out of his grasp, slapping his hand away when he reached for me again.
“Zeya is in trouble,” I said by way of explanation.
“The radio host?”
“Yes.”
I tried to move away, but his hand went to his Taser and rested there.
“You mean the woman who called in the fake rat in the mail? Is this a publicity stunt?”
“No. This is real. She’s in danger, and I have to find her before she does.”
I turned my back on him and shoved through the last group of people, bursting through the mass and running as fast as my legs could carry me toward her gate. I could hear the officer running after me, but I didn’t care. I had to get Zeya before Lynne did, and I was afraid that I was already too late.
Chapter 17
Zeya
I stepped into the condo, trembling softly and trying to keep my cool. I had to think, but my mouth was dry and my head was spinning. She was here, knife jabbed against my back through the thin fabric of my shirt. Her hand was like a vice grip around my forearm, manicured fingernails digging into my flesh.
“Don’t try anything,” she sneered. “I won’t hesitate to use this.”
“I won’t, I promise,” I said, trying to keep my shaky voice even.
I caught sight of the clock, and I tried to recall what time it was when Taylor said he was an hour away. Had it been an hour yet?
“Keep walking,” she said, shoving me roughly and poking the knife so that it bit into my flesh.
I winced in pain but said nothing. I wasn’t sure what the right thing to do was in these situations, but I did know that letting on how scared I really felt was a bad idea. If she knew that I was so scared that I was nauseous it might egg her on. Letting her know how much power she had over me was the last thing I wanted to do.
“In the kitchen. Sit in that chair and don’t move.”
I did as I was told, but she didn’t give me a chance to disobey. She was right there, pulling something out of her bag with one hand, knife shoved against the back of my neck with the other.
I felt the rope drop over my shoulders an instant before it was pulled tight. I panicked, kicking and screaming out for help. She punched me hard across the mouth, but I continued to scream, even as I tasted blood. She swore under her breath and I felt cold metal pressed against my throat. I stopped, holding my breath and trying my best not to move.
“Do you want to die?”
“No,” I choked out.
“Then don’t pull that shit again. It’s pointless anyway; your neighbors are all out on the street, waiting to watch a building explode. The rest have the news turned up so damned loud that they couldn’t hear you scream if you were standing in their living room. The only thing you’re doing is pissing me off. And you don’t want to piss me off, understand?”
“Yes,” I said.
“That’s better.”
She went to work, tying me tightly to the chair by my hands and feet, then adding rope anywhere I appeared to have too much wiggle room. My chest was tight and I felt like I was going to pass out. Being tied up with a knife on me was seriously freaking me out.
The clock was behind me, and I couldn’t tell how much time had passed. Was Taylor any closer? It felt like an eternity since she’d forced me into the chair, but I knew it was just a few minutes.
She finished tying me up and left me alone in the kitchen. When she was out of sight I tugged at the ropes, but it was no use. I could hear her rummaging around in the other rooms. There was a crash from down the hall and I saw red. She was destroying my nu
rsery, her incoherent ranting rising above the noise.
She returned several minutes later, a huge smile on her face and something small wrapped in paper in her hand.
“We have some things to talk about,” she said.
She pulled up a chair and sat in front of me. I caught a glimpse of the thing in her hand and groaned inwardly. Of course she was going to think that I’d made the nursery to trap Taylor. I would never be able to convince her that the negative pregnancy test from last night and the nursery had nothing to do with each other.
“The family situation is going to be hard now that you’ve complicated things, but I think we can work something out. I should have known that you had something on Taylor. I’m sure you’re blackmailing him.”
I didn’t even have to feign confusion. I had no idea what the crazy broad was talking about. She flipped the test so the readout was facing me and my stomach dropped. How was that possible?
“How far along are you?”
“That test was negative last night.”
“Right.”
“I’m serious.”
“Don’t you know anything? You’re supposed to take it in the morning first thing. And you obviously didn’t wait long enough to read the results. The line might be thin, but it’s there.”
I wanted to scream. She was sitting there, talking to me like we were old friends and chiding me for taking a pregnancy test at the wrong time. We weren’t friends. She was a madwoman and I was her hostage. Her pregnant hostage.
I closed my eyes, trying to contain myself. I could feel the telltale heat of tears wanting to come behind my eyes. I forced them back. There was no way that I was showing this woman any sort of weakness.
I opened my eyes slowly, slowing my breathing and looking the bitch straight in the eye.
“What’s the plan?”
“What?”
I sighed heavily and rolled my eyes.
“What’s the plan? You do have a plan, right?”
“A plan for what?”
“A plan to get back at him for screwing us both over. You don’t think you’re the only one that he hurt, do you?”
I waited, heart racing inside of me. I was taking a huge gamble, and it was possible that I would pay with my life. But I had to do something. Taylor was so far away. The longer I could hold her off, the greater the chance that Taylor would get to me in time.
“Oh,” she said. “I guess I didn’t even consider that this was a surprise to you. Didn’t you know he was married?”
“Of course not. He told me the two of you were long divorced and that you’d moved on to bigger and better things.”
Lynne’s laugh cut me off before I could elaborate. My hair stood on end. There was no joy in the sound, and not even the most malevolent of movie villains could match it. Lynne was insane and evil down to her very core.
Don’t freak out, Zeya. You’ve got this, I told myself. But the truth was, I didn’t know if I did.
“He divorced me, that is true, but he left out the teensy little part that makes him the bad guy and not me. He committed me first; locking me in a god awful place ‘for my own good’ and throwing away the key. He took everything that was mine, claiming in court that I’d cheated on him and abandoned him. As if he gave me any choice, working long nights and constantly tending to the children like they were royalty. He broke our vows long before I slipped into another man’s bed.”
I didn’t know what to say to that. A look at her face told me she was serious; she really and truly believed she was in the right.
“Have you listened to my show?” I asked.
I was grasping at straws here, but it was worth a shot. It wasn’t like it was going to get worse, right?
“I have, a couple of times. I really can’t stand most of the topics.”
“You missed a lot of good ones, and I guess Mr. Stephens did, too.”
Her interest was piqued, so I pressed on.
“Time and time again, I see marriages fall apart because one parent neglects the other in favor of the children. So many of these family issues come down to one partner not doing their part.”
“Exactly. That’s exactly what Taylor did.”
“And that’s why he brought me in. I’m not his lover, I’m his employee.”
She looked skeptical.
“And the baby?”
I laughed softly.
“Do I look like a woman who needs to be saddled with a kid? I only went through the motion to get him out of my hair. I never wanted to have a baby.”
My heart tore at the words, even though I knew I was lying.
“Not really.”
She looked around the house in disdain.
“And really, this is no place to raise a family. You practically live in squalor.”
“Exactly,” I said, resisting the urge to slap her.
She continued looking around, but I could see that her eyes were looking beyond the walls of my home and she was lost inside her head. I trembled against the tight ropes. Was I going to get out of this alive?
“I could take the baby,” she blurted out after an eternity of silence.
“No.”
Shit. I hadn’t meant to answer.
“What do you mean, no?” she seethed.
“I mean I can’t ask you to burden yourself with such a thing.”
“Well, of course you can’t. I’d be doing you an amazing favor, taking the burden off your hands. Taylor and I could raise the baby with his siblings. Oh! You can even be their nanny. Wouldn’t that just be perfect? Then Taylor and I could travel like we always wanted.”
She was grinning wistfully. Her expression had an absence about it that I couldn’t explain.
There was a click at the door. My head jerked up before I could stop it, and Lynne’s gaze followed mine. She was on me in an instant when the door crashed inward and police spilled into my hallway. Taylor was right behind them, completely ignoring their calls for him to stay back.
“Don’t move or I’ll cut her!” Lynne shrieked.
The knife was poised over my belly, but my eyes locked on Taylor.
I love you, I mouthed. He was there, mere feet from me, and I wanted to make sure he knew. I didn’t want to die, but the possibility was there, and there was nothing I could do about it. It was crazy that it took a knife-wielding madwoman to make me realize that I really was in love with Taylor.
“Take it easy, Ma’am,” the officer said.
It was the same officer that had written me off before, claiming that I was overreacting. His orders went unheeded, Lynne’s shaking hand holding the knife mere inches from my tender flesh. Taylor held my attention, a soft smile meant to be reassuring tugging at his lips. It wasn’t working. I didn’t feel reassured. I was scared spit less, muscles straining involuntarily against the ropes that were too tight.
Taylor mouthed “I love you” to me and stepped forward between the two officers. I nodded ever so slightly so that Lynne wouldn’t notice, closing my eyes and biting my quivering lip.
“Lynne, don’t, please. I love you,” Taylor said.
I squeezed my eyes shut. I didn’t want to see his face right now. A child could have figured out that he was just placating her, trying to get her away from me and save my life. Still, hearing him say the words to her ripped my heart in two.
Her hand was in my hair and my head was pulled back roughly. I squeezed my eyes even tighter, but not tight enough to stop the tear that escaped when I felt the cool press of the metal against my throat.
I was breathing in quick little gasps, no longer trying to remain outwardly calm. Screw calm. I was terrified.
“Lynne. If you do that, you’ll have to go back to the hospital and they’ll keep you there. We don’t want that. I need you at home with me.”
“Do you mean that?”
“I do. I’ve missed you every night since you left. I made a mistake. I’m here to beg you for another shot.”
I felt the knife come ever s
o slightly away from my neck. She still held it against my skin, but not painfully so. As hard as it was to listen to Taylor, it seemed to be working.
“You didn’t come here to save the nanny?”
The knife was there again. I had to swallow, but I was afraid to.
“If I wanted to save her, do you think I would have let her go to the studio alone? If I cared for her at all, she’d have a bodyguard twenty-four-seven. She’s the help, and nothing more.”
“How did you know I’d be here?”
“I knew it was you the moment I heard you on the radio. I’d recognize your voice anywhere, even distorted like it was. My heart knew it was you. And I knew you’d hunt Zeya down to defend your family. You’re a good woman like that.”
“What are we going to do about the baby?” she asked.
“Baby?”
Taylor’s voice cracked.
“You didn’t know she was pregnant.” It was a statement.
“I had no idea.”
“So she was hiding it from you?”
“She was.”
He sounded angry. Genuinely angry. I wanted to tell him the truth, that I didn’t know and I was only a few weeks along, but I said nothing. There was nothing to say, and the knife was right there. One wrong word from me and my life was over.
My head was bent unnaturally far back on my shoulders, and I was struggling to breathe. The voices around me began to fade in and out, sounding muffled and far away. Tears were flowing freely down my face now. I closed my eyes even tighter and willed my heart to calm down.
Taylor said something else, but I was drifting in and out. This had been going on far too long and I was struggling.
“Don’t you think another child will mess up our lives?”
Lynne’s words caught my attention, even in the fog. My eyes flew open. Something about the way she said the words was off. She’d lowered the knife, and I felt an instant of calm before I realized that she was pulling back to strike.
“No!” I screamed as a shot rang out and Lynne stumbled backward.
