Jerry turned his laptop around for me to see and interjected on our conversation. “He’s in his room right now watching porn on his laptop. Been watching for just over seven minutes.” Jerry smirked and shrugged his shoulders. “PI’s technical guy did something…”
The cabin door opened and Gibson unclipped my belt then his. Still clutching my hand he pulled me up to stand. “I love you, Chloe. We’re gonna put this baby to bed and get on with our lives together.”
Giving Gibson a slow nervous smile I nodded and reached up and kiss him tenderly. “Thank, God. I can’t wait.”
Gibson gave it a squeeze. “Let’s go.”
It was raining hard when we left the aircraft, the grey sky heavy with thick dark clouds and the wind driving the icy rain diagonally at us. It was a miserable sight, after the beautiful winter scenes of Colorado. Gibson opened the door for me to slide into the back seat of a white SUV with blacked out windows, then slid along the seat beside me.
Johnny and Emma took the front seats. Emma was driving and Johnny became the passenger after piloting the flight. Jerry and Lois were in the car behind us. Gibson raked his hand through his hair, ruffling it to shake out the excess water, while I gathered my thoughts.
Johnny rang Gibson on his phone and I thought that was quite funny, considering they were only feet away from each other. Then I realized that Gibson was concentrating intensely to what Johnny was telling him, and was making sure that I couldn’t hear because the radio was on. The music was interrupting my concentration. I could hear Johnny talking but wasn’t able to make out what he was saying.
We pulled down an alleyway and I was getting used to passing through hotel kitchens with surprised chefs and kitchen staff staring wide eyed at my boyfriend coming and going like it was the most natural thing in the world for him. But today was different, my heart was in my mouth with fear and it had nothing to do with Gibson or his work.
Johnny and Emma left the kitchen while Jerry and Lois stayed with us. A girl in a set of chef’s whites with a blue checked neckerchief came over and asked Gibson to sign her apron. Gibson’s jaw ticked. This was not the time for someone to interrupt, but I couldn’t believe how cool he was. He asked her name, signing quickly and handed it back, just as Johnny pushed the door open.
“Clear. Left- elevator door 50ft. Emma in situ. Gibson grabbed my hand and with the others close behind us, we walked quickly to the elevator, Gibson had his head bowed down to avoid recognition. Stepping inside, he waited for the doors to close then looked Johnny square in the eye. “Shoot.”
“Same floor—opposite doors, room number eleven forty one. Exit left first. Detective Mulligan is waiting at the door.” Johnny was already swiping his phone and Jerry was scrolling on his, while Lois was looking on. Emma was standing in front of us waiting for our pending arrival on the floor.
When the elevator glided to a halt and the doors opened, Emma held her hand behind her for us to wait, stepping out she looked in both directions, “Clear.”
On entering the hotel room a guy of about thirty was waiting by the door and Gibson slapped his back. “Good job. I owe you. Brief me. Chloe, this is Detective Mulligan by the way.”
Staring at me, he looked at Gibson and shook his head, giving Gibson an angry scowl.
“No way! Bad idea.”
“Trust me, I know, but she’s here. Just tell me what’s going on, where is he?”
Mulligan heaved a sigh of resignation, “First, this has to be by the book once he’s in the room. Any stupid moves will go in his favor. You are not to touch him, understand?”
“You have my word. My instinct is to beat the shit out of him, but for Chloe’s sake I won’t. That would only take me down to his level. But—make no mistake I want that fucker to suffer for what he did to my girl and locking him away is about all we have. So I won’t do anything to fuck that up.”
“Do this right and we’ll have him for a long time. You have to wear the wire so we have it on tape. Chloe as well. Although I wouldn’t even have her anywhere near this hotel with him in it if she were mine, given what he’s already done to her.”
Gibson gave him a dark solemn look, his dark, worried eyes darting to me then back to the detective. “Well she isn’t yours—she’s mine. Chloe is my world but I got her, dude. She wants to stay—she stays. This has been a long time coming for her.”
Gibson squeezed my hand in reassurance and the detective rubbed his finger under his collar in annoyance before protesting further about sticking his neck out to do this. Gibson was in no mood for the uncooperative tone he was setting and managed him in pretty much the same way as he did his band. Gibson’s power of persuasion was no match for the arguments that Mulligan put up and after a couple more minutes, he started to brief us on what had been happening.
“O’Neill is in the bar drinking with two women, but the last thing we want is him picking someone up and bringing her upstairs.” Emma stepped forward taking her gun out of the back of her pants and placed it on the table.
“I’ll bring him up.”
The detective quickly swiped it from the table opened the barrel and emptied the bullets from it. Waving it at Gibson, he asked, “You don’t happen to have one of these on you, do you?”
Nodding at Johnny and Jerry, he replied, “No I don’t have a fucking gun, these guys are my protection.”
Gibson then nodded at Johnny to have Emma covered by Jerry, and just before they left the room, Gibson said, “This is Emma, Chloe’s security. She’ll do a good job.”
Ten minutes later, once we knew that Kace was busy with Emma, we transferred across the hallway to Kace’s room and were sitting nervously waiting for news of what was happening in the bar. Johnny had hung back because he was usually always with Gibson, and was the more recognizable of his two body guards. If Kace had been watching us, the chances were he’d have spotted Johnny previously.
After another argument, it was agreed only Gibson needed to wear the wire because it would record all the conversation and there was no way Gibson wanted anything taped to my body. Besides if anyone was to leave the room during the altercation it would be me. The detective complained again that everything we were doing was highly irregular and had to be managed properly so that Kace couldn’t accuse us of entrapment. He had to enter his room of his own free will with Emma.
The victim would never be put in front of her abductor in normal circumstances but nothing that had happened since I had left Kace could have been described with that tag. I knew this– they knew this, and the huge risk they were taking to catch him wasn’t lost on me.
Kace had been very clever and although there was CCTV footage of him in the hotel, the only sighting they had was him putting ‘Something in a blanket in the trunk of a car, hired in his name.’ Circumstantial evidence at best, my apartment investigation had thrown up no evidence either. There was no clear CCTV footage of him taking me or of being in my building, but he was picked up on some cameras close to my place at the time, and no finger prints. None of that was enough to convict him of anything.
Twenty more minutes passed before Johnny’s finger flew up to his ear. Turning his back he listened for a moment then turned and stared at Gibson. “Affirmative.”
“Emma’s worked her charm they’re heading for the elevator. It’s show-time.”
Fighting my body’s response to the shock of hearing Johnny confirm they were coming, I hung on to the sleeve of my coat. Gibson pulled me in for a hug and kissed the top of my head, quietening my wildly rapid heartbeat enough to focus on him. “You sure about this?” I was petrified. The shock of Johnny’s voice saying something so simple but so final, suddenly made me feel unprepared. Gibson hugged me tighter and gave me a resolute stare. “I got you, darlin’,” at his words I trusted he did, but the anticipation of Kace’s imminent arrival was terrifying.
CHAPTER 35 - ANTICIPATION
Gibson
Mulligan refused to leave the room but agreed he wouldn’t show his ha
nd until the time was right. In civilian clothing he could have been anyone working for me. Chloe was at the foremost in my mind. God alone knew how she must have felt, standing terrified– waiting for the arrival of the bastard who put her through hell.
No matter what happened, I knew I had to remain calm. Chloe had to witness me taking care of this situation in a controlled and intelligent way, because the last thing I wanted was for her to be scared of the potential for me to become aggressive with her. Above all else I had to demonstrate restraint because I was a better man than Kace.
My internal feelings were that I wanted to punch the fucker’s lights out, but not before I squeezed him by the balls and watch him yelp for mercy repeatedly. Kace deserved no mercy but punching him would take me to a place where violence bred terror, and that’s exactly what he’d expect of a guy like me. The expectations of others for me to fuck up had been my downfall all my life, until I met Chloe. She has been the only one to realize, what you see isn’t what always what you get with me.
Johnny’s hand shot up to silence us and he held his finger to his lips. We were on. Chloe was a bundle of nerves judging by her face and how she kept fidgeting she was slightly shaking. I touched her lips with my fingers and stared pointedly at her. “Everything is going to be okay, Chloe.” I whispered then I made eye contact to Johnny and inclined my head to guard her.
Johnny moved a step closer to her and dipped his head to speak quietly to her. He knew in this instance, he didn’t need to have my back. Chloe needed Lois and him more. Watching Chloe’s reaction I noted when her eyes snapped up to meet his, whatever he’d told her was what she needed to hear because a tight smile appeared on her gorgeous mouth and she nodded.
I knew the only time I’d lose my cool with Kace was if he went for her. There was no way in God’s earth would I be able to hold back if he tried anything with Chloe. That would definitely be an all-bets-are-off situation.
We heard a couple talking in the corridor and laughter as they came closer to the room. I recognized Emma’s voice was outside and then they stopped. I knew Kace was outside and there were only a couple of inches of wood between me and the guy who had fucked up Chloe’s life until now, and the last six months of mine. The temptation to lose my shit and go piling in with my fists was so strong that I shoved my hands deep into my leather jacket pockets just so that I was conscious of where they were.
A click of the latch and Kace was hurtled into the room by Emma. Kace lost his footing and landed on the floor in front of me. And, there he was. Kace’s voice stopped abruptly when he tumbled to his knees in front of me. Glancing up, his eyes met mine then popped widely when he realized he and Emma were not alone in the room. Watching his frightened eyes do a quick scan of the room I saw the moment when his eyes fell on Chloe. The tense reaction at being in the same room as her was like an electric shock, while his body jerked and his jaw flexed like he was gritting his teeth.
Recovering quickly, Kace went on the attack like most guilty men do when they are caught in a tight spot.
“What in the hell’s name is going on here? Chloe! Thank God you are safe. Where have you been? I’ve been out of my mind with worry?”
Kace was a good actor and began to try to reach out to her, he never got one step off the ground in her direction as Johnny and Mulligan stepped forward. Turning to address me and Mulligan he threw his hands out and straightened his stance.
“You guys know she’s got mental health issues right?”
The dude was acting all concerned and smooth and the urge to kick the lying fucker’s mouth shut was beginning to overwhelm me, so I began to walk over to where Emma was standing nearer the door in my effort to make space between us. Once I was there I took my hand out of my pocket placed it behind me, then ground my knuckles into the wall out of sight. I had to keep it together for Chloe, but every nerve in my body wanted to tear him apart.
Chloe found her voice and when she did, she sounded so sassy, if we hadn’t been in such a serious situation I knew she’d have dropped me to my knees with lust.
“Bullshit Kace. That tact may have worked in a small town at home but these guys are much worldlier and wiser than you could ever know. Gibson may be a rock star to millions in public, but he’s my rock star— a decent man. You are not even in the same sport as him, never mind the same league. You’re a woman beater and I hope you can live with yourself, preying on defenseless girls like me.”
To Chloe’s credit she hid what she was feeling very well. It was an Oscar winning performance from my poor terrified girl– the only thing that gave away some of her feelings was that she was gripping tightly to the sleeve of her coat and her finger nails were white with the effort of clinging on. Every fiber in my body was aching to go and hold her, but I knew that would have been fatal, she’d have cried.
“Why did you follow me…seek me out? Leaving you was the hardest and the best thing I ever did. Why couldn’t you just leave me in peace to get on with my life?”
Kace was starting to panic—it was right there in his eyes, but his demeanor was reasonable as he tried to deliver a plausible excuse and draw the focus on Chloe’s health and personality as the problem. “Listen I don’t know what she’s told you but I bet it’s a crock of shit. Chloe has lived with me for a few years now. This is her usual M.O. Going off with random men, placing herself in danger—she’s a sick chick, Gibson. You need to let me take her home.”
Chloe’s eyes fell to the floor and she looked like she took a hit with his comment. Johnny gave her a subtle touch on the hand by his side in reassurance and she glanced up at him. Witnessing that hurt my heart because I should have been standing holding her while all of this was happening, but she wouldn’t have coped if I had, and I was wearing the wire, and if he was going to go for me I didn’t want her anywhere near me.
Kace was livid with her, that much was registering with me. Watching his chest heaving as he tried to take in enough air had his nostrils flaring as well. Fighting to control his temper was becoming a full time occupation for the dude, and his adrenaline was flowing judging by the pulse throbbing in his neck. After a second of hesitancy he switched it up and snickered, dipping his head shyly as if he were trying to look embarrassed for her.
Rocking on my heels, I looked down at my feet, trying desperately to remain passive, and when I felt my emotions were firmly in check I looked him dead in the eye, sighing for effect like I was tired, then spoke softly like what he was doing was working. I needed to lull him into a false sense of security.
“Chloe was sick. I’ve been helping her, Kace. She has no recollection of what happened to her. I felt obliged to help her after all the media attention I had drawn to her. I had no idea she was with someone when I met her. All I know is that I had been with her for a while and one day I went to my gig and when I came back she was gone. Same shit different day in my world. Anyway she was found by the side of Lake Union some days later with a note pinned to her chest saying, ‘Guess who I’ve been with.’ They came back to me because one of the bathrobes she was wearing when she was found is unique to the penthouse suite of the hotel I was staying at, at the time. Shame it happened really because Chloe’s an incredible girl and I was enjoying her.”
A fleeting look of anger crossed Kace’s face but he was very self-aware and caught it, then looked back at me with a passive expression again. For a second he seemed to be considering what I had said to him and I saw the injecting of anger when the impact of Chloe being intimate with me hit him.
“So…you’re done with her and you want me to take her home? Had your fun but because she’s sick you’re passing the buck back to me to take care of her? Is that what this is? How did you find me? Anyway, it’s typical behavior from someone as selfish as you are. I watched you back in college, I know your reputation with women. Luckily for Chloe, I love her and although it hurts my heart to know she’s been with someone like you, I’ll do it. I’ll take her back…but I’m doing it for her not for you.”
>
Kace began to walk toward Chloe and Johnny reached over to pick a menu off the dressing table effectively halting Kace in his tracks. He didn’t realize that it was Johnny’s intention to block him and he waited for him to move back. I could see he thought we believed him and he had smoothed things over, then he found a bit more confidence and asked, “So do they know where she was?”
Turning to look me square in the eye Kace looked expectantly as he tried to find out what else I knew. Staring at him with a puzzled expression I asked, “Sorry? What do you mean?”
“The note…’Guess where I’ve been?’ She can’t remember where she was?” Looking past Johnny to address Chloe, he asked, “You don’t remember, Chloe?” Chloe slipped slightly behind Johnny’s body. From his reaction he believed that Chloe had no idea he’d taken her, but then it dawned on him the mistake he’d just make. Realizing what he’d done, Kace quickly backtracked, “No sorry, what did the note say again?”
Mulligan reached over and pulled the handle down on the hotel room door and two huge guys in navy blue police uniform were standing in the doorway with NYPD badges on their caps. Johnny moved between Emma and me while I stepped around him and headed over to Chloe. Mulligan and one of the cops struggled with Kace and it briefly registered with me that he was pushed against the wall with his head to the side, his cheek crushed against the plaster.
Mulligan took a look back at us, “Good job, we have it on tape. Book him: Suspected kidnap of Chloe Jenner in the State of Seattle. You need to liaise with them. Read him his rights.
Mulligan explained again to Chloe, that the evidence they had until today had been circumstantial, but his slip of the tongue in disclosing evidence that was not public knowledge and knowing exactly what the note said, made a case for probable cause, giving them grounds to arrest Kace for kidnapping Chloe.
Trusting Gibson (Last Score Book 2) Page 30
