by Stella Kelly
“Listen, I can’t talk long. I said I was going to get something in my room and I’m expected. Is everything going as planned?” Trudy’s voice was soft, secretive.
Cole leaned in closer and strained to hear without being seen.
“Yes, that sounds perfect. He won’t know what hit him when he sees it. I want this to work out perfectly. Everything’s falling into place. Won’t be long now.”
Cole heard her say goodbye and then stand. He watched from a short distance as she looked around to ensure she was alone before heading into the house. Doubling back, Cole headed straight for the study.
“Sir, do you have a moment?” Cole knew this would be a very sensitive and fragile line of questioning.
“Yes, of course, Agent Nielsen. Have a seat.”
“Thank you, sir, but I’ll stand.”
Secretary Mitchell seemed to study his face, “Why do I get the feeling I’m not going to like the news you have for me.”
“Sir, another letter has arrived.” Cole reached into his breast pocket and pulled out the folded envelope. He handed it to The Secretary and waited while he read the vicious words.
“This is aggressive. But again, it wasn’t addressed to me per say and it’s anonymous. What does that tell us?”
“It’s not conclusive by any stretch. But of course, we have to be on guard.”
“Yes, of course.” Secretary Mitchell rubbed his chin while staring at the letter.
“I have to ask, how much do you trust Trudy, sir?”
Stunned, Secretary Mitchell looked up at Cole in awe. “Why do you ask?”
“Well, while on my rounds outside I inadvertently overheard a discussion Trudy was having on her phone. It sounded very suspicious and secretive. She’d asked the person on the other end if ‘All the arrangements had been made’. Is there any reason for us to suspect her involvement in a plot against you?”
Secretary Mitchell chuckled and turned slightly red. Cole expected anything but this kind of reaction to his news.
“Agent Nielsen, Trudy is absolutely not involved in this. I am one hundred percent certain.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“Well,” Secretary Mitchell leaned in for some discretion. “I recently asked Trudy to marry me, that’s how I know. She has been planning a private ceremony that will take place next month. We were hoping to keep the matter private because of how public my wife’s death had been. She was a very well known participant in politics so the publicity surrounding her career and then her cancer had taken a toll on Jimmy and me. I wanted this relationship to be different.”
Cole was at once embarrassed yet relieved. “Forgive me, sir, I had no idea. I was following a lead.”
“Oh goodness, please don’t apologize. I appreciate your thoroughness. You’re just doing your job, agent.”
“Let me extend my congratulations to you then. Does Jimmy know?”
“Yes, we told him just before leaving for Bermuda and he was ecstatic. He loves Trudy dearly, and the feeling’s mutual.”
“Glad to hear it. But, we still have a situation on our hands, don’t we.”
“Yes, I suppose we do. What’s next?”
“Well, Agent Kensing and I will be vigilant and continue to comb the grounds and keep abreast of any suspicious activity. Many times, this kind of harassment leads to nothing, but other times the person has gone to a lot of trouble to plan everything out. I don’t mean to alarm you, sir, but we have to be prepared for anything.”
“Maybe we should leave.”
“No,” Cole said. “I don’t think that’s necessary.”
“Should we tell the staff then?”
“Absolutely. They can act as extra eyes and ears around the mansion. I’d also like to see everyone’s reaction to the news.”
“Then I’ll gather everyone together in the living room if you’d like.” Secretary Mitchell’s face was stern. The letters had given him a fright and it showed.
“I’ll go and find Agent Kensing. Perhaps the boys don’t have to know anything. I wouldn’t want to scare them unnecessarily. After all, they’re having so much fun.”
Secretary Mitchell nodded. “Yes, you’re right agent. The last thing in the world I want is to worry my son. He’s been through quite enough in his young life already.”
Chapter Ten
The guests had turned in and the staff had shut their doors to the world. The latest letter had spiked the stress level of the entire entourage and the permanent staff members had never experienced anything like this type of threat. Their calm, relaxed existence at the mansion had quickly become a hotbed of anxiety.
Cole and Agent Kensing agreed they would patrol the grounds throughout the night instead of turning in at midnight as they had the first couple of nights. With the mounting threats, they couldn’t take any chances. Someone was trying to make a point, and if history were correct the threats would surely increase into something more sinister.
After deciding to take the second shift from three to six, Cole brushed his teeth and retired to his room. He crawled into bed, setting the alarm for 2:45am. His eyes grew heavy, but his mind drifted to the way Katrina had looked when Agent Kensing had read the letter aloud to the staff that afternoon. A look of panic had spread across her face. There was definitely something troubling her. Beneath her strong, resilient façade, she was a bundle of nerves over something. Her beautiful green eyes hid a mysterious secret that was bubbling to the surface. Her eyes, those jade green eyes that Cole swore he could look into the rest of his life. His mind drifted to an image of her full mouth smiling, her long hair, and her curvy taught body. Then he thought about the things he wanted to do to that body, fun things.
Cole’s fantasy was interrupted by a light knock at his door. Sitting up quickly, he assumed it was Agent Kensing wanting to report something. He crossed the floor and opened the door without hesitating. But it wasn’t Agent Kensing. Katrina stood in the darkened hallway in a thin white robe. Cole felt a pang of discomfort when he realized he was wearing his boxers and nothing more.
“Um, sorry to bother you,” she whispered, her eyes dropped to his bare chest and widening with admiration.
“No, no, it’s fine. What can I do for you?”
“I know who’s sending the threatening letters.”
Her point-blank confession took him by surprise. Taking a closer look at Katrina in the darkness, Cole finally saw her furrowed expression and red eyes. She’d been crying. He stepped aside and let her in, closing the door behind her. They stood motionless for a moment in semi-darkness; the room’s only light came from the bedside lamp turned on the lowest setting.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to bother you at this late hour, but I thought this was important. And…”
“And?”
“And you’re the only person I can trust with this information, the only person here who can actually do something about it. Can I trust you?”
Cole held her intensely pleading stare. “Of course.”
With no chair in the room, Katrina sat on the edge of the bed. As she did, Cole opened the dresser and grabbed a white tee shirt, pulling it over his head in haste. He debated whether to pull on some pants too, but decided against it since she was wearing her robe and the matter was obviously urgent. He could sense her need to confide in him as soon as possible, like her secret was eating away at her. Cole eased onto the bed beside her, close, but not too close.
“Okay, tell me what you know.” He looked into her eyes. They were already beginning to brim again. They seemed to search his face, like she was debating what to say.
“There’s someone from my past who wants to hurt me. I’m convinced he has finally found me. He sent the letters, Cole. They’re meant for me, not Secretary Mitchell.”
Cole took a deep breath, letting it sink in. He felt a rising tide of anger trace up his body. The thought of someone wanting to hurt Katrina made his blood boil. The feeling was so overpoweringly unexpected it caught him
off guard. “Who is he?” he demanded through clenched teeth. He tried his best to hide his rage.
“My ex-boyfriend.”
“How long have you been running from him?”
“Five months now, since I came here. I phoned my parents this evening and they told me about a break-in at their condo last week. They said their address book was stolen with the one postcard I’d sent inside. That’s how he found me.”
“And what made you run from him?” Cole tried to ask with caution; almost afraid to hear the reason for fear he may lose it.
“When we first met three years ago, he was charming; the perfect gentleman. He pursued me with a vengeance, taking me to fine restaurants and buying me gifts. It was a completely different lifestyle than I was used to. And I must confess, I began to like it. He was very wealthy and treated me like I was something precious, important. After six months, he insisted I move into his luxurious loft in Tribeca. I was so overwhelmed by his attention that I couldn’t refuse. He began abusing me shortly after our first anniversary together. It started with something as small as forgetting to pick up his dry-cleaning one time after he’d asked me to. He exploded and lunged at me, punching me in the arm as hard as he could. I thought he’d broken it. I was so shocked, so humiliated, but he apologized and said it would never happen again. He even cried that night and held me, apologizing over and over again. I think that’s when I went numb. I started attending Pilates classes as a way to escape any prolonged time with him. You see, Cole, I had to work along side him all day.”
“He worked in the same office as you?” Cole asked.
“Yes.”
Cole sat thinking about everything. And then it donned on him. “Wait, is your ex-boyfriend Cameron Kilroy?”
“Yes,” Katrina said reluctantly. “So, you can see my predicament. His public persona at Kilroy Financial is very reputable, powerful, and rich. He has an entire well-oiled team behind him. I didn’t stand a chance. My best option was to run and hide.”
“You did what you had to do, Katrina. No one can fault you for that.”
“But don’t you understand, Cole? I stayed for almost three years. I let him control me and make decisions for me and own me. I allowed that to happen for so long because I thought he loved me.”
“Katrina, abuse is not your fault, it’s his fault. It’s a cycle.”
“Trust me, I knew all about the cycle of abuse and knew it would happen again and again, but it didn’t change things. It’s different when it happens to you personally. There were so many times when I wanted to run away, or…”
“Or what?” Cole assumed that she’d wanted to commit murder and he didn’t blame her. Didn’t blame any woman for thinking those sinister thoughts toward their abusers.
“Times when I wanted to kill myself.”
Cole hadn’t expected that. Especially not from someone as full of life and energized as Katrina.
“Thank God you ran instead. You did the right thing.”
“Did I? Then why am I the one scrambling for my identity, my own life while living in constant fear? I can run to the other end of the world, to an island in the middle of the ocean, and he can still find me.”
She shuddered in her fear and Cole inched closer. He reassuringly put an arm around her back, wanting so badly to pull her into a tight hug, to wrap his arms around her and keep her safe forever. But he knew he had to tread lightly. She was broken, damaged by a monster. She may never have the strength to love another man again and the thought crushed him. If only he’d met her first. Cole realized then that the spitfire he’d met on the beach that first day was not an overly confident woman, but a paranoid woman putting on a brave face. He’d been a strange man encroaching on her space, her room. No wonder she was defensive.
<><><>
Katrina sobbed lightly. She hated being so exposed, so vulnerable, but she couldn’t hold it in any longer. Her strong veneer was crumbling in front of Cole, yet she felt validated somehow. He had allowed that validation. She had finally broken her silence and the relief flooded out of her. The only people who knew about her abuse were her parents and even they hadn’t known the full truth for three years; not until she had left Cameron in the middle of the night did she explain everything to them. Like a thief in the darkness, she’d slipped away, her heart pounding so loudly she was convinced Cameron could hear it in his sleep. She knew she’d be starting over again, hitting her ground zero.
“I’d put on a brave and supportive face in public during those three years in hell. Cameron had a reputation to uphold. He threatened to kill me if I ever exposed his dirty little secret to the world.”
“But what about going to the police?”
Katrina shook her head, “He could have spun his way out of my accusations, denied it, and in the process turned everyone against me. Cameron had the power to make everyone question my character through his smooth, swarthy lies. He’s a ruthless businessman, and ruthless in other areas of his life. I learned this the hard way.”
Cole gently rubbed her back and then pulled her closer. Katrina’s emotions snapped and she turned into his strong shoulder, releasing the sobs that had surfaced uncontrollably now.
“Let it out, Katrina. I’m here. It’s okay.” He gently lifted her chin up and thumbed away a tear from her cheek. He smoothed down her hair, pushing it away from her face. “I’m proud of you for letting it out. I think you’ve been carrying this around too long on your own. You shouldn’t have to do that anymore. You can trust that I’ll protect you. I won’t let anything bad happen.”
“But you don’t understand the kind of person Cameron is. He’ll never give up looking for me. I’m like his prized possession. It’s his life’s ambition to control me, Cole, at all cost.”
“Do you truly believe that he owns you?”
“No, but…”
“But nothing. If you believe it, then that makes you free.”
“But what about the letters?”
“We can’t be certain that he sent them. But now that I know about him, we can be on the lookout for someone specific. I’ll call Intel at the Secret Service and have him checked out. I’ll find his present whereabouts too so you have some reassurance. Knowledge is power.”
“There’s something else, Cole.”
“What?”
“Yesterday, when we were shopping and I went back for the shoes, I could have sworn I saw Cameron staring at me from across the street. I tried to get a better look, but it was crowded and there was this truck and, well, he was just gone. I ran back to the table and…”
“And were extremely frightened by the experience, I could tell,” Cole jumped in. He shook his head. “You could have told me about that instead of carrying around the uncertainty all night. These are the kinds of things that will drive a person crazy. Let me share your burden and take some of the pressure off. I’ll take it from here.”
“Thank you so much, Cole. I don’t know what I’d do without you here.” Katrina looked deeply into his eyes. There was something about him that she longed for. She could tell he was the real deal. No pretense, so airs.
“Thanks for confiding in me,” he brought her closer with his strong arm. “Please know how much I admire your strength, Katrina. I’ve seen my share of victims, and you are definitely not one of them. You’re a survivor. You took control of your own destiny.”
Damn was he handsome. “Cole, about our first meeting. I’m sorry I was rude to you. As you now know, I’m cautious when it comes to men. When you were in my room, I was more scared than angry.”
“And for good reason. I had no business in your room. That was more Agent Kensing’s doing, though I’m certainly not trying to pass the buck. I must admit being in your room was intriguing. It was nice to feel close to you. I’ve found you interesting from the first time I saw you.”
Katrina felt a sudden flush in her cheeks at his revelation. She could sense his attraction. As he leaned in and touched her lips gently with his own, she kissed
him back softly at first, and then with force. An urgent need to get even closer overcame her. As he returned her forceful kiss, she ran a hand over his bicep, feeling his strength beneath her fingertips. He returned the favor, bringing a hand up to the back of her neck and deepening the kiss. She felt as if she’d stopped breathing the moment his lips touched hers, as if time stood still. He was so gentle, so kind – yet rugged in all the right ways. He was a real man with integrity and honor, not like the man from her past who only posed as such.
A nagging caution took over and, although it was difficult, Katrina broke the kiss. “Thank you, Cole, for believing me. I appreciate the shoulder to cry on, literally.” Pulling away for fear of getting too close, Katrina stood and looked down at him. She could easily get lost in him, the safety of his strength. But she was still cautious. Caressing his face gently, she knew staying with him was asking for trouble. “I’m sorry.” She wiped her tears away with the sleeve of her robe. “I should go.”
“Are you sure you want to leave just yet?”
Although his offer was innocent enough, Katrina didn’t trust herself to stay. She knew what would happen and she knew she would be the one to instigate it. It took everything in her power to decline his offer.
“I’d better get some sleep. I certainly didn’t get much last night with all my worrying. Maybe tonight will be different now that my secret’s out. Thanks again.”
“Night, Katrina.”
“Night.”
<><><>
He watched her turn and leave, slowly, reluctantly, closing the door behind her. He felt helpless. Yes, her room was a mere two doors down, but it still felt like miles away. He wanted her here, with him, until everything was resolved. If only they could just be open and honest about their feelings for each other, he could then insist that she stay.
