* * *
Beth walked home from work. The weather was fine and the exercise would do her good. It might help her think things through and clear her head a little. She was just a couple of blocks from the library when Miguel pulled up alongside the curb and lowered the front passenger window.
“Want a ride home?”
She smiled sadly at him. “No, thanks. I could use the walk.”
He nodded, then continued to follow her at a discreet distance.
She found it odd to think that people – strangers – had been following her around for weeks and she hadn’t known. Good God, how much was Tyler paying for this protection? She couldn’t even begin to imagine what this cost, and how could Tyler afford it? He made a pretty decent salary, yes. But this had to be costing him a fortune. And that wasn’t even taking into account the cost for conducting surveillance on Howard Kline.
She’d need to talk to Tyler soon about all this crazy security stuff. She also needed to find out what they knew about Howard Kline. So far, she hadn’t even given him a moment’s thought since she found out. She’d been too distraught over Shane’s betrayal to even think rationally about Kline.
Shane’s betrayal. That’s what it had felt like. Since the moment she’d met him, he’d been lying to her. Granted, he hadn’t been doing it to be malicious, but still, he’d been deceiving her. How could she ever trust him now?
He said he’d meant to tell her, and Beth figured that much was probably true. Shane couldn’t have continued his charade for much longer before Tyler got wind of it. In fact, Beth realized it was just sheer luck on Shane’s part that she hadn’t yet told Tyler about her new so-called boyfriend. But then she realized she’d been putting that conversation off, herself, because she was afraid of how Tyler would react. Shane wasn’t the only one who hadn’t been forthcoming. She was guilty of that, too.
Beth waved at Miguel when he parked across from her house, and then she went inside. She thought it was really unnecessary for Miguel to sit outside her house. She didn’t need a babysitter. She really needed to talk to Tyler. He needed to put a stop to these bodyguards.
She thought about fixing herself something for dinner, but that just seemed like too much effort. Instead, she went upstairs and changed into her lounging pants and a t-shirt. She tried watching one of her favorite rom-coms downstairs in the parlor, but her mind kept wandering back to her meeting with Shane that morning.
Halfway through the movie she wasn’t really watching, she checked her phone and saw one new text message from Shane.
Please reply. I’m worried about you.
By the time the movie ended, she was lying on the sofa clutching a throw pillow as the tears fell unchecked. The loss of Shane was like a gaping wound in her chest, open and raw. Her heart ached. She didn’t have the energy to go upstairs to her own bed, so she pulled an afghan over her and closed her eyes.
* * *
Shane walked into the kitchen at Renaldo’s at ten-thirty that evening.
Peter Capelli glanced up a huge pot of sauce he was tasting. “Hey, Shane,” Peter said, clapping Shane on the back. “What brings you here?”
“Actually, it’s a personal matter,” Shane said, his sharp gaze sweeping the kitchen. He spotted Gabrielle standing in front of a stove, her back toward him – but her red hair was a giveaway. She was tossing something in a flaming skillet. Shane nodded in Gabrielle’s direction. “Do you mind if I have a word with Ms. Hunter?”
“No, of course not,” Peter said, eyeing Shane in bewilderment. “How do you know Gabrielle?”
“She’s my girlfriend’s roommate,” Shane said. He clapped his hand on Peter’s shoulder. “Thanks.”
Shane walked through the crowded kitchen to Gabrielle. When she pulled the skillet off the open flame and passed it to a colleague, she turned, jumping when she realized who was standing behind her.
“What are you going here?” Her expression was tense as she glared at him. She glanced at her boss across the room, who was watching the two of them with keen interest. “You shouldn’t be here,” she hissed. “I’m working.”
“I need your help, Gabrielle,” Shane said.
Gabrielle frowned in surprise. “My help? Why?”
“Because Beth won’t take my calls, and she won’t return my texts.”
Gabrielle flushed. “I see,” she said.
“You didn’t see her this morning, Gabrielle,” Shane said, his voice tight. “I found her in the floor of the ladies’ room in my office building, sobbing.”
Gabrielle blanched. “Oh, God.”
“Yeah,” Shane said, his tone bitter. “I’m worried about her. She’s hurting, and it’s my fault. I’m trying to give her some space, but not knowing if she’s okay is killing me.”
“What do you want me to do?”
“Call me tonight after you get home. Let me know how she’s doing.”
Gabrielle nodded. “All right. I’ll call you.”
* * *
“Hey, you,” Gabrielle said, coming to sit by Beth on the sofa. “What are you doing down here? You should be in bed.”
Beth opened her eyes, blinking at Gabrielle. “I didn’t feel like going upstairs.”
“Beth, I’m so sorry,” Gabrielle said. “I shouldn’t have told you like that.”
Beth shrugged. “Everything you said was true.” She took a deep, shaky breath. “I broke up with him this morning.”
“I know. He stopped by the restaurant tonight and asked me to check on you when I got home. I’m supposed to call him.”
“Was he angry with you?”
“No. He was just worried. He said you weren’t returning his calls or texts.”
“I don’t know what to say to him,” Beth said, her voice tightening painfully as she struggled to not start crying again. She was so sick of crying.
“What do you want to say?” Gabrielle said.
Beth shrugged, and then the tears started. “It hurts so badly,” she sobbed. “It’s killing me. I don’t think I’ve ever cried this much in one day.”
“Oh, sweetie,” Gabrielle said as her own eyes filled with tears. She pulled Beth into her arms and held her tightly. “This is all my fault.”
“It’s not your fault,” Beth said, wiping her eyes on her t-shirt.
Gabrielle pulled the afghan off Beth. “I’ll walk you up to bed. Come on.”
Beth followed Gabrielle upstairs. After a quick trip to the bathroom, Beth crawled into bed.
“Try to get some sleep,” Gabrielle said, covering Beth. “Things will look better in the morning. They always do.”
* * *
It was nearly 1 a.m. when Shane’s cell phone rang. He was sitting in the Escalade outside Beth’s townhouse once again. He’d wanted to be close by in case she changed her mind about seeing him.
When the phone rang, he grabbed it and checked the caller ID. It was Gabrielle Hunter, thank God. “Gabrielle, how is she?” he said.
“She’s devastated,” Gabrielle said. “I’ve never seen her like this. Shane, I’m really sorry. I should have kept my damn mouth shut.”
“No, don’t beat yourself up for this. It’s my fuck-up. I should have told her sooner.”
“What are you going to do?” Gabrielle said.
“I’m not sure yet. But I’m not giving up. I’ll give her some more time – one more day. If she doesn’t contact me by tomorrow evening, I’ll come to her and make her talk to me. I know I can fix this, if she’ll just let me.”
“I hope you can fix this,” Gabrielle said. “I really do. I’ve never seen her like this. I think she really loves you.”
* * *
Shane’s phone rang an hour later. “What is it, Jake?” he said, surprised to be getting a call from his brother at this hour.
“Kline’s out trolling for hookers.”
“Fuck, you’re kidding me.”
“Nope. Really skanky ones, too,” Jake said. “That’s probably all he can afford.”
&nbs
p; “Where are you?” Shane said, starting the Escalade’s engine. “I’m coming.”
Jake gave Shane his location, and Shane parked just a couple blocks away and walked up to the front passenger door of Jake’s black Bronco Raptor. He wrapped on the window, and Jake unlocked the door.
“Where is he?” Shane said, settling into the front passenger seat. He’d seen plenty of surveillance photos of Kline since they’d started watching him, but he’d never seen the man in person. He’d been too focused on Beth. But now, feeling edgy and restless because Beth wasn’t talking to him, he had a burning need to see Kline in the flesh.
Jake pointed down the block. “There, in the shadows on the side of that liquor store.”
Shane grabbed a pair of night vision binoculars and trained his gaze on two people who were standing close together in the shadows of a run-down brick building. He could barely make out the shape of a man leaning against the building. Another figure, presumably a female, was on her knees in front of the man.
“She’s a meth addict,” Jake said. “I got a good look at her face, or what’s left of it.”
Shane swore as he watched the man ramming his cock deep into the woman’s throat. Kline had a hold of the woman’s long, stringy blond hair, and he was using it to hold her close as he fucked her mouth. It made his gut clench hotly to think that this prick had once had his hands on Beth. And the thought that he might try to get his hands on her again made Shane sick.
Kline bowed his body sharply as he came in the prostitute’s mouth, shoved so deeply down her throat that she was gagging. When Kline finally released her, she leaned over and vomited on the ground.
“Jesus,” Shane muttered.
Through the binoculars, he watched Kline zip his pants and begin walking in the direction of Jake’s vehicle. It was pitch black outside, and the street lights were all burned out, so there was little risk of Kline seeing them watching him. As Kline neared, Shane made out his long greasy comb-over and his fat, flabby belly hanging out from beneath his stained t-shirt.
Shane laid down the night vision binoculars and reached inside his jacket for his gun.
“What the fuck are you doing?” Jake said, his voice tight.
“I can end this once and for all,” Shane said, pulling the slide back to load a round into the chamber.
“No, Shane.” Jake clasped the barrel of the semi-automatic. “I won’t let you do it. Not like this.”
“This fucker wants to hurt Beth!” Shane said.
“She’s not in any immediate danger. We’re watching Kline 24/7. He can’t get within a mile of her, and you know it.”
“Yeah, but as long as he lives, the threat will continue to hang over her head,” Shane said, eyeing his brother. “One way or another, I’m going to remove the threat.”
“Fine. But you’ll do it right, when the law’s on your side. If you do it this way, it’s cold-blooded murder, plain and simple, and I won’t let you do that. Now, holster your weapon.”
Reluctantly, Shane returned his semi-automatic to its holster. The two men sat still as Kline ambled past, well hidden behind the darkly tinted windows of the Raptor.
Chapter 37
The next morning, Beth was even more desolate than she’d been the day before. She’d tossed and turned all night, unable to stop her mind from reliving the confrontation with Shane in his office over and over again. Every time she closed her eyes, she could feel his arms around her, cradling her in his lap as he’d sat with her in the ladies’ room floor. She couldn’t get the memory of his expression out of her head. He’d looked... destroyed.
Shane’s text messages started up again in the morning, although not nearly as often. Beth had to keep her phone on silent because knowing he was reaching out to her and not responding to him was killing her.
Before she left for work, she ate half a bagel and drank a cup of hot tea. She ended up driving to work, because she just didn’t have the energy to walk. And now that she knew Miguel was following her during the day, she found herself watching for him. She spotted his Mustang two cars behind her on her drive to work. After she parked in the employee lot and got out of her car, she spotted him in the visitor lot and waved at him as she walked up to the front entrance to the library. He waved back, and that had made her smile.
She helped a couple of students in the morning, then catalogued some new materials that had come in the morning’s mail. But she had no energy, and her lethargy was compounded by an overwhelming sense of loss.
To make matters worse, her period still hadn’t started yet. It was overdue now by at least a couple of days, and she was starting to get nervous. She’d never really given much thought to the idea that she might be pregnant. It had just seemed so unlikely that they’d get pregnant after just one episode of unprotected sex. But now she was officially late, and if it turned out that she was pregnant, well, she’d just broken up with the father of her hypothetical baby. Talk about rotten timing! If her period didn’t come by the end of the week, she’d have to take a pregnancy test. But right now, it was the last thing she wanted to think about.
She found herself sneaking peaks at her phone and reading his incoming text messages. Some of them were pleas for a second chance, some were declarations of love, some were apologies. A few of them came across as frustrated and even angry. But the ones that got to her the most were the ones that simply asked how she was doing.
Please tell me you’re okay.
She supposed some might consider the constant stream of messages creepy, but she found them comforting. At least she knew he was still out there, still thinking about her.
“Beth, talk to him,” Mary said. Mary was sitting at her desk, answering e-mails, but her attention kept wandering to Beth.
Beth just shook her head.
“I have to run to the restroom,” Mary said, rising from her chair. “I overdid it on the coffee this morning, and my bladder’s about to burst. Will you be okay alone for a few minutes?”
“Of course,” Beth said.
“I’ll be right back.”
Beth checked the time. It was just a few minutes before her next student appointment at 11 a.m. She checked her calendar and saw the student’s name: Maggie Swenson. She remembered Maggie from previous visits – a small, sturdy blond, very intelligent and highly-driven. Good. Working with a dedicated student like Maggie would help her focus.
The bell to the Special Collections door chimed, and Beth got up to let Maggie in. She opened the door and saw Maggie standing there with a bright smile on her face.
“You look happy,” Beth said, returning Maggie’s smile.
“I am happy,” Maggie replied, showing a matched set of dimples. “I got an ‘A’ on my anatomy midterm!”
Beth chuckled. “Congratulations! Come on in, and let’s get started.”
A hand shot out of nowhere, shoving Maggie sideways, so hard she toppled to the floor, shrieking loudly as she landed hard on her backpack.
“Maggie!” Beth cried, reaching for the young woman.
Beth had barely taken a step toward Maggie when Andrew Morton appeared in front of her. He shoved Beth back into the Special Collections room with a palm to her chest, and Beth stumbled backward, fighting to keep from falling, too.
“Andrew!” Beth cried, catching herself on the edge of a study table. “What are you doing?”
Andrew stalked into the room and slammed the door behind him. “You stupid bitch!”
“Andrew!” Beth gasped, shocked by his fury, both in his voice and in his expression. He was absolutely livid.
“Thanks to you and your fuckwad boyfriend, I’m screwed! My dad took away everything! My car, my credit cards! Everything!”
Andrew advanced on her, his hands fisted at his sides. His face was bright red, his eyes screwed up in rage, and there was spittle on his chin.
“Andrew, I’m sorry!” Beth cried, edging around the table as she tried to keep some distance between them. “I never meant – ”
Andrew kept coming, moving faster now with intent. Beth scooted backwards, not wanting to turn her back on him. When he started gaining on her, she had no choice but to turn and run for the inner office. She’d made it just inside the room and was reaching for the phone on her desk to call campus police when Andrew grabbed her. He yanked the phone receiver out of her hand, then he pulled the phone free from its cord. He threw the phone across the room where it bounced off one of the glass walls and hit the floor with a loud ringing thud.
Andrew grabbed Beth’s arms and shook her hard, her head rocking forward and back. His fingers squeezed her arms hard, so hard she feared he would tear the flesh off her bones.
“Andrew, please!” she gasped as she tried to catch her breath.
Andrew released her abruptly, and she dropped to the floor like a stone, striking the back of her head against the metal leg of her desk. She rolled over, attempting to get up on all fours, but just as quickly, he hauled her back upright and struck her in the face with his fist, knocking her right back down to the floor.
“No one tells me what I can or can’t do!” he screamed down at her. “No one! Certainly not you and your prick of a boyfriend!”
Beth lay on her side gasping as she struggled to breathe. Her chest tightened painfully, signaling an asthma attack in progress. But her inhaler was in her purse in her desk drawer, and there was no way she could reach it.
“Let’s see how much he likes you with your pretty face all messed up!” Andrew hauled his booted foot back and kicked Beth in the side of the head.
Her ears rang on impact and blinding pain shot through her skull, then ricocheted down her spine. She lay on her side and curled in on herself, bringing her arms over her head for protection when she saw the boot coming at her again. Andrew kicked her, this time striking her left forearm as it lay protectively over her face. She felt the bone snap under the force of Andrew’s steel-toed boot, and she screamed when a burning streak of pain shot up her arm and blasted her skull.
Vulnerable: (McIntyre Security Bodyguard Series - Book 1) Page 33