She shuddered as she talked; he closed his arms around her tighter. “Baby, why don’t we take a break? We can talk about it later if you’re up to it.”
She swallowed shaking her head. “Please let me tell you everything.”
Mario wiped tears from her watery eyes with his finger. He wasn’t sure he was strong enough to hear the rest of the nightmare she’d lived through. “Go ahead.”
“Hours had passed and the place got quiet. I had to think how I was going to escape. My knife was small and he was huge. At best, I would incapacitate him long enough to escape. I heard the chain on the door move then the door opened. He dragged me from the closet into a filthy bedroom where the other three women were. When he attempted to um… I fought him like a man and he hit me in the same fashion, but I wasn’t giving up. Finally, I lost it. I whipped the knife from hiding and plunged it in his body repeatedly. But he hit me knocking me to the floor and I dropped it.”
“After all that he managed to stand on his feet?”
“I only slowed him. When he lunged for me again, the women got the courage to help me fight his big ass. They were kicking and hitting him with whatever they could find lying around that trash heap. We were fighting his big butt and then he fell at my feet. The knife was stuck in his neck. I swear, Mario, I don’t remember grabbing the knife from the floor when I fell.”
Mario dropped his head, squeezing her hand. “Damn, Taylor.”
The gulps from her crying mixed in with her weak voice. “My intention was not to kill him.”
With a gentle hand, he lifted her chin. “Hey, you did the right thing. The police have cleared you of any wrongdoing and those women cannot thank you enough. Baby, you are my hero.”
“Those women will never be the same. He didn’t get a chance to torture me the way he did them.”
“I’m sure they are grateful to be alive no matter what. Anyhow, that asshole is off the streets and no woman will fear him ever again.”
She sipped her coffee that had grown cold. “I don’t know why he would target me personally. How did he get in my house to plant cameras? It doesn’t make sense.”
Mario pushed his chair away from the table to get up. “Are you hungry? I will fix you breakfast.”
She pushed the coffee mug away. “I’m not hungry. I have to put this puzzle together. If he was the man snatching random women, he could have easily attacked me the same way. Do you know if he’d stalked the other women?”
Mario leaned against the sink. How could he tell her? The two incidents weren’t related. He removed the coffee urn and poured fresh coffee in her cup. “Taylor, the police are investigating. They will keep you informed. What we have to do today is get you settled. Sabrina is coming over to do your hair and take you shopping….my treat.”
Curling her hands around the mug, she asked. “Mario, how are you able to forgive me so easily after what I did to you?”
He kissed the bruise on her forehead. “Do you really have to ask me that?”
She nodded. “Yes. I would hate me. I wrecked your $100,000 car. You are bruised and missing a day of work to babysit me.”
“The car can be replaced and work will always be there.” He stroked her thick puffy braid with his hand. “Do you remember what we talked about in my office before you left?”
“We said a lot of things. What I remember most is you saying we couldn’t be friends anymore.”
“Disregard that. I want to concentrate on what you said.”
She gave a trembling smile. “Right…what did I say again?”
He sat next to her. “I am quoting you. You said I was the first man you’ve come close to falling in love with in ages.”
“You’re cornering me while I’m vulnerable…is that fair?”
“I want to help you through this, Taylor. Besides your family, I want you to feel comfortable coming to me when you need to talk.”
“Again, I ask why? I accused you of being the stalker. You looked for me. You offered those women a safe refuge and gave me a place to sleep.”
“I wasn’t going to slam the door in your face. Taylor, I may be a lot of things, but I’m not selfish.”
“I know that was meant for me; I am selfish. Had I listened to you, I wouldn’t be in this predicament.”
“You are stubborn. I have to ask, when you freed yourself, you came to me instead of calling the police. Why?”
Taylor stood from the table. She had to put space between them. “Okay, maybe that was not my best judgment call. I was scared. I poked his body with my foot. When he didn’t move we took the keys from his pocket. We found the injured women in different rooms of the house. They weren’t in any condition to be moved. I promised to get help and the first person that came to my mind was you. I knew you would get them to safety.”
His conscious and guilt got to him. She was being honest with him, now it was his turn to be honest and reveal everything to her. He took a deep breath and scooted the chair from the table. “Taylor, sit down, please.”
She pushed the sleeves of his shirt she was wearing up to her elbow. He had given it to her to sleep in. Taking a seat, she watched his face grow tense. “Why are you so tense all of a sudden?”
“I know there is a lot of processing going on in your head, but I have something to tell you.”
“What, Mario? Don’t tell me he isn’t dead?”
“No, that guy is toast. It’s about Dillon.”
“What about him?”
“He had a seizure that required him to have surgery. I don’t know his condition because I was looking for you when it happened. Your mom called looking for you and told Sabrina he collapsed.”
Covering her mouth, she sat stunned. “God, I hope he is okay. I have to see him, Mario. I need to apologize to him also.”
“Of course I’ll take you to see him, but there is more.”
“More? What more could there be?”
“The police can’t connect the cameras in your house with the guy that kidnapped you.”
“No they are wrong; it was him. He said he had been watching me. His fingerprints are probably on the cameras. Did you give the evidence to the police?”
“Taylor, listen please. The guy may have broken into your home but he did not put the cameras there. Baby, his size wouldn’t allow that. As far as the other women, they were attacked inside their homes, not on the street like the media led everyone to believe.”
“So I’m still in danger is what you are saying. Who the hell is after me, Mario?”
He shrugged his shoulders. “We don’t know, but it isn’t Dillon. Detective Diego is working on the case. I asked him to personally handle it.”
She hit the table with her fist. “This is just freaking great! I survive one attack to possibly be killed by the original stalker.”
“I will do whatever it takes to keep you safe. I’m not letting you out of my sight anymore until this person is caught.”
She cried. “You can’t guarantee my safety, Mario.”
“Taylor, apparently you trust me or you wouldn’t be here after experiencing such a traumatic event.”
“My trusting you has nothing to do with this. I’m responsible for protecting me.”
Mario narrowed his eyes. “How are you going to do that? Are you planning on doing it alone?”
“I will get a gun and learn to shoot it.”
“Okay, say you do that. One night you’re sitting around the house and someone decides to drop by unannounced. They are knocking on the door; you panic and shoot before thinking. You open the door and realize you just shot an innocent person.”
She folded her arms. “That is farfetched. I can’t stay here forever or hibernate for the rest of my life.”
“No you can’t hide because of an idiot. Taylor, this person hasn’t made contact with you. Detective Diego finds that strange.”
“When we suspected Dillon, he already had contact with me. It was losing me that we suspected would cause him to do me harm
.”
“True.”
“Damn it, I don’t bother anyone. Why is this happening to me?”
“Whoever is obsessed with you is a coward. If it is a man you know, he is too shy to approach you.”
“There is only way to stop it. I have to draw him out of hiding.”
“Taylor, that is too dangerous.”
“I can’t deal with looking over my shoulder every time I go outside. I will drive myself crazy.”
He reached her, holding her arms. “Taylor, We’ll get him without you putting your life on the line. I have my people on the job already.”
“Your people? What people do you have?”
“Taylor, one day I will give you my whole background, right now let me and the police handle this.”
Her eyes captured the sincerity of his eyes and the calmness of his voice. She relaxed her shoulders. “I thought about you. About how much I would miss your laugh, the feel of your arms around me at night when we cuddle in bed. I have been such a fool. I was a damn fool to want to throw you out of my life. It took this, for me to realize how much I love you, Mario.”
He gathered her in his arms. Sore or not, he had to hold onto her, never letting her go. He rubbed his face against the skin of her cheek. “Yo te amo,” he whispered in her ear.
Chapter 22
Kelly’s knee bounced nervously as she sat at Dillon’s bedside. He’d made it through surgery and doctors expected him to recover fully although a slight chance he’d suffered minor memory loss was probable.
The anxiety got the better of her as the tiny hairs on the back of her neck prickled her skin. Rubbing the nape of her neck, she needed to walk it off but didn’t dare leave the ICU. Dillon wasn’t stable enough to be left alone. Until other family came to sit with him, she was stuck.
Kelly’s cell phone vibrated on the aluminum vents covering the air condition unit. Glancing at the screen, her jaw clenched. Her actions had come home to roost. She had to deal with the man hired to take care of Taylor. While Taylor had escaped, and police connected her disappearance to the rash of kidnappings, it did not end her contract with the assassin. He was demanding the balance of the $20,000 payment. She didn’t have $10,000 left in her bank account after giving the initial $10,000 for a job not done. There was money in the account she and Dillon shared. In order to withdraw a large amount of cash from the joint account she needed his signature. In his current condition that was not going to happen. She had until 6:00pm to get the money or kiss her own life goodbye.
Kelly went to his bed fiddling with the blanket. The beeps and dings from the various machines echoed in her ears. She fingered his sleeping face. His eyes had little movement and the harsh wrinkles he’d developed faded. She had not seen him this peaceful since Taylor returned to Cleveland
His head wrapped in a layer of thick white gauze showed no seepage of blood to stain the white bandage. Dillon’s recovery expected to take months if not a full year depending on the loss of motor skills.
Kelly sighed, folding her bottom lip between her teeth. She didn’t have a year to dedicate to retraining him to do the simplest of tasks. Her mission to leave Cleveland took precedence over taking care of him.
She shook her head. Dillon, I do love you, but if you had died, I’d be a rich woman and not have this monkey on my back. Her hand accidentally covered the tubing feeding him oxygen. An alarm went off bringing the ICU nurse in the room.
Kelly jump away from the bed. “I was just talking to him. I didn’t do anything,” she said excited.
The nurse reset the alarm after straightening the IV tubing. “He got his hands tangled in the tubing.”
“So he is okay?”
The young pretty nurse patted her on the shoulder. “Don’t worry, he is doing well. Keep talking to him letting him know you are waiting for him to come to you. If you need anything, buzz me,” the nurse said leaving the room.
She let her finger run along the length of the clear tubing. Her fingers squeezed gently but not with enough strength to sound the alarm. What are you doing! Scolding herself, she raised her hands turning away.
God, am I so desperate I would take his life too?
Chapter 23
Sabrina sprayed a light sheen on Taylor’s freshly washed hair. “Do you like this style?” She asked looking at her sister’s face through the mirror.
Taylor twisted a curl between her fingers and answered dryly, “It’s pretty.
Sabrina massaged Taylor’s shoulders. “Taylor, do you want to talk?”
“I’m all talked out.” She shrugged from under Sabrina’s hands. Walking to the dresser, she put on her earrings.
“I understand. So, how long are you staying with Mario? You can stay with me if you’re not ready to go home.”
“No offense, Sabrina, but it is quieter here. I will go home eventually but for now, I’ll stay with Mario.”
“Have you and Mario come to an understanding regarding your relationship?”
A yearning look crossed Taylor’s face. In the midst of the dark clouds surrounding her, thinking about Mario always brightened her day. “I’m in love with him.”
Sabrina lowered her brow. “Have you told him how you feel.”
“Yes. Sabrina, I have it under control.”
“Do you, Taylor? The last 48 hours have been hell.”
“Tell me something I don’t know.” She replied changing into a quarter-sleeve blue cotton shirt.
Sabrina blew a sharp breath between her lips seeing the dark bruises on Taylor’s body. “Today you want to venture outside to see Dillon and Sebastian. Are you sure you’re ready for that?”
Taylor looked at her reflection in the mirror as she buttoned her blouse. “Most of the bruises are from the car accident, if that is the bases for that question.”
“That’s what I’m talking about, Taylor. You are forcing yourself to be normal. How are you really dealing with it? I would be ready to crawl under a rock.”
To avoid her sister’s questions, Taylor began making the king-sized bed keeping her hands busy. Although she and Mario shared the bed, they had not attempted to make love. Smoothing the wrinkles of the bedspread, she arranged the many pillows on top.
“Taylor, you are evading the question. We are sisters. I know the way you are when you don’t want to talk about something.”
“I have to make myself do it, Sabrina! If I don’t, I will be in a funny farm. None of this is comfortable for me. I cannot sleep at night. I disturb Mario by keeping him awake, but he holds me and comforts me until I fall asleep. I don’t want to be this way.”
“Have you considered counseling?”
“Yes I have. And once I digest what happened to me internally, I will seek help from a professional to deal with what I did to that man.”
“He didn’t give you a choice, Taylor. It came down to your life or him. You did what any normal person would do.”
Taylor narrowed her eyes and tapped her index fingers to her temples. “I know that in my head! I know what I did was right. What I cannot absorb is another person is fighting for his life because of me. That is what I cannot live with, Sabrina. I don’t give a damn about the asshole that died at my feet.”
Throwing cosmetics and hair products in a duffle bag, Sabrina zipped it closed. “Let’s go to the hospital and see Sebastian.”
Her lip twitched. “All right. I’m not so sure he wants to see me though.”
“One way to find out—get your purse.”
“I should let Mario know where I am.”
“Write him a note.”
*****
Mario rounded his desk uncertain how to react. “Are you sure, Detective Diego?”
Detective Diego sat in the chair across from Mario’s desk. He crossed one leg over his knee and tapped his finger against the heel of his shoe. “I’m one-hundred percent positive. Mario, I came to you with the information because Ms. James was not home.”
Mario sat behind his desk. He could not believe
the story the pictures in his hands told. “She is staying with me. Dios, esto la va a matar.”
“I’m sorry. I’m sure you have heard of this before since you’re in the legal field.”
He nodded. “Yup. And one of many reasons I turned to corporate law.” Mario leaned his back against the soft leather chair mirroring Detective Diego’s body pose, only his shoes were made of the finest Italian leather. “When do you plan on making an arrest?”
“We are waiting for the judge to sign an arrest warrant. While we are on the subject, prints from the knife came back from the lab. There were two sets of prints on the knife and two different blood types.”
Mario rubbed his finger on his chin. “And?”
“We verified Ms. James as handling the knife and another unknown source.”
“Could the suspect have tried to remove the knife from his neck?”
“That hasn’t been ruled out. However, we believe the other prints belong to one of the other women.”
“That makes sense. How are they doing?”
“I can’t disclose the condition of those hospitalized but the other women are recuperating nicely.”
“I’m glad to hear that much. Taylor has been worried about them.”
“Um, I know about the crew you have hunting down Ms. James’ stalker. You have to call them off before you get in trouble.”
Mario paused before saying anything. “I have to help her.”
“I know. And the way you are going about is wrong. You have loyal advocates that won’t implicate you, but things have a way of coming back to haunt us. Call them off to be on the safe side; I got this under control.”
Mario sighed and picked up his cell phone and spoke lowly into it after the person answered. “Cancelarlo.” He looked at Detective Diego. “It’s done.”
“I heard. Look, I know that was hard and the only reason I know about your involvement is because we share, how should I say this and be tactful, we share the same informants.”
OBSESSED WITH TAYLOR JAMES Page 23