Unknown: Hey Winter, I know I’m probably the last person you want to talk to, but I just want to make sure you're okay. It’s Connor, BTW.
Oh no, why the hell is he texting me? I don’t want to talk to him. I just ignore it, hoping he won’t text me again. Well, that doesn’t happen.
Unknown: Please don’t ignore me. I know I’m an ass.
I giggle, I change the name to Connor, I don’t get it, I acted like a slut, and I kissed him. He probably thinks I’m a whore. Or he agrees with Maddie and thinks I’m lying about getting raped. Thank God, that was the last message. I go to sleep wondering why he was texting me.
The next morning my phone beeps and I see that Connor doesn’t give up.
Connor: New day, let’s try again. Hey Winter, how are you?”
Again, I ignore it, hoping he leaves me alone. But I do this with a smile on my face. An hour later, my phone beeps again.
Connor: Is Sophia going to hate me forever?
I laugh, she probably will, or she’ll give him a hard time constantly. I carry on with my day, grateful that he texted, but thankful he stopped. Well, that was until six hours later.
Connor: Cats or Dogs? This is a deal breaker.
What in the ever loving fuck? I ignore him again, hoping that this is just a phase of annoying the ever loving shit out of me. But no, he texts me not even thirty minutes later.
Connor: Winter, you do realize that I’m going to continue to text you every day until you reply just so I know that you are okay!
Me: FUCK OFF CONNOR
Connor: Thank god, I’ll text you once a week, I need to know you are okay. If I don’t get a response, I’ll harass you again.
Me: Why? Why are you doing this?
Connor: Because you need to know that you aren’t alone. I may be a prick to some people but you seem alright, plus you’re a great kisser!
Me: Fuck off asshole.
Connor: Talk to you soon Winter.
And he did. Every week until I came home. He was a great friend, and I’m going to miss him like crazy.
~*~
“Damn it. This fucker has taken enough from us. It has to stop. He’s got to be stopped.” Luke says. His phone starts ringing; I see his body sag in relief when he catches the name on the screen. I can’t help but glance at it, I see Morgan’s name flash. Luke stands up and takes the call. I turn to Soph who is also sobbing.
“Soph, hon? Do you want me to call Oscar and tell him?” She turns her teary gaze to me and hands me her phone. She doesn’t say a word. I stand up and walk to the other side of the room. I go through her phone book and find Oscar’s number, I dial it, and he answers on the second ring.
“Hey Soph, they’re letting the guys go now, we’re all coming to the hospital.” I sigh, I’m happy they’re coming but so fucking sad they’re too late for Connor.
“Umm, Oscar? It’s Winter.” I sound so fucking weak.
“What’s happened.” It’s a command, he’s demanding me to tell him.
“Connor was dead on arrival. We haven’t heard anything about Ryder yet.” I rush out.
“Fuck. Okay, we’re on our way, we shouldn’t be longer than fifteen minutes. Keep us updated on Ryder.” He says and doesn’t wait for a response, just hangs up. My body is still bucking with every breath, and my tears are falling silently. I just stare at the phone in my hands and cry harder, when I know that I won’t be getting any more stupid messages from Connor. Like yesterday morning.
~*~
My phone beeps and I look at the screen, I see Connor’s name flash along with the message box. And I wonder what stupidity it will be today. I can’t help the smile that comes across my face.
Connor: Have you ever listened to someone for a while and wondered.
Nothing, he just leaves it like that.
Me: Wondered what?
Connor: Who ties their shoelaces?
I giggle, that has happened on many occasions.
Connor: I found a new phrase that I think Sophia would love to use.
Me: Oh yeah, you do know that you are just giving her more ammo to throw at you.
Connor: Of course, how would I survive otherwise?
A few moments later he texts me what he thinks Soph would love.
Connor: I will slap you so hard even Google won’t be able to find you.
Oh my God, that is so Sophia. These messages started about six months ago, and he sends me them once if not twice a week. It started with him texting me
Connor: Be warned, I’m bored. This could be dangerous.
Off course that made me laugh, and I had to reply.
Me: What are you planning?
Connor: To take over the world. What else is there to plan?
But the best one he sent me that was so Con, was the day I came back to New York.
Connor: You missed me so much you had to move closer to be with me?
Me: Are you crazy? You’re probably one of those crazies that talk to themselves.
Connor: Of course I talk to myself. Sometimes I need expert advice.
~*~
Soph pulls me out of my memory. “I was such a bitch to him, I never gave him a chance.” She says and the tears are free flowing now. That’s my fault, I kissed him. I don’t say anything; I just stare at the phone in my hand. I see shoes in my vision, and I hear Luke talking.
“Morgan said, that David escaped using the fire escape in Sam’s apartment, he fled the scene. They have updated the A.P.B to armed and dangerous. They’ve been told to shoot on sight.” Luke tells me I don’t feel anything. Just numb. He brought this on himself. He killed an innocent man tonight, and it could be another. I know this is all my fault. If I had just told the police that night who it was, none of this would have happened.
We sit in silence; I’m sitting with my feet on the chair and my knees up to my chest. My face is lying on my knee and my arms wrapped around them. This is my go to position when I’m scared or worried, I’ve been in this position a lot over the past four years. “Wints Hon, are you okay?” Sophia asks, and I turn and look at her. Her face is tear stained and blotchy.
“Yeah, I’m okay. The others should be here soon.” She gives me a questioning look but doesn’t say anything. I hear the elevator ding and turn to see the guys are here. Sammy scans the room, and once they land on me, he’s moving quickly. He squats down in front of me.
“I hate seeing you balled up like that.” He puts his arms under my legs and lifts me effortlessly and sits down and places me in his lap, burying his head in my hair. “Fuck Sweets. I’m fucking glad to see you. Damn. Any word on Ryder?” I shake my head and curl up on his lap. I spot Nathan sitting by himself and his eyes are red and tears are flowing unchecked down his face. I look and see Sophia staring at him, she must sense me watching her and turns to face me. My best friend looks scared. I give her a small smile, one that I get in return before she moves towards Nathan. I look at Nathan who spots her moving, he watches her as she walks towards him. I watch as Soph wraps her arms around him as she reaches him. I watch as Nathan crumbles in her arms. My eyes fill with tears. I turn away and place my face into Sammy’s chest. Sammy pulls me closer and kisses the top of my head. I cry silently into his chest. I think back to the day he came to Maui and really showed me who he was.
~*~
I’m on my back deck, in a bikini my headphones in and listening to Ashanti’s Foolish, when a shadow falls over me. I jump up and scream, my heart starts racing, and I scramble back, my headphones are ripped from my ears, and my phone falls to the ground, and I know that it has just smashed. “Oh, shit. I didn’t mean to scare you.” That voice breaks through my fog. I know that voice.
I look up, and he’s smiling at me. “What the hell? Connor, what are you doing here?” He walks up to me and pulls me into a hug, I flinch in his arms. He lets go and walks to the chair on the deck.
“Told you Wints, I needed a break, and I was coming to see you.” The bastard has a smile on his face, I narrow my
eyes at him, and he has the cheek to freaking wink at me.
“Really Con, what are you doing here?” I ask as I pick up my stuff and sit on the chair opposite him.
He sighs. “Maddie’s in town, and she’s ruining my life.”
“Okay, give me two minutes, and we’ll talk.” I wait for him to nod, although I can see the confusion in his eyes. I walk into my room and put on my denim shorts and a tank, I look at my phone in my hands, and I’m right, the screen is cracked. Damn. I walked into the kitchen and get him a soda. I don’t have alcohol in the house, although I used drink as a crutch, I haven’t had one in a few years, I know that I can have a few drinks and be okay. I walk out to the back deck and see that Con is looking out at the sea. He looks dejected. “So what has the bitch done this time?” I hear him laugh and he turns to face me, he actually has a smile on his face.
“I’ve been seeing this woman Hannah, she’s sweet and quiet and perfect. We were at a restaurant, and Maddie saw me and she walked up to me and hugged me. Which was fine. She then went on to say how she can’t wait to see me again and to call her because she misses me, all the while Hannah is sitting there looking like someone just killed her puppy. Then to make it worse, Maddie then says she can’t wait to fuck me again.” Whoa, what in the actual fuck. I look at Con, and I see that this Hannah girl, means something to him.
“Oh Con, finally! I can’t wait to meet her. The woman who finally brought you to your knees.” I’m smiling, I’m so happy for him.
“She broke things off.” He says and looks as though he wants to cry.
“What. Why?” The questions come out quickly, one after the other which make Con smile.
“Maddie!” he growls out.
“What the hell has Maddie got to do with it, you slept with her?” I can’t keep the disgust out of my voice.
“No, I fucking didn’t sleep with her. She made out that I have been fucking her for years. Han believed her, and she told me to stay away from her.” I look at him in disgust. “I told you I didn’t sleep with that bitch,” he growls.
“First of all you are not a dog, there is no need to growl. Secondly, why the hell are you here licking your wounds instead of getting her to understand that Maddie is a bitch?”
“Look, she’s been through some shit in her life, and she has huge trust issues.” He’s so upset over this.
“So do most, if she loves you, she’ll believe you. Have you never heard of love conquers all?” He raises his eyebrow at me, calling me on my bullshit.
“I know; I actually came here for advice.” He looks sheepishly at me, and then he flashes me his killer smile. “Help me Wints, I want her back.” I sigh and look out onto the sea, wishing I had someone like Con, who knew all my baggage and still wanted me.
“You text her everyday Con, tell her how much she means to you, how beautiful she is. She has trust issues, she more than likely is insecure, having Maddie say that, more than likely knocked whatever confidence you gave her. “I pull my legs up and rest my head against my knees. “It’s going to be tough, you’ll be fighting her demons constantly. You need to be ready for that.”
I feel him beside me, and I look down at him, his brown eyes swimming with worry. “I’ll help fight your demons, you know that. We may have had a rough start to this weird relationship that we have, but I want you to know that I love you Wints, you’re the best person, other than Nathan, that I know. You mean the world to me and knowing that you’re hurting, it hurts. But I know how strong you are, you’re fighting, and you never give up. I won’t give up on you. I promise.” I start crying, who knew Con could be so sweet?
~*~
It’s a few hours later when a doctor comes out asking for Ryder Marshall’s family, Soph, Oscar, Sammy and Skye all stand. I didn’t even notice Skye until this moment. Sammy pulls my hand and brings me with him as he meets the doctor.
“Mr. Marshall made it out of surgery; we had to give him a blood transfusion. He’s very lucky; the bullet missed his femoral artery by inches. The next twenty four hours are extremely crucial. He’s going to need a lot of physiotherapies. I know you all want to see him, so I’m going to tell you two at a time for five minutes each. He is in a critical condition.” With that, the doctor leaves. I watch as they all look at each other. Oscar goes first, and I tell Sammy to go with him.
I watch as Sammy walks down the corridor following Oscar. I turn and see Soph has rejoined Nathan, his eyes are red, and pain is in his eyes. I walk over to where Skye is, she’s wrapped her arms around her stomach. It’s a defensive move. “Skye, hon. He’s going to be okay. He made it through the surgery; he’s going to make it through the next twenty four hours.” She looks at me and gives me a small smile.
“This shouldn’t have happened. David should have been arrested before this.” I flinch at her tone and start backing away from her. I look around the room and see nobody heard what she said, Luke, Scott, and Dwayne are speaking in hushed tones, Nathan and Sophia are holding each other. I look back at Skye once I reach the elevator and mouth sorry at her, her eyes widen, and she starts to come toward me, the elevator opens, and I make my escape. I can’t be here, knowing I caused the death of a good man, and another is in the hospital because of me. I make it out of the hospital and hail a cab. I tell him the name of a hotel, and he brings me there. I’m not stupid, I know a hotel is safer for me tonight. I know Sammy’s going to be mad, but I couldn’t be there. I can’t go home, not only did SWAT break into it, but David broke in. I check in and make it to the room. I engage the lock and lay on the bed and send Sammy a text letting him I know I’m safe, then I start sobbing again.
Chapter Thirteen
SAM
I leave Ryder’s room, praying he will be okay. I can’t believe we lost Connor, I know that he wasn’t really part of our team, but he was in a way, he was there for Soph and Winter when things got rough.
I make it into the corridor and hear Soph screaming. “What the fuck did you say to her? She’s gone.” My stomach drops, I walk faster and scan the room. No Winter.
“Where is she? What the fuck happened? I was gone for five minutes!” I say, and I know my voice betrays me. Where the fuck is my control? My mind is racing; I need to find her before that bastard Masters does.
“It was a misunderstanding, Skye said, this shouldn’t have happened, that David should have been arrested before this, she meant that the police should have tried harder in getting him,” Nathan growls out and my heart sinks, I can only imagine what she is feeling right now.
“Keep me updated,” I tell Sophia as I start to walk towards the door, I need to find her before David does.
Sophia nods. “Let me know when you’ve found her. I’m going to keep trying her cell.” I don’t answer; just leave, I have to find her. I pull my cell out of my pocket and see I have a message from Sweets.
Sweets: Sammy, I’m safe. Stay with your team. I’ll see you tomorrow. X
Me: Sweets, please tell me where you are. If not, I’m going to tear the whole of New York apart looking for you.
Sweets: The Talbert. Room 344.
Me: I’ll be there in fifteen minutes. I’ll text you once I’m outside your room. Also, text Soph. She’s worried about you.
Sweets: Ok.
I speed to get to her. Knowing Winter, she’s been feeling guilty since she found out Connor and Ryder were shot. I make it to the hotel in eleven minutes. I park in the lot and make my way into the lobby. I run up the stairs to the third floor. I need to get rid of this pent up anger. I arrive on the third floor and walk down the corridor scanning the room numbers. I arrive at room 344 and text Winter.
Me: I’m outside.
I listen and I can hear her shuffling about then I hear her unlock the door. My pride in her rises, she kept herself as safe as she could. As soon as the door open I see her tear stained face. I walk into the room and close the door behind me locking the door. I pull her into my arms and pull her close to me. It feels so right having her in my
arms. I feel a tremor run through her body, and she starts sobbing. I bend down and lift her up, walk towards the bed with her in my arms and lay her down. I lie beside her and just hold her.
“I’m so, so sorry. I didn’t want any of this to happen. I’m so sorry. I can’t believe Connor died. I didn’t want this to happen.” She sobs out. I want to kill someone. I understand Skye is hurting, but she should have been fucking clearer in what she said. We lay like this until I can hear her breaths have evened out. She’s cried herself to sleep. I get up from the bed and pull out my phone and call Oscar, he answers after the third ring.
“Hey man, how’s Winter?” I sigh.
“She’s asleep, she cried herself to sleep. How’s Ryder?” it’s his turn to sigh.
“Fuck, Skye’s devastated man, she never wanted to hurt Winter. His vitals have slightly improved, which has the doctors very optimistic. Sam I can’t find this fucker anywhere. I have scoured every fucking piece of footage, and he’s disappeared. We can’t see him once he enters your apartment.” Fuck, that is all we need.
“Did the cops find anything in the fucker’s apartment?” He sighs again, which means bad news.
“It was fucking spotless, nothing was left behind. This guy is pissing me off.” He isn’t the only one he’s pissing off.
“How’s Nathan?” We all know what it’s like to lose someone we care about; I’m not comparing him to Caleb because Connor wasn’t a fucking traitor or part of a terrorist organization.
“I don’t know he and Soph left not long after you did. He spoke to Connor’s sister then left.” Connor has a sister?
Deadly Obsession Page 16