“You drugged my brother and you had sex with him that he doesn’t even remember...” Ana shrugged and stood up. “I guess maybe the police might believe that he could easily forget you completely sober...But since I do have what you just said on tape, I doubt it.”
Kim looked desperate and Ana anticipated what was coming before Kim even flinched. Kim dove at Ana like a wildcat. Ana stepped to the side and let her fall to the floor. She started towards the door as Kim was pulling herself up and over her shoulder she said, “If you touch me, you’ll just be adding assault and battery to your charges.”
“You can’t do this! Ana please! I was afraid for my life!”
“You can tell that to the detectives when they show up,” Ana told her. “If I were you, I’d spend my time looking for a good lawyer at this point.”
Kim picked up a glass pitcher of water. Ana stepped out and closed the door just in time to hear the pitcher shatter against it. She smiled as she stepped onto the elevator. She had them both.
Chapter 8
“You need to get home,” Steve was in the middle of a meeting when his phone rang. When he saw it was Ana, he didn’t answer it. She could wait. He went on with his meeting. He was trying to secure a lucrative contract with a company that makes carburetors. They wanted the company to make a special carburetor for their cars and then they wanted a patent on the design so no other racing companies can have the same. Steve was making headway when the phone rang. Ana could wait.
“I apologize for that,” he told the two men he was talking to about the buzzing phone. As soon as he silenced it, it began to buzz again. Shit! What the fuck is her problem? He silenced it again. Not two minutes later, the secretary of the CEO he was meeting with stuck her head in the room and said,
“I’m so sorry to interrupt sir, but there’s a call for you Mr. McAllister. It’s your sister and she offers her apologies but she says it’s an emergency.”
Steve suddenly felt like he couldn’t breathe. It had to be about Angela. She hadn’t been feeling well and he’d left her there with Thomas! He jumped up out of his chair and all but ran into the outer office. He picked up the blinking line and said, “Ana? What’s wrong? Is Angela okay?”
“You need to come home...now.”
“Do not make me fly for four hours without knowing what’s going on! What the hell is going on?”
Ana gave her brother an abbreviated version of the events of the past few days. With each word she spoke it got harder for Steve to breathe. Besides the panic he was feeling an overwhelming sense of rage like nothing he’d ever felt before. Thomas was going to wish he’d never met him...No; he was going to wish he’d never met Angela. “I’ll be there soon,” he told Ana. “Where is Angela?”
“As far as I know she should be coming into work any minute now. Joanne is shadowing her and keeping me updated. From what she says, the creep gave her a hard time last night, but they got out of there safely and she and Angela spent the night at Angela’s new place.”
“So, she’s safe. That’s for sure?”
“For now.”
“Make sure it stays that way. I’m going to see her “friend.”
“Steve, he’s a fucking psycho path. I’m going to call our security team and have them meet you...”
“No! That will just scare him off. I want to talk to this son of a bitch one on one.”
“What should I do with the evidence I have against Kim?”
“I can’t think about that right now. I have to deal with this bastard first. We’ll deal with that one later.” He hung up and without even telling the men he was meeting with that he was leaving, he headed for the airport. The four hour flight turned out to be the most agonizing four hours of his life. He tried to call Angela four times...she wouldn’t answer. He tried calling Joanne, she didn’t answer either. He called Ana back then and got Joanne’s number at work. He called her office and he suddenly felt like he needed to vomit. Her assistant told him that she was out for the day. She was tight-lipped with the details. Frustrated and ready to throttle someone he hung up and called his sister back. He was yelling at this point, telling her to find out where Joanne was...Twenty excruciating minutes later she called back...
“Steve, she’s in the hospital.”
“What? What’s wrong with her?”
“After she walked to work with Angela, she was apparently on her way to her own job when she was jumped and pulled into an alley and beaten. She’s bad off, he left her for dead.”
“Fuck! Does Angela know?”
“I don’t know. She’s not answering her phone. I’m on my way back to the agency now to make sure she’s still okay.”
“Call me as soon as you get there. Put security on her...now!”
“I will. Steve...please be careful.” He didn’t answer. He hung up and stumbled to the bathroom to relieve his stomach of what was left of his lunch.
Ten minutes before the plane was scheduled to land he called the advertising agency and asked for Thomas. Thomas’s voice was friendly and professional as he said,
“Good morning, this is Thomas...”
“You son of a bitch!”
There was a hesitation and then in a very different voice, a deep and frightening one that said, “Steve, I’m so glad you called. You and I need to get together and talk.”
“You’re damned right we do. I’m landing in five minutes. Meet me at your loft fifteen minutes after that. Don’t make me come looking for you.”
Thomas laughed. He sounded like a lunatic. “Oh, I won’t. You have no idea how long I’ve anticipated this conversation.” Steve’s hands were shaking when he hung up. He’d never felt this kind of rage before and he didn’t know what to do with it. He was almost afraid of what he might do to Thomas when he saw him...almost.
*****
Thomas walked into Kimberly’s office in spite of the closed door. She was sitting at her desk, staring out the window. When she looked up at Thomas, there was pure hatred in her eyes. “You ruined me.”
He looked at her like she was crazy. “I don’t have time for your dramatics, Kim. I’m taking off for the rest of the day.”
“Don’t bother coming back,” she said, arrogantly. “Steve and Ana know everything. They’re going to pull their contracts and maybe even turn me into the police. If they do, I’m not going down alone. This was all your idea.”
Thomas smiled at her. As soon as he did, he saw the fear in her eyes. It was the first time she’d looked afraid of him...and he liked it. He leaned across the desk so his face was nearly touching hers and he said, “Don’t you dare threaten me, Kim. I promise you that you will regret it...every time. Now that we’ve cleared that up, I’m leaving for the day. If I want to come back tomorrow, I will. You may own this company, but guess what? I own you now. I can crush you...in more ways than one. If you get arrested, just remember this...My hands are clean of all of this. What you chose to do to Steve that night...that was all you. You can say we discussed it or that you got the drugs from me...but guess what, pretty Kim? I’ll deny everything and I’ll tell them how obsessed you were with poor Steve and I’ll give interviews to every paper and news outlet in this city about your...extra-curricular activities. You’re nothing but a cheap whore, like all the rest of them and I will use your indiscretions to ruin you...if you’re not already behind bars. You don’t want to fuck with me.”
He could tell by her face that she was scared to death now. He liked that...she looked almost as scared as that smug bitch Joanne had been when he’d pulled her into that alley. He felt a surge of anger when he thought about that. He hadn’t planned on leaving her alive. She was going to talk as soon as she woke up...if she could...and she was going to point the finger at him. They’d been interrupted by some fucking old man walking his dog. If Thomas would have had his gun, the old man would have been dead too. That was okay though. He’d go with plan B. He had plenty of money saved up to take Angela far away from this fucking rat hole of a city. It would just be him and her
then...and she would finally understand and appreciate everything he’d gone through for her. At least, she better.
He left Kimberly at her desk, likely feeling like her life was over, and he went to meet Steve. He thought about stopping by Angela’s office...but he would catch up with her later. Right now, he needed to deal with her boyfriend...he had a tire iron with Steve’s name all over it.
Chapter 9
Angela looked at her phone. There were four missed calls from Steve and two from Ana. She wasn’t in the mood to talk to either of them. She was surprised that Joanne hadn’t called or shown up again. It was lunch time. She hadn’t missed a lunch time in almost two weeks. She tried calling her, but the phone went straight to voice mail. That didn’t worry her so much until it was twelve-fifteen and she still hadn’t heard from her.
She wandered out to Marg’s desk and said, “Hey Marg, you haven’t heard from Jo, have you?” As soon as the words were out of her mouth, the elevator dinged and Ana stepped off.
“No, I haven’t heard from her,” Marg said. Ana looked solemn as she said,
“Angela, can I talk to you in your office?”
With a heavy sigh, Angela agreed. As soon as they were in the office with the door closed Ana said, “Jo is in the hospital.”
“What? What happened?” Angela felt that crushing pain in her chest again. It was a pain that was becoming all too familiar.
“She was attacked and beaten on her way to work. She’s in pretty bad shape.”
“Oh God! Who...Thomas?”
Ana shrugged. “She hasn’t woken up yet, so we don’t know.”
Angela grabbed her purse and said, “I need to see her.”
“Wait!” Ana put her hand on Angela’s arm and said, “Steve knows everything. He’s on his way to meet with Thomas. He had me put a security detail on you.”
“What? I asked you not to tell him! You put him in danger!”
“Steve can handle himself...”
“You don’t understand. You haven’t seen the hate that’s in Thomas’s eyes every time Steve’s name is even mentioned. The security detail should be watching him, not me! Where is Joanne?”
“At Presbyterian, in ICU,” she said.
Angela pushed past Ana and Ana said,
“Where are you going?”
“To see my friend.”
She stormed out, not so much angry with Ana as she was at the inability lately to control her own life. She was sick of everyone else constantly telling her what was best for her. This was her life! Her fucked up life. She wanted it back...and she was going to get it back, today.
She saw the security detail as soon as she walked out onto the street. There was nothing the least bit subtle about them. She walked straight up to one of them and said, “I’m going to the hospital to see my friend. It’s just up the street. You’re welcome to follow me.”
She turned towards the hospital and began walking quickly. She couldn’t see or hear the men following her, but she felt them. When she got to the hospital, they got on the elevator with her. They rode it up to ICU with her, but they had the decency to hang back while she went up and talked to the nurse. Angela hated hospitals...this one in particular. Right after Blake was diagnosed, they’d been on vacation in L.A., visiting Thomas. Angela had wanted to cancel the whole thing, but Blake had insisted he wasn’t going to stop living his life. When they were there, he’d gotten sick...so sick he couldn’t eat and was having horrible pains in his stomach. She took him to the ER in this hospital. He’d spent three days in ICU. It was their last vacation and it was a horrible experience. But...in the three days she’d spent there she had learned a lot about the hospital. Most importantly that the ICU had a stairwell that led down the backside of the old hospital and opened into a patio where the families of the patients sat and took a breather or had their meals. She told the nurse at the counter that Joanne was her sister. The woman looked sympathetic and told her that Joanne had multiple broken bones and contusions. She had a concussion and they believed that was what the loss of consciousness was about. They had her heavily sedated and on pain medication as well. There was a very good chance she would recover, but at the moment, they had to just take a wait and see.
“Can I see her?”
“Yes, one family member at a time,” the woman said, looking over at the two men.
“That’s fine. They’re my drivers,” she said.
The nurse gave her a strange look but said, “She’s in 101, you can go on back.”
Angela thanked her and went back over to the two men and said, “Have a seat, I’m going to see her. Only family are allowed back there so you’ll have to wait here.” They didn’t look like they liked the idea, but they sat down.
Angela went back. The sounds of the beeping and the machines forcing air into the lungs of the sick and wounded nauseated her. It brought back too many unpleasant memories. She shook that off. She couldn’t help Blake. She couldn’t go after the bastard Cancer that took him. She was damned sure going to help Joanne though. The bastard that did this to her was going to pay.
She stopped at 101 and looked inside the glass walls. Joanne’s face was so beaten and swollen that it was barely recognizable. She slid the door open and went in. She was shaking with rage as she bent forward and kissed Joanne on the only spot on her face that wasn’t bruised. “I love you so much. If it takes the rest of my life, I’m going to make this up to you. You better hurry and wake up. I heard that cowboy say he’d be back in town this weekend. Wake up girl. I love you.” She had tears in her eyes. Joanne didn’t flinch. She kissed her again and said, “I will be back as soon as I can. I’m going to fix this.” She left then, out the back door and down the stairs. She’d be long gone before the men in black noticed.
*****
Thomas stood next to the elevator across from the loft with the tire iron inside the sleeve of his jacket. He was thankful he lived at the top of the building on a floor where his loft was the only unit. He heard the elevator approaching and he took a deep breath as he slid the tire iron out of his sleeve. He was holding it in both hands when the elevator doors slid open. Steve never saw the first blow coming. It caught him on the side of the head and he stumbled backwards. Thomas pressed the stop button on the elevator as he stepped inside. Steve was stunned and confused, but not unconscious. He was trying to get up when Thomas delivered the second blow to the back of his head. That one knocked him out cold. He was tempted to hit him again...but he wanted him alive. He grabbed him by the back of the coat and dragged him out of the elevator. He looked down at the polished marble floors and saw the trail of blood.
“Fuck,” he said, taking off his jacket. He left Steve bleeding in the hall while he wiped up the blood with his jacket. He got most of it and pressed the down button on the elevator before turning back around. Steve was moving and groaning again. “Mother fucker. Am I going to have to kill you to keep you down?” He raised the bar again and brought it down hard. That one should keep him down for a while. He opened the door to the loft and dragged him inside. Then he went back out in the hallway and cleaned up the rest of the blood.
Once he was inside the loft he went and got a chair from the kitchen. He struggled until he got Steve up on the chair. He held him to it with one hand while he pulled the masking tape out of his pocket. He attached one end of the sticky tape to the chair and began to wrap it around Steve’s arms and chest. He wrapped it around and around...probably twenty times, before he was satisfied that Steve wouldn’t be able to get out of it. Then he tipped the chair back and once again he struggled with the dead weight until he got the chair and Steve into the kitchen. He closed the kitchen door and went into his bedroom where he stripped off his clothes and changed into a t-shirt and pair of jeans. He slipped on his tennis shoes then and left the room...leaving the door unlocked for the first time in over a week...and he went to get his girl. He wanted Angela here for the grand finale and then they could go and start their new life...together.
The cab Angela was riding in drove up to the curb in front of the loft in time for her to see Thomas driving away. She couldn’t tell how many people were in the SUV. She paid the driver and ran across the street and bypassing the slow old elevator, she ran up the stairs. Thomas might not be gone long, but before he got back, she was going to find out what he was hiding in that room. She still had a key to the front door. She let herself in and went straight to Thomas’s room. She was ecstatic when she saw that he’d left the door open. She went straight to the closet and pulled the cord for the attic. She took a deep breath before climbing up into the room. As soon as she was up inside, that weight on her chest became crushing. She was literally struggling for breath as she stood frozen to the spot and looked at the wall in front of her. It was papered with photos of her...some of them were her and Blake...only it wasn’t Blake. Thomas had cut out Blake’s face in all of the photos and inserted his own. There were also pictures of Joanne...lewd, vulgar things had been done to the area of her genitals and breasts. Her eyes were scratched out. The pictures of Steve were just as frightening. A red sharpie had been used to draw a line across his neck that looked like blood and his eyes hadn’t been scratched out, they’d been completely obliterated. Angela had to swallow the bile and acid that were suddenly filling her throat.
She turned and looked to the right. There was a desk there with candles all over it...and a picture of a bride. It was cut out of a magazine and Angela’s face was pasted over the models. A man in a suit stood next to her...with Thomas’s face. Angela was gasping for breath and shaking, trying to get her anxiety under control as she turned again and saw pictures of herself that almost made her toss her cookies for sure. They were photographs of her...naked in her own bed. Thomas was in some of them, doing things to her. She was wheezing as she tried to get her breath. Her hand suddenly went to her belly and she looked up to say a prayer. When she did, she saw a shelf above her head. On the shelf was a leather bound book and a shoe box. She pushed the chair that sat in front of the desk over and stood on it, grabbing the book and the shoe box down off the shelf. She had to get out of this room before she hyper-ventilated.
Deceived - The Complete Series Page 26