Save Me, Sweetheart

by Tia Wylder

  The man flung himself out of her grasp and took off towards the exit. She chased after him but the crowd seemed to close in around him, creating more space between them. By the time she made it outside, he was gone.

  Crystal hurried back to Mark. He was sitting by the bar, throwing back a drink. He smiled brightly when he saw her. “Ah! You’re here!”

  “Who was that?” she asked him.

  “Who do you think?” Mark slurred. “Another one of those little henchmen that keeps trying to scare me, that’s who. I won’t fall for it this time.”

  “You’re drunk. Come on, let’s get you out of here.”

  Surprisingly, he didn’t say anything. He let her lead him, leaning his body heavily on hers as she helped him to the car.

  “That was fun, Crystal. You like clubs? I have to ask because I’m starting to think you’re not how I thought you’d be.”

  “I don’t like clubs,” she answered him as they made their way back home. Back to his place, she corrected herself. His penthouse. “Too loud. Too many people.”

  “Amusement parks are the same though,” he pointed out.

  “Except those don’t have loud, stupid music and alcohol as their form of entertainment.”

  “Psh! Such a buzzkill.” He waved her away. “I love clubbing. How did you even know how to find me?”

  “Jen.”

  “Ah, Jen. Of course she would know I was there. I haven’t been in a while you know. It’s been a long while. Not since I met you. Not since everything that happened.”

  Crystal didn’t say anything to that. She wasn’t even sure what he meant.

  Mark murmured a few other things under his breath but was silent for the most part on the way back. He stood to the back of the elevator, after refusing her help and stumbling into the corner, his eyes intent on hers. Crystal let him go through first, watching him, waiting to see if he would fall. He did. She caught him under the arm and steered him towards the couch.

  “Crystal, come,” he beckoned to her, waving a lazy hand. “Come sit with me.”

  She turned to walk away but before she could take a step, he grabbed her hand and pulled her into him. Mark wrapped an arm around her, keeping her trapped. Not that she was very eager to get out.

  “You want to know why I left, don’t you?”

  She shook her head. “You wanted to get away from me, didn’t you?”

  “I did,” he confirmed and that hurt a bit. “You were driving me insane.” Mark looked her in the eye. “I care. I care a lot. Too much. It’s making me crazy how much I care about what I might have done to upset you.” He nestled himself into the couch, closing his eyes. “In all my life, Crystal, I’ve never felt safer.”

  Chapter 9

  He was done.

  Mark told himself that the moment he woke up this morning. Crystal, as it had been for a while now, was his first thought when he woke up—when did that happen?—and he instantly wondered if she was standing outside his door like she always was. He didn’t care anymore, he told himself. She didn’t care about him, so he wouldn’t care about her. He was done.

  “Good morning, Crystal,” he said when he left his room, dressed for the day ahead. He had a meeting with his father in his home office, the bearer of what he hoped was great news. If he was right, it meant he might have found the answer to their spy problem.

  “Good morning, Mark,” she said, turning to him. She smiled. Mark blinked at her. When last had seen her do something like that. “Heading into the office today?”

  “No,” he told her, suspicion creeping into his voice. She was smiling. Why? What caused the sudden change? God, this woman was confusing the hell out of him. “I have a meeting to go to, though.”

  “Alright.” She twirled, heading to the door. “Where?”

  “My parent’s house.”

  “Let’s go then.”

  Curious and a bit annoyed, Mark trailed after her. He drove and though she was silent in the passenger seat, she looked like she was in a good mood. He found himself glancing at her, wondering what she was thinking. He told himself he was done which meant he had to stop thinking about her. Stop caring. Stop wondering. Move on.

  Crystal kept close to him as they walked towards the entrance of the family mansion, her eyes glazing over the surroundings with interest sparking their warm hue. Silent still, but here. Active. He didn’t feel so disconnected from her as he did yesterday and the sudden change was throwing him off. He couldn’t even focus on what he was here to do.

  “Hi, honey!” Juleene, Mark’s mother, greeted when she opened the door. She was in one of her gorgeous dresses, flowing under a wind Mark couldn’t feel. She reached forward and kissed him on the cheek before noticing Crystal on the other side of him. “Oh? Who’s this?”

  “Crystal,” Crystal answered before Mark could say anything. “Your son’s bodyguard.”

  “Bodyguard?” Juleene gasped. She grasped her son’s hand, frightened eyes widening at him before she let out a breath. “Oh, right. Your father told me what was happening. He’s in the study, waiting for you.”

  “Thanks, Mom.” He felt awkward all of a sudden, wanting to introduce Crystal properly but also not wanting to focus too much on her right now.

  “Crystal, honey.” The truest hostess that she was, Juleene linked her arms with Crystal and began steering her away. “I was just about to make some brownies. Why don’t we help me while they talk?”

  “I should stay close to Mark, Mrs. Gooden.”

  “What’s going to happen in our own house? It’ll be fine.” Mark knew there was no saying no to his mother and for once he was grateful for it. Crystal away from him might help him think straight. “Come, come,” Juleene went on. “I was thinking of adding nuts. What do you think? Or should I add some chocolate chips?”

  Crystal said something he couldn’t hear as they walked away and Juleene chuckled. He stared after them.

  Was it a good idea to leave her with his mother. Juleene was the type of person who could get along with anyone but Crystal wasn’t just anyone. How would they fare?

  He didn’t care, he told himself, turning in the direction of his father’s study. He shouldn’t and he didn’t. Crystal didn’t, so why should he?

  “Dad?” Mark knocked once and entered. His father was working behind the desk and looked up when he entered.

  “Ah, you’re here. Let’s get to it then, shall we?”

  Business first, as usual. Mark didn’t mind.

  He got straight to the point. “I think I know who it might be.”

  “Pray tell, son.”

  “Handerson Mining,” he said, naming one of the rising companies that had managed to make the old-time companies like Gooden’s Bauxite Corporation take a second look. They weren’t a threat yet … not until now. “There was a man who accosted me in my office, threatening me to stop looking for the spy. He was wearing a mask at the time but I thought that maybe he wasn’t when he entered the building. I got lucky.”

  Matthew caught on quickly, a smile of pride spreading across his face. “You ran his image.”

  “I did. Took me a while. It seems not everyone is fascinated by money but I finally got ahold of someone who could run his image through a database and I got a name to match the face. Nigel Jameson. Unemployed. In and out of jail for the past fifteen years for things like aggravated assault and armed robbery. He got out last year.”

  Mark handed his father a folder filled with Jameson’s information. As Matthew flipped through it, he asked, “How did you link him to Handerson Mining?”

  “His bank information. He received a hefty deposit a few days before he broke into my office, then the same amount a day after. The account that sent the money was linked to one a guy named Bernard.”

  “Their COO?”

  “The one and the same. It has to be them.”

  “Well, I’ll be damned.” Matthew sounded very impressed, a rare sight to see. “This is some good research, son. You actually figu
red it out.”

  “I care a lot about this company, Dad. I don’t want anything to harm it.”

  Matthew nodded. He knew the feeling as much as anyone else. “I heard you got a bodyguard.”

  “From?”

  “Jennifer told me. She was worried.”

  “She shouldn’t be. Crystal knows what she’s doing.”

  “I have no doubt,” Matthew said with a shrug. “Is she here?”

  “She’s in the kitchen with mother.”

  “Well, let’s go then.”

  Mark rose with his father, frowning. “Go where?”

  “I’m going to say hello to the woman who’s been keeping my son safe all this time.” He moved swiftly to the door, looking back at his on. “Are you coming?”

  Mark was in a daze on his way to the kitchen. His father was acting oddly and he was nervous. What would he walked into the kitchen to see? Crystal and his mother on opposite sides of the room staring each other down. Would they be arguing? Would it be tense and awkward?

  Instead, he walked in to find them laughing. Crystal was sampling the brownie batter and her smiling eyes fell on Mark as soon as he walked in.

  “Come taste it!” she said eagerly, holding out the bowl. Juleene had another which she was pouring into a pan. Crystal held out the bowl she had but then she noticed Matthew and she sobered up a bit. “Hello, Mr. Gooden.”

  “You must be Crystal.” Matthew held out his hand and she took it. “My son’s bodyguard, right?”

  “Right. Did your meeting go well?”

  “Better than I thought it would. I heard you helped him when that man broke into his office.”

  “I should have been there to stop it but I did what I could to diffuse the situation. It was what I was trained for.”

  “I can always respect a woman who knows how to take care of herself.”

  “Are you trying to say something, Matthew?” Juleene jumped in, cocking her head to the side.

  Matthew mimicked her. “Now why would you think that?”

  To Mark’s surprise, Crystal laughed. “If you want Mr. Gooden, I could teach you a few things. I’ve been teaching Mark some self defense and I think he’s learned a lot.”

  “If you go ahead and do that then Matthew’s going to take to trying to flip me over in the hallways,” Juleene commented, which made Crystal laugh again.

  No one noticed him standing on the outskirts watching them talk. They didn’t notice the way he watched them, noticing how they smiled a bit more when Crystal said something and how easily she made them laugh. They didn’t realize how odd he felt seeing that other side of her come out, the one he had seen at the amusement park, when just yesterday she had been as cold as a block of ice. He saw his parents taking a strange liking to her.

  “We have to go now,” he butt in. They all looked at him. “Dad, I think I have a way of catching this guy but I have to figure out some details first.”

  “But do you have to leave so soon?”

  Mark looked at his mother. “I didn’t plan to stay long anyway. I’m sorry,” he said, pecking her on the cheek. “I’ll be back within the week.”

  “Don’t make promises you can’t keep,” she said softly, patting him on the back. Mark nodded at Crystal and they began making their way out. Juleene and Matthew followed them all the way.

  “Don’t be a stranger now, Crystal,” Juleene said, waving to her as they got into the car. Crystal waved back, smiling widely.

  But the moment they were alone, backing out of the driveway, Mark showered a bucket of cold water all over her. “I don’t need your services anymore.”

  “Huh?”

  “As my bodyguard. I have a plan to take down this guy so your services are no longer necessary.”

  “Where is this coming from?”

  “What do you mean? I hired you because I thought I was in danger. I don’t think I’ll be in danger anymore so it’s time for you to go.”

  “But what about what you said?”

  Mark frowned, looking at her. “What did I say?”

  “Last night. You—”

  “Last night I was drunk. I say stupid things. I don’t even remember half my night.”

  He saw out the corner of his eye when she deflated, her shoulders sagging. “Alright,” was all she said and that was it.

  Quietude for the rest of the trip. No words as they made their way up to the penthouse. No goodbyes when she gathered her things and left.

  Mark felt the emptiness as soon as she was gone. In the flat and in his heart. He knew what he felt for her now but he also knew the pain of heartbreak. That wasn’t something he was willing to go through again. Unrequited love was an experience he was fine with having only once. He would be fine, he told himself. Despite the regret he was already feeling, he would be fine. A few drinks in, maybe hitting a club or two, Mark would be right back to normal.

  **

  Crystal cried. She hated herself for it, because she was the sort of person who could confidently say that she had only cried five times since she was a child. Four deaths and once when a barrel had landed so hard on her foot, tears of pain had seeped out the side of her eyes. She had never cried over a man before and she honestly believed she never would. Things changed since she met Mark.

  Jane was there to comfort her, holding her while she sniffled into her shirt. It only lasted a few minutes, though it felt like forever to Crystal, but throughout it all, Jane was her support. Cursing Mark vehemently for hurting her friend, telling her that everything would be fine and that she would get over it. It was his loss, not hers. She shouldn’t be bothered by the mixed signals he was throwing around. She did what she had to do and now it was her time to go.

  Crystal told herself that over and over but it didn’t settle well with her. She wanted him and after last night, she had believed, once again, that he wanted her too. He said things that made her think she was wrong, that maybe he really did have feelings for her, Jen or no Jen. What could she say now that he gave her the iron boot? If he had feelings for her, he wouldn’t have done that.

  Crystal was done obsessing about it. The few minutes of tears was all she would allow herself. It was all she would let herself do over Mark Gooden, the first man she fell in love with. He was a tall glass of confusing words that bred uncertainty in her. Crystal shouldn’t be dealing with that. She wouldn’t.

  This was for the best, she told herself.

  Chapter 10

  A week passed. Mark buried himself in work and when he grew tired of that, drowned himself in liquor. He drank way too frequently, woke up with too many hangovers and nothing helped. Crystal still haunted his every move.

  But the need to forget her fueled his work, helping him to sort through the plan he had to get rid of this damn spy before more harm was done much further. He had most of the details, most of it worked out. If Crystal were here, she would have said something she didn’t notice would help immensely. She did that often. A random word or thought that made things much clearer for him. Another reason he was missing her so desperately.

  He worked from home more often, rarely ever going to the headquarters. He was so close to catching this guy that he could nearly feel him on his fingertips — or better yet, feel his neck inside his hand. And as each day went by, excitement mounted in him, eager to pull this feat off. But then he got a message.

  An email he shouldn’t have opened. He read it lazily, about to click out when he realized what it was saying.

  Drop the investigation or someone dear to you will get hurt.

  No name, no e-signature, nothing. But he knew exactly who it was from. Fear seeped into his skin, making him sweat all of a sudden.

  Crystal.

  Someone dear to him. Could that really mean Crystal? Was she a target now? The person had been watching him all this time, wasn’t he? He must have seen them together. He must have seen how close they’ve grown. The very thought of Crystal being caught in the mess he brought her in made his palms clam
my and Mark shot out of his seat. He knew it’s been a while since he said anything to her but he didn’t care. He had to at least make sure she was alive.

  He had his phone in his hand, ready to dial, when he realized he didn’t have her number. Nor did he know where she lived. He knew next to nothing about her.

  His frustration mounted just as another email came in. Your actions have consequences.

  Mark rushed out of the penthouse.

  **

  Jane looked groggy and half asleep when she opened the door of her apartment, annoyance in her eyes. “What?” she demanded.

  “You know where Crystal lives, don’t you?”

  “Oh, no you don’t. You’re not seeing her. I told you what would happen if you hurt her.”

  “I have to see her,” he said urgently. “She might be in danger.” Jane frowned. Antsy, Mark pulled out his phone and showed her the emails. “They might be going after her,” he explained.

  “Oh, God.” Hand over her mouth in shock, she told him her address. “You think they really might go after her?”

  At this point, Mark was already so terrified at the possibility that he didn’t care to think he might be wrong. “Let’s hope she’s home,” he said to Jane, then he was rushing away again.

  **

  When he arrived at her apartment, her door was slightly ajar. It took no specialist to see that the door had been busted open and he rushed inside, hoping there might be some other explanation for it.

  “Crystal?”

  No response.

  “Crystal!”

  Nothing.

  Mark raced through the apartment. Any other time, he would have taken in his surroundings, noting how the mysterious Crystal Fey lived, but he barely saw anything save for the fact that it was unoccupied. With the busted door and the fact that she wasn’t here, Mark was convinced something happened.

  He called the police immediately. His name held weight there and so they were there within minutes, walking in to see Mark anxiously pacing the living room. He detailed everything he knew to them.