Obsession: The Hollow Universe

by Shayne McClendon

  The fool continued to narrate. “I come so hard when I think of you. Soon, I’ll be able to come inside you, all over you. I can’t wait. No one can touch what’s mine. That would make me so angry. I never loved a woman before you. The rest of them are whores. Not you, not you. I love you, Ellie.”

  Unable to stand another second, I threw up in the trashcan by the door. Four hands held my hair back, handed me a glass of water, held a cool towel against the nape of my neck.

  Jordan and Jonas massaged my shoulders and whispered soothing words that eventually calmed me.

  I stayed over the trashcan until I knew I had nothing left. “Sorry about the gross in your space, Padme.”

  “Girl, please,” she whispered.

  When I knew I could speak, I drank more water and straightened. With certainty, I whispered, “Tom was right. It’s Adam. I’m sure of it.”

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  The Hydes held me tightly. “How do you know, Ellie?”

  “He said he touched me before. H-he’s seen me, touched me, during exams. He was always trying to touch me. No matter how violently I reacted. I imagine he’s behind the massage therapist trying to get photos of me.”

  Clenching my fist against my thigh, I hissed, “It’s him, I’m telling you. I wasn’t looking at his equipment. The sicko can’t make me do that. There’s a skin tag on his upper right thigh that’s almost clear.”

  Padme typed furiously in the background and gave a hiss of triumph. “Good spot, Ellie! We’ll use it for definite identification once we take him the fuck out.”

  Tom nodded beside her without looking away from the screen or slowing in his typing.

  Jordan called Theresa on speaker while Jonas held me tightly to his side. “Hey, Theresa. Hyde. Can you confirm if Adam Schafer ever showed up to your new location?”

  “Hold a sec. It’s been so busy here. I forgot about him, to be honest.” The sound was muffled as she questioned a few people. She came back a minute later. “He never showed. My original assistant came back to work and I didn’t miss him.”

  “I doubt you’ll hear from him but if you do, call us. We believe he’s stalking Ellie.”

  “Oh, shit. He did seem too fixated on her but I thought it was an innocent crush. I’m sorry. Keep me posted.”

  “Thank you, Theresa.”

  Jordan disconnected and Jonas said to the room, “We need his fucking location. I want him in three hours.”

  Tom responded, “Yes, sir.”

  “Wait. Wait a second.” I pulled my phone from the pocket of my dress. “I have his phone number. He made me take it, remember? It’s our best chance. Trace it.”

  Taking a deep breath, I scrolled to it and dialed before my team could object. I placed the call on speaker.

  Adam answered after a few rings.

  Jordan took a small recording device from Padme and held it to the phone as my tech people typed furiously.

  “Hello?”

  “Hi, Adam. It’s Ellie Fields.”

  “Ellie! Wow, it’s so good to hear your voice.” He made my skin crawl but I was seeing this through until the end. “I can’t believe it’s only been a few weeks since I saw you. It feels like a year. Does it feel that way for you?”

  Closing my eyes, I replied brightly, “I’ve been too busy to call before now. How are you?”

  His resentment came through clearly. “Everyone wants too much of your time, Ellie. Katie, your security people, even your parents. You need boundaries and I’d make sure you had them. You don’t need to cater to all of them.”

  “That’s nice of you but I’m alright. Maybe spreading myself too thin sometimes. I should take a vacation but I don’t think that would go over very well. Everyone would worry.”

  Adam gave a sharp bark of laughter. “You’re one of the richest women in the world, you can do whatever you want. A vacation would be good for you.”

  There was a long pause. “I liked you from the moment I met you, Ellie. I knew you liked me, too. It was an honor being able to care for you.”

  Swallowing my bile, I managed, “Th-thank you, Adam.”

  “You did, didn’t you? Like me from the start?” There was a sickening pleading tone in his words.

  Glancing at the monitor and recalling his video, I barely managed to reply, “Sure, I did. Y-you were a great…comfort to me.”

  Padme signaled the rest of the team to gather around her.

  “Do you mean that, Ellie?”

  “Yeah.” I needed to keep him talking. “I was, uh, sad to see you and Theresa go.”

  “Theresa shouldn’t have left you so soon! She should have made you her full-time concern.”

  “She had a life and a career, Adam. She took a long time away from her family for me and I was grateful.” I paused a moment before adding, “I bet I took you away from your life, too. I’m sorry about that.”

  “I’d give up everything to devote myself to your care, Ellie. No one would take care of you like I would. Those bodyguards are no good for you. I saw how you looked at them, how they looked at you. You can do so much better.”

  “The Hydes have taken care of me for years. They’re as close to me as family. I can’t imagine life without them.”

  “Family? They want you, Ellie. Come on! They’re not like your brothers or anything.”

  I smiled at Jonas. “No, they’re definitely not.”

  “You’re not seeing past their tough guy exterior. Guys like that aren’t what you need. I don’t know why your parents don’t replace them.”

  “They’re the best at what they do, Adam.”

  “They smother you! I can see what you really need. You’re lonely and I’d make it my life’s work to make sure you were never alone again, Ellie.”

  “I’m not lonely. I have my parents. My team is like family and I love them. No one smothers me.” I gripped the phone with white knuckles, goading him. “I have my sweet little girl.”

  “You shouldn’t have had Katie, Ellie!” He yelled into the phone and he panted rapidly. Jonas and Jordan held me tighter. “I’m sure you love her but to keep the spawn of the men who raped you.”

  I growled into the phone, “She’s an innocent child.”

  “She’ll grow up, Ellie and what then? I did a DNA swab. I know which one is Katie’s father…”

  “Don’t, Adam! It’s not important.” I shook violently.

  “It is important. Don’t you see? You should give her up for adoption. Her father was the worst of them. He was the one who sliced open your back and so much worse.”

  Dread settled like ice around my heart. “How do you know what he did to me, Adam?” My body was numb. “Did you see a recording of my attack?”

  There was a long silence and I thought he hung up.

  “I shouldn’t have said that, Ellie. That’s one thing I never should’ve said. Fuck! Fuck! Why did you make me say that? I need to think.”

  The call disconnected and I released a shriek of fury. “Find him. Find that fucking recording. I want to know it’s destroyed. That’s not haunting my child.”

  Tom hissed, “He’s pinging at a motel five miles away but I don’t fucking trust it. He’d never be so careless.”

  Padme nodded beside him. “I agree. He’s checked in under one of his prior names and there’s a car rental as well.”

  Silence drew out and Tom announced, “Traffic cam across the street shows the rental still in the motel parking lot but I’m telling you, he’s not fucking there. It’s too easy.”

  “Protocols set by Samuel and Monica Fields dictate we transport Ellie to the main house for additional security.”

  Jonas considered and shared a look with his brother. They nodded and announced, “Let’s move. Keep us posted and let’s get this asshole locked down.”

  Jordan was on the phone with estate headquarters and the entire compound moved to high alert.

  We left the secured tech room and Jonas barked orders to the house as Bianca appeared with a chan
ge of clothes for me, my riding boots, and a bulletproof vest.

  I stripped and changed in the kitchen and grabbed supplies for Katie that Robyn quickly threw in a diaper bag.

  “Straight to Ellie’s suite in the main house. Padme, you’re monitoring all systems from your station there.”

  I frowned. “You have a station at the house?”

  “Always separate from known living quarters. Impenetrable.” Jordan took my hand and led me to the garage.

  Tom ran from the house and tugged Jonas aside. They whispered together for a minute before my bodyguard clapped the young man on the back with a nod.

  Robyn laid down in the cargo area with Katie bundled against her belly and I bent to kiss my daughter’s curls.

  Fiaaz moved to cover them with a Kevlar blanket as I got in the backseat with the Hydes on either side.

  “Down, Ellie.” They maneuvered me to the floorboard and covered me. “Five minutes.”

  I nodded, familiar with the insanity of high alert.

  Steel laced the voices of the men who always touched me with gentleness.

  “Si, oversee retrieval. Reports every fifteen minutes.”

  We drove to the main house and into the garage where it was complete chaos.

  Padme separated from our group and the Hydes shielded Robyn and me as we took the rear stairs to my old suite.

  My parents waited there with frantic expressions.

  The instant we entered the room, my mother ran for us, hugging us in relief. My father laid his hands on my head.

  “I’m sorry you’re dealing with this again, Ellie. No one is going to hurt you this time.”

  Jonas and Jordan pulled me toward the hall as Robyn handed Katie to my mother and lowered them carefully to the sofa. I noticed my daughter was still fully wrapped in a Kevlar blanket.

  “We need to check every room on this floor and coordinate with the house staff. Don’t leave this space. Arm it and we’ll be back in ten minutes.”

  I nodded. As the door closed, I flipped a switch and took a deep breath. Everything in the suite would be audio and video recorded until they keyed the re-entry code.

  I listened as they gave orders to the rest of the team as they moved away.

  Turning, I took a step toward my parents when the foyer closet door beside me opened.

  Adam pressed a gun to my temple and pulled me back to his chest.

  “Don’t move, Ellie.”

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  Several thoughts slammed rapid-fire through my mind before I stilled like the docile lamb this psychopath needed me to be.

  I could have disarmed him.

  I could have killed him.

  I waited. I had questions.

  Robyn positioned herself in front of my mother and Katie as she was trained. My father moved shoulder-to-shoulder with her. I met his eyes and gave an almost imperceptible nod.

  His expression told me he was more furious than panicked.

  Adam chuckled. “Good. You understand I’ll take what means most to Ellie if you don’t do exactly as I say.”

  Information flooded my brain and I understood so many things as he took the time to lean close and inhale the scent of my hair. Gross.

  “Do you want Katie to live, Ellie?” he asked softly.

  I nodded.

  “We’re going to talk in your bedroom. Make some decisions about our future. Once you hear what I have to say, I hope you’ll agree we belong together.”

  A hard light entered his eyes. “If you don’t, I’ll be unhappy.”

  We wouldn’t want that.

  He pulled me backward into the bedroom I slept in when I was released from the hospital.

  “Close and lock the door.” When I did, he stepped away and gestured at the side of my bed. “Sit down, Ellie.”

  I did so.

  “Your reaction pleases me. I’ve watched you fight. I imagine you could have tried to take my gun. That you didn’t tells me you have feelings for me as I suspected.”

  As calmly as I could, I asked, “How did you get in?”

  “That was the easiest part. Living here for months gave me an inside track on the workings of the estate. I came in with the laundry service three days ago. I knew it was only a matter of time before they traced your stalker.”

  He imbued the last word with a hint of disbelief, as if his actions were above all that. He rolled his eyes.

  Folding my hands in my lap, I looked him right in the eye. “What do you want, Adam? If it’s me, you’ve got a fucked-up way of courting a woman.”

  The skin around his eyes and mouth tightened. “I wouldn’t have had to do this if those assholes followed the fucking plan from the beginning!”

  Tom was right about everything with this guy.

  I wanted information. “I didn’t go to school with you, Adam. I’d have remembered you.”

  “Thank you, Ellie. That means a lot. It really does.”

  He smiled and I laughed at how easy it was to stroke his fragile ego. One hand on his hip, he gestured with his gun hand. It looked ridiculous.

  “I was in post-graduate studies. I supplemented my income by tutoring. Mostly jocks.” He shook his head as if I should empathize with what he’d had to go through. “There were a few of them who impressed me with how they thought. We became friends. Surprisingly good ones.”

  “A boys-only club?” I asked snidely.

  “Sort of. Sometimes, we let women join us. Those were the best days, Ellie.” Bile rose in the back of my throat. “That’s when we knew we’d be friends for a long time.”

  I ignored the crawling of my skin.

  “One night, we talked about you.”

  “Really? What interested you about me?” I couldn’t believe how easy it was to seem sincere with this guy.

  “They all wanted you, Ellie. As close as we were, I knew they weren’t good enough for you. You needed a man of brilliance and cunning. Someone who could truly appreciate being married to one of the wealthiest women in the world.”

  “It was about money then?” Not a surprise.

  “At first, I admit.” Adam smiled and I gave him an imitation of one. “Then I wanted you. Your body was fit, healthy. You’re pretty. I knew I’d enjoy fucking you.”

  I ignored the way my stomach flipped at the thought.

  “Then you sent your friends to kidnap me.”

  “They were only supposed to take you. I didn’t want you hurt, Ellie. Part of that was my fault. I trusted them too much. The plan was simple to me but they were too stupid to understand you were different than the others.”

  “The other women you kidnapped and gang-raped?”

  He went bright red. “Don’t say it like that! That wasn’t what it was at all!”

  “How was it then?”

  “The women before you don’t matter, Ellie! They were nothing compared to what I wanted for you and me.”

  Struggling not to laugh, I said, “Tell me about your plan.”

  “They were supposed to take you to an abandoned building I scoped out. They were supposed to keep you confined.”

  “Why take me in broad daylight?”

  “You were never out alone at night. We figured out how to take most of your team out of the equation.” He winked at me. “They thought we’d share you and your money like we had all the others but that was never my intention. You were going to know me as the man who saved you.”

  “You were going to be a hero?” The very idea inspired hysteria deep in my gut. I fought it down. “You were going to betray the members of your club? I thought you were best friends.”

  “They weren’t as important to me as you, Ellie.” Adam’s eyes glazed as he stared over my shoulder. “In your gratitude, we’d have been married. You were mine. We belonged together.”

  He ran his hand over his groin and I saw he was hard. He was so twisted, it was almost surreal.

  Agitated, he paced back and forth in front of me. “Watching you and that bodyguard bring dow
n all seven of them, I don’t believe I’d ever been so angry.”

  His look was one of disappointment. “You infuriated me!” he screamed at me then instantly calmed. “Then I realized you thought you were defending yourself because you didn’t know the plan I had for us.”

  “Of course. I’m so glad you see that.” He didn’t notice my sarcasm.

  “I got rid of two of them before they went to prison. They were the stupidest ones. They wanted to bring up my name and tell the police my plan. I had no choice.”

  Adam laughed and I controlled my flinch. “The two who died in prison threatened to tell their lawyers about me and appeal their conviction. They were halfway through their sentence!”

  He gestured wildly with his gun. “If they were patient, loyal, they might have lived. It’s easy to bribe prisoners to kill another inmate. Prison is a dismal place.”

  “So, you killed four of the seven. How clever of you.”

  You’re one shit-bag crazy squirrel.

  My stalker smiled with so much superiority, I was glad I’d already thrown up earlier.

  “Thanks, Ellie. You’re good for my ego.” He resumed pacing. “The original plan was still sound. They were supposed to shoot your bodyguard, use a tranquilizer dart on you, and carry you out on the access road so Padme didn’t see you.”

  He shook his head and sighed as if they’d done nothing worse than teenagers caught drinking.

  “They fucked up as usual. With all the blood from hitting you, they didn’t think they could get you out of the park without being noticed. They panicked. They dragged you and the twin bodyguard into the shed. I couldn’t believe I never knew Hyde was a twin. That made me so fucking angry.”

  “I didn’t know until I was released from the hospital. Does that make you feel better?”

  Adam immediately brightened. “It really does, Ellie. I mean, if you didn’t know, it doesn’t seem a lack of intelligence was the issue at all. Wonderful to hear.”

  He crouched in front of me and took my hand. I fought my body’s reaction with everything I had and let him touch me.