by K. R. Haynes
Randall ended the call before Chloe could say anything more. He could practically hear the three words Chloe wanted to say to him churning over in that pretty little head of hers. But she held back. He didn’t want to pressure her in to saying them. Chloe would say those words to him in her own time and in her own way. Plus he didn’t really need to hear the words. It was clearly evident in her voice that she loved him and only him.
Chapter Thirty-Three
After the call ended with Randall, Chloe had never felt more alone in her life than she did right at that moment. Even if there were two men standing in the same room with her. Neither of those two men were whom she needed or whom she wanted in the room with her. Neither of them were the man she needed to have his strong arms wrapped around her tightly. Neither of these two men were her Randall.
Yep, the message had sure done a number on her this time around. The stalker probably counted on it, too, the knowledge of which made her feel guilty at her own defeated state of mind. The fight in her, the one she had found within herself, seemed to all but vanish when she read the vulgarity of the message the bastard had sent to her.
Both men were on the phone shouting their demands to the person on the other end of the line. They both wanted results and answers like yesterday. Chloe knew they would have the location on where the message came from soon, being that Jake was on the phone with her phone carrier, while Mick spoke to one of the detectives helping him and Randall with the case.
Rising up from her position on the sofa, Chloe padded sombrely into the kitchen and grabbed a beer from the fridge. She never normally drank beer other than a sip now and then of Randall’s. Popping the top off the bottle, she swallowed a large amount of the amber liquid down in one scull. Her eyes closed as the beer hit her queasy stomach. Her belly rolled in protest from the beer she had just consumed, “Oh, god.”
“Chloe?”
Shit…Mick. Chloe turned to where Mick stood in the kitchen, concern for her well-being written all over his clean-shaven face. “Yeah?” she offered weakly to him.
“You look like shit, gorgeous, and drinking yourself silly with beer isn’t going to help matters either.”
She rolled her eyes at him. “Thanks for the observation, Mick,” she groaned back at him as her stomach heaved again.
He closed the distance between them then with two easy strides. Before she knew it, Mick had enveloped her with his arms. Laying her head on his chest she closed her eyes and imagined she was in Randall’s arms right now. That it was his heart she could hear beating. It was his lips that pressed a kiss to the top of her head. And it was his whispered words of strength she could hear ringing in her ears.
Her eyes stung but she fought back the moisture wanting to leak from her eyes. Releasing herself slowly from Mick’s embrace, she cupped a hand to his face. “Thank you, Mick. I needed that. You know, Mary J is going to be one lucky lady when you snag her.” Mick scoffed at her suggestion that he and Mary J would hook up. The man was obviously keen on the sexy redhead, but he did nothing about it. Men. They could be so stupid sometimes.
“Ahh, thanks, I think. You still look like shit though, gorgeous.”
“Huh, you don’t say. Well, I feel like shit.”
“How about you go lie down for a while. I’ll even come in and check on you if it makes you sleep for a few hours.” Seeing her indecision, Mick decided to throw in the guilt card. “You know Randall will have my balls if he thinks I haven’t looked after you, so you would be doing me a huge favour if you were to rest for a bit.”
“Fine.” she mumbled back to him. “You know it’s cruel using the guilt trip, Mick, cruel indeed.” Chloe half smiled to him as he followed her out of the kitchen and down the hall to the bedroom she shared with Randall.
After Mick checked the room and the adjacent bathroom to ensure all was safe and secure, Chloe hopped onto the bed and slipped under the covers, fully clothed. As soon as her head hit the pillow the exhaustion from the day’s events hit her. Her eyelids became too heavy to keep open. Closing her eyes, she let herself fall asleep. She only hoped she didn’t have the dream again. The one that left her shaken to her very core and left her throat raw from screaming in her sleep.
Plus, Randall wasn’t here to hold her and comfort her when she woke from screaming. No, she would not have that dream tonight. She all but begged herself not to have that horrible dream again tonight.
Chapter Thirty-Four
They were getting closer. They all could feel it. They had the location on where the latest message came from. The location had been a dud in finding anything or anyone. It had turned out to be a highly populated area. So unless the police, Randall, Mick, and Jake were all planning on interviewing everyone and smashing their way through all the houses and buildings there wasn’t much they could do with the information or the location they had.
Now both Randall and Mick were back at the station, working on their own case they had been investigating for months now. Jake meanwhile was out investigating all the information they had gathered so far on her stalker.
Chloe, on the other hand, found herself left with her next babysitter. Only this time she didn’t mind the babysitter chosen by Randall. Mary J was a hoot. The younger woman managed to brighten up the downright pissed-off mood Chloe had arrived in. Her friend’s bubbly presence alone made her forget, just for a little while, all her troubles and her fears.
She and Mary J had gotten close over the past couple of months. They had bonded over the fact they were both relatively new to the area. Chloe enjoyed Mary J’s easy going nature. The slightly younger woman made her forget so easily all that troubled her. After a few glasses of champagne, a manicure, and a pedicure later you practically forgot everything.
Randall would probably have Chloe’s ass blushing if he caught sight of her current drunken state. Yep, she was as drunk as a skunk and loving every minute of it. For the first time in days, Chloe felt relaxed and blissfully unaware of all that had been troubling her lately. And she had Mary J’s great taste in French champagne and friendship to thank for that.
Her phone chose that moment to vibrate, letting her know she had a text message waiting for her. Being too drunk to want to acknowledge the text, Chloe switched her phone off completely before tucking it back in to the back pocket of her jeans.
“So you want to watch a movie or something, sweetie?” Mary J asked her.
“Nuh, I’ve watched so many damn movies lately I’m all movied out.” Giggling to herself, Chloe rose from her spot on the sofa. Staggering over to the stereo system, she turned the music up to the max. Strutting back to the middle of the floor, she began to sway her hips from side to side, letting her body absorb the rhythm of the music.
She even managed to persuade Mary J to join her on the makeshift dance floor, much to the amusement of her friend. Together they danced and swayed their bodies to the hypnotic vibe of the music and giggled at each other’s crazy dance moves.
* * * *
“Hey, sweetie, are you hungry?”
Chloe spun around in a circle again with her arms raised in the air. In her mind her body danced and gyrated up against Randall’s muscular frame on the dance floor. She was so lost to the music she hadn’t even noticed her friend up and leave to go to the kitchen. “What you say?” she said, her words slurring when they fell from her lips.
Giggling again, Mary J asked her if she was hungry. Chloe stopped dancing altogether and stared at her friend. “Actually I’m famished.”
Stumbling over to the stereo to turn the volume down, Chloe then stumbled her way back over to the sofa and ungracefully sat down next to her good friend. She laughed when she saw the amount of food Mary J had brought in for them to eat. Grabbing a handful of crisps she winked at her friend and said, “Wow, that’s a lot of food. Are we expecting company, maybe? Mick perhaps?” Mary J blushed at the mention of Mick’s name, setting Chloe off into a fit of giggles.
“Nuh, sweetie, no Mick tonight. May
be next time if that damn man gets his act together. I just couldn’t decide on what I wanted to eat so I brought in a bit of everything in.”
“Well, it all looks pretty good to me and I’m sure if Mick were here he’ll appreciate this fine spread, too.”
“You think so, sweetie? I just don’t get that man sometimes. I know there’s something there between us.” Mary J shook her head then and said, “Eat up, sweetie. I don’t want Randall to think I haven’t fed you while you’re staying here.”
Chloe rolled her eyes at her friend as she reached for the bowl of crisps on the table. Geez had Randall threatened both her friend and Mick or something. The two of them seemed pretty determined to make sure she ate, slept and was never left alone for even a minute.
Chloe only half listened to what her friend was chatting about. Her mind was on other things, like how to get some time alone. Leaning her head back against the back of the sofa and munching slowly on a crisp, she wondered what would happen to her if she were to leave Mary J’s place alone. She knew Randall wouldn’t be impressed at all for defying his order, yet again, to not leave the house without Mick or Mary J’s presence.
However, after spending so much time with Randall, she needed some time to be on her own. Don’t get her wrong. She loved every minute she spent with Jon. In fact she treasured their time together.
Nevertheless, she felt suffocated having the presence of another person following her every move watching and waiting to tell Randall on her if she stepped out of line. Even if that fact wasn’t true it didn’t help. Chloe knew everyone was doing their best to keep her safe and protected from the stalker. Still, she needed space to breathe, time alone with her own thoughts, things she hadn’t been able to have over the past week or so. Well, at least not since she had locked herself in the bathroom.
Since then, Randall had made it his mission and both her “babysitters’” mission not to leave her side for more than a couple of minutes. The constant presence of people around her was getting on her nerves. Even before she met Randall, way before the stalker invaded her life, Chloe had always had time for just herself. Time alone, to deal with life in general. Time alone, to enjoy being on her own. Now though she had no other option but to do almost everything in the presence of someone else.
Quite frankly it was starting to piss her off.
Yawning loudly, Chloe glanced sideways at her friend. Seeing that she was falling to sleep, she nudged her awake. “Hey, you ready for bed, sleepyhead?”
“Sleepyhead yourself, sweetie. Yes, I’m ready for bed.”
They both rose from the sofa. While Chloe switched the stereo off, Mary J went about checking the locks on the doors, ensuring everything was secure. Stumbling her way down the hall to the guest bedroom, Chloe glanced back over her shoulder when she heard Mary J traipsing down the hall behind her. “Night, Mary J. Sweet dreams.”
“Good night, sweetie. See you in the morning. Sweet dreams to you, too.”
Walking into the guest bedroom and closing the door behind her, Chloe took a deep breath. A plan formulated in her mind. She might be a little tipsy but she wasn’t that drunk to come up with a plan to get some alone time.
Stripping off her clothes and marching her way into the tiny en suite bathroom, not bothering to wait for the water to heat up in the shower before stepping under the spray of cold water. The coldness of the water would help clear her mind, help her plan her way to freedom. Even if only for an hour to herself, she would be grateful for that time alone. If she didn’t get some time to herself soon, she would go insane, no doubt about it.
Being on the verge of insanity was so not a good look, not with Randall due home to her in a couple of days’ time.
After briskly showering, Chloe climbed into the cold, empty bed and drew the covers up to her chin. She wished she could call Randall to hear the huskiness of his voice. Hearing his whispered words always made her shiver and become inconceivably wet and ready for him. God, it had only been a few days, yet her body craved his presence. Craved the way his bare skin felt brushing up against her naked flesh. She found herself yearning for the way he would possess every inch of her being with his body.
Groaning, she switched off the brass lamp on the bedside table near the bed, plunging the room into darkness. Hugging a pillow tightly in her arms she closed her eyes. In her mind, she imagined the feeling of being wrapped up in Randall’s arms as he held her close to him. She could practically feel the warmth of his nude body wrapped around hers and hear the beating of his heart in her ear.
She could envision it all.
Here in his warm embrace lay her safe haven. In his arms, Chloe knew she would always be safe. She would always be loved. She would always be protected from the danger yet to pass.
Chapter Thirty-Five
With Mary J still sleeping in the room across the hall from her, Chloe crept down the hall and out the front door without her friend noticing. She half expected to see the fiery redhead come barging out the front door as soon as she turned the keys in the ignition to start her car. But there was nothing. No reaction from inside the house at all.
After a late night of drinking and dancing, she could hardly blame her friend for wanting to sleep in. Hell, Chloe wished she, too, could’ve slept in until well after midday herself. Her head was still aching slightly even after taking something for it. Plus, sleeping in was not an option for her today. A few hours of freedom was, however.
Freedom. Such a simple word with a simple meaning. Who knew it could mean so much to her?
Turning onto the street she lived on, Chloe felt this instant eeriness in the air. She couldn’t explain the reasons behind it. She even had goose bumps forming on her arms, causing her to shiver involuntarily when she parked her blue bubble of a car at the end of her driveway.
She even glanced out the front windows of her car, to see if anything was, well, off. She hadn’t been back to her place for a few weeks, and needed to be here. She needed to grab some more clothes so she had something else to wear, other than the minuscule amount clothing she had back at Randall’s place. Plus, Chloe needed to be surrounded by her own things, her own possessions even if only for a short time.
There was no doubt in her mind, once Mary J rose she would alert the men to her disappearance and they’d all be out looking for her. Chloe hoped Randall or Mick found her first. Jake made her too nervous with that foreboding look of his.
Strolling up to the front door, Chloe felt eyes hovering on her. She shivered. Uneasiness rolled throughout her body. She glanced back over her shoulder to see if anyone was watching her. There was no one around. In fact the whole street seemed quiet, far too quiet for a Saturday morning.
It might be only just after ten o’clock in the morning, but that didn’t stop the chaos that comes with Saturday mornings. Normally the kids from two doors down would be out on their bikes playing with the neighbours’ kids from across the road from them. The old couple next door to her place were usually out in the front yard gardening. Plus the street was never short of a garage sale or two on Saturday mornings.
However, none of that was happening this Saturday morning. Nothing was happening at all.
All was quiet on her street. Too quiet.
The eeriness Chloe felt upon her arrival at her home increased the moment she pushed the key into the lock on her front door.
She knew the moment the front door opened without her even turning the key, she had made a dreadful mistake in coming here alone.
In coming back to the place she had called home.
The nightmare she had been having at night was about to become her reality.
He was here.
The sick bastard after her had been waiting for her inside her home.
Inside the house she thought of as her own.
She couldn’t see the bastard’s face, due to the black mask covering his features. His dark clothing, hiding any marks or tattoos on his body, all made him look like a dark-clothed ghost. Swal
lowing hard at the fear lodged in her throat, Chloe tried to process in her mind all that was happening around her. Everything seemed to transpire in slow motion though, making it difficult for her own mind to comprehend anything when he lunged for her.
She tried to scream.
She tried to back away from him.
She tried to break free from his hold when he grabbed her and pulled her forcibly inside.
She couldn’t. He was far too strong for her to fight against.
Tears, hot, painful tears sprung to her eyes when his fist collided with the side of her face. His leather-covered hand closed over her mouth, preventing anyone hearing her scream.
Why, why did she leave Mary J’s house alone this morning? Why did she think she needed freedom when it was obvious to her now, freedom was not a luxury she could afford? It never had been since the day she received the bastard’s first message. And now she was going to pay the ultimate price for seeking a freedom she didn’t have the right to want or need.
His message of “Die, bitch” was going to happen now. There was no way to stop it. No one here but herself to fight for her own life.
She shuddered upon hearing the front door slam closed behind her, effectively trapping her inside her own home with him. Chloe tried to move her legs in an effort to stand up, but it was no use. Her body gave out and she slumped back down to the floor. When the bastard advanced on her again, she tried to protect herself by curling her body into a ball. It didn’t help. She felt the kick to her ribs and cried out when pain lashed up her body.
Her body trembled uncontrollably from the pain, from fear of what was going to happen to her.
The bastard snagged a fistful of her hair, hauling her to her feet. Chloe screamed out at the pain it caused. More tears leaked from her eyes. She had to fight back. She had to defend herself, it was the only way she could survive this. Another fist caught the side of her face, bouncing her hard against the wall. Her head ached and throbbed from the force of the blows. Her face was bloodied, bruised, and swollen.