“Were they all attacked by the same man?” She asked as she took a sip of what remained of her coffee.
“Yeah.” Sam said as he stared out through the windshield. “Bastard is like a ghost.” He said and cleared his throat to cover the waver in his voice. “He tortures them.” He added as he pulled the car into the station parking lot. After he parked the car he stretched his arm across the seat and laid the back of his hand along the base of Corinne's neck. “I shouldn't have taken you there. Are you okay?”
Corinne glanced over at him, the warmth of his palm against her skin comforting to her. “Yeah, I just hope you catch him.”
He tightened his grasp slightly on her neck; to be sure she would not turn away as he bore his hardened gaze into hers and spoke firmly. “I will.”
4
Her ride along was cut short because Sam's attention was needed on the investigation. With the rest of her day free, Corinne decided to go to Daniel's house and get prepared for an evening of forced introspection. She could at least make a delicious dinner to distract them from the subject matter.
When she reached the house she was surprised to see Daniel's car in the driveway. He had said he had an important meeting, what could he possibly be doing home? When she stepped into the house she heard his footsteps in the bedroom above. His voice was muffled, but she could tell he was speaking harshly.
Suspicious by nature, Corinne crept up the stairs quietly. When she reached the bedroom, the door was cracked open, revealing only a sliver of the room.
Daniel walked past the small opening, and then back, as if he was pacing. He was dressed in jeans and a sleeveless under shirt rather than the suit he had left home in. His entire demeanor was different, very aggressive, like a caged animal looking for a way out.
“Listen up if you don't have the cash, we can just forget about all of it...” He said sharply into the phone as he paced by the door.
Corinne had never heard him speak in such a threatening tone before.
“No, you listen to me,” He growled into the phone. “Don't you play any games with me or you will pay for it. We made a deal. I got the girl, so where is the cash?!”
Corinne peered through the crack in the door to be sure it was Daniel on the phone. She was so startled by his words and behavior that she did not realize her shoulder brushed against the door. When it snapped shut, Daniel froze on the other side. He stared at the door as he reached for the gun he had tucked into the back of his pants. No one should know he was there, but someone had pushed the door shut.
Corinne jumped back quickly, just before Daniel jerked the door open, the aim of his gun falling directly on her.
Corinne gasped as she shied back from the gun. “Don't!” She cried out as she cringed back against the opposite wall.
Daniel cursed under his breath and tucked the gun back into his pants as he approached her. “Corinne, I'm sorry, I didn't know it was you.” His mind was spinning as he stepped closer to her. He wondered how much she had heard.
“Who else would it be?” She gasped out as she eyed him with fear. She never even knew he had a gun let alone knew how to use it.
“Please,” He said in a softer tone as he held his hands out before him. “I didn't think you would be here. I just had to-”
“Don't lie.” She cut him off before he could finish his words. She could not help but laugh as she leaned her head back against the wall. “Trust me Corinne, that's all you ever say to me.” She shook her head as she gazed at him, still in shock, as she realized she knew nearly nothing about him. Not this him that shouted into the phone or wore a gun.
“Corinne,” He pleaded. “It is not what you think. I have the gun for protection.”
“From me?” She joked as she raised her eyebrows questioningly. “Or from the person on the phone.” She did not dare to move closer to him, but she did meet his gaze full force with her own fiery glare. “It really was just a con wasn't it?” She asked, her tone softening with every word.
Daniel could sense her withdrawing with each word. He reached out to grasp her arm, but she jerked it away from him.
“Don't you touch me,” she hissed, though she did struggle to control her temper. She was frightened that he had a gun, and did not want to tempt him to use it. “Just go.”
The phone in his pocket began to ring insistently.
“I can explain all of this to you. I promise, and when I do, you'll understand.” He said as he lightly brushed his fingertips across the curve of her cheek.
She snapped her head to the side away from his touch, her blonde curls tumbling into her face as she did. She used them as a hiding place from his demanding gaze as he cursed and fumbled with the phone in his pocket.
He knew he had to answer it.
“I have to go.” He said flatly. Corinne refused to look at him. “Tonight,” he said firmly.
Corinne laughed a little and shook her head. “Sure.” She mumbled as she hurried down the stairs and out the front door.
Alone in the hallway Corinne could not believe what she had just witnessed. It was as if Daniel was two very different people.
She stepped into the bedroom and noticed the suit he had worn that morning crumpled in a pile on the floor. She sat down on the edge of Daniel's bed as a deep hurt began blossoming at the base of her stomach. She had wanted so badly to trust him, but there was always something within her that had warned her against it. Now she knew why. What possible explanation could he come up with for this? She did not care. She would not be there to find out.
5
“Right, well I didn't expect her to be there.” Daniel was headed home for the night and he wondered if Corinne would be willing to listen to what he had to say. “I know it was stupid.” He hissed into the phone along with a few choice curses as he felt the urge to fling it out the window. “You could have given me a heads up that she was on her way home, you know.”
He pulled into the driveway, relieved to see that Corinne's car was there. “I hate lying to her.” He sighed as he sat back against the seat of the car and listened to the voice on the other end of the phone lecture him about what he could and could not say.
“I got it.” He rolled his eyes as he slammed his head back against the headrest on the seat. “I said, I got it.” He hung up the phone and stared out the window at the dark apartment. Maybe she had gone to bed instead of having to face him.
With a sigh he trudged toward her apartment. When he reached the door and tried the knob, he found it locked. He unlocked it and stepped inside. He flipped the light on and was suddenly struck by a strange sense of absence. He climbed the stairs to the second floor and pushed open the door to her bedroom. Everything that belonged to Corinne was gone. He opened the closet door to find the few clothes she kept were gone. He was beginning to panic as he ducked into the bathroom to find what little makeup Corinne wore was also gone.
“Corinne?!” He called as he ran down the stairs and into the living room. Again, what few possessions she had were gone.
When he reached her kitchen he found a note on the kitchen table.
“It's over,” was all the note said, in Corinne's handwriting.
“Aghhh!” Daniel shouted as he swept the note off of the table and slammed his fist into the cool wooden surface of it. When he burst through the front door of the house and slammed it shut behind him, the neighbor's dog started barking. He was not going to let her go this easily.
He hopped into his car and drove faster than he should have. He jerked the wheel angrily when he nearly sideswiped someone switching lanes. His fury was growing by the moment.
Corinne was sitting on a bench in the park. It was dark, so there were not many other people around. Her apartment had felt so empty. So much of her time was spent with and near Daniel that she found it difficult to be inside of her own walls, without the sense of his presence. No matter how often he asked, Corinne had refused to take the final step of setting a wedding date with Daniel. She was terrified
of committing in that way, but she had started to set down roots with Daniel.
6
As she kicked her bare feet against the grass, she let the shadows of the night wash over her. She came here often when she needed to calm her mind. Parks had been places of refuge as she was growing up, whether city or suburb, and they were always a place she retreated to for solace. She did not hear the car pull into the parking lot, or his footsteps as he approached. By the time he was right behind her, she knew that he was there. She had told him too much by confiding and sharing her safe places with him.
“Please don't.” She said as she kept her gaze trained to the grass beneath her feet.
He did not say a word as he sat down beside her. He leaned his elbows on the tops of his knees and swept his hands back through his hair as he sighed.
For a few minutes they simply sat beside each other surrounded by the subtle sounds of the night. When he finally spoke, Corinne did not bother to look up.
“At least give me a chance to explain.” He said, careful to disguise the anger in his voice.
Corinne tilted her head slightly to the side so that she could peer at him out of the corner of her eye.
“Explain that you lied to me, I'm guessing about everything?” She smirked faintly. “Can you explain that?”
Daniel stretched out his fingertips until they grazed the back of her hand with the lightest touch. He knew that she would pull away if he was too aggressive.
“I can.” He tried to catch her gaze, but she avoided him. “If you just give me a little time.”
She laughed at that and sat back against the bench. He had no idea how his proximity was torturing her inside. She so desperately wanted to believe in him, if only to assuage the burning in the pit of her stomach.
“Corinne,” He breathed her name in a way that made her melt inside. He traced a fingertip along the curve of her cheek and the slope of her chin. “You know me.” He murmured. When she still refused to look at him, he crouched down in front of her. He placed his hands on her knees, and stared up at her through the tumbling shield of her golden locks, seeking the solace of her eyes. “Look at me, and tell me that you believe I would never do anything to hurt you.”
Corinne reluctantly met his gaze, those clear blue eyes that drank her in so thirstily. She knew he would know if she was lying. Maybe she had jumped to conclusions without ever giving him the chance to prove otherwise.
When she could not answer, he leaned closer to her, keeping his eyes locked to hers. “Let’s go home.”
Corinne was very confused as Daniel drove her home. He offered her no further explanation; in fact he was silent for their entire trip. When they arrived at his house he opened her door, and grasped her hand. He drew her down the front walk and into the apartment.
He paused in front of the floor length mirror on the back of the bedroom door. With her positioned in front of him, he wrapped his arm loosely around her waist and pulled her back against him. He settled his chin to her shoulder, so that their faces were right beside one another.
“There are things I cannot tell you, right now.” He confessed. “I want to, but I can't.” He studied her eyes through the reflective glass. “But all you need to know is right here.” He held her hand gently against her chest, so that she could feel her own heartbeat through the thin material of her blouse.
“Trust me.” He whispered just beside her ear.
Before she could stop herself her lips were on his as she turned into his arms. The immense comfort she had found in him was enough for her to ignore her instincts. At least for now, she could believe in the fantasy that they had created.
Corinne awoke the next morning to the sound of the shower running and the smell of coffee. Daniel had stayed over downstairs that night, to be nearby in case she needed him. He was in a rush to get out the door. She pretended to sleep as Daniel dressed. This time he did not put on a suit, or the usual dress shirt and slacks. He did not hide the jeans and t-shirt he pulled on, or the gun he tucked into the back of his pants. Perhaps because he thought she was still sleeping. Perhaps because he assumed yesterday had been a sign of subservience.
Either way, she was very much awake when he left the house. She slipped out of bed and tossed on some clothes quickly. Then quietly she crept behind him as he headed for his car. Once he was inside she slid into hers and waited for him to pull out of the driveway. Giving him enough time not to notice her pulling out behind him, she began to follow him.
7
She followed him right into the city, and to an area of it that was known for its gang activity. At some point he parked his car and began walking. She did as well, careful to keep a good distance away from him.
He wove through the large buildings until he reached a large apartment building. When he turned a corner and disappeared behind the building, Corinne hesitated. He said he wanted her to trust him, but trust was not something she could simply give. He had to prove it to her. She knew that by tailing him she might see something she would rather not, but she had to know for sure.
When she peeked around the corner of the building she saw a gathering of men, with a woman in the center of their circle. Two men were restraining her right in front of Daniel.
She could only see him from behind, but she noticed how tense the muscles of his back were, and the way that he stood with an air of command.
“She's the one who ratted out Tony.” One of the men insisted as he gestured at the girl.
“That so?” Daniel muttered as he hunched down slightly so that he could look closely at the squirming girl.
“No, no way, it wasn't me I swear!” She said in a fear stricken voice. She tried to lunge out of the grasp of the men that held her.
Just then another man stepped out of a black sedan that was idling nearby. He was wearing a dark trench coat and sunglasses that completely shielded his eyes from view.
“Find out Martin.” He said and clapped Daniel lightly on the back. “It's about time you got your hands dirty.”
Corinne was stunned as she realized Daniel not only had two lives, he also had two names. The sound of skin against flesh disrupted her thoughts as Daniel struck the restrained woman across the face.
“Tell me the truth.” He insisted, as the man in the dark coat chuckled to himself with the next strike that fell.
Corinne stumbled back away from the building. She could not watch any more. She wanted to do something to help the girl, but she had enough experiences in her life to know when there was no hope of escape. She felt dizzy and ill as she tried to figure out the way back to her car. Though she was too far away to hear it, the sound of the woman being struck kept reverberating in her mind.
Daniel who had never raised a hand to her, nor had he ever made her feel as if he would like to, was beating a woman in the middle of what appeared to be a group of gang members. Never had she expected the man she was planning to marry to be capable of such behavior.
She was so distracted by what she had seen that her normally sharp senses did not pick up on the foot steps that were following behind her. Just before a warm palm closed around her mouth to keep her from screaming, her entire body rang with alarm, her heart leaped up into her throat, and her mind throbbed with terror. But it was far too late to fight back.
His grasp was firm as he drug her into a nearby alley. She struggled to get free from him, but he slammed her into the brick wall of one of the buildings. When her head struck the hard surface, it left a cut right above her eye that began to bleed. Before she could reach up to wipe the blood away, he had struck her above the other eye, causing more blood to flow. The hot liquid blinded her as he struck her in the stomach and the chest. She began to collapse to the ground, but he grabbed her beneath her shoulder and pulled her back up so that he could strike her once more.
When he did finally let her fall to the ground he slammed a foot into her side. Corinne groaned in pain as she tried to writhe away from his kicks, but she had lost all sense
of space around her. She could not see, and the pain overwhelmed the rest of her senses.
All she could think of was the girl they had found in the alley. In a husky voice her assailant leaned down and hissed into her ear.
“Next time you die.” His breath lingered hot on her neck even as he stepped away. As she slipped into unconsciousness something familiar triggered within her memory, then there was only darkness.
8
Sam grasped her hand tightly as he sat beside her hospital bed. When he had been called to the scene and found out who it was beneath the blood and bruising he had barked out orders to the other officers and medics to be sure she was taken care of.
Now it was a waiting game. She had survived the attack, but there was some swelling around her brain from the blows to the head. The doctor was confident she would recover, he was just not certain how quickly.
When Daniel rushed into the room, Corinne was just barely opening her eyes. The moment she saw him she tried to speak through cracked and bloodied lips.
“No,” Was all she managed to gasp out. “No.” She repeated as Daniel tried to approach her. The machines that were monitoring her vital signs began to react to how fast her heart was racing.
“Daniel, maybe it would be best if you waited outside.” Sam said as he firmly guided the man to the door.
Daniel stared at him intently. “You know what she thinks.” He said desperately. “I have to tell her the truth.”
Sam continued to push him out the door. “Don't you worry about that now, just let her get well.”
He closed the door once Daniel was in the hall. Sam stepped to the side of Corinne's bed. He was startled by the tears that were falling from the corners of her eyes.
“Hey,” He whispered, his expression creasing with guilt. “It's all going to be fine.” He lightly brushed his hand back through her hair, which was streaked with blood, away from the bandages that covered her forehead.
Corinne (Book One of The Red Diamond Saga) Page 2