“No, they won’t want to do a report until she’s gone for forty-eight hours and we’re not wasting that kind of time. Call Detective Torres and ask him to come to the house immediately. Have all the men arrived?” I ask.
“Yes sir, they’re all waiting in the front of the house.” Stanley goes to make his call and I join the others. I give clear and direct orders to check every street, building and alley. They are to leave no stone unturned.
The doorbell rings and Sarah escorts Detective Torres in. “Head out men and stay in constant contact with me,” I order and the men disperse to carry out their duties. I fill in Torres with all the details, “I need your help. I know the officers have to wait forty-eight hours but I know you can do more.”
“You really care for this one, don’t you?” he asks.
“More than I have ever cared about anybody. Hell, Torres, I love this woman. Will you please help me?” I plead. He gives a confirming nod and steps into the next room to make some calls.
My cell rings, “Speak.”
“Mr. Hawthorne, I was getting worried. Neither you nor Sheridan showed up for work and I never heard from you. Is everything okay,” Caroline questions sweetly.
“Uhh, no Caroline, everything isn’t okay. Sheridan is missing, we think kidnapped,” I answer.
“Kidnapped? What can I do to help?” She sounds as worried as the rest of us.
“Just stay there and keep the office in line, please. My full attention will be on finding Sheridan so I need you there,” I reply.
“Yes sir, anything you need. Please let me know if you find her.”
Torres comes back to the front of the house, “Blade, we’ve issued a Missing Persons Alert. I’ve got every officer scanning their beats looking for her or for anything that might lead us to her. I’ve also called in a favor, we’ve put helicopters in the air. Only a couple for the time being but it’s better than nothing.”
“Thank you, Torres. You don’t know how much this means to me,” I grab his hand and shake it hard, with tears welling in my eyes.
“Blade, I always told you that you were a good kid, you just had to leave the lifestyle you had fallen into and expect more of yourself and for yourself. You did that and I’m proud of the man you’ve become. I’d help you with anything that I possibly could,” he answers.
CHAPTER 13
Tragedy
Ouch! My head and face are aching! I’ve gotta open my eyes, focus and try to figure a way out of here. The shot that Caroline gave me is still making me groggy but at least I can pry my eyes open now, well at least one of them. The other one is swollen shut from the hit I took to the face. It is daylight, the sun is coming through the little windows. Not a lot because they’re so dirty but it’s still better than the darkness. I have no idea what time of day it is but the sun’s heat has turned the building into an oven and I feel like I’m melting.
I couldn’t tell much about my surrounding last night so I begin scanning the place for anything that might help me escape. It’s dirty and smells of mold. There are rats playing along the walls and there’s no sign of what might have occupied the building before. I need to keep looking but the heat and whatever’s still coursing through me from the syringe are taking me under once more.
I awake again, this time there’s not as much light. The sun has changed position so it must be evening. I’m hot and thirsty, my mouth feels like sandpaper. Is anyone looking for me? Does anyone even know I’m gone? All my family and friends are in Kentucky, so they’ll have no idea I’m missing. The band isn’t having practice until Styx returns, so they won’t wonder where I am. Blade is probably with Bridgette and has no idea. The thought of them together brings the hurt washing over me again. I feel like crying but I can’t, no tears will come. The only hope I have of someone knowing I am gone is the office personnel but I’m sure Caroline has that covered as well. I’m doomed.
As all hope is fading, the metal door is jerked open. It’s Caroline, she must have just come from work because she’s still in her dress suit. This gives me some indication of the time but I still don’t know if I was out for a day or several. “Well, baby girl, how have you enjoyed your day?” she shows her sarcasm as she waves her gun through the air. She comes over and unties my hands from the chair and ties them together. She opens a large bottle of water and rips the duct tape from my mouth, taking skin with it. She puts the bottle in my tied hands and I finish half of it before I remove it from my lips. “Let me tell you about my day. There’s lots of chaos and hoopla going on because baby girl is missing. Blade’s beside himself with worry so I’m headed there now to console him,” she cackles.
She then holds up a McDonald’s bag, takes my water away and replaces it with a cheeseburger. “I’m not hungry. I’d rather just have the water,” I plead as she’s sitting the bottle on the floor. She comes up fast and hard and I get a fist to the mouth. I instantly taste the blood gushing into my mouth and I try to wipe it from my chin.
“You fucking ingrate. You will eat if you want one more drop of water. I have to keep you alive until I’m sure I don’t need you. Now eat!” I do as I’m told but I have to practically choke down the last half of the burger. “Good, baby girl. Now you can have your water,” she puts the bottle back in my hands.
“I have to hurry to Blade, he needs me now more than ever, so you must hurry with that water.” She’s like two different people, a Jekyll and Hyde freak of nature. I finish before she gets her last word out and she takes the bottle throwing it to the corner. She unties my hands and ties them back to the chair arms. “There we are, all nice and snug. Now I must attend to Blade’s needs, baby girl, but I’ll be sure to come back later and give you every detail,” she chuckles as she puts the same piece of tape over my mouth and leaves.
He knows and he’s worried. The thought warms my soul a bit but then my mind goes back to the pictures of him and Bridgette. He would be worried about anyone he knew that had gone missing. It has nothing to do with that fact that it’s me. She didn’t say if he was looking for me, hell I still don’t know if anyone is looking for me. There was a time in my life when I thought I would welcome death but now that I’m faced with it, I don’t want to die. I want to live the craziness that is my life. I want to fight with Mother and laugh with Donna. I want to fly to Paris for breakfast. I have to figure out how to get out of here.
Blade
I’ve been in this house all day and I’m going fucking stir crazy. Torres insisted that I would be more helpful here in case Sheridan tried to contact me. My men have reported in regularly and they’ve found nothing. I’ve called Carter and Sophia and they’re catching the next flight out. I’ve let everyone down, especially Sheridan. If I hadn’t left her last night, if I hadn’t gotten so angry….scared. I was scared to death. No one has ever really loved me before and I’m not sure how to accept it. My actions have destroyed so much and now they may take her life.
The doorbell rings and I rush to it before Sarah gets the chance. “Oh…. Caroline, come in,” my disappointment is very noticeable. I don’t know why I had so much hope that it would be Sheridan, I knew better.
“Blade, how are you?” she asks with worry written across her face.
“I’m hanging in there.”
“Any news yet?” she questions.
“Nothing,” I run my hand through my hair and find a seat on the living room couch.
Caroline sits down beside me and takes my hand, “Everything is going to be okay, Blade. I promise.” The feel of her touch is strange, I don’t like it. I pull back my hand and go to the bar for a drink. “I’m sure she’s okay. She probably just needed some time to herself with everything that has gone on,” she pushes further. How does she know anything about what’s gone on, I begin to wonder when my cell rings.
“Speak,” I bark.
It’s Oscar, my Security Chief, “Mr. Hawthorne, I have the analysis back on the hair we found in Miss Stollings apartment and you’re not going to believe this.”
“What? Tell me now!” I command. The shock of his next statement leaves me speechless.
“Mr. Hawthorne, did you hear what I said? Mr. Hawthorne, are you there?”
“Uh, yes Oscar. I’ll take care of it,” I answer calmly just before hanging up.
“Did they find something?” she asks.
“No, nothing, Caroline. I’m tired and I’d really like to rest now, if you don’t mind.” I answer, and try to act as normal as possible.
“Sure,” she says with disappointment in her voice, “if you need anything, I’m just a phone call away.” I nod in acknowledgement and show her to the door. I immediately dial my men, then Torres.
Sheridan
It’s dark now, with only a small amount of moonlight making it through the windows. I’ve inspected every inch of this place that I can from the chair which has become my prison, and the only thing I see are a few boards leaning against the wall. There’s nothing I can use to get myself out of these ropes. The used piece of duct tape has loosened due to the sweat and blood it has encountered. I push my tongue through my dry lips and am able to get it to release itself completely. It’s not much but at least I feel as though I can breathe better now.
The doom is starting to take me over again when I hear the metal door. “Well, well, well, baby girl. You’re looking a might peaked,” Caroline says as she runs her gun along her chin. She unties my hands from the chair and ties them together again. She doesn’t notice the tape being off or at least if she does she doesn’t mention it. “A little water should fix you right up,” she puts another bottle in my hand. This time I don’t stop until it’s empty.
“I have to pee,” I say softly.
“Now that does present a problem, doesn’t it? I guess you’re gonna have to go on yourself” she says smugly.
“Please! I promise I won’t try anything. I just really have to go,” I let out a pleading protest. “You have the gun, I’m completely powerless.”
“I’m going to untie your legs, you can squat in the corner. If you make one wrong move, you’re fucking dead,” she barks.
“Understood,” I answer. If I can get to one of the boards, maybe I can take her by surprise. It doesn’t sound like the best idea but it’s the only chance I have of saving myself. She unties my legs and when I go to stand, they’re weak and it feels like pins and needles are going through them. It takes a minute before the circulation is coming back. “I ain’t got all night, if you’re going to go, you best get on with it.”
Just as I begin to take my first step, the metal door swings open. In the blink of an eye, there are people and lights everywhere. Caroline doesn’t have time to grab me so she raises her gun and aims right between my eyes. “Ms. Arlington, drop the gun,” Torres orders. “There’s no way out of here. You can either go down for kidnapping or you can go down for murder,” he encourages.
“I’m not going down for anything until this bitch is dead,” she growls, “she took my life, now I want hers.”
“Caroline,” Blade says softly as he appears from the side. She’s caught in his stare and it’s the only time her eyes leave me. “Caroline, you don’t want to do this. This is not who you are,” he slowly moves around and positions himself in front of me. My fear grows to new heights, now he’s in front of the gun and the one in danger.
“Stop!!!” she screams, “don’t take another step. If anyone moves, I’ll kill you both.” Blade stops in his tracks and throws of his hands as if she’s won.
“Caroline, it’s not Sheridan you want, it’s me,” he says.
“It’s always been you Blade, you’re all I ever wanted. I took care of you when we were on the streets and I watched you grow into an amazing man. A man that was supposed to be mine one day. I never worried about the other women that came in and out of your life, you never cared about them but she’s different,” tears begin to slide down her cheeks. “I see it in your eyes when you look at her and I hear it in your voice, every time you call her baby girl. I was supposed to be baby girl. ME!” she screams.
“We can still be together. All you have to do is let Sheridan go,” Blade replies.
“Do you think I’m that fucking stupid. As soon as I let her go, that’s it. They’ll arrest me and I’ll go to prison for the rest of my life.”
“No. Listen, it doesn’t have to be that way. You can let her go and take me hostage. I’ll have one of my helicopters waiting and we can go anywhere in the world that you want to.”
“You’re a fucking liar,” she screams as she pulls the hammer back on the revolver. Just as she pulls the trigger, I shove Blade out of the way. The shot rings out, the bullet strikes me and I begin falling. The pain is excoriating, I can’t catch my breath. I hear other shots and see Caroline going down before my head hits the concrete and I’m fading.
“Sheridan!” I hear Blade scream in terror and I feel his arms around me just before darkness consumes me.
CHAPTER 14
Dormant
Son of a bitch! I can’t handle this! I’m reeling from the pain. I want to scream but my body’s not listening to me. I feel like I’m in a tunnel with lots of strange sounds echoing through it. Where am I? What’s going on? “I love you with all my heart, Sheridan,” I hear Mother somewhere off in the distance. I love you too! I try but still nothing comes.
“Mr. Hawthorne, we don’t have time for this. You have to stay here. She’s critical and we have to get her to the OR immediately,” I hear a strange man’s voice barking at Blade. She’s critical? Who the hell is she? Is something wrong with Mother? I need to open my eyes, to get up and go to Mother. I try with everything in me but the darkness is coming again then I’m gone.
Blade
Sophia’s beside herself with fear. Carter holds her and does his best to bring her comfort. I know it’s not working because I have the same fear streaming through me. I’ve never been afraid of anything until Sheridan. I fear for her safety, I fear loving her and accepting her love and today I fear for her life. This is the sick, sadistic side of love and I don’t know how to handle it. I want to dominate it, the way I have most things in my life, but it seems to be stronger than I am.
This crazy, lovable, wonderfully fucked up woman took a bullet for me. She saved my life but my life isn’t worth living without her. Why did she do that?! Why the fuck didn’t she stay behind me?! I would give anything to go back and change so many things. She would know how much I love her. She would have never been alone that night. Caroline would have never gotten the chance to hurt her. How the hell did I let all of this shit happen?!
I have no idea how much time has passed but it feels like days, and there’s still no word from the doctors. As soon as Carter got my call, he rounded up a few of the best doctors in the country and flew them here. I know she’s getting the best care possible but the waiting is mind numbing. I keep replaying the events of the past few days over and over in my head and the fear rises to the point of choking me.
Donna and Styx come running into the waiting room in a flurry. Sophia had called them on her way to the airport and they had taken the next flight. Donna rushes over to hug Sophia and they both begin sobbing. Once they’ve regained control of themselves, Donna becomes very demanding about getting some answers from me. “What the hell happened, Blade? You were supposed to be taking care of her.” I try to explain about the fight with Sheridan, Bridgette and the pictures but the more I speak, the more anger I see in her eyes. Sophia doesn’t speak. As a matter of fact, she hasn’t spoken to me since she got here. I know she’s pissed and I don’t blame her.
As I continue with my lame ass excuses, the surgeon comes out of the OR. He’s sweaty, with worry lines etched in his brow. “The surgery was a success. We retrieved the bullet and repaired the lung but she’s still not out of the woods. Miss Stollings is going to have a long, hard recovery and she’s gonna have to fight to live. If we can get her through the next seventy two hours, she should be okay,” he explains.
“She’s a fi
ghter. She can do this!” Donna speaks up.
“I’m sure she can. As for the baby, everything seems fine right now but it’s so early that it’s hard to tell,” he continues. Sophia gasps and puts her hand over her mouth while everyone else stares in a state of shock.
Before I realize it, I have a grip on the doctor’s arm, “The baby? What baby?”
The doctor takes a deep breath, “Miss Stollings is pregnant but she may not have known. The hCG levels in her blood indicate that she’s probably just about a week into pregnancy.” I release the doctor’s arm, wander over to a chair and slump down in it. I’m abso-fucking-lutely stunned. A baby? My baby. Sweet Jesus!
I’m still lost in thought while Carter is thanking the doctor. I really should be doing the same but I feel like I’ve just had the wind knocked out of me. Donna and Sophia are holding each other and sobbing again. Styx takes the seat beside me, “How are you holding up, brother.” I just look at him because I can’t seem to find my voice. “That good, huh?” he frowns.
“Look man, I know you’re feeling guilty as hell. There’s no way you couldn’t be. Sis, is gonna be alright. She’s a fighter and she’s gonna kick ass. I don’t know everything that went down but I know she loves you and I know she’s gonna need you more now than ever. Don’t let her and this baby down, I mean it,” he gives his warning. I give him a confirming nod, he slaps me on the shoulder before he returns to Donna’s side.
He’s right, I have to get my shit together. I have to be everything I can for Sheridan and our baby. I shake the fog from my head and go over to join Carter and the doctor. I shake the doc’s hand, “Thank you so much for everything you’ve done. She’s my everything and you’ll never know how much I appreciate it.”
“You’re welcome, son. It’s going to take some time and lots of healing but she’s going to be fine,” he releases my hand.
“When can we see her?” I ask.
“She’s in recovery now so I’d say it will be an hour or two. I’ll make sure the nurse lets you know when she’s settled in a room and you can see her then.”
Broken In Pieces: Billionaire Stepbrother Romance (Wounded Hearts Book 1) Page 14