“Good, and I’m catching the next flight. Be there as soon as I can. I’ll let the Duluth guys know you’re in charge. They don’t do anything without your say.”
Zack disconnected and spoke the lodge’s number into his Bluetooth. After a couple of rings, a pleasant voice answered.
“Great Lakes Superior Lodge, may I help you?”
“Hazel?”
There was a momentary pause, then a hesitant response. “Yes, this is she. May I help you?”
“This is Zack Elliot. You remember, the one staying with Ms Winters?”
“Oh, yes, of course, Zack. Ms. Winters was in this noon for lunch.”
“Alone?”
“Why, yes, she mentioned that you’d gone back to your life in Chicago and she had to get on with hers. I believe those were her exact words.” She waited a heartbeat. “Not that I’m one to pry, but it seemed like you two seemed to hit it off, if you’re asking my opinion.”
Zack pressed his lips tight. He couldn’t let his emotions—however confusing about Kacey they might be—get in the way of the matter at hand. He had to think like this Cliff character… what would he do? Would he skulk in the woods till dark, or would he be waiting in the cabin, hiding somewhere until she was more vulnerable? Either scenario made his blood curdle. “Hazel. Listen, what time did she leave?”
“Oh, I don’t know. She was here, maybe an hour. Sauntered around in the gift shop. I didn’t see exactly when she left. Is everything all right? Did you two have some kind of fight?”
“No, nothing like that, but I do need your help. I need you to get word to your manager that no staff is to go near Ms. Winters’ cabin—not for any reason.”
“Is she in trouble, Mr. Elliot?”
“Let’s hope for the best. I’m on my way back. Duluth authorities have been notified. They’re on their way. Can you possibly try ringing me through to Ms. Winters’ house?”
“Yes, sir. There is one thing--I hadn’t thought much about it until now. I did notice her talking to a man. It seemed as though they knew each other, but as I said, I was called away from the desk and didn’t see her leave.”
“Okay, thank you. You’ve been very helpful. If you should happen to see Ms. Winters before I reach her, will you tell her I’m on my way back?”
“Certainly, Mr. Elliot. Are you sure you wouldn’t like to send one of our staff down to check on her?”
Zack didn’t need to have anyone setting off alarms or possibly getting hurt. “Let’s just sit tight until I get there. No sense in stirring up confusion if there isn’t a real concern.”
“Very well. Please hold. I’ll connect you to her house.”
Zack eyed the road, his heart tight in his chest as he waited through several rings. It’s possible she was working and refused to answer the phone. He waited out two more rings, frustrated that the woman hadn’t gotten at least an answering machine. Finally, he hung up and, gripping the wheel, pressed his foot on the gas.
***
Kacey sat motionless. She’d been listening to the angry man’s rant for more than an hour. She’d recognized Cliff Bartholomew in the gift shop, surprised to see him there, and had joked that she’d just sent a book with her friend to drop off for him at the airport. He’d followed her out, chatting amiably that he was parked just outside, and that he often came up to the shop to buy unique gifts for his niece who lived in L.A. That’s when she felt a poke in her side. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and told her he’d shoot her if she didn’t do exactly as she was told.
She shifted in the chair where he’d ordered her to sit. Tucked in the corner of the living room, Kacey watched him rummage through the kitchen cabinets and drawers, tossing things on the counter. He was clearly nervous. Possibly on something, but she wasn’t about to make any brave moves until she was sure she’d come out the victor. So she’d been sitting quietly, listening to him explain how he’d always been her greatest fan. How he’d bought every one of her books, “full price,” he’d added, in hardback, audio, and then in paper when it released. He’d even built a special room with ceiling-to-floor bookcases, one wall devoted to her press releases and appearances. And a year ago he’d asked her for an autograph, he reminded her. “But you didn’t have time. You were in such a high and mighty hurry,” he growled, standing over her brandishing his gun.
“But I did, I do remember. I was probably under a lot of pressure with a deadline. I’m terribly sorry.” He didn’t know just how much.
“Or meeting someone else.” His gaze narrowed and she noted his jaw twitch under the strain. “Yeah, probably meeting him up here like some tramp. You should have known. You should have known.” He pressed his fists against his temples, anguish etched on his face.
Kacey searched her mind, trying to find a way to get him to put down the gun and talk. “I’m sorry, what is it I should have known? Tell me what I missed?”
He straightened, his expression sobering, and then madness washed over his features. He stared at her as though she had two heads. “What, you ask? You don’t know?” His voice was tinged with panic.
She held up her hands and attempted to calm him. “You’re right, absolutely. How could I have been so stupid?”
He nodded and dropped the gun to his side.
Kacey forced a smile past her fear. “Maybe we could start over. You know, a clean slate. Only this time you can tell me how I can treat you better. I’m sure it would improve my writing to have your help, your understanding.”
His gaze held hers. So forlorn and lost. He shook his head. “I’ve always supported you.”
Leaning forward, she inched her hand toward his. Maybe he’d relinquish the gun to her if she could just convince him to talk. “I know, and I’m so sorry I didn’t pay close enough attention to you.” She swallowed hard as she began to ease from the chair. “Why don’t you put the gun down so we can talk as friends… good friends.”
His gaze snapped to hers, his eyes blazing. “You whore! You lyin’ whore! You think I’m stupid? You think I don’t know what’s going on up here every summer? I’ve stood outside that window every night, watching you flirt with the guys who work here.”
“You’ve spied on me?” Kacey’s knees turned to jelly and she had to sit.
His laugh was sarcastic. “Sometimes for hours in the rain. But you didn’t care. You paraded around in your lingerie, drinking wine, never bothering to close the shades.”
Bile rose in her throat. There were so many things she would change if she made it out of this alive.
“Then I’d read your books and I thought, yeah, that’s what it’d be like if we were together.” He reached out and slid the barrel of the gun softly down her cheek. “Only it’d be even better than in your books.”
She blinked, barely able to catch her breath. What did this maniac have in mind? She attempted to reason with him. “You understand that my writing is just fiction. They aren’t real, certainly not my experiences. They’re just fantasies.”
“You stole my fantasies, K.C, and made them public. Don’t you see that you put our life out there for everyone to see?” He frowned at her, his expression pleading with her to understand.
Kacey shook her head. “I had no idea that was how you felt.”
His face crumpled in despair, his voice breaking. “That’s why I have to fix it. The letters didn’t stop you. I thought maybe they would.”
Kacey felt him slipping away from reality and made one last stab at reason. “Listen, what if I didn’t write about us anymore? That would fix things, right?”
Sadness tinged his smile as he knelt before her and rested the gun on his shoulder. “It’s too late. Everyone at work, all my friends, they think we live this happy life. But then they started asking questions, making fun of your books, teasing me about being your research.” He leaned close, searching her face. “They couldn’t see what we had. They didn’t see how special it was. All they saw was the perverted way the scenes played out in your books. It made
me angry, baby. Real angry that you’d taint what we had together in that way.”
Kacey held her breath as he cupped her cheek and nuzzled her neck. She had to think of a way out of this. The phone had rung ages ago, it seemed, but he’d not let her answer. Whoever had called probably thought she was out for a walk or writing. Her flesh was crawling and she tried not to cringe when she asked, “Do you really care about me?”
He leaned back, his eyes intent on hers. The corner of his mouth lifted in a half-smile. “I did… once. Now I know you’re a fake. Those women in your books are just like you. Playing the hero until you get what you want from him. Nothing more.”
The tears clogging her throat gave way to the anger rising inside her. She kicked him in the shin, sending him sprawling backwards to the floor.
“Freeze, put the gun down.”
The voice startled Kacey and her captor. As he struggled to aim the gun, she leapt up and tackled him with the afghan. An explosion went off and she screamed at the sound of shattering glass. Her left cheek throbbed with a searing pain.
“Kacey? Kacey, are you hurt?”
She was lifted from the tangle of limbs and fabric and drawn into Zack’s protective embrace. Several strange men scrambled around them to get the gunman. Groans came from beneath the blanket.
Zack drew her into the kitchen, away from the chaos. She glanced up to see Cliff being cuffed and having his rights read to him. “Did his gun go off?” She winced as she spoke, touching her cheek.
Zack lifted her chin, turning her head to the side. “Looks like a bad scrape, just needs some--”
“Ice,” they both said at the same time.
“I love that blanket,” he said, looking into her eyes.
They escorted Cliff away, head down and as he passed, he glanced at her, then Zack. “She’ll break your heart, man.”
“Get him outta here,” Zack ordered and pulled Kacey close.
Another man entered the cabin, he waited, watching as the entourage left with the suspect. Dressed in police blues, he had the look of one in authority. After a quick scan of the room, he stopped in front of them. “I’m going to need a statement from each of you.”
Zack nodded. “I have been just outside the patio door. I can verify Ms. Winters’ statement.”
The chief nodded. “I’ll come back in a few minutes. I want to make sure this guy is on his way to Duluth.” He eyed Kacey’s wound. “Did that guy do that?”
Kacey smiled, though she felt weak in the aftermath. “No, during my futile attempt at bravery--”
“She’s a klutz,” Zack interjected.
“We could get a medic to look at it,” the man offered.
“I’ll take care of it,” Zack responded, already rummaging for ice.
The chief’s mouth curled at one side. “Good enough. See you in a few minutes.”
“Take your time,” Zack returned as he gently dabbed her face with a dish towel, then wrapped an ice cube in it and handed it to her. She felt woozy all of a sudden and Zack caught her by the shoulders.
“You’re shaking.” He pulled her close, wrapping her in the warmth of his body. “It’s okay, baby. It’s over.”
She curled into him, wrapping her arms around his waist and squeezed her eyes shut. How would she ever write again? She was terrified. “Zack,” she said hesitantly, unsure of herself, her future. “I’m scared.”
“Of course you are. You’ve just been through a frightening experience.” He stroked the back of her head.
“It’s not only that. What if I can’t… what if my writing has affected others like this?”
He leaned back and searched her face. “Sweetheart, you’re going to have to deal with the same thing every person in the entertainment industry has to deal with.” He kissed the top of her head and looked down at her. Warmth stirred again in her limbs as he ran his hands down her arms. “What I mean, Kacey, is there’s always going to be people out there like Cliff. You can’t control that. No one can. But for every Cliff, there are a dozen others for whom your writing brings happiness and enjoyment. Those are the fans you need to focus on.”
The knot in her stomach began to ease. Of course, he was right. Deep down, she knew it, but the experience of the last few hours, facing down her crazed stalker, was raw yet. “Zack, if you hadn’t shown up when you did, if you hadn’t been here….” A sob choked from her throat, and she shook her head, unable to think of what might have happened.
Zack wrapped his arms around her. “It’s okay, I’m here. I promise you’re going to be fine. I’ve never met a woman with your kind of courage. You’ll find a way to get through this, but you won’t let it stop you from doing what you love.”
Sniffing back her tears, she realized he’d been through a similar experience, more than once in his life. “You would know firsthand, wouldn’t you, about putting the past behind you and moving on?”
He wiped away her tears with the pad of his thumb. “Yeah, I guess so. The thing is, if I hadn’t done that, if I’d quit, given up, not tried… I’d have never met you.”
Kacey searched those gorgeous green eyes.
What happened? Her muse awoke from a groggy state, enticed, no doubt, by that sexy gaze.
Kacey looked away, unsure whether to rely on her emotions. It was clear she had feelings that ran deeper than she understood yet--but was it true, or simply the post-traumatic stress hero syndrome? He was, after all, her knight in shining armor and sex-on-a-stick to boot. Who wouldn’t be smitten?
Whoa, Nellie! Wait a minute for me to catch up, her muse interjected.
“You know,” Zack said, brushing his knuckles softly down her cheek, “when you look at me like that, it makes me want to….”
She sighed, cuddling closer, and let her lids flutter shut. The anticipation of his sensuous mouth, his taste, all but drugged her senses. A familiar tingling started at her knees before sliding slowly up her thighs to warm her all over. She waited breathless for his kiss.
“Dammit.”
What? Now, wait a minute. I was prepared for definite physical contact here!
Kacey opened her eyes and found Zack looking over her shoulder.
This better be good, her muse huffed.
“This better be good,” she muttered, following his disgruntled gaze.
“That asshat destroyed your flat screen.”
Kacey sighed.
Seriously? Her frustrated muse barked in her brain.
“Zack.” Kacey grabbed his face, directing his now-puckered lips to hers. “You were saying?”
A wicked boyish grin prefaced his hands as he reached up to take hold of hers. “There’s my girl.”
“Really? You did that just to make me think that you weren’t thinking about--”
“This?”
He lowered his mouth to hers, slowly turning her bones to ash. Not even her muse had time to react. His hands slid to her hips, drawing her against him as his mouth found the sensitive spot behind her ear. A spot that she hadn’t known she had before….
Oh, this is good, this is very good, her muse sighed.
“You know,” he whispered, “there are a lot of crazies out there, and I figure maybe you need someone to hang around….” He worked at the buttons on her shirt. “And make sure the crazies are held at bay.”
Yes! Her muse punched a fist into the air.
“Did you have someone in mind for the job?” She wound her arms around his neck and nipped at his mouth until he relinquished his work on her blouse and focused on her lips. The intensity of the kiss stunned even her muse.
Damn, girl!
He lifted her to the kitchen counter, and she wound her arms around his neck as she searched his smoldering gaze.
“Listen, I’m not sure you feel the same, but something has happened here, Kacey. Maybe it’s too soon. I’m willing to step back if you want and give it more time, but I’ve seen enough in my life to know when something is too good to pass up. And this—you and me—whatever it is, n
eeds a chance, deserves a chance.” He leaned his forehead to hers. “Am I nuts to think that you might feel the same?”
She smiled. Her muse was in a full-blown happy dance mode.
“Maybe we’re both nuts.” She hugged his neck tighter.
His eyes held hers, lifting his brow with a wicked look. His eyes glittered when he grinned. “I’m nuts about you.”
“That’s so cliché’” Kacey chuckled.
“Call it what you want. I’m a sucker for a woman who can hold her own with an oar. Call me weak.”
She held his face between her hands, realizing that she wanted to see it every morning for the rest of her days. “You are anything but weak, Zack Elliott. Annoying, maybe, but not--”
“Please continue, this is turning me on.” He stepped between her thighs, hooking his arms around her.
She grinned. “Did I mention sexy?”
He kissed her then, obliterating all other thought. Peeling away the top of her blouse, he exposed one shoulder.
“Sexy,” he muttered, pressing his hot lips against her cool flesh.
As much as it killed her to do so, she touched his chin, lifting his gaze to meet hers. “Let’s be clear. I don’t want you to confuse reality with fantasy.”
His brows rose and he stepped back. Amusement shone in his beautiful eyes.
Well, that seems annoying. Her muse was not, well, amused.
“Why are you laughing?” Kacey adjusted her blouse and crossed her arms defiantly.
His sexy-as-hell smile made her want to smack him or jump his bones—she wasn’t sure which.
He cupped her face and studied her eyes. “Sweetheart, I’m not looking for a fantasy, not expecting one. You want to know what I want, what I see?”
She chewed the corner of her lip, unsure she was ready for a Zackified dose of reality. Then curiosity, as always, got to her. She nodded.
“I love the way you look with no makeup after you’ve been up all night writing.”
Is he kidding? Her muse jabbed her brain.
“Shut up,” she quietly scolded her muse.
“Okay.” He shrugged.
“No, go on… I mean, never mind. Just continue.” Kacey nodded.
Stranger in Paradise Page 9