As soon as Tammy got her breath back, not taking her eyes off the diamond ring, she exclaimed, "It's true what's all over the internet then, you're to be the future Mrs King. The most sought-after bachelor in Hollywood is finally getting hitched and you, my girl, are one lucky lady!"
I just sat there smiling in answer, like an authentic Cheshire cat. If I could've purred I would have.
We drove straight down into Kent. I wanted to sort out financial and non-financial matters there first, before returning to London to dredge up all the stuff that I'd hoarded over the last eighteen months or so in my flat in Streatham. Oddly enough, despite the offensively loud street the flat was situated in, I felt somewhat sad at the idea of leaving it all behind. Not so much the rowdy mobs that seemed to parade down the high street at all hours, but for the comfy anonymity that I'd leave behind by starting a new life as the wife (why did that word give me give me goose bumps?) of a superstar.
As we approached the dream cottage that I'd purchased, in all honesty with a bit too much zeal instead of thinking things through a little, I braced myself for my confrontation with Vivien. Despite her good intentions of putting her fixation with Lionel behind her, I wasn't sure how she would have taken the news that he was to finally marry – and that I was the lady in question.
The cottage appeared remarkably quiet on our arrival. There was no van parked. Furthermore, I'd been convinced that Vivien would've been through the front door the moment she'd heard Tammy's car pull up, demanding to know if the rumours about Lionel and me were true. The flashing engagement ring was, of course, the solid proof, and I'd prepared myself for her probable swipe for it. As I emerged from the car, however, it became clear that no one was home. I scolded myself for not having phoned or texted Robbie to inform him of my arrival. It had been very foolish of me as I realised that if neither Robbie nor Vivien were about it would also be impossible to enter the cottage, and I wasn't going to stand on Tammy's shoulders three weeks before my wedding in another attempt to scramble into the place. Tammy wouldn't have held under my weight in any case.
"Stay here for a minute, I'm just going around the back in case the kitchen door is open." Deep down I knew I was wasting my time in checking to see if I would find the kitchen door unlocked, but I'd fancied a quick scamper into the back garden, in a token gesture of farewell, before I went ahead and offered the house to Robbie.
Scarcely had I pressed my face up against the glass door that opened into the kitchen when I heard a shrill, piercing scream of terror. I thumped my head against the windowpane from shock. The cry for help, at least that’s how I interpreted it, sounded like it had come from the horse barn at the back of the garden. Without giving it a second thought, I raced down the garden path as fast as I could, not blind to the fact, as I dashed along, that this was probably not the wisest or safest course of action. Instead of pausing to suss out the possible dangers, I just charged headfirst into the danger zone. The truth is I'd been spurred on because I was convinced that the voice that had screamed out in such terror was Vivien's, and I was worried about her in an almost motherly kind of way. Anyway, if it was Vivien shrieking away, the probability was that a field mouse had just run in front of her. Though I was a born and bred city girl, I figured I could handle a field mouse.
The barn was dark. I'd never actually got to see the barn before, and it was much larger than I'd imagined, and, in addition, in a much worse state. The grass on this far side of the garden was high and uncut, and I stumbled a couple of times in my haste to reach the building. The thatched roof had fallen in and the oak door hung off its hinges. I took all this in as I reached the open doorway. Then I saw Vivien's long blonde hair spread out on the floor. She was lying face down and completely still. It was the first time caution seriously entered my mind. I remained still for a brief second, trying to suppress my heavy breathing and slow my thundering heart in attempt to detect other noises which would alert me to additional danger.
Everything was silent. Even the birds seemed to have hushed their sweet melodies. I inched my way forward towards Vivien's motionless figure. At a distance, it was hard to tell to see if she was breathing or not. There was no sight of blood, which I took as a positive sign. Finally by her side, I bent over her to check her pulse – and just as I did so a shadow fell across me, blocking out the light from the half-open, broken doorway.
"Shit!" I hissed to myself in pure reflex. But before I had a chance to move, some tremendously heavy object crashed down on my head.
***
It was pitch black when I came around. I had no notion of time, except that I was aware that it must have been well into the night. I could see the moon high in the sky peeking through the clouds, and the floor was icy cold. I was shivering uncontrollably and my whole body ached. I slowly got to my feet, trying to do so without jerking and without making any sudden movements to my aching head. I felt sick and giddy and had to close my eyes a while in an attempt to fight off the wave of nausea that engulfed my whole body. I leaned against the damp wall for support, trying to get my bearings. I was abruptly alerted by something moving close by me, and on catching sight of Vivien's long blonde hair I recalled precisely where I was.
I got down by her side and helped her to sit up. As she turned to look at me, her look of puzzlement turned to fright as she recalled what had happened. She had a huge purple lump on her forehead, which looked as painful as mine felt. It crossed my mind to remark that she looked just like I had after she'd bunged her hefty handbag at me during the cast party, but I realised that this was no laughing matter. We were both in deadly danger.
"How long have we been here?" she asked in a hushed, hoarse whisper.
I shrugged my shoulders, for I had no idea. I wondered why Tammy hadn't gone for help or attempted to find me. She must have been alarmed by my disappearance. It suddenly struck me that something could well have happened to her, too. I began to feel sick again, this time with worry. I'd never forgive myself if she'd come to harm. Deep down I knew that I was the target of the attacker, and that Vivien and Tammy (if she'd also been injured) were just innocent victims who'd simply been in the wrong place at the wrong time.
"Where's Robbie?" I asked Vivien. It was hard to imagine that he'd go to such violent extremes just to get his hands on the house. I couldn't believe that he could be so brutal.
It was Vivien's turn to shrug her shoulders. "He left the house first thing in the morning to go horse riding as he's done every morning this week. He's only usually gone an hour or so, but today he just seemed to take forever. By the time it was early afternoon I was so worried for him I went along the lanes in the hope of seeing him, thinking that something must have happened to him and that he was in need of help. After walking around for about an hour I wandered down here to the barn in the hope of seeing him, or at least his horse, which he keeps in the far stall. I'd just got through the door when someone jumped me from behind. I was so shocked that I didn't even have time to react. I tried to struggle and I must have screamed really loud because the guy seemed to panic and hit out at me. I remember tripping over and must've hit my head against the wall and passed out. I can't remember anything else."
"Did the guy look familiar?"
"There was something that seemed familiar, but I can't say what. Anyway, it was dark here in the barn and the guy's face was masked under a big hooded anorak."
"Well I doubt he's still here now. We've both been lying here for ages. We should try to get out and go to the police."
As I said these words, I noticed that the oak door had been closed. And on pushing it, it became clear that it wasn't going to budge. The attacker had obviously rammed something into the other side of the door to keep it closed. It looked like the only way out was to climb up and through the half-ruined thatched roof.
Together Vivien and I piled up several bundles of hay, which we found stacked at one side of the barn. Having constructed a sort of pyramid I volunteered to climb up and over. Vivien in her high-h
eeled totally non-practical fashion boots wouldn't have got very far in any case. After an unsure start, I soon sat perched on what was left of the barn roof. The drop to the ground looked rather dicey, and I really didn't fancy breaking my legs with a nutty attacker on the loose. There was a sturdy chestnut tree opposite, which looked safe enough to climb down, but it seemed too far away to reach.
"Vivien," I called down, "see if you can find some rope somewhere in the barn."
She scuttled off to rummage around and a few minutes later she returned with three lengths of sturdy rope.
"That’s great. Tie them together in a long line and fasten the far end to the iron bars on the window, then throw the other end up to me."
And, by God, tie them in a decent knot, or else I'll drop like a stone.
It took Vivien three attempts to successfully throw the loose end of rope high enough for me to catch as I wobbled precariously on my perch. My thumping headache wasn't any help, and I kept getting spasms of dizziness. I swung the rope over the outer wall of the barn. Without looking down (for I was a good five metres up) I grabbed the rope, worked myself off the barn roof and abseiled down the wall. As I slowly made my way down I kept saying to myself, over and over, that if I actually made it to my wedding day in one piece I would ask Lionel to take me on a really relaxing, stress-free honeymoon, to some remote corner of the planet where nothing would be required of me except to eat, drink, sleep, and have incredible sex. In fact, at this moment, just a few hours of peace and quiet anywhere would've made me more than content.
I jumped the last metre to the safety of the soft ground below and hastened over to the door of the barn. It had been tied and kept in place by a thick piece of cord, similar to the rope I'd used to make my descent. With shaking hands I fumbled with the knot to untie it. My fingers were numb and it was hard work to loosen. Finally it came undone and Vivien pushed the door open with one mighty shove. Finding herself outside the barn and safe, she pretty much fell into my arms out of sheer relief and gratitude.
Hand-in-hand like two petrified kids escaping the headmistress, we sprinted across the garden, which was quite an achievement considering Vivien's slinky-kinky footwear. Halfway across the lawn, I stopped dead in my tracks at the sight of a dark figure lying motionless on the ground like a broken doll. Vivien, who had been running blindly at my side, her hand still in mine, continued her forward charge and almost wrenched my shoulder out of its socket in her frenzied stampede across the turf.
"It's Tammy!" I cried as I broke from Vivien's grip and tore over to my best friend's immobile body. I got down at Tammy's side and rolled her over. She felt icy cold and I had to fight back the fresh waves of nausea and panic that shook my body at the thought that she might be dead. She showed no signs of physical injury, no signs of bruising from being bashed to the ground as Vivien and I had, but it took me a while to find her pulse, and her breathing was alarmingly shallow.
"I'm going to kill the fucking bastard who did this," I hissed out loud as the image of Robbie flashed in my mind. He had to be the one behind these acts of terror. Just as I spat out my words of vengeance, a fourth person unexpectedly appeared at our side.
"Thank God you girls are alright. We've just caught the guy who’s been behind all this."
The voice was unmistakeable, and I'd either been terribly wrong about my suspicions, or it was his way of hoaxing us further. For the person who spoke was no other than Robbie himself.
Without thinking twice, I charged at him like an enraged rhinoceros.
"I'm going to kill you, you son of a bitch!" I screamed at the top of my lungs as I dived into him. Robbie, caught off guard, toppled over backwards and I landed on top of him. I started fisting him in the chest, though I was too exhausted by everything that happened in such a short period of time to cause him any harm. Nevertheless, I must have looked like some possessed nutter as I feebly kept on battering him.
I would have liked to be able to blame my odd behaviour on the fact that my mind was still pounding frenziedly in my skull, on the fact that my first evening back in the UK had been spent knocked out cold on the barn floor, on the fact that my best friend Tammy seemed more dead than alive. The truth is, however, I’d just lost it!
Robbie put his strong arms around me and held me to him, stilling my slashing fists, holding me in his warm embrace until my breathing eased. Tears of frustration and utter exhaustion started to fall down my face, tears which he tenderly wiped away, caressing my face as if caressing a lover. I lay still, on top of him, and looked into his eyes, which in the night-light reflected dark sapphire. It was the first time I read the desire flashing back at me; burning desire, which left me shaking once again.
I struggled to untangle myself from his arms. I needed to put space between Robbie and myself; not because I was afraid of him (at least, not in the same way as I'd been when I suspected he was behind the threats), but because I felt guilty that I'd totally misinterpreted his actions. It also frightened me to think that a part of me was longing to cling to him, to feel his protective arms around me, to have him in my life in a way that I could never have Lionel. A very big part of Lionel belonged to his hundreds and thousands of fans.
I now believed Robbie when he said that the person behind the menacing notes and the dreadful attacks had finally been caught. Obviously it wasn't him, and I also realised that a mighty apology was called for. This was not the moment for explanations, however, as I suddenly caught sight of Tammy stirring on the ground and I rushed to her side. Robbie and I got her to her feet and half-carried her indoors.
As we entered the sitting room, Tammy almost fell from my arms as I suddenly stopped, paralysed to the spot. Before me, tied with his arms behind a chair and with Ray standing guard, was the author of the poison-pen cut-out messages and the frightening silent phone calls, the one who had caused such misery and confusion and misunderstanding. The person who had hurt Vivien and me and had almost killed Tammy.
I could hear Vivien gasp behind me on seeing who it was, and I took it that she also recognised him.
It was the man who I'd blindly driven my luggage trolley into all those weeks ago when he'd picked me up from the airport in LA the first time I'd flown over. His fancy uniform was gone, but there was no mistaking him. It was the man I knocked into at the supermarket the day it had been chucking down with rain, and had sent his baked bean tins flying. It was no wonder he didn't stop to retrieve them.
It came to me with shocking clarity. If Lionel's personal chauffer had been doing all these terrible things to drive me away from England and the cottage and back to the States, the hand which was ultimately behind everything could only be Lionel's. He was deranged, mad, loco with his looney obsession with 'Chantelle Rose.' ME! In his desperation to keep me, he'd almost killed me. I was numb with shock.
It was Vivien who broke the silence that had engulfed the room. "John!" she exclaimed, "are you okay? Untie him at once," she demanded.
Ray looked at me for guidance and slowly I nodded my head.
"It's okay Ray, you can untie him."
"Shouldn't we phone the police first?" Ray asked.
I shook my head. "There's no point. He's not the one really behind the threats, are you John?"
Although I asked the question, I really didn’t want to hear the answer. I had no desire for him to confirm my realisation that my beloved Lionel could go to such extreme lengths to get his way.
I sunk into one of the sofas that furnished the newly-decorated sitting room. John had almost killed Tammy by leaving her out on the freezing ground. For this I would never forgive him, or Lionel for that matter. He'd not been directly behind that night's terror, but it had been an indirect result of his orders.
As if reading my mind, John turned to me as he spoke. "It hadn't been my intention to hurt you, Miss, but I got scared out there in the barn. I was worried that young Miss Vivien would recognise me. I only gave her a slight push so as to distract her, but then you appeared and things got a
little out of control. I didn't touch your friend though; she fainted flat out when she saw me run from the back of the garden. I ran off, I know it was wrong, and wondered around for hours trying to figure out what I do. I waited till it was dark and then came back to see if the young Miss was okay and had let you out. When I saw her still lying on the ground I thought the worst; maybe she'd had a heart attack or something. I did plan to call for help, but that was when I was detained by these young gentlemen here and I was too scared to confess anything more…"
His declaration petered out. I wasn't totally following all he was saying in any case. My mind was miles away as I sat silently on the soft settee, and my heart felt like someone was wrenching it out of my very body. If Lionel was capable of organising something like this, what else would he be capable of? I couldn't believe that such a caring, considerate and loving person could be behind such dreadful, calculating actions. But what else could I believe?
"Get out of here," I hissed with intense venom. "If you're not on the next flight to LA, I'll be calling the police."
Chapter Twenty-Five
Tammy remained in hospital under observation and I remained at her side, together with Ray, and Tammy's parents who had been quick to arrive, praying for her recovery. With all the praying I was doing of late, I was on the verge of turning into a born-again Christian. I kept the notion at arm's length. I guessed if things turned really rough I could try my hand at being a nun, though I doubted if the assets I had were quite what the Church was looking for. I remained strictly at Tammy's side. I couldn't wander around the hospital in any case, as every time I did I ended up with flocks of people following me or gawping at me in wonder, for I was still, officially, Lionel's fiancée. However, instead of feeling ecstatic at the notion of being the future Mrs King, as I had been at the start, I was now engulfed by a torment of suffering, as if the person I loved most in the world had died and my heart felt literally broken in two.
A Little of Chantelle Rose Page 22