Cat 'N Mouse

by Yvonne Harriott

  “Princess…”

  “Don’t ever call me that again!”

  She turned from the door. Sam knew what she was going to do. Run. She couldn’t run and hide. She had to stop running. Tonight it stopped.

  “No, Alexandria,” Sam said, his voice stern. She had made it into the entry hallway before she stopped and turned to look at him. “You need to stand up to him. I won’t let him hurt you anymore.”

  It seemed that was all the encouragement she needed for she turned slowly to face her father.

  “Why, Daddy? Why would you do this to me?”

  “Because I didn’t want to lose you like I did your mother. After your mother had you she wanted to go back to her ex-husband. I wouldn’t let her because she belonged to me.”

  “She was your wife, not your property,” Sam said disgusted.

  “She became mine when she agreed to marry me. When I wouldn’t give her a divorce she started drinking and the pills followed. That was her doing.”

  “I remember now,” Alexandria said.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Alexandria grabbed onto the door for support. She awoke from her nightmare only to walk into another. She stared at her father and he seemed to age right in front of her eyes. She saw the wrinkles in his tanned face for the first time. His hands trembled. How could he have done this?

  Maybe she was still asleep, she kept telling herself. No. She was wide awake listening to her father doing what he did best. He had an explanation for everything.

  “The night of the accident when I came home, Sienna was drunk as usual. She said she was leaving and taking you with her. She was on her way to your room with the car keys in her hand. I told her she could go ahead and kill herself if she wanted to, but you were staying with me.”

  “She was my mother.” Alexandria looked at her father. Hate rose up in her. “You killed her.”

  “No, Princess. She started toward your room and I grabbed her hand to stop her. She was drunk and started to hit me. I told her we were through. She picked up the vase we fought. I pulled it from her hands and…she lost her balance, tumbling over the banister. I didn’t want a scandal. That’s why I had it covered up. I couldn’t let you remember it. I couldn’t lose you too. Her death was an accident, Alexandria, I swear.”

  Everything about that night that was locked away in her mind all those years overwhelmed her. She heard the vase crash to the floor. Memories flooded her mind like water breaking through a dam. She remembered her father shouting at someone, her mother lying on the floor, the police.

  Mimi had rushed into her bedroom and had given her something to drink to calm her down. Alexandria couldn’t remember anything after that because she was too tired. She had thought it was a dream, but when she’d awaken the next day, her mother was dead.

  She let the ramifications of what her father told her sink in and how far he’d gone to cover up the lies she’d lived with all those years.

  “You tried to kill us that night on our way back from Robyn’s house.”

  “No! That got out of hand. I’d called it off before then. Edward wouldn’t listen to me.”

  “How could you, Matt? You knew about it and you went along with it. What was that all about on the balcony at the gala? When you kissed me, was that your attempt to make me forget?”

  “Matt wanted no part of it.”

  “But he was a part of it, Daddy,” she screamed, holding on to her head. She felt like it was about to explode “He knew about it.”

  The room fell silent and all eyes were on her. Her life had fallen apart and she didn’t know how to put it back together again. Everyone who’d meant anything to her was in the office. They’d lied to her. Sam? She faced Sam.

  “You knew about it too.”

  “I found out about your mother this morning.”

  The facade that she had in place to protect her from hurt had been torn away. She didn’t know what to do next.

  “Sweet pea.” Mimi held out her hand but Alexandria moved out of her reach, shaking her head.

  “You kept telling me that my nightmares weren’t real. You knew they were. Why, Mimi?”

  “I realize emotions are running high right now,” Sam said. “But we need to focus. Cain is dead, Prescott. Who else is involved in this?”

  “I knew you would be a problem.” Colt appeared at the office door, pointing a gun at Sam. His shirt and pants clung to him. His hair plastered against his forehead, water dripping down his face.

  “Colt? No,” Alexandria said backing into the room. The final shred of sanity that she held onto disintegrated. Colt used to be her bodyguard. Why? She didn’t have to wait long to find out.

  “You just don’t get it, do you, Princess? I’ve put up with your whining and have nearly gotten myself killed just trying to keep you safe all these years.” He pushed the back of his hand under his nose and sniffled. “You don’t even know I exist. Then he comes along and you jump into bed with him, an ex-junkie. You really know how to pick them, don’t you, Princess?”

  “Put the gun down, Colt,” Sam said, moving slowly toward Alexandria. He was trying to get between her and Colt. “It doesn’t have to go down like this.”

  “For God’s sake, Colt,” Prescott said, dismissing the man with a wave of his hand. “You’re not going to shoot anybody.”

  Prescott turned his back to Colt and the blast from the gun echoed in the office. Alexandria screamed when her father fell against his desk, clutching the furniture, sliding to the floor. She didn’t know where he was shot. All she saw was blood.

  Her mother’s blood.

  Her father’s blood.

  Blood on the walls.

  “I guess you’re wrong,” Colt sneered. “I’m tired of your orders and cleaning up your mess. I’m going to take the one thing from you that matters.”

  Colt pulled Alexandria against him. Sweat and alcohol assaulted her senses. She remembered the scent from the hotel washroom.

  “It was you at the hotel in the washroom.”

  “She’s coming with me.”

  “No,” Sam said, fear crept into his voice. “Don’t do this. If you hated working for Prescott, why didn’t you just quit?”

  “Because nobody quits working for Prescott. He has something on everyone. That’s how he maintains your loyalty. Isn’t that right, Princess?”

  She tried to pull away from him and he tightened his arm around her waist.

  “Come on, Colt, we’ve known each other a long time,” Matt said advancing toward him. “You don’t want this kind of trouble.”

  “If you come any closer, the next bullet has your name on it, Matt. Do you really want to die for him?” He pointed the gun toward Prescott on the floor. “Is he really worth dying for?”

  “What are you going to do, kill us all?” Sam asked, stopping Matt with a hand on his shoulder from moving any closer to Colt.

  “No. Just the Princess,” Colt said, pulling Alexandria by her hair out the door.

  • • •

  Alexandria’s scream was like a knife through Sam’s heart. He charged toward the door when Colt slammed it shut and heard a loud crash. When he opened the door, the enormous grandfather clock in the entry hall blocked the door. He turned around and his gaze fell to the door leading out to the patio and he raced toward it.

  “Take care of Prescott,” he told Matt. “Mimi, call the police.”

  “No police, please,” Prescott said in a weak voice. “Colt won’t hurt her. It’s me he hates.”

  “I believe you said he wouldn’t shoot anyone and you’re bleeding out on the rug. Call the police, Mimi,” Sam said in a firm voice. “It’s a big estate. Where would he go, Prescott?”

  “The boathouse. Turn right when you exit the patio doors and follow the path across the lawn.”

  Sam drew the curtains back. The doors were blocked with the heavy iron patio furniture, all stacked against each other leaning against the glass on the outside. Picking up Prescott’s chair from behi
nd the desk, Sam threw it at the picture window by the bookshelves. The glass shattered and he jumped out the window.

  The perimeter lights were off and he could barely see his hand in front of his face. A lone light, about fifty yards away, shone through the dark and he raced toward it, his shoes sinking in the grass.

  The rain beat down on Sam as he sprinted across the grass, trying not to think about Colt’s last words. Prescott knew Colt and said he wouldn’t hurt Alexandria yet he’d just put a slug in his employer’s back.

  Sam ran faster, praying that he wasn’t too late. He loved Alexandria and wanted her to know it. It didn’t matter to him if she was Prescott’s daughter or she had more money than God. He wanted to be with her and would work ten jobs if he had to. He just wanted to…

  Sam slowed his pace as he reached the boathouse. When he heard voices, he ducked behind a tree about, four yards away from the boathouse.

  “Colt, please don’t do this?”

  “Now you say please.” Colt’s laughter was harsh. “For years I’ve cleaned up your mess. What a mess they were? Damien got a girl pregnant while you two were together. I was asked to remove him from your life. The minute he got back into town you run to him.”

  “I didn’t know.”

  “You don’t know anything. You’re a fool. Edward was the bigger fool for thinking you would love him”

  “Why did you kill Edward?”

  “Cain got greedy. He was just supposed to scare you and back off. But what did you do? You invited him into your apartment and led him on. No wonder he got fixated on you. He has a history of stalking women.”

  “I don’t believe you.”

  “I think you do. After he told me about you and O’Malley, I knew he was going to do something stupid. I couldn’t trust him to keep his mouth shut. He gave me the perfect opportunity to get rid of him.”

  “You’re never going to get away with it.”

  “Who’s going to stop me?”

  “Drop the gun, Colt.” Sam appeared from behind the tree. “Let her go.”

  Colt’s elbow hooked around Alexandria’s neck and she gasped for air. He dragged her alongside him and her fingers grabbed onto his elbows. Sam watched as she struggled to keep her legs from giving out from under her.

  The perimeter lights came on lighting up the estate grounds. There were voices rushing toward him. The police had arrived. He paid no attention to the activities around him. His focus was on Alexandria. She was scared. He wanted her to know that she could get out of Cain’s hold. All she had to do was to remain calm.

  All of sudden she stopped struggling, looking at him. He didn’t have to say anything. All he needed was a clear shot at Colt and she knew it. She sunk her nails in Colt’s forearm, brought her leg up bent at the knees, sliding the heel of her shoe down Colt’s leg followed by an elbow in his sternum. Colt stumbled back and Alexandria ran toward Sam.

  “Give me a reason, Colt.”

  “No, Sam. Please.”

  • • •

  “I got you something to eat.”

  Sam stood in front of Alexandria with a cup of hot chocolate and a sandwich. He’d left ten minutes ago in search of the cafeteria. She didn’t look up at him. Her point of focus was on the light brown tiled floor in the nurse’s lounge. Not the regular waiting room for normal people, because she wasn’t considered normal, a comment she’d overhead from one of the nurses.

  The room had become her safe harbor; only Sam and the nurses were allowed in. The thought of food made her nauseous. She wanted to be left alone, but that wasn’t possible. Not in her world. Warren Prescott had hired a hit man to kill his daughter and so lead off the eleven o’clock news.

  By the time the ambulance had arrived, a crowd had already gathered outside the gates of the estate. The media didn’t know the whole story, but they filled in the blanks with Colt’s help, as he shouted at the media cameras as the police placed him in the squad car.

  “It’s all I could find. The cafeteria is closed. I had to hijack a vending machine.”

  She glanced up at Sam, his voice pulling her from the dark hole she wanted to crawl into. “I’m not hungry.”

  “I know but you need to get something inside of you,” he said, his voice gentle. “At least drink the hot chocolate. You’re trembling again.”

  Alexandria took the styrofoam cup from him. Sam sat down next to her and put the sandwich on the coffee table. He’d thought of everything. The travel bag she had at the hotel he’d brought into the nurse’s lounge so she could change.

  He was being kind, thoughtful and supportive. Yet, she couldn’t appreciate any of it. All she could think about was the nightmare her life had turned into and how numb she felt on the inside.

  “Are they still out there?” Alexandria stared at the liquid in the cup. She didn’t want it and placed it on the side table next to the lamp.

  “Afraid so.” Sam took her hand and brought it to his lips. His lips felt warm on the back of her hand. “We’ll get through this together. I won’t let them near you.”

  Sam wanted to protect her, shield her from her life. But that wasn’t possible. He’d gotten her as far as the nursing lounge. Maybe he could make the horror of tonight go away. All she had to do was let him, but she couldn’t. She’d spent her whole life being sheltered, hiding from making decisions about her life. Look where she ended up.

  “What did the doctor say?”

  Looking at their hands laced together, she blinked back the tears that were threatening to spill. He had been with her through it all, never leaving her side.

  Her world had fallen apart tonight and he was trying to help her put it back together again. Only, it wasn’t working. She felt empty and it didn’t matter what he said, she could take no comfort in his words.

  “He just came out of surgery. They removed the bullet without complications. He’ll be fine. They won’t let me see him. Not yet.”

  Her father had lost a lot of blood the doctor had said. The first few hours after surgery would be critical but he would be back to his old self in no time. Where did that leave her?

  “What about you? How are you holding up?”

  Alexandria pulled her hand out of his. He had said that when it was all over they would talk about the future. At that moment, she couldn’t see beyond what had happened to her. She couldn’t imagine what her future would hold and she didn’t want to talk about it yet.

  Colt, her bodyguard, whom she had known all her life, had shot her father. He tried to kill her.

  Mimi, the only person who she’d ever truly trusted, had lied to her. She felt lost and alone. She needed to figure out where to go from this very dismal position she’d found herself in.

  “I don’t know.” And she really didn’t. “I saw my father’s face as my mother fell over the banister. He didn’t push her, but he was responsible for her death. He’s also responsible for all that happened tonight.” She brushed at a tear sliding down her cheek. “It’s like a chain reaction. One man’s quest for power and control destroyed so many lives. I still love him even though I don’t want to.”

  “He’s your father.”

  “And he tried to hurt me.” Even though she said the words, she still couldn’t believe it. She had to wrap her arms around herself to keep from shaking.

  “I’m sorry you’re hurting.”

  Her eyes burned with tears and she let them fall because she didn’t know what else to do.

  “I rented a hotel room for the night not too far from here. Let’s go get cleaned up and we can come back in the morning. You need to rest.”

  “You go. At least I had a chance to change,” she said, wiping her eyes with the napkin. “Your shirt is still wet. I’ll meet you there later.”

  The words came out of her mouth but she didn’t mean them. Deep down she knew she couldn’t move forward with Sam, not with her life in such a mess. There were too many things to figure out. She couldn’t do that with Sam shielding her and that’s what he w
ould do. Protect her. She didn’t need protecting. She had to figure out what she was going to do next, away from Sam, away from her father.

  “No, you won’t.” Sam looked toward the door when they heard voices. “I thought together we could get through this, but you’re pushing me away. Why?”

  The last thing she wanted to do was hurt him, but she knew he wouldn’t understand. After all they had been through, he deserved better. She owed him so much, but couldn’t reach out to him.

  “I need to grow up and stand on my own two feet for once in my life. I need to get my life in order. I can’t do it being sheltered. Not by you. I’ve lived that life already and look where it got me.” She swallowed back the tears fighting to flow again. “I need time.”

  “How much time?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Alexandria, don’t push me away. I love you.”

  “That’s what makes this so hard.”

  Sam took her hands in his. “It doesn’t have to be. Come back to Boston with me tonight.”

  She heard the urgency in his voice. If he had extended that invitation two days ago, her answer would have been yes. As much as she wanted to say yes, she couldn’t, because she would be running away. He had encouraged her to stand up for herself and take control of her life. She did that for the first time in twenty-seven years tonight and he wanted to take it away.

  “You can’t take me away from my life. I—”

  “Excuse me, Ms. Prescott,” a nurse in scrubs said when she knocked and opened the door. “You can see your father now.”

  “Sam?”

  “Go to your father. The hotel is there if you change your mind. I should go.”

  Sam got up and walked out the door and right out of her life.

  “Please come with me, Ms. Prescott.”

  • • •

  Sam threw the sandwich in the trashcan in front of the elevator and pressed the button. Alexandria didn’t want the sandwich and she didn’t want him. This wasn’t how he had imagined it would turn out. He should have been the one walking away, but she wanted him to leave. She didn’t need him anymore. In a way, he understood what was driving her, but couldn’t accept it.