by Darla Lark
“Hello?” Cheyenne frowned and the barking continued. “If you’re not going to talk like a human being, I’m hanging up.” Still, the barking continued. She hung up. Weird. Just plain weird.
“Who was that?”
“Someone barking on the other end.”
“Odd,” Michael called out.
“I thought so too,” Cheyenne responded.
“I’ll be there in a minute.”
“No problem. I’ll just be lying here on the couch.”
Chapter 31
“Do you feel better now that you’ve talked to your sister?” Michael asked as he made his way toward the couch.
“Actually, I do. A little, anyway. It was what I needed.” Cheyenne took a deep breath. “Raina can usually lift my spirits.”
“Good. I’m glad.” Michael squeezed onto the edge of the couch beside her outstretched body and leaned against the couch’s back.
“Me too. By the way, did you find out about Detective Johnson?”
“He didn’t make that call to Tyler. They checked phone records from his precinct and when he worked. The call was made from his desk, but he was off duty that day.”
“Really? Then who made that call?”
“I don’t know, but Detective Lawrence is looking into it. He thinks it might be the guy who’s been after you.” Michael shrugged his shoulders.
“Strange.” Cheyenne sat on the edge of the couch beside Michael. “I think I can eat now.” She reached over and grabbed her plate from the T.V. tray and scarfed it down.
Michael watched with a grin. “See. I told you. You were hungrier than what you thought.”
“I know and it tasted so good.”
“Would you like to watch a movie now?”
She ran her tongue along her lower lip before responding. “No. Wish I could, but I have to work on my novel. If I don’t get back to it, my agent will be breathing down my neck. I really need to keep my mind busy. Thank you, anyway.”
“No problem. If you need to use my office, it’s upstairs and to the right.”
“I appreciate your offer, but I believe I’ll work here if you don’t mind.”
“Be my guest.” Michael scanned the area. “Are you sure that you’re going to be comfortable here, though?”
“I’ll be fine. Most of the time, I’m working on the couch at home. Thank goodness for laptops.”
“All right, but the offer still stands if you change your mind.” He stood and walked away.
Cheyenne decided to get to work, which meant that she had to go upstairs to fetch her laptop. She groaned and whispered, “Got to get up and get moving or nothing will get done.”
~
Cheyenne sat and stared at the screen of her laptop. She tried to write her story, but all she got was a partial sentence. Why was she continuously getting writers block? She, of course, hadn’t written much since her divorce. With things happening, she should be able to write something, but her mind would not let her. The only thing on her mind was Gaby’s death and who could be doing all these terrible things to her.
“Ugh!” She groaned and threw her hands up. “I can’t do this right now.” She closed her laptop and set it to the side. Cheyenne pushed herself up and decided it was a good idea to accept Michael’s movie offer. She went upstairs and knocked on the office door.
“Come in.”
She opened the door and asked, “Am I interrupting you?”
“No. I just got off the phone.” He glanced up from his computer and asked, “What’s up?”
“Nothing. Absolutely nothing. I can’t write. Nothing is coming to me. All I can do is think about everything. I’m running on a dry spell. I have nothing to say.”
“Anything I can do to help?”
She gave a sheepish smile. “Not really, but if the offer still stands, we could watch a movie.”
He flashed a winning smile. “Yes. Of course. Let me finish typing this report up and I’ll be right down. Go ahead and pick a movie out. I’ll be down in ten.”
“Okay.” When she noticed his office, it looked like a library, probably his personal law library with rows and rows of books. The carpet was chocolate colored and walls were made of cherry wood colored paneling and his desk matched the walls. On his desk were two stacks of books and a couple of yellow striped notepads sitting next to his laptop. A printer sat at the end of his desk while a small desk lamp sat in between the laptop and printer. He had two red padded chairs sitting across from his desk and a couch that was against the wall opposite the bookshelves. Paintings lined the walls. They were perfectly aligned all the way across from wall to wall.
“You have a beautiful office. I especially love the cherry wood.”
“Thanks.” Michael flashed a smile as he glanced from the computer’s screen.
“You’re welcome.”
Cheyenne shifted from one foot to the other and stared down at the floor. She cleared her throat and looked up. “Well, I’ll take my leave now so that you can work in peace.” She stared at him and smiled as she backed out the doorway.
“You know what? If you would like, you can grab a book from one of the shelves. It’s not all law stuff.”
“I appreciate that, but I have work to attempt to do myself. Thanks anyway.” Their eyes locked for a moment. She clapped her hands together and closed his office door, leaning against the wall. “What am I really doing here?” she whispered.
Chapter 32
One thing is for certain, I should’ve thought about the cameras first. Thank God for a good buddy who still does this for a living. Having a good camera system is key to my mission. It’s so much easier to keep an eye on what she does with Michael O’Neill. Plus I got to see her reaction over her friend’s death and the phone call. That was a bonus for me. Back to Michael. My Cheyenne wants this guy’s fortune and house. It makes total sense. Money, the only reason to be with someone like him. Clearly, he thinks he’s better than everyone else, but soon, very soon, he will find out he’s nothing and that will prove Cheyenne belongs to me. She’ll soon realize she’s in love with me.
Infuriated, I grabbed the monitor with my hands. “Why do you have to be so frustrating, Cheyenne? Why?” I shouted. “For once in your life, stop being a stupid bitch! I love you!” I laid my head on the desk and began to weep. “I love you.” Suddenly, with a jolt, I slung my head back and cackled. “What am I crying for? Of course she loves me. She’ll come back to me. Cheyenne’s smarter than that.” I stopped cackling and pounded my fists on the desk. “You’re mine, Cheyenne. You belong to me.”
I watched her move down the hallway and smiled. “Soon we’ll be together—forever.”
Chapter 33
The phone rang as they were cleaning up from lunch. Cheyenne and Michael looked at each other before Michael got up to answer it.
Cheyenne sat at the kitchen table and listened to see who it was. All she heard was, “Hello? Hello? Stop calling here if you’re not going to talk. Be human, not a frigging animal. Animals don’t make phone calls.” He slammed down the phone and walked back into the kitchen with a roll of his eyes.
“Who was that?”
Michael shrugged. “I don’t know because all they did was meow like a cat the whole time. It’s weird.”
“You mean like the call I answered with the barking dog?”
“Yeah.” He sighed. “I don’t know, Chey. I’m worried.”
“Why?”
“Because, until you came here, I’ve never had anything like that happen.”
“I shouldn’t be here then. I’ll pack up and go back to my apartment.”
“Absolutely not. I’m not saying it’s your fault. Just that someone is definitely stalking you.”
“I just don’t understand why, though. What did I do to piss someone off enough to have all these terrible things happen to me? I must’ve made somebody angry, somehow. Maybe a fan of my work?”
“You never know. People are nuts out in this world and it seems to be get
ting crazier by the day. One thing is for sure.”
“What’s that?”
“You’re safe here.”
Cheyenne forced a smile and nodded. If only he knew… He won’t let me go home, but all I’m doing is upping the ante to his demise. I can’t let him get die because of me. It wouldn’t be right. Nor would it be fair to Mrs. Warner. Oh God! What have I gotten myself into? I don’t want anyone else to die. Her gut told her that no matter where she went, this whacko would find her.
~
The phone rang and Michael answered. “Hello?” Michael bit his lip and tapped the toe of his shoe on the floor as he listened.
“What’s wrong?”
Michael sighed. “That was Lawrence.”
“What did he have to say? Did he find out anything?”
“They found fingerprints at the scene of Gaby’s murder.”
“Whose?” Cheyenne began to wrap a lock of hair around her finger, twirling it. “Michael, please tell me.”
He shrugged. “Eric Sullivan. He’s wanted by the FBI for the murder of two people.”
“I’ve never heard of him.”
“They’ve been searching, but he has been elusive.”
Cheyenne’s eyes widened. “Is he the one who’s been terrorizing me?”
“We’re not sure, but we believe he is. All we know is that a whacko is after you.”
Oh my God! Will this nightmare ever end? “Michael, I’m frightened. What’s going to happen next?”
Michael went to her and wrapped his arms around her. “Nothing if I can help it.”
~
They sat on the couch to watch The Bodyguard. Half an hour into the movie, the phone rang. Cheyenne grunted and got up. “Hello?” Silence ensued. “Hello?” she repeated.
“I know where you’re at Cheyenne.” The muffled voice was a whisper. “You can’t hide from me.”
“Who is this? What do you want with me?” Cheyenne started to tremble. “Why are you doing this to me? Leave me alone!”
“You can’t run and hide from me. You can’t run and hide. You…” The sing-songy voice taunted her.
“Leave me alone,” Cheyenne screamed.
Michael rushed to her side and grabbed the phone from her. “Who is this?” He was greeted with a loud click. He hung up the phone. “Everything will be all right. I promise.” He guided her to the sofa where he cradled her in his arms.
“Why won’t they, he, she, or whoever it is leave me alone?”
“I don’t know, but believe you me when I say that I wish I had all the answers, but I don’t. I’m sorry.”
~
She cried herself to sleep in Michael’s arms and would’ve slept longer but then the buzzer sounded.
“Who could that be?” Michael asked with a quizzical expression.
“You weren’t expecting anyone?” When he shook his head, she added, “You answer that, I’ll stay here.”
“Be right back.” Michael’s attention turned to her before he left the room. His look sent chills up her spine.
He went to answer the buzzer and she resumed watching The Bodyguard. In between, while she waited for him to come back, she flipped through a magazine that was lying on the coffee table. Fifteen minutes passed before she then glanced at the clock, it was one forty-five. She shrugged, thinking Michael was deep in conversation with a neighbor. A little after two she ambled to the kitchen to get a drink of water, sauntered back into the living room, and flipped through a few more magazines. Cheyenne gazed at the clock, two twenty. She became concerned. An eerie feeling overwhelmed her. Michael wouldn’t leave for this long without letting her know what was going on. She couldn’t even hear him talking. In the few days she had stayed with him, he never left without telling her. Even with her eerie feeling, Cheyenne tried to convince herself he was just having a long conversation with someone away from the house. He had a tendency to walk and talk. Perhaps it was business, but no matter what she told herself, she couldn’t shake the feeling. She decided to go and check on Michael.
The front door was shut. Cheyenne didn’t see anything unusual. She opened the door and went outside. Still no sign of him. She hesitantly peeked around the corner of the mansion. Something stuck out of the bushes. She moved closer to investigate. It was Michael’s feet. A movement of shadow caught her attention. She turned to see what it was. Something black came at her. Before she could react, she felt the blow to the side of the head. Eyes closed, she collapsed to the ground.
~
When she awoke, it took time to regain focus. It was much more difficult with her head throbbing. She quickly realized that there were handcuffs on her wrists and ankles. Her arms were stretched behind her, around a pole. She struggled to free herself and cried out for help. All she heard was her own voice echoing. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she studied her surroundings. At least what she could see in the dim light streaming through boarded up windows, allowing her to see where she was at. Stacked crates were everywhere. The floor and walls were dingy. Debris lay all over the floor. It had to be an abandoned warehouse of some sort. Suddenly, she heard something skitter by. Cheyenne jumped.
“Help me! Someone, please!” she screamed.
“Shhh… I’m here. Don’t be afraid.”
The man moved out of the shadows. She screamed again.
“No one can hear you.” The voice sounded familiar.
“Tyler? Is that you? Why are you doing this?”
Click. The lights came on and he came over to her and kneeled in front of her. “You should know by now, Chey. You are my precious jewel, my diamond in the rough. If only you would’ve realized how much I love you much sooner, none of this would have ever happened.”
“What on earth…?”
A man wearing a mask stood over her with a gun in his hand and used the barrel of it to stroke her face. “Cheyenne, Cheyenne, Cheyenne. All I want is for us to be a family and we will be— soon.” Cheyenne could see the mask slowly move as he attempted to grin. “You see, I’ve got your wedding gown on its way.”
“I won’t marry you.” She spit in his face.
He responded with a slap across hers.
“You have to understand. You can’t do things like that and expect to gain your freedom. Baby, it doesn’t work like that.” He softly rubbed her face where it slowly turned red from his slap. “As far as you marrying me, you have no choice.”
“Where’s Michael? What did you do? Please, please tell me he’s okay.” She couldn’t see his face past the dark mask, but she could see his eyes. They were familiar, but couldn’t place them. Despite his face being covered up, she could tell his lips formed an arrogant smile.
“Sorry, baby, but he was preventing us from being together. He had to be eliminated and before you ask—” He placed a finger to her lips to silence her. “Yes, I had to eliminate your friend. Gabrielle had to die. Your sister was next, but now that we’re together, I don’t see the point. That is, unless you decide to do something stupid.” He became excited and clapped his hands together with gun in hand. “Now we can really begin our life together. Isn’t that exciting?”
“Michael, oh, Michael. Noooo… noooo… noooo…” she cried. “You’re insane. I love Michael. I will never love you.”
He rose and began pacing back and forth before he suddenly stopped in front of her and screamed. “DON’T EVER MENTION HIS NAME AGAIN!” He leaned in close enough for her to smell his wretched breath. It smelled like he had eaten a rotten egg twice over. It made her gag. “You love me, but don’t realize it yet,” he whispered, “I’ll show you now that we’re all alone. It’s too bad things had to come to this in such a manner.”
“You couldn’t get a woman like me or any other if you tried— especially with breath like yours. Don’t you know how to use a toothbrush or at least take a breath mint?” She paused then glared at him and raised her chin up defiantly. “You’re crazy and I can’t stand you. You’re a pathetic loser.”
“Shut up!” H
e pointed the gun in her face. “You don’t know what you’re talking about. Why can’t you realize that I’m the only one who truly cares about you and has your best interest at heart?”
“It’s pathetic to have to kidnap someone to fulfill whatever your sick, perverted fantasies are.”
He squeezed her cheeks together and put his face in hers. “I told you to shut up. You were the one who chose to ignore my displays of affection.” He disgustedly let go of her face with such force that her head turned away momentarily. “I was there for you after your divorce. Nothing was good enough for you, princess.” He looked down his nose at her. “Guess the love potion didn’t work.”
“You’re insane.”
“I’m sorry you think that.” His disposition softening, he smiled and tenderly touched her face. “Don’t be afraid. I’m not here to hurt you. All I want is for you to love me and over time, you will.”
“In your dreams.” She slid down the pole to sit on the floor, her feet stretched out in front of her. He had the nerve lie down near her and put his head on her lap. She felt like vomiting. “You repulse me. Get off of me.”
“It feels so nice being here. This is what I’ve been dreaming of since I first saw you. It feels so right. Doesn’t it?”
Cheyenne rolled her eyes. “Just let me go home. I want to be with my family. Please let me go.”
“Soon, my love. Soon we will be going home and we’ll be happy forever.”
“I’ll never be happy with you.”
“You’ll learn to be.”
Her stomach churned with disgust and anger as he fell asleep in her lap. How could he be so crude, insincere, cold, and calculating? How could he act like nothing was wrong? Now her best friend and Michael were dead. All she wanted to do was throw him off her lap, but it was difficult to do when her hands and feet were handcuffed. If her hands were freed, she could get the gun and keys. She would be able to escape. She had to get out somehow, some way. If she didn’t, she might die at his hands. The thought terrified her.