by Alison Mello
“Good morning, Bella,” Jared says as we walk through the door to Derek’s room. We find Richard in the room, chatting with Derek and his parents.
“Good morning, Bella,” Richard says as he hugs me.
“Good morning, Richard.” I turn to Derek. “What did Sloan say?”
“Richard was just telling us that the police already know that Brian thinks I’m dead. Sloan had already filled them in on that bit of info. Apparently Sloan has been helping them locate him, but it’s been difficult. Brian’s signal has been bouncing, so neither Sloan nor the officers can just track him through his social media posts.”
I growl in frustration. “This guy is driving me freaking crazy,” I shout. “Why is it so difficult to get him out of my life?”
“Baby, please calm down. I promise you we will catch him.”
“Before he kills one of us or after?” I say, my arms crossed.
Jordan steps up. “Now that we know he is after both of you, neither of you will be left alone. He will not get to either of you again. I can promise you that.” I sigh in defeat and look down to the ground.
“Thank you, Jordan.” That’s the only thing I can manage to say. I’m so tired and frustrated of this situation.
“Bella, the plan is for you to carry on as normal as you can. We need this guy to think we have nothing on him,” Richard says.
I look up at him. “He knows that you know who he is. He mentioned it in his last note, and he even signed it Brian.”
“Okay, so we need to be careful about what we say and release. I don’t want him to think we’re any closer to finding him. I’m getting updates from the police as well as Sloan on a regular basis.”
My phone rings, so I dig it out from my bag. “Hello.”
“Hey, Bella. It’s Madeline. How are you?”
“Hey, Madeline. I’m fine. How are you?”
“I’m well. I know you’re dealing with some personal stuff, but the magazine wants to hold a meet and greet with all twelve of the models. Your shoot is next week, and they want to hold the meet and greet three weeks later. Do you think you’ll be able to make it to both of these events?”
“Yes, that’s fine. I’ll make it work. Please email me all the info for the shoot and the meet and greet and make sure they know I will have a lot of security at both locations.”
“Not a problem. I already mentioned to them that you would need security. They informed me that there will be a select list of people allowed in and only select media will be there. I will just need you to swing by here and pick up your dress for the event. I’ll have it for you in a few days.”
“Perfect. Give me a call when it’s ready and I’ll swing by.” I cut the call and notice that everyone is staring at me.
“That was my agent, Madeline. Maximum wants to do a meet and greet with the twelve models from the magazine/calendar. It’s in four weeks. Our security will be allowed in, and the event is invite only.”
Jordan looks at me with a smile. “Trust me when I tell you that we will be prepared. We also have to figure out how to handle Brian discovering that Derek isn’t dead.”
“Forget me for a minute,” Derek says. “You have to realize he’s going to know about this event. He’s in the modeling world, and there’s no way this won’t be advertised. He will find a way into this event.”
“We’re counting on it. If we haven’t caught him by then, this will be the perfect event to do it,” Jordan says. Turning to Richard, he asks, “Mr. Carmichael, can you have some of the force there undercover?”
“Of course I can. I’ll have the place surrounded, but he’ll never know it.” Richard is wearing a smug smile.
“Perfect.” Jordan gives Derek a devious grin. “This bastard is going down.”
“Dude, you seriously love this shit, don’t you,” Derek says to Jordan.
“Catching the bad guy? Hell yeah, and he better hope and pray that the police are right behind me, because I may seriously trip, bashing his head into the ground for the crap he’s put you two through.”
Everyone in the room is looking at him when I say, “Jordan, you just went from my sweet bodyguard to a scary man.”
He starts laughing. “Sorry, Bella, but I want this guy. I took this job so I could not only keep people safe but also help take down the people threatening them. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to take my place at your door and send the rest of the crew home.”
He walks out of the room and we all laugh at how he went from sweet to killer and back to sweet in two minutes flat.
“I’m out of here too. I have to be in court tomorrow, and I have some preparing to do. You two stay safe and I’ll check back in later in the week.” Richard gives me a hug and walks out the door.
The doctor comes in and quickly checks Derek. He informs us that he’s happy with Derek’s progress and that he’ll be able to release him in the next day or two. Derek just has to agree to follow some rules and take it easy for a little while. When Derek agrees, the doctor tells him he’ll be back tomorrow with his final decision on when he can leave.
I then turn to Derek’s parents and ask, “How long will you be staying with us?”
“How long would you like us to stay?” Vanessa asks me.
“Oh, you are welcome as long as you like,” I reply.
“We’ll probably stay at least until Derek is able to go to work. That way, if you have to work, we can make sure he behaves himself.”
I giggle as Derek groans at the idea of being babysat by his parents.
“I’m glad to hear he will get a taste of his own medicine.”
I lean down to kiss him, but he just sticks his tongue out playfully as he crosses his arms. I kiss his cheek instead, and his parents just laugh. We spend the rest of the evening talking about Derek as a child, and I have to say it made for an interesting night.
Chapter 14
Derek
It’s been four weeks since I was released from the hospital, and I’ve been back to work for one. It feels so good to be back at work and getting into a routine again. My parents are still here and are probably going back down south in the next week or two. I’m glad they came because Bella and I have had a really great time with them and they absolutely adore Bella, as I knew they would.
Bella and Patty are spending the day at the salon to get ready for tomorrow’s meet and greet event. I’m at work having a nervous breakdown over the event. Bella has been given tickets to invite her own guests, so of course everyone is going. She was short two tickets and she told her agent if she didn’t have the final two tickets she needed in her hand by yesterday, she wouldn’t show. I laughed when my little firecracker hung up the phone. That girl knows what she wants, and she doesn’t stop until she gets it.
Carter and I have been really busy this week getting caught up on everything. He has the fundraiser for the TVs under control, and he managed to line up two different veterinarian offices that are willing to donate three rounds of vaccine shots to service dogs. That means we have shots for six service dogs and now need to get busy on raising money to have them trained.
A knock on my door breaks my thoughts. “Hey, Carter. Come on in.” He walks in and takes a seat in front of my desk.
“How are you?” he says.
“I’m fine,” I reply skeptically. I seriously feel like he’s about to drop a bomb.
“Relax. I’m just worried about you because of the meet and greet tomorrow.”
I take a deep breath. “I’m doing fine. I won’t lie, I’m stressed out, but we need to do this because this is our chance to take this guy out.” He nods at me and says, “I don’t know how, but I know in my gut he’s going to be there.”
“Has he contacted Bella anymore?”
“He just continues to post that I need to back off his girl and that I should have died in the car wreck.” I shake my head. “Stupid shit like that.” I sigh. “I think the toughest part is we don’t know if he’s going to come after me or her.”<
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“Well, you have plenty of security lined up, and there will be a huge police presence. You both just need to play it cool.”
“We also know what he looks like, which is a huge plus, but he’s a sneaky little bastard.”
“That he is, but you don’t have to worry about that until tomorrow. For today, we have work to worry about,” Carter says.
“Okay. What’s going on?”
He fills me in on his most recent pop-up inspection of Stuart House while I was out. Stuart House is looking better and better each day. I’m really happy because I truly thought this guy was going to be a pain in my ass, but instead he took us seriously and got to work on cleaning the place up.
He lets me know that a couple of the guys from one of the other offices has been in touch with him and he’s planning a huge barbeque bike run to help raise money for the service dogs. Carter worked it out with him that three guys from his area would get dogs and three guys from our area would get dogs. That gave him the idea to throw a huge golf tournament next summer with a cookout afterward. That way we can line up more money for more dogs.
I grin as he carries on. He has so much pride in what he’s doing. It makes me extremely happy that I hired him.
“Dude, you’ve been busy while I was away,” I say proudly.
“Yeah, I guess I have.” He shrugs like it’s no big deal.
“Is everything all set for the comedy show?”
“Yes. We have three comedians lined up—two openers and one main comedian. Guests have four meal options to choose from thanks to Sandra and her negotiation skills. There will be a cash bar, but cocktail waitresses will be walking around during the show so guests won’t have to miss anything.”
“Sounds like you have everything under control.”
“Yeah, pretty much. We have just about sold out of seats, and the comedians have all donated their time. We just had to agree to let them set up a concession stand outside the main ballroom so they could sell some of their t-shirts and stuff, which we were fine with.”
“Great. Any concerns?” I ask, waiting for the other shoe to drop.
“Nope,” he says confidently.
“Seriously, there’s nothing you’re worried about?”
“Nah, I think everything is under control.”
“Good. Well, I’ll let you get back to work. I have some more emails I need to respond to.”
***
Bella
I’m so excited that I get to have a girl’s day at the spa with Bella and Sandra. I tried to invite Vanessa to join us, but she said that’s not her thing. How shall I describe Vanessa? She is sweet, pretty, and simple. She and her husband have money, but I’ve noticed that she always shies away from anything of extravagance. I did convince them to attend tomorrow night’s meet and greet, and I have their tickets. I’m very excited that they’re coming. I was so nervous about meeting them, but now that we’ve spent some time together I realize I was being foolish. They are truly sweet people.
I’m sitting in the waiting room of the spa while Jordan talks to the manager about the safety protocol for the afternoon. He obviously can’t go in with me, but he has to check each room I go in to be sure it’s safe as well as stand outside each room while I receive my treatment. I’m getting a massage, pedicure, manicure, and facial.
The door opens and in walks Patty and Sandra. I quickly stand to hug them.
“Are they not ready for us?” Sandra asks, concerned.
“They are, but Jordan is talking to the manager about security. I think he’s actually driving her crazy.”
We all look over, and the manager looks like she’s freaking out. She must be arguing with him because he says something, her jaw drops, and we finally hear her say, “Fine,” as she crosses her arms.
Jordan approaches us. “They will be ready for you in just a minute. I just need to check out your room and once I’ve deemed it safe, I will allow you in. Please follow us,” he says, a bit exasperated from the conversation he just had.
We all bite our lips, trying to hold back our laughter as we follow behind the woman and Jordan. She opens the door and Jordan walks in, checking out the entire room. A few minutes later, he deems it safe. The three of us enter, and he closes the door so we can get our massages.
As soon as the door is shut, Sandra looks to me with her brows raised and says, “He is wound a bit tight.” We all giggle.
“They’re all wound tight with the event tomorrow. The security team has met with the police, as per Richard’s request, and Derek is walking around trying to act normal, but I know he’s freaking out.”
“Can you blame him?” Patty asks as she gets under her sheet.
“No, I can’t. I just want the event to be over with. It’s going to be really hard to be in the spotlight tomorrow not knowing if he is there spying on me, but I need to do this because it’s a really good chance for us to catch him.”
“It’s too bad we couldn’t figure out his plan,” Sandra says as we all get comfortable on our massage tables.
The door opens and in walks three massage therapists. We all stop talking, observing our rule of no gossip or talking during our massage time. It’s time to relax and clear our heads.
An hour later, our massages are done and we dress and get ready for our next treatment. The door closes, and not one of us moves until Patty says, “That was a really good massage.”
We giggle and then we go about getting dressed.
When we walk out of the room, Jordan is standing there with Jared. He says, “Stay with them. I’m going to figure out where they’re going next.”
“They’re sitting in an open area,” the manager says as she rounds the corner. “You can all follow me.” Jordan actually cracks a smile as he follows behind the very bitter manager.
Sandra mouths to him, “What did you do?”
He chuckles and shrugs his shoulders. He knows he’s pissed her off, and it’s quite comical. She is walking around with a pout on her face. She turns to us and points to three pedicure chairs that are set up and ready for us.
We each take our seat as Jordan gives her a nice smile and says, “Thank you so much for your cooperation.” She throws her chin in the air and stomps off.
“Way to kill her with kindness, Jordan,” I say with a chuckle. He and Jared stand outside our door for the remainder of our pedicure, ensuring no one besides the staff doing our pedicure are allowed in. That must be why she’s pissed. I bet he arranged for us to have privacy for the remainder of the afternoon. After this, we are having a private lunch and then getting a manicure and a facial.
***
The afternoon flies by without a hitch. Lunch was delicious, and it was funny to watch Jordan try to get back in the good graces of the salon manager to no avail. Sandra is taking care of the bill, and then we’re all going to Derek’s house, where the guys are preparing dinner.
Richard will meet us there, and we’re going to have a nice dinner with Derek’s parents. Over the last few weeks, they’ve come to get to know Sandra and Richard a bit and although they remind me of Carter’s parents, Mia and Jackson, they seem to get along quite well.
We pull up to the house a short time later, and as usual Jordan walks us in and we head straight to the kitchen. Poor Vanessa is the only female in there. She’s surrounded by Jesse, Carter, Derek, and Richard, who is already here.
Derek stands beside me. “Hey, baby. How was your spa day?”
“It was fine for us, but I think Jordan needs protection from the salon manager now.”
We all giggle as we explain to them what happened.
“Aren’t you girls all comedians now?” Jordan says, shaking his head. “That woman would not cooperate until I told her we were taking our business elsewhere.”
Derek laughs. “What’d she say?”
“Her jaw dropped and she finally caved, but no matter how nice I was to the woman, she was a total bitch back,” Jordan says, his tone laced with frustration, which
only causes us girls to laugh more.
“You really have a way with the women, huh, Jordan?” Derek says, giving him crap.
“Okay, I’ve had enough of this conversation. I’m going to take my place at the door.” He exits the kitchen, but before leaving, he turns and says, “Hey, Bella, do me a solid. Lay off the spa sessions until this bastard is caught.” We all laugh as he shakes his head and continues out the door.
“Dinner is ready!” Derek announces.
I get four wine glasses while Vanessa opens a bottle of wine and Derek brings the food into the dining room. He made baked mac and cheese as well as baked ziti with salad and garlic bread. We all love pasta, and it’s easy to make for a large number of people.
We each grab our wine glasses and then move into the dining room, where the men are waiting for us to dig in, like good little gentlemen. We take our seats, and as soon as we do, the table erupts as the men start making their plates.
I start with salad because I have a very fitted dress I need to wear tomorrow and I do not want to be bloated on pasta. I see Derek wink at me as he gets up from the table and comes back with a small plate of my spaghetti squash with chicken and veggies.
I smile at him. “You’re the best. Thank you so much.”
“I know you well enough to know you are not going to eat pasta the night before you have to be in front of a camera. This is my way of showing you that I support you and your career.”
“I love you so much.” The words just flowed from my lips, and I gasp and then giggle when I realize what I just said.
He smiles and whispers in my ear, “Say it again.”
I’m glowing at this point because it feels good to actually tell him how I feel about him. “It’s true. I love you so much, and I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner.”
“I love you too, Bella.”
Then I realize the entire table has stopped talking and has caught on to our conversation. Patty blurts out, “It’s about damn time,” and everyone erupts into laughter.