Had Vivian been the one to hit her on the head? I need to find a way out of here, Emily thought. She felt the vibration of her cellphone in her pocket. It was unbelievable that whoever had tied her up had not removed it. She had turned it to silent when she had been halfway home. The calls from journalists looking for a comment had started to come in quickly after she had read the article.
Would Blake come and find her? What if he did? And he walked into a trap. Panic bubbled over at the thought. Emily froze, trying to keep herself perfectly still. I need to find out what is happening. She had to force herself to be calm to think this through.
Emily made herself go lax. I need to get back to Blake. The thought floated through her head. I've really messed this up with him again. On the way back to the house, she had started to calm down from the shock of the pictures. She'd wanted time to think before talking it out with Blake.
The first thing that Emily noticed that Vivian had moved was the shadow falling across her face.
“You’re awake.”
Emily looked up at Vivian. The sun caused her to squint her eyes as she took in the expression on Vivian’s face. Her features were calm but her eyes had a glazed, demonic look. She held a knife lax in her left hand, as if she had forgotten she was clutching it.
“Vivian, why have you got me tied up?” Emily was sure it was her now.
“Because Blake and I can't be together because of you,” Vivian screamed at her before turning around and pacing around the kitchen.
“Do you know what he said to me this morning?” Vivian turned around to scream at her.
“No, Vivian, I don't.”
“He said that he loved you, and that he would never love me,
“He was supposed to dump you after I had those pictures planted in the newspaper. That way, he could see how much of a whore you were; how you would only hurt his image…”
Emily's head was pounding as Vivian continued to scream her words at her. Not all of it was making sense to her. She felt dizzy, even as she was lying on the ground. Black was edging out her vision. Sleep, I need sleep. This is all a nightmare.
Blake drew his hand flat before running it through his hair. Damn, the woman wasn't answering her phone!
He couldn't believe the scene he had just completed with Vivian. How could he have missed how vindictive she was. It was like he didn't even know the women.
He had been shocked when his sources had found out that it had been Vivian who supplied the photos of him and Emily to the newspaper. Blake had just confronted the women!
Shocked didn't even describe how he felt when she confirmed it. She justified her actions as being in his best interests; that Emily was only out for his money and that she would hurt his image.
Like he cared about things like that… Vivian had deliberately set out to hurt Emily with those photos. He wasn't too keen on their personal moments being spread across the newspaper either. Vivian had taken a significant moment in his relationship with Emily and displayed their love for each other across the paper while making it appear that like it was something it wasn't; not to mention that she had to have been following him. She was crazy.
He couldn't image what was going through Emily's head. The woman had a temper on her, and he knew that they had only just made up over Vivian, so this might be the straw that broke the camel’s back. He wasn't going to let her, though he could be stubborn when he needed to be.
He had told Vivian in no uncertain terms that she was not going to be part of his and Emily's life going forward. He was resigning as her trustee and that she would always be Derek's wife. Her actions were… well, what he had said didn't need repeating. He had made sure that if she said anything bad about Emily, he would make her name dirt in Auckland society.
Blake had damage control to do. He picked up the cellphone he had left on his desk after escorting Vivian from his office. The woman had been in a snit, but she wasn't his problem.
“Cain, Blake here. Have you seen Emily this morning?”
“No, not yet.”
“She mentioned that you would be stopping by to drop some glazes off this morning. Didn't know you had stooped so low to bargain on pies.”
“You obviously have not had some of Emily's baking yet or you wouldn't be asking that.” Cain's laughter came through the phone.
“I take it you haven't seen the newspaper this morning?”
“Nope, why?”
Blake sighed as he filled Cain in on the article and the scene with Vivian that morning.
“Wow, Vivian. Christ, that's low, even for her.”
“Yeah, well, Emily's not answering her cellphone to me. I need to know that she's alright. Are you able to go down to her place and let me know if she's there?”
“Well, I saw her car drive past about an hour ago, if that helps. I'll head down to her place and check on her. Don't worry, she'll calm down.”
“Thanks, Cain. I'm heading out there now.”
Blake rounded the desk, picking up his car keys as he thought about what he was going to say to Emily. He was going to lose her.
Blake had to check his speed in his rush to talk to Emily. Turning into the main road for Glen Point, his cellphone rang.
“Are you here yet?” Cain was direct.
“Yeah, I've just turned into Glen Point.”
“Meet me at the Cafe then.”
“Why? What's this about, Cain?”
“I'll tell you shortly.” Cain hung up. Blake was concerned about Cain's tone. Shit, was he in more trouble than he realized? Pissed off women could be dangerous.
He pulled his car into a free parking space. Then, he spotted Cain walking towards him. The man had a scowl on his face. He stepped from the car.
“Blake, I need you to hold your shit together.”
“What?” Blake was confused. He could see the hot emotions rolling off his friend.
“I just came from Emily's house. Mate, it’s not good. I saw Vivian dragging an unconscious Emily into the house. She had a knife in her hand.”
Blake felt his blood run cold. He turned anguished eyes towards his friend. “Shit,” was the only word he could get past his lips.
“Don't panic. I've been keeping an eye on them. Vivian is in the dining room. What the hell is wrong with Vivian? I think that if we sneak in quickly with both of us, we can disarm her without Emily getting hurt.”
“Let’s go. I'll call Jackson so he can take her into custody, but I'm not leaving this to the cops, Cain.”
“Vivian's lost it, Blake. I'm not sure what she's trying to do.” Cain ran his hand through his head with genuine disbelief on his face. “But we can't just storm in; we need a plan.”
“Right, we need a plan together. I'm not losing her, Cain.” Blake found himself pacing up and down in front of the car, his blood cold as they worked out the best way to approach the situation.
“Vivian was angry after I confronted her this morning, but for her to do this, she needs help, Cain.”
“Don't beat yourself up, Blake. None of us saw anything like this coming. We can make sure she gets the help she needs.”
“But if she hurts Emily, then I don't know what I'll do. I love her.” Blake found himself confessing. He'd never been in love before.
“Call Jackson, and then we’ll make our move.” Cain gestured at the cellphone in Blake’s hand.
“Jackson, Blake here. I don't have long to talk. Emily's in trouble.” Blake filled him in on the situation on what Cain had seen. The confrontation with Vivian that morning and her parting words that he would regret it.
“I'll be right there. Don't do anything stupid, Blake”
“I don't plan to, but you'll be too late. Cain is with me and I'm going in to get Emily. I'm just down the street from her.”
“Blake!” He could hear the resignation in his friend’s tone as he paused, coming to a quick decision. “Don't do anything messy. I won't be able to cover for you.”
“I just want to get Emily out.
Vivian's got a knife and I'm sure she's going to use it.”
Emily came to a second time. She was still in the same position. She refused to let the fear get the better of her.
My god, this was like something out of the movies. This didn't happen in real life, did it? Clearly, Vivian had gone off the deep end. What did she want to achieve out of this? The thoughts ran through her mind as it spun out of control. She bit her lip to stop the groan of pain coming out of her mouth.
Emily let her eyes drift shut, hoping that would ease the throbbing behind her eyes. She kept herself perfectly still, her breathing deep. She even hoped she might fool Vivian, though she wasn't fully awake. She opened her eyes a slit trying to see what and where Vivian was.
Blake’s name was a tattoo through her head. The last thing she had done was hang up on the man. He had to be pissed with her at the moment. Could nothing go right for her? She needed to get out of there. What if she didn't?
No, she was; she just had to figure out how.
Emily figured that she needed her wrists free so she could use her cellphone, or at least fight back. She wanted to call for Blake and knew he would come to rescue her; there was no doubt in her mind. But would he be walking into a trap? Maybe that's what Vivian wanted. She wasn't going to figure it out unless she talked to the woman.
Think, Emily. Think… You’re in a kitchen. There must be several things that you could use. Deciding playing possum wasn't going to help her, Emily opened her eyes and rolled to the side. She couldn't see Vivian in the kitchen, nor in the living or dining area. Shit. Where was she?
Emily tried to roll to her side, figuring she had a better chance to get on her knees. It was a lot harder than it looked in the movies without the use of her hands. She really needed to go to the gym more often; her abs were not in shape. A wave of nausea rolled over her.
“Ahaha, you’re not leaving me,” Emily cursed as she heard the voice at the hallway entrance.
“It’s good that your conscious; at least for the next while, while I decide what to do with you.”
“If you kill me, Blake will never forgive you.”
“Who said I was going to kill you…” Vivian looked at her with a blank expression.
If Emily got out of this, she thought, then she was going to tell Blake exactly how she felt about him. Pride be dammed. She was slow at piecing things togetherit was Vivian who had planted the newspaper article. Blake had never given Vivian an engagement ring; it was all the woman's imagination.
She'd been a fool, trying to protect her heart when it didn't need protecting.
“What do you plan to do Vivian?”
“I plan to call Blake, tell him that I came to apologize to you but you attacked me and I had to tie you up.”
Emily closed her eyes at the plan. What planet was this woman on?
“And then what?” Emily wasn't sure what made her blurt that out.
“Blake will be mine.” Vivian danced around the room, the knife still in her hand. The woman, crazy as she was, could use it to her advantage to escape.
“I need to pee,” Emily said.
“What do you want me to do about it?” Vivian seemed puzzled. “Just go to the toilet.”
“I can't get up with my hands zip-tied behind me.”
“Oh, well, then I guess you can't go to the toilet.” Vivian shrugged her shoulders, dancing away again.
Emily heard a sound to her left, like a shoe scraping on the pavement. It was slight. She turned her head so she could see out the French doors better.
Cain's face was visible to the left side outside of Vivian's view. He was giving her a thumbs up, rolling his hands as if to keep Vivian talking. She nodded her head, showing him she understood.
“I can't hold on much longer, Vivian.”
“Why are you still talking to me?” Vivian was humming to herself, her mind somewhere else.
18
Blake and Cain were at the French doors. The plan was simple. Blake would go in through the back, and when in position, he would disable Vivian while Cain got Emily out through the French doors. They had spent precious time scoping out the situation to ensure that Vivian didn't have any help. The women was clearly mentally disturbed.
Blake could feel his heart beating out of his chest. This wasn't like any of the countless missions he had done; this was personal. He needed to calm down. He wouldn’t be any use to Emily if he was distracted.
Once they heard that Vivian was going to contact him (he had turned his cellphone off), they didn't want to tip their hand with Vivian contacting him when they were trying to get the jump on her.
It was now or never...
Emily felt her heart jump into her throat at the vision of Cain's face directly in front of her. He scooped her up and over his shoulder, hustling it out of the kitchen before she had time to blink. All she could hear were Vivian’s demented screams.
Cain placed her gently on the outdoor table-top. He squared down in front of her.
“You okay, Emily?” He was busy looking her up and down, scanning her for injuries.
“Can you get these zip ties off my hands and feet?”
“Yep.” Cain reached into his pocket and pulled out a Swiss Army knife, making quick work of the zip ties.
“Careful, your arms are going to hurt.”
Emily felt her hands come free. The tingling in her fingers caused her to groan in pain as she tried to get some feeling back into her wrists, rubbing at where the ties had cut into her skin.
“Are you hurt anywhere?”
“Just some bruises and cuts to the back of my head. Vivian hit me with something...” She was interrupted by Vivian’s loud screaming as Blake hustled her outside, tying her hands behind her. When she looked up and realized it was Blake holding her, she seemed to deflate like a balloon, her face dropping as she burst into tears.
“Cain, can you look after her?” Blake nodded at the inconsolable woman he was holding away from himself.
Cain gave her a wink as he swapped patients with Blake.
“Sugar, your hurt,” Blake barked out at her as he saw the dried blood on her head.
“No, Blake, I'm fine. Just a little bruised, and I have a nice lump back here where that bitch hit me...”
Both Blake and Emily stalled at the sound of police sirens coming through town. The quick moment caused her to groan at the pain still lingering in her head.
“Looks like the cavalry is here,” Cain commented as two police cars pulled up in front of the house. It was clear that Jackson was the driver of the lead car as he unfolded his large frame from the car.
“Late as always, Jackson,” Cain called out in a friendly tone.
“So, is someone going to explain what happened here?” Jackson had made his way up the path, looking at the spectacle in front of him.
Before anyone could fill him in on the details, they all froze as Vivian jumped on him.
“Officer, officer! You got to help me! This crazy woman…” She pointed a shaky hand at where Emily was sat. “She attacked me. She wants me out of the picture, so she can have my fiancé…” Vivian stood there looking like a tragic victim, her fragile frame and tears coursing down her face.
“Jackson, to help you out, This woman here is my fiancé. That woman…” he dismissed Vivian by turning his back on her, “is not. She attacked Emily. We want to press charges against her.”
Being dismissed by Blake seemed to be the last straw for Vivian as she launched herself at Blake. Her hands, with long finger-nails that looked like claws, were aimed at his face.
“Blake,” Emily exclaimed.
Cain caught her before she made it more than a step towards them.
“Okay,” Jackson looked at Vivian with concern on his face. “Constable. Can you arrest this woman on charges of assault while I sort this out?”
It took some time for Jackson and his officers to complete a scene examination and take their statements. Vivian had been taken away from the scene in th
e back of a police car. Blake had called Vivian's brother another one of her trustees to enable a lawyer to be called for her. She could see the stress the call placed Blake under. Having to break the news of Vivian's actions against them was something that only a better person than her would do.
The three of them were sitting at the outside table watching Jackson and his men close up the scene. Cain had given her some first aid while they had given statements, but her head was throbbing quite hard now. She would kill for some painkillers, but that wasn't going to happen soon. Getting back into her house that evening wasn't going to happen either as she watched Jackson coming toward them.
“I don't think we need to hold you guys any longer. I'll be in contact tomorrow to let you know when you can have your house back’ until then, you can't reside here.”
“Thanks, Jackson. This one’s almost dead on her feet.” Blake put his arms around her shoulder.
“I'm fine, Blake. Thank you, Cain, for all your help.” she turned to smile at Cain.
Emily could not help but laugh as she was gently raised from her seat on the picnic table into Blake’s arms as he strode for his car. Cain jogged in front to open the door of the car with a flourish.
“I’ll call you tomorrow to see if she's okay. Just keep an eye on her. Any signs of concussion, get her to the hospital.” Cain then shut the car door.
Emily watched through the front windscreen as Blake and Cain had a quick conversation. Male back-slapping ensued before he joined her in the car.
“Right, buckle up, I'm carrying precious cargo.”
Emily felt wiped out, but she couldn't hold back any longer. She moved her hands up onto Blake’s face, moving to the back of his neck and clenching into his hair at the back to move him closer. The soft strands of his hair were in contrast to the bristles under her other hand resting on his jaw. Emily looked into Blake’s chocolate-colored eyes, making sure he could see the sincerity her eyes, as well as her voice.
“I love you, Blake. I was wrong. I was wrong about so many things; I just felt so overwhelmed and needed to think,” Emily gulped. “I don't want you to say it back; I just need you to know. Emily pulled herself up and kissed Blake. She propelled her tongue into his mouth. Blake came alive. He scooped her into his arms, deepening the kiss. The natural pleasure started to fizz in her veins at the passion in his embrace.
Capture Her Heart Page 14