Fatal Desire, Teen Edition (14 page)

Dozing off to sleep, Amber began having
dreams about being chased. Someone was after her but she couldn’t
see his face. She couldn’t open her eyes. She kept stumbling and
falling down because she couldn’t see where she was going. Why
couldn’t she open her eyes? If she could see, she could get away.
Wake up she screamed to herself. Wake up. But it was no use.

Amber kept running but she could hear him
getting closer and closer. She could hear laughter, maniacal
laughter that told her he was coming. She screamed.

Amber sat up in bed drenched in sweat. Heart
pounding she told herself it was just a dream. She climbed out of
bed and got a glass of water to calm herself. She sat on the side
of her bed until her heart stopped racing and she could breathe
normally. When the shuddering stopped, Amber crawled back under the
covers and drifted slowly back to sleep.

Derek was still driving frantically. They
knew where she was, but his instincts told him to hurry. He was
still a few hours away. They had tried to track down her stalker
but had been told he was out of town. This news had Derek driving
like a maniac to get to her. Local police were parked outside her
hotel, but there were still warning bells going off in his
head.

Matt had stayed in Atlanta to coordinate with
local authorities and fill them in on all the details. State and
local police were cooperating but no one had seen the vehicle they
believed the stalker was driving. They had already checked out
where he was supposed to be. The fictitious aunt he had been
telling his wife about didn’t exist. So far the authorities had
been unable to locate him. Matt knew this fact was driving his
brother over the edge.

He prayed they would find Amber before her
stalker did. For his brother’s sake, the needed to get to her
quickly. His gut was also screaming at him.

Derek and Matt stayed in constant
communication as Derek drove. He knew exactly what was happening as
if in real time. The closer he got to Amber’s hotel, the more
nervous he became. It would be a little after sunrise before he
made it. He prayed it would not be too late.

Around five the next morning, Amber stretched
and started to sit up in bed. She heard a sound that made her
freeze.

“It’s about time, Sleeping Beauty,” a male
voice called out from the shadows.

Amber looked around but at first saw no
one.

“We have to get going soon, Sweetheart, you
need to get packed,” the voice called again.

This time Amber recognized the sound.
“Patrick,” she asked with a tremor in her voice. Surly not. Not
Olivia’s husband.

“Yes. Don't act like you didn't know. I have
wanted to hear you say my name for so long,” he sighed. “Now, as
lovely as you are in your nightshirt, I need you to get dressed so
we can leave here. I don’t need any of those local cops parked
outside your car following us. Is there something you forgot to
mention about Derek? The cops showed up at your hotel too quickly
for your boyfriend to simply be in finance. No matter, we will be
long gone before he catches up to you.”

Amber shook her head. “I’m not going anywhere
with you,” she stated.

Patrick simply chuckled. He turned on a lamp
and Amber saw the steel of a gun barrel leveled at her heart. She
jumped out of bed, grabbed her bag, and ran to the bathroom.

“Don’t be long, my love, my patience has worn
thin with these games we have been playing. Four and a half years
is long enough, don’t you think,” Patrick called out to Amber.

Amber dressed quickly, splashed water on her
face and repacked her bags. She wanted a shower but didn’t dare
with Patrick in the room. Hoping to grab her cell phone Amber
walked back to the bedside table but saw only her empty charger
still plugged into the wall.

“Looking for this,” Patrick asked as he held
up her cell phone. “You won’t be needing it for awhile.” He threw
her phone on the floor and stepped on it, crushing it beneath his
weight.

Amber groaned silently. She had no way of
letting anyone know where she was. “Why are you doing this,” she
whispered. “You’re married to my best friend.”

Patrick laughed. “Olivia? I just married her
to keep track of you. It was easy reeling her in. And I am her
loving husband. She told me everything. She enjoyed talking about
you. Every time you called I heard all about it. I didn’t even have
to pry the information out of her. She had no idea she was leading
me right to your door every time,” Patrick laughed again. It was a
hysterical type of laughter that made Amber shudder.

“I don’t understand. Why me,” Amber
asked.

Patrick glared at Amber. “You don't remember?
You smiled at me so sweetly that first day of class. I was so shy,
knew no one on campus, and there you were. A beautiful blond beauty
smiling at a nerd like me. Everyone questioned my choice to be a
nurse, made fun of me for it. But that first day in class, you
looked at me and smiled as if I were the only man in the world. I
will never forget that day,” Patrick said.

“I don’t remember you,” Amber said
softly.

“How could you not remember,” Patrick
snarled. “That was the greatest day of my life.”

“I’m sorry. I don’t remember you,” Amber
insisted.

Patrick continued to talk as if Amber had
said nothing. “That was the greatest day. I was so looking forward
to class the next day. I wanted to see your beautiful face, your
smile. But you were not there. You didn’t come back to class for
two weeks. And when you did, you looked right through me as if I
didn’t even exist. You looked at me like every other girl has
always looked at me. Every day, the same thing. I would smile, you
would look right through me.”

Amber thought back. “That was the day my
parents died,” she replied. She remembered getting the call from
Olivia’s parents that said she needed to come home. Olivia by her
side, she drove back to Alma to bury both her mother and her
father.

“No excuses, Amber,” Patrick replied
nastily.

Amber wondered if he had ever talked that way
to Olivia. Surly her friend would have noticed she was living with
a maniac.

“What about Olivia? Didn’t you love her at
all? You were going to have a baby with her,” Amber said

Patrick laughed again. The sound made Amber’s
stomach clench.

“I couldn’t let her have that baby,” Patrick
replied. “I did everything I could to make sure she didn’t get
pregnant, but somehow the bitch managed it. But I took care of it.
I made sure she didn’t have the brat. Only you will have my
babies,” Patrick said.

Amber thought she was going to be sick. She
was truly dealing with a mad man and she was unsure how to handle
the situation. Maybe if she kept him talking, she would be able to
come up with a solution. It wasn’t as if Derek would be able to
come rescue her. He didn’t know where she was.

The sun was just beginning to peak through
her curtains as she asked, “You mean you never loved Olivia, even a
little?”

“Jealous are we,” asked Patrick. “Never fear,
Darling. I’ve saved all my love and devotion for you. I simply had
to put up with her sloppy kisses and haphazard lovemaking until the
day we could be together. Now no one will come between us now.”
Patrick laughed again. “Now grab your things or we will leave
without them.”

“Wait,” Amber cried. Thinking quickly, she
lowered her head and asked softly, “Tell me how you were able to
get rid of those men and make it look like an accident.” It made
her physically ill to play into his sick fantasy but she wanted to
keep him talking.

“That part was easy,” Patrick bragged. Proud
of his accomplishments and having no idea the authorities were onto
him, Patrick explained in great detail each and every victim he had
hurt or killed during the four years of torture he had put Amber
through. It took him a long time to go through all of them and the
longer he talked the more excited he became. It was like an
aphrodisiac for him.

Amber was getting nauseous listening to the
maniac who had turned her world upside down. She didn’t know how
much more she could take. Suddenly, there was a knock on her
door.

“Amber,” Derek yelled. “Open this door or I
will kick it in.”

Amber screamed as Patrick lunged for her.

Derek heard Amber’s scream and did just as he
had threatened. He kicked the door in. Once inside, Derek’s heart
stopped. Patrick had Amber locked tight against his chest with a
gun pointed at her head.

“Come any closer, Derek, and I will shoot
her,” Patrick snarled.

“Put the gun down, Patrick,” Derek said
calmly. “You won’t get away with this. The police have this room
surrounded.”

“If you care about her at all you will leave
this room now and call off the cavalry,” Patrick replied. “I will
kill her.”

“I can’t do that, Patrick,” Derek said
drawing his own gun. He refused to look at Amber afraid if he did,
he would make a mistake that would cost her her life.

Derek and Patrick circled the room, guns
drawn. Amber decided she could not do this anymore. It had to end
now. One way or another. Screaming Derek’s name, she lifted her
feet and went limp in Patrick’s arms becoming dead weight. When she
did, it threw Patrick off balance and he looked down, lowering the
gun. Derek took that split second and fired his weapon. It was a
clean shot.

Amber sobbed as she crawled away from
Patrick’s lifeless body. Derek ran to her, grabbed her up, and
hugged her as local police poured into the hotel room. Quickly
sidestepping the body, Derek walked out of the room with Amber in
his arms. He told the cops he was taking her to another hotel and
he would call with their whereabouts so they could get statements
later in the day.

Later that afternoon when Amber woke from a
long drug induced sleep, Derek was waiting for her. He filled her
in on what he had learned the day before and she told him the
reason Patrick had been infatuated.

Derek took her to the police station and they
were able to give their statements. As soon as they were through,
Amber asked Derek to take her home. She was still trying to figure
out how Olivia was going to take this news and hoped her friend
would not be further shattered by what she would soon learn.

Derek and Amber drove the entire way to
Atlanta in near silence. Amber could not bring herself to think
about or talk about the last few days anymore. She needed time to
process what had happened, but she wasn’t fully ready to face it.
Derek was still hurt by the fact she had left without talking with
him first. He understood her logic, but it still stung. Neither
could bring themselves to discuss the thoughts rolling through
their heads.

Arriving back at his brother’s house, Derek
unloaded their bags and urged Amber to get some rest. Complying,
Amber walked up the stairs and crawled into her bed without even
changing. She needed sleep. Deep, pain free, thoughtless,
sleep.

Derek came into the house, deposited their
bags, and called his brother. Matt had left to tell Olivia in
person what had happened and about her husband’s involvement. He
thought Amber would appreciate it coming from him rather than a
cold deputy who had no idea of the bond between the girls. He hoped
he could be of some small comfort to Amber’s friend. She had
already been through so much.

After talking with his brother and finding
out Olivia’s reaction to the news, Derek walked upstairs to check
on Amber. Finding her fully clothed, he undressed her and pulled a
night shirt from her bag. He put it on her then took off his own
clothes and crawled in bed beside her. He needed to hold her and
she needed to be held even though she was already asleep.

Amber snuggled further into Derek as he
pulled her close. She was unaware of the gesture but he was not. He
held her all night barely sleeping himself. In the morning, the two
would need to talk. He would suggest a counselor for the nightmare
she had been through and possibly one for Olivia as well. They
would both need help getting through this. Hopefully, they would
still have each other.

♥
Epilogue
♥

Olivia was by her side two years later as
Amber married the stranger that had come to her rescue. It had
taken awhile for the two friends to cope with what had happened,
but they helped each other get through the hard times. Both spoke
to a counselor and even had a few sessions together.

Derek asked to be reassigned to his brother’s
office in Atlanta so Amber could keep her job and stay close to
Olivia. Amber helped Olivia get a job at the hospital she worked at
and Olivia moved to Atlanta. She needed a change of scenery and
wanted to get away from the place she had lived with the maniac
stalking her best friend.

Matt stood by Derek’s side as he married the
woman of his dreams and wondered if he would meet someone as
wonderful as Amber one day. Could he give up his bachelor lifestyle
if the right woman turned his head?

Derek, believing himself the luckiest man in
the world, kissed his new bride and thanked God for bringing her
into his life. He had never thought it possible to find a woman who
understood the hazards that came with his job who wouldn’t run the
other direction at the thought of sharing a life with him. Amber
was a special woman. And she was all his.

Amber looked at the man she had just married
and smiled. It wasn’t long ago she had tried to run from him
thinking to protect him, but he had found her and protected her
instead. He was her hero and she loved this man with all her heart.
As she looked around at their friends and family, she couldn’t help
feeling a little sad that her parents were not there to see this
day.