Authors: Roni Hall
Chapter 29
Kevin awoke about 7:30 but lay in bed thinking. Jamie and he were good. He could deal with anything else that life threw at him as long as he had her. Once all this Derrick shit was over they could get on with their relationship. He knew he loved her but dare he utter that word to her?
They had an appointment at the detective’s office at ten and Kevin wanted to leave early. Not knowing how long it would take them in traffic, he would order breakfast room service for all of them.
Kevin got up and showered.
Let them sleep in a little more. God knows we drank enough wine last night.
He laughed to himself, remembering some of the more humorous moments of the night. Once he finished his shower, he nudged Ben to wake up. Then Kevin knocked on the half-open adjoining door.
“Jamie?” he called softly. “Jamie?” he repeated louder and knocked again. Still no answer. Kevin peeked in and saw the empty bed. “Jamie?” He looked toward the bath but the door was open and the room was empty.
“Jamie?” Kevin called loudly and looked around the room, trying not to worry. He looked for a note or a clue.
Did she run to the gift shop to buy another shirt?
He prayed she hadn’t run from him again.
He called to Ben. “Ben! Jamie’s not in her room. I’m going down to the lobby to see if she’s there.”
This news woke Ben from his grogginess. “Okay, I’m up.”
Kevin exited the room and jumped on the elevator. The gift shop was not even open yet. He searched the lobby again, the exercise room, spa, and all other public areas of the hotel with no luck. He took the elevator back up to their room.
“Any word from her?” Kevin asked Ben as he entered the room.
“No. Any luck downstairs?”
Kevin tried not to panic. Shit . . . why would she leave? Had she changed her mind about him?
“Maybe she went for coffee or tea.” Ben offered.
“Maybe, but wouldn’t she leave a note or something? Call her cell.”
“Good idea.” Ben dialed Jamie’s cell, which they heard buzzing in the other room. They searched and found it in the sheets of her unmade bed.
“She didn’t take her cell? No wallet? Then she didn’t go for tea.” Kevin began to worry more.
Ben picked up Jamie’s cell and scrolled through it as his head perked up.
“Kevin!” Ben sounded worried now. “Jamie received a call at 3 a.m. I don’t know this number.” He showed the phone to Kevin. Kevin didn’t recognize the number either but called it.
He picked up after three rings. “Kev, buddy, how are you? Hey, I told you Jamie was back with me but I guess you didn’t believe me. I bet you believe me now, don’t you? She can’t stay away from me . . . came running to me during the night. Give it up, Kev.” Derrick laughed.
“Let me talk to her. Let her tell me that herself.” Kevin had a sick feeling in his gut.
“No can do, buddy. She’s, ahh, sleeping right now. We had quite a night together and she’s exhausted.” Derrick laughed. “But I’ll tell her you called.” He hung up.
Kevin went white. “Derrick’s got her.”
“Is she all right? Did she go willingly?” Ben asked the same questions that Kevin was thinking.
“My guess is no on both accounts.”
“Sweetie, why’d you make me do this? I don’t want to hurt you, I don’t. We were good together, don’t you remember? And we can be good again.” His voice sounded miles away. Why was she so groggy?
Where am I?
He kept talking. “I need your help with the club. My backer doesn’t believe I can make it work, but I can. I know I can, especially if you’re by my side. I’m in deep and you are the only one who can make this work for me. You’re beautiful, you’re smart, and you’re legit, as legit as they come. You’re honest and people see the goodness in you. Yep, with you by my side, we can make this thing happen.”
Her mind started to clear. Derrick was rambling. Her eyelids weighed a ton. Opening them slowly she saw Derrick sitting on boxes . . . so many boxes . . . he looked lost
. My arms, why are they . . .
Struggling to move, she realized her limbs were bound.
“Well, good morning, sunshine. Glad you’re back. Everything’s gonna be okay. I have to figure this all out. Sorry I had to tie you up, but I can’t trust you not to run.”
“Derrick, please, please don’t do this. Let me go. Please. It’s not too late.”
His dark eyes hardened and grew cold. “Now don’t go talking like that or I’ll have to gag you too. Don’t talk that shit to me, you cheating bitch. You just want to run back to your cowboy.” He paused as if deep in thought. “I’ll have to figure out what to do with him too. He’s starting to get on my nerves.” Abruptly he stood up. “I’ve got calls to make.” Grabbing a rag out of his pocket, he roughly tied it around her mouth. “You just couldn’t listen to me. Everything could’ve been great.” Suddenly she was covered in darkness as he threw something over her. She tried to move, to scream, but it was futile. Laying her head on the hard wood floor, she thought of Kevin and began to cry.
Kevin called Detective Doug Hart who he’d had an appointment with today and filled him in. Kevin wanted to call it kidnapping, but the detective was not in agreement at this point and said he would come to the hotel himself.
Hart spoke to the hotel staff and one of the employees did see a man matching Derrick’s description walking out the door with his arm around a woman. It stood out in the workers’ mind because the woman dressed in jeans, tee, and disheveled hair was in sharp contrast to the man’s designer attire. He held the woman very close so he did not see her face to see if she looked in distress.
To the detective this proved inconclusive, but because of Kevin’s persistence, the business at the ranch, and Derrick’s assault on her the other day, he decided to call it a kidnapping and put out the alert. They looked up any possible locations that Derrick might have taken refuge.
Hart sent a squad car to Derrick’s plush apartment but it was empty, so the three of them drove to his business address on record but again, no one was there.
“I know you don’t want to consider this, Cunningham, but maybe the girl had a change of heart. She left you once, maybe she got cold feet. Sorry, but let’s check out her apartment. Maybe she went home.”
Kevin started to protest but he couldn’t convince Hart. He nodded in agreement, and Ben shook his head in disbelief.
Ben voiced his opinion strongly. “Nope, that didn’t happen, but okay, just to prove you wrong.” He knew the location and provided the detective with her address. When there was no answer to Jamie’s doorbell, they rang the bell for the superintendent who answered and led them up to her apartment.
“One of the other tenants told me that her door has been open all day. I went right away to check, and it looked like the door had been kicked in and the lock busted. See, there’s a black shoe mark there. My wife says it was the man with the black eyes. She doesn’t like him, he scares her. I reported it to the police but you know how it is, no one ever came.” The super also stated he had not seen Jamie in two days.
Walking into her studio, there were a few pieces of furniture overturned and a Yankees Slugger wooden bat on the floor. Kevin’s throat tightened as he viewed this intimate part of Jamie’s world that he knew so little about. He tread lightly, as if he was trespassing, and made his way around the small tidy unit. It was modest, but decorated in an eclectic way with a definite feminine touch. A small table near the front window displayed a collection of pictures and items that obviously were from Montana. It consisted of an assortment of pine cones, several small framed pictures, including one of Kevin and Jack, and a heart-shaped rock sitting in a little nest of hay from the barn. He swallowed hard.
Kevin looked at Hart. “You heard Ben’s account of the other night which seems to be confirmed by the overturned furniture here. Are you convinced now?”
The detective nodded and looked a little more serious.
Since they had Jamie’s cell, Kevin looked up Noah who voiced surprised to hear that Jamie had returned to New York. Kevin updated him on the whole Derrick saga. Upset by the news, he wanted to help so they drove to his apartment to pick him up. Noah helped brainstorm where Derrick might have gone.
“She once took me to an industrial loft he kept. In fact, Derrick was pissed that she had brought me there. I don’t know the address but I think I can find it.” It was worth a try since they had nothing else. They rode in the detective’s car across town to a historic warehouse area and circled around the area block by block searching for a clue. Noah eyes searched for anything familiar but came up empty.
“Damn! I know it’s here somewhere . . . but there’s so many buildings.”
“Keep looking. We’ve got nothing else.” Kevin urged him on. A vice tightened in his chest crushing all hope. Finally Noah yelled in excitement.
“There!” He pointed. “That’s it. I’m sure because I remember what an odd colored door it had, a deep purple. Yep, that’s it.” A black jag with dark windows sat parked outside.
“Okay. Let me handle this.” Hart got out first and the other three followed him. He knocked on the door loudly. “Police.” He yelled to identify himself.
Oh great, announce us, why don’t you!
Kevin grew impatient.
No answer and the detective knocked again. Kevin couldn’t wait and walked around the building, looking for another entrance. The back metal door was locked tightly and wouldn’t budge. Windows on each side of the door were blacked out. Surveying the area, Kevin retrieved a brick from across the alley and smashed the window on the right. Using the brick he knocked out the remaining glass shards, hoisted himself up and climbed through the window.
Let them keep him distracted from the front and I’ll work from the rear.
He looked around the first floor, which had an open layout, then ascended stairs to the second floor which was cut up into rooms that made for multiple hiding places. Searching quietly, he moved from room to room but stopped when he heard voices and movement above. He didn’t recognize the voice or understand what they were saying but someone was definitely up there.
Returning to the stairwell he climbed another flight, stopping to listen again, but heard nothing. From the outside, he guessed there were about six stories to this building. They could be anywhere. From below he heard footsteps and turned. It was Ben. Securing his attention, he pointed up and Ben nodded. Following him, they reached the third floor. Ben went left and Kevin right, but both came up empty. Noise again upstairs; both looked up and headed toward the next flight. The fourth floor was also divided into several partitions, so they split up searching in opposite directions again.
The rooms were filled with boxes and odd pieces of furniture, which made it difficult to search. Stepping quietly, Kevin searched the first two rooms with no success. The next room was doubled in size and consisted of neatly stacked boxes of all sizes. Halfway through the large room, he turned down one aisle of cartons which was a dead end. Doubling back he heard movement in the far corner. Stopping to listen, he did a 360 then cautiously continued toward the sound.
Passing rows and rows of large cartons, his senses were heightened. As he neared a maze of boxes, his eyes hunted for any clue, carefully rounding each corner. Closing his eyes, he strained his ears to hear the inaudible.
“Jamie?” He spoke barely above a whisper. An indistinct muffle interrupted the heavy silence and he stopped. His hearing acute now, he advanced without a sound through the boxes, holding his breath. Silence. He exhaled with disappointment. Moving forward, he turned to the right just as a tall stack of cartons wavered noiselessly on his left. Snapping his head back to the left, the stack still swayed. Approaching it, he tried to focus his eyes through the narrow slit of space between boxes. Nothing . . . until the stack wavered again.
His eyes followed the tall stack to the floor. Movement again, only this time it was originating from a blue tarp on the ground. Using both hands he tried to shove one stack of massive cartons but they wouldn’t budge. He tried another stack and pushed them aside just enough to squeeze through. Turning, he reached down and lifted the tarp.
“Jamie! Oh my God, Jamie!” Bound and gagged, her eyes wide with fear softened as recognition of Kevin set in. Gently he sat her up and removed the rag tied around her mouth.
“Kevin!” Her deep inspiration transformed into sobs.
“Baby, oh, Jamie. It’s okay. You’re safe now. It’s okay.” He untied the coarse rope around her wrists and ankles and scooped her up into his arms. Her whole body shook as he held her. “It’s okay, babe. You’re safe now.” He wanted to hold her forever but needed to get her to safety.
Standing her up with one arm around her, he guided her through the maze and into the open room. “Let’s go. Let’s get you out of here.”
“Not so fast, cowboy!” They both turned to see Derrick charging at them out of nowhere. Kevin pushed Jamie out of harm’s way and went at Derrick with raw rage.
“You son of a bitch! Stay away from her!” Kevin swung his fist, hitting Derrick squarely on the jaw, causing him to stumble back. Kevin went after him, hitting him again in the jaw and then in the gut. Derrick fell forward, then down to the floor.
“Get up! Let’s finish this, you coward! What kind of man beats on women? Too afraid to challenge someone your own size? You son of a bitch! C’mon, take me on instead!” Kevin pulled at Derrick’s shirt but he was out. He looked down at the man with pure hatred. He wanted to keep pummeling him but he had Jamie to worry about now. He turned away from the scum on the floor and focused his attention on the one that deserved it, Jamie.
He was now on the other side of the room from her. As Kevin started toward her, a voice from behind bellowed, “Oh no you don’t, cowboy!” Derrick rose from the beaten pulp that was on the floor, playing possum.
It happened so fast but Kevin watched the horror in slow motion.