OBSESSED WITH TAYLOR JAMES (23 page)

Mario hesitated to touch her too much in her fragile
state.  She had not revealed the full impact of what happened to her inside the
house of horrors. “When you were in the closet, you could hear everything he
was doing and realized you couldn’t leave without those women.”

“I had to help them. Mario, if you could have heard the
chilling screams it would have made you sick.  I felt the knife poking me in my
side and reminded myself that what I was thinking of doing was legal.  I was
protecting my life and saving those women if they weren’t already dead.”

She shuddered as she talked; he closed his arms around
her tighter. “Baby, why don’t we take a break?  We can talk about it later if
you’re up to it.”

 She swallowed shaking her head. “Please let me tell you
everything.”

Mario wiped tears from her watery eyes with his finger. 
He wasn’t sure he was strong enough to hear the rest of the nightmare she’d
lived through.  “Go ahead.”

“Hours had passed and the place got quiet.  I had to
think how I was going to escape.  My knife was small and he was huge.  At best,
I would incapacitate him long enough to escape.  I heard the chain on the door
move then the door opened.  He dragged me from the closet into a filthy bedroom
where the other three women were.  When he attempted to um…  I fought him like
a man and he hit me in the same fashion, but I wasn’t giving up.  Finally, I
lost it.  I whipped the knife from hiding and plunged it in his body
repeatedly.  But he hit me knocking me to the floor and I dropped it.”

“After all that he managed to stand on his feet?”

“I only slowed him. When he lunged for me again, the
women got the courage to help me fight his big ass.  They were kicking and
hitting him with whatever they could find lying around that trash heap.  We
were fighting his big butt and then he fell at my feet.  The knife was stuck in
his neck.  I swear, Mario, I don’t remember grabbing the knife from the floor
when I fell.”

Mario dropped his head, squeezing her hand. “Damn,
Taylor.”

The gulps from her crying mixed in with her weak voice.
“My intention was not to kill him.”

With a gentle hand, he lifted her chin. “Hey, you did the
right thing.  The police have cleared you of any wrongdoing and those women
cannot thank you enough.  Baby, you are my hero.”

“Those women will never be the same.  He didn’t get a
chance to torture me the way he did them.”

“I’m sure they are grateful to be alive no matter what. 
Anyhow, that asshole is off the streets and no woman will fear him ever again.”

She sipped her coffee that had grown cold. “I don’t know
why he would target me personally.  How did he get in my house to plant
cameras?  It doesn’t make sense.”

Mario pushed his chair away from the table to get up. 
“Are you hungry? I will fix you breakfast.”

She pushed the coffee mug away.  “I’m not hungry.  I have
to put this puzzle together.  If he was the man snatching random women, he
could have easily attacked me the same way.  Do you know if he’d stalked the
other women?”

Mario leaned against the sink. How could he tell her? 
The two incidents weren’t related.  He removed the coffee urn and poured fresh
coffee in her cup.  “Taylor, the police are investigating.  They will keep you
informed.  What we have to do today is get you settled.  Sabrina is coming over
to do your hair and take you shopping….my treat.”

Curling her hands around the mug, she asked. “Mario, how
are you able to forgive me so easily after what I did to you?”

He kissed the bruise on her forehead. “Do you really have
to ask me that?”

She nodded. “Yes.  I would hate me. I wrecked your
$100,000 car.  You are bruised and missing a day of work to babysit me.”

“The car can be replaced and work will always be there.”
He stroked her thick puffy braid with his hand. “Do you remember what we talked
about in my office before you left?”

“We said a lot of things.  What I remember most is you
saying we couldn’t be friends anymore.”

“Disregard that.  I want to concentrate on what you
said.”

She gave a trembling smile. “Right…what did I say again?”

He sat next to her.  “I am quoting you.  You said I was
the first man you’ve come close to falling in love with in ages.”

“You’re cornering me while I’m vulnerable…is that fair?”

“I want to help you through this, Taylor.  Besides your
family, I want you to feel comfortable coming to me when you need to talk.”

“Again, I ask why?  I accused you of being the stalker. 
You looked for me.  You offered those women a safe refuge and gave me a place
to sleep.”

“I wasn’t going to slam the door in your face.  Taylor, I
may be a lot of things, but I’m not selfish.”

“I know that was meant for me; I am selfish.   Had I listened
to you, I wouldn’t be in this predicament.”

 “You are stubborn.  I have to ask, when you freed
yourself, you came to me instead of calling the police.  Why?”

Taylor stood from the table.  She had to put space
between them. “Okay, maybe that was not my best judgment call.  I was scared. 
I poked his body with my foot.  When he didn’t move we took the keys from his
pocket.  We found the injured women in different rooms of the house.  They
weren’t in any condition to be moved.  I promised to get help and the first
person that came to my mind was you.  I knew you would get them to safety.”

His conscious and guilt got to him.  She was being honest
with him, now it was his turn to be honest and reveal everything to her. He
took a deep breath and scooted the chair from the table. “Taylor, sit down,
please.”

She pushed the sleeves of his shirt she was wearing up to
her elbow.  He had given it to her to sleep in.  Taking a seat, she watched his
face grow tense. “Why are you so tense all of a sudden?”

“I know there is a lot of processing going on in your
head, but I have something to tell you.”

“What, Mario?  Don’t tell me he isn’t dead?”

“No, that guy is toast.  It’s about Dillon.”

“What about him?”

“He had a seizure that required him to have surgery.  I
don’t know his condition because I was looking for you when it happened.  Your
mom called looking for you and told Sabrina he collapsed.”

Covering her mouth, she sat stunned. “God, I hope he is
okay.  I have to see him, Mario. I need to apologize to him also.”

“Of course I’ll take you to see him, but there is more.”

“More? What more could there be?”

“The police can’t connect the cameras in your house with
the guy that kidnapped you.”

“No they are wrong; it was him.  He said he had been
watching me.  His fingerprints are probably on the cameras.  Did you give the
evidence to the police?”

“Taylor, listen please.  The guy may have broken into
your home but he did not put the cameras there.  Baby, his size wouldn’t allow
that.  As far as the other women, they were attacked inside their homes, not on
the street like the media led everyone to believe.”

“So I’m still in danger is what you are saying.  Who the
hell is after me, Mario?”

He shrugged his shoulders. “We don’t know, but it isn’t
Dillon.  Detective Diego is working on the case.  I asked him to personally
handle it.”

She hit the table with her fist. “This is just freaking
great! I survive one attack to possibly be killed by the original stalker.”

“I will do whatever it takes to keep you safe.  I’m not
letting you out of my sight anymore until this person is caught.”

She cried. “You can’t guarantee my safety, Mario.”

“Taylor, apparently you trust me or you wouldn’t be here
after experiencing such a traumatic event.”

“My trusting you has nothing to do with this.  I’m
responsible for protecting me.”

Mario narrowed his eyes. “How are you going to do that? 
Are you planning on doing it alone?” 

“I will get a gun and learn to shoot it.”

“Okay, say you do that.  One night you’re sitting around
the house and someone decides to drop by unannounced.  They are knocking on the
door; you panic and shoot before thinking.  You open the door and realize you
just shot an innocent person.”

She folded her arms. “That is farfetched.  I can’t stay
here forever or hibernate for the rest of my life.”

“No you can’t hide because of an idiot.  Taylor, this
person hasn’t made contact with you.  Detective Diego finds that strange.”

“When we suspected Dillon, he already had contact with
me.  It was losing me that we suspected would cause him to do me harm.”

“True.”

“Damn it, I don’t bother anyone.  Why is this happening
to me?”

“Whoever is obsessed with you is a coward.  If it is a
man you know, he is too shy to approach you.”

“There is only way to stop it.  I have to draw him out of
hiding.”

“Taylor, that is too dangerous.”

“I can’t deal with looking over my shoulder every time I
go outside.  I will drive myself crazy.”

He reached her, holding her arms.  “Taylor, We’ll get him
without you putting your life on the line.  I have my people on the job
already.”

“Your people?  What people do you have?”

“Taylor, one day I will give you my whole background,
right now let me and the police handle this.”

Her eyes captured the sincerity of his eyes and the
calmness of his voice. She relaxed her shoulders.  “I thought about you. About
how much I would miss your laugh, the feel of your arms around me at night when
we cuddle in bed.  I have been such a fool.  I was a damn fool to want to throw
you out of my life.  It took this, for me to realize how much I love you,
Mario.”

He gathered her in his arms.  Sore or not, he had to hold
onto her, never letting her go. He rubbed his face against the skin of her
cheek. “Yo te amo,” he whispered in her ear.

                                                                                                                                                      
Chapter 22
           
 

Kelly’s knee bounced nervously as she sat at Dillon’s bedside. 
He’d made it through surgery and doctors expected him to recover fully although
a slight chance he’d suffered minor memory loss was probable.

The anxiety got the better of her as the tiny hairs on
the back of her neck prickled her skin.  Rubbing the nape of her neck, she
needed to walk it off but didn’t dare leave the ICU.  Dillon wasn’t stable
enough to be left alone.  Until other family came to sit with him, she was
stuck.

Kelly’s cell phone vibrated on the aluminum vents
covering the air condition unit.  Glancing at the screen, her jaw clenched. 
Her actions had come home to roost.  She had to deal with the man hired to take
care of Taylor.  While Taylor had escaped, and police connected her
disappearance to the rash of kidnappings, it did not end her contract with the
assassin.  He was demanding the balance of the $20,000 payment.  She didn’t
have $10,000 left in her bank account after giving the initial $10,000 for a
job not done.  There was money in the account she and Dillon shared. In order
to withdraw a large amount of cash from the joint account she needed his
signature.  In his current condition that was not going to happen.  She had
until 6:00pm to get the money or kiss her own life goodbye.

Kelly went to his bed fiddling with the blanket.  The
beeps and dings from the various machines echoed in her ears.  She fingered his
sleeping face.  His eyes had little movement and the harsh wrinkles he’d
developed faded.  She had not seen him this peaceful since Taylor returned to
Cleveland

His head wrapped in a layer of thick white gauze showed
no seepage of blood to stain the white bandage.  Dillon’s recovery expected to
take months if not a full year depending on the loss of motor skills. 

Kelly sighed, folding her bottom lip between her teeth.
She didn’t have a year to dedicate to retraining him to do the simplest of
tasks.  Her mission to leave Cleveland took precedence over taking care of him.

She shook her head. 
Dillon, I do love you, but if you
had died, I’d be a rich woman and not have this monkey on my back
. Her hand
accidentally covered the tubing feeding him oxygen.  An alarm went off bringing
the ICU nurse in the room.

Kelly jump away from the bed. “I was just talking to him.
I didn’t do anything,” she said excited.

The nurse reset the alarm after straightening the IV
tubing. “He got his hands tangled in the tubing.”

“So he is okay?”

The young pretty nurse patted her on the shoulder. “Don’t
worry, he is doing well.  Keep talking to him letting him know you are waiting
for him to come to you.  If you need anything, buzz me,” the nurse said leaving
the room.

She let her finger run along the length of the clear
tubing.  Her fingers squeezed gently but not with enough strength to sound the
alarm. 
What are you doing!
  Scolding herself, she raised her hands
turning away.

 
God, am I so desperate I would take his life too?

                                                                                                                                                      
Chapter 23
           
 

Sabrina sprayed a light sheen on Taylor’s freshly washed
hair. “Do you like this style?” She asked looking at her sister’s face through
the mirror.

Taylor twisted a curl between her fingers and answered
dryly, “It’s pretty.

Sabrina massaged Taylor’s shoulders. “Taylor, do you want
to talk?”

“I’m all talked out.”  She shrugged from under Sabrina’s
hands.  Walking to the dresser, she put on her earrings.

“I understand.  So, how long are you staying with Mario? 
You can stay with me if you’re not ready to go home.”

“No offense, Sabrina, but it is quieter here.  I will go
home eventually but for now, I’ll stay with Mario.”

“Have you and Mario come to an understanding regarding
your relationship?”

A yearning look crossed Taylor’s face.  In the midst of
the dark clouds surrounding her, thinking about Mario always brightened her
day. “I’m in love with him.”

Sabrina lowered her brow. “Have you told him how you
feel.”

“Yes.  Sabrina, I have it under control.”

“Do you, Taylor?  The last 48 hours have been hell.”

“Tell me something I don’t know.” She replied changing
into a quarter-sleeve blue cotton shirt.

Sabrina blew a sharp breath between her lips seeing the
dark bruises on Taylor’s body. “Today you want to venture outside to see Dillon
and Sebastian.  Are you sure you’re ready for that?”

Taylor looked at her reflection in the mirror as she
buttoned her blouse. “Most of the bruises are from the car accident, if that is
the bases for that question.”

“That’s what I’m talking about, Taylor.  You are forcing
yourself to be normal.  How are you really dealing with it?  I would be ready
to crawl under a rock.”

To avoid her sister’s questions, Taylor began making the
king-sized bed keeping her hands busy.  Although she and Mario shared the bed,
they had not attempted to make love.  Smoothing the wrinkles of the bedspread,
she arranged the many pillows on top.

“Taylor, you are evading the question.  We are sisters. 
I know the way you are when you don’t want to talk about something.”

“I have to make myself do it, Sabrina! If I don’t, I will
be in a funny farm.  None of this is comfortable for me.  I cannot sleep at
night.  I disturb Mario by keeping him awake, but he holds me and comforts me
until I fall asleep.  I don’t want to be this way.”

“Have you considered counseling?”

“Yes I have.  And once I digest what happened to me
internally, I will seek help from a professional to deal with what I did to
that man.”

“He didn’t give you a choice, Taylor.  It came down to
your life or him.  You did what any normal person would do.”

Taylor narrowed her eyes and tapped her index fingers to
her temples. “I know that in my head! I know what I did was right.  What I
cannot absorb is another person is fighting for his life because of me.  That
is what I cannot live with, Sabrina.  I don’t give a damn about the asshole
that died at my feet.”

Throwing cosmetics and hair products in a duffle bag,
Sabrina zipped it closed. “Let’s go to the hospital and see Sebastian.”

Her lip twitched. “All right.  I’m not so sure he wants
to see me though.”

“One way to find out—get your purse.”

“I should let Mario know where I am.”

“Write him a note.”

*****

Mario rounded his desk uncertain how to react. “Are you
sure, Detective Diego?”

Detective Diego sat in the chair across from Mario’s
desk.  He crossed one leg over his knee and tapped his finger against the heel
of his shoe. “I’m one-hundred percent positive.  Mario, I came to you with the
information because Ms. James was not home.”

Mario sat behind his desk.  He could not believe the
story the pictures in his hands told.  “She is staying with me.  Dios, esto la
va a matar.”

“I’m sorry.  I’m sure you have heard of this before since
you’re in the legal field.”

He nodded.  “Yup. And one of many reasons I turned to
corporate law.” Mario leaned his back against the soft leather chair mirroring
Detective Diego’s body pose, only his shoes were made of the finest Italian
leather.  “When do you plan on making an arrest?”

“We are waiting for the judge to sign an arrest warrant. 
While we are on the subject, prints from the knife came back from the lab. 
There were two sets of prints on the knife and two different blood types.”

Mario rubbed his finger on his chin. “And?”

“We verified Ms. James as handling the knife and another
unknown source.”

“Could the suspect have tried to remove the knife from
his neck?”

 “That hasn’t been ruled out. However, we believe the
other prints belong to one of the other women.”

“That makes sense.  How are they doing?”

“I can’t disclose the condition of those hospitalized but
the other women are recuperating nicely.”

“I’m glad to hear that much.  Taylor has been worried
about them.”

“Um, I know about the crew you have hunting down Ms.
James’ stalker.  You have to call them off before you get in trouble.”

Mario paused before saying anything. “I have to help
her.”

“I know.  And the way you are going about is wrong.  You
have loyal advocates that won’t implicate you, but things have a way of coming
back to haunt us.  Call them off to be on the safe side; I got this under
control.”

Mario sighed and picked up his cell phone and spoke lowly
into it after the person answered. “Cancelarlo.”  He looked at Detective Diego.
“It’s done.”

“I heard.  Look, I know that was hard and the only reason
I know about your involvement is because we share, how should I say this and be
tactful, we share the same informants.”

“What can I say?  You can take the boy from the hood but
a little of it will always remain with me.”

“You have made a success of yourself, Mario; don’t let
this blow all that for you.”

“You are right; I wasn’t using my head.  So, should we
warn Taylor about the hit on her head?”

“I’ve been struggling with that, but since the man hired
to do the hit is an undercover cop, no harm will come to her.  She has been
through a lot and doesn’t need to know about this until we make the arrest.”

“Good cause I would be worried about her going after the
person before you were able to make the arrest.”

“Well it will be over in a few days.  Life will return to
normal for both of you.”  Detective Diego stood fastening the button of his
black JC Penny suit. “I’m done with my business.  Oh, Mario, after we are
through with this case, how about we get together for a beer.  We have more in
common than you think.”

Mario walked with him to the door. “Is that right?”

“Yes.  The woman I love is a strong African-American
woman also.  I think the four of us should get to know each other better.”

Mario pasted a smile on his weary face.  The lack of
sleep was taking a toll on him physically, but he would endure it if it meant
helping Taylor cope. “Detective Diego, Once Taylor is up to going out again;
I’ll give you a call.  I think it would be good for us to start making new
friends.”

“Please call me Alfonso.”

Mario extended his hand waiting to shake his new friend’s
hand. “Okay, Alfonso.”

Returning the handshake, he said, “I’ll wait for your
call.  Until then I’ll be in touch.  Adios, amigos.”

Mario waved as Detective Diego left his office.  Closing
the door to get back to work it opened again with Anderson Cartwright entering.

He frowned seeing the mad standing in his office
“Anderson, what brings you to my office?” He asked shoving the pictures in his
desk drawer.

“I won’t stay long.  I wanted to know how Taylor is
doing.  She may not work here any longer but she will always be a part of this
firm.”

“Last I saw, her office was cleaned and her name plate
gone.  When a person is fired that usually equates expulsion from the family.”

“I had no choice.  Taylor violated the rules, Mario.”

“Yet, I remain.  I am just as guilty as she is of
violating the rules.”

“Not to sound harsh…she was only an associate.  Your
presence with the firm is a higher priority.”

Mario released a sarcastic laugh. “Taylor will survive,
and not to add to her stress, I won’t tell her you asked about her.”

Anderson shifted his weight against the door. “You and I
don’t have to be on bad terms, Infante.  Women come and go so don’t let
sleeping with that woman ruin your career.  You may have prestige following
your name but when you are out of the game, people tend to forget about you.”

Mario folded his hands together on the desk.  The
furrowed of his brow showed detest for the undercurrent the conversation had
taken.  “Anderson, let me remind you that people who sit on towers have a
longer fall to the bottom.”

Anderson braced his hands on the back of the chair.
“Excuse me, son?  I believe you misinterpreted me.”

Mario stared at him for a moment without saying a word.
Slowly he rose from his chair.  “First, I am not your son.  Second, I don’t
need you as I’ve stated before.”

Anderson’s jaw hardened.  “Don’t snap at me.  I have a
tendency to snap back.”

“Then I suggest you don’t threaten me because you
wouldn’t like the way I snapped back,” Mario reply angrily.

Clicking his tongue, Anderson puckered his lips.  “I
definitely understand the attraction to Ms. James; two peas in a pod.  This
clearly exemplifies Mr. Stevenson’s fiancée’s reason for not trusting her.”

“What does Kelly have to do with this?”

“I felt bad for her the night of the Mayor’s ball.  She
noticed Dillon was incensed Taylor was with you.  He obviously has an
attraction to her.”

“Wow, we saw two different scenarios that night.  What I
witnessed was the vindictiveness of a man plotting to get his best friend
fired, and the face of his future wife boasting his efforts.”

Anderson’s mouth opened, closed, and then opened again.
“I have a meeting to attend shortly.” He managed to say glancing at his watch.

“Enjoy the rest of your day, Anderson.”

Anderson retreated from the office.  Mario reclaimed his
chair feeling superior at knocking the wind from the snobbish windbag. 
Removing his cell phone, he crossed his feet on the edge of his desk to make a
call.