Unmasking Charlotte (a Taboo Love series) (29 page)

Charlotte

After slamming the door shut, I turn and lean against it. Thank god Calvin is a smart man. He knew instantly that something was wrong and played along. I glance at Delilah, whose hands and feet are duct taped, along with a strip over her mouth. She’s sitting on the couch, tears streaming down her face. DeShawn is standing next to her with the gun pointed at her head. He threatened to shoot her if I didn’t get rid of Calvin.

“Did he buy it?” DeShawn asks.

I nod. “You heard him. He stormed off,” I answer, my voice shaky.

He nods his satisfaction and lowers the gun from Delilah’s head. I breathe a sigh of relief. She closes her eyes, doing the same.

“Seriously, DeShawn, I don’t know what you want, but this is ridiculous. You can’t just hold us hostage, people are going to wonder where we are. I mean, Delilah’s husband is for sure going to wonder where she is when she doesn’t show up at home when she’s supposed to,” I say, hoping to reason with the mad man standing in my living room.

“I’m not going to be holding you hostage long, Charlotte. I just need some time.”

“Time for what?” I ask incredulously. What the hell is he planning?

“Time to take from you what you took from me,” he snarls.

I shake my head. “What are you talking about?”

“My child! You got rid of him! And now I’m going to get rid of yours!” he shouts.

My eyes widen, my hands automatically going to hold my stomach, my babies. Thank god he doesn’t know there are two little miracles in there. “I…it’s not like I did it on purpose, DeShawn,” I rasp.

His eyes narrow on me. “I don’t believe that for one second. You got rid of him because he was mine.”

I shake my head vehemently. “No, I didn’t. It was a tubal pregnancy; it never would have become a baby.”

He swung the gun around and trained it on my stomach. “Lies!”

“Please! Please don’t do this!” I beg.

That evil smile returns as he lowers the gun. “Oh, I don’t plan on shooting you. I’m going to take your baby away and see how you like it.”

I frown hard. “I don’t understand.”

“How stupid are you, bitch? I’m going to cut that kid out of your stomach and let it die,” he says, his tone dead and flat.

Delilah cries out from behind the duct tape over her mouth. I can only shake my head and whisper “no” repeatedly. Oh god, please let Calvin get help fast. Just then, Delilah’s cell phone starts ringing. It’s on the coffee table in front of her. I can see Nick’s face pop up, so I know it’s him calling.

“It’s Delilah’s husband, you have to let her answer or he will know something is up,” I murmur shakily, still reeling from what DeShawn just disclosed as his plan.

DeShawn goes over and rips the duct tape from Delilah’s mouth, making her scream. He then takes her phone, hits answer, and puts it to her ear while also putting the gun to her head.

“Hey, Nico,” she answers. She uses Nick’s name from Club M, something she never does.

I wonder if Calvin called him and asked him where she is? If they figured out that she is still here with me, then she’s smart to give him some kind of warning. I watch raptly as she listens for a second before answering.

“Oh nothing, I’m just tied up with Charlotte at the moment, I should be home soon,” she says calmly.

I fight off a smile. She’s a genius. Nick will know that she’s serious when she says she’s tied up, even though it sounds like she was just using an expression.

“I’m sure he’s pissed, she told him to go shoot himself then he stomped off.” She snorts. “True…yes…no…uh huh…okay, Boss, see you soon, I love you, too…bye.”

DeShawn pulls the phone away, hanging it up. “So?”

“We’re good, he has no idea,” Delilah says. She looks at me and there is no need for her to do or say anything. Help is on the way. Those yes or no questions were probably Nick getting confirmation that she is in trouble.

DeShawn replaces the duct tape on Delilah’s mouth before coming over to me. I shrink back against the door, wishing I could be invisible. He grabs me and forces me into the kitchen.

Calvin

“Are you actually tied up?” Nick asks.

“True,” Delilah answers.

Nick and I exchange glances as he holds his phone between us; he has it on speaker so that I can hear what she’s saying. As soon as I left Charlotte’s apartment, I drove like a bat out of hell to Nick’s office, which is minutes from her place.

“Do we know this person?”

“Yes,” she replies.

“Has he hurt you?”

“No.”

“And he has a gun?”

“Uh huh.”

“Alright, Doll, we’ll get you guys out of this as soon as possible, I love you,” Nick says, his voice strained.

“Okay, Boss, see you soon, I love you, too,” she murmurs softly.

“Bye,” Nick whispers.

“Bye,” she replies then the phone goes dead.

Nick rubs the back of his neck as he sets the phone down on his desk. “Jesus fucking Christ, what do we do?”

I lace my fingers together on top of my head as I start to pace. “If we call the police, they are going to take too long to get organized. We need to do something now.”

“The guy has a gun, Calvin. We are no match for that. What if we burst in there and he shoots one of us, or worse, Delilah or Charlie?” Nick says, logical as always.

Just then, Parker bursts through the door, his blonde hair a mess. He looks frantic and terrified. I explained to him what was going on over the phone and he insisted on rushing right over.

“What’s going on? What are we doing?” he asks quickly.

“The guy is holding them at gun point, Delilah is tied up, and that’s all we know,” Nick says.

“Motherfucker!” Parker bites out and shoves his hands into his hair. “We have to get over there!”

“And do what?” Nick snaps. “Look, we are all freaking out right now but we can’t go over there and kick in the door with an armed man inside! We are risking too much!”

“Well, arguing about it is wasting time! Time that our girls don’t have!” I yell.
“I don’t know about you, but I’m going over there and saving my family!”

I start for the door. Parker immediately follows.

“I’m coming with you,” he says.

“Dammit!” Nick grinds out, banging his fist on his desk.

I hear him shove out of his chair and trot to catch up with us. “If Delilah gets shot, I’m blaming you,” he mutters.

“That’s fine,” I reply.

Nobody is getting shot. We all pile into my truck and race back to Charlotte’s apartment. We climb the steps to her floor and gather outside of her door. Quietly putting my ear to the door, I can hear a muffled sobbing and it sounds like it’s coming from two different sources, so I’m assuming that both women are crying.

We tried to devise a plan on the ride over. All we could come up with is kicking in the door and bum rushing the guy. Only problem is that we don’t know where in the apartment he is. The possibility of getting shot is high. I don’t really care, though; I will die to save Charlotte and my babies from whoever is in her apartment.

I back up and get ready to kick in the door. I glance at Nick, who gives me a nod. Then I look to Parker, who is ready also. I count on my fingers…one…two…three…

BOOM!

My boot hits the door perfectly, sending it crashing open. The first thing I see is Delilah, lying on the floor, her hands duct taped behind her back and her ankles duct taped to the coffee table leg. Duct tape also covers her mouth. It looks as though she is trying to fight her way toward the kitchen. I also notice that the gun is sitting on the coffee table.

Nick pushes past me and grabs the gun. He swings around and points it toward the kitchen. “Don’t fucking move!” he shouts.

I slowly turn my head and look to where he is pointing. I blink a few times, not sure if I’m seeing things correctly. Charlotte is lying face-up, on the island counter, duct tape wrapping completely around her chest and legs, strapping her to the counter. Her shirt is lifted, revealing her rounded belly. Standing beside the counter with a carving knife in his hand is that same black man from my club – face covered in tattoos - getting ready to slice open my girlfriend’s stomach.
Motherfucker!

A red veil drops over my vision. I roar as I rush the man about to cut into my beautiful Charlotte. I tackle him to the floor where the struggle ensues. I know he still has the knife in his hand, but my main focus is to kill this man. I continuously bash my fist into his face. A sharp pain shoots through my thigh, but I ignore it, nothing is going to stop me from tearing this guy apart. I pummel him unconscious. Once I’m satisfied that he’s pretty much in a coma, I stumble to my feet. The world tilts as I look around. I lean a hand on a nearby bar stool and take in the scene. Nick is cutting Delilah free with a pair of scissors and Parker is taking care of Charlotte. I suddenly feel ligh
theaded and have to lean heavy on the stool. Damn, what’s happening?

As soon as Nick gets Delilah free, he rushes to me. “Calvin, my man, you need to sit down.”

“Fuck that,” I say breathlessly.

Nick grabs me as I start to drop to my knees. He gently helps me down to the floor. He sits behind me, with me between his knees, my back resting against his chest. He wraps his arms around my chest and I drop my head back against his shoulder.

“I don’t feel so good,” I pant.

“Yeah, well, you have a big ass knife sticking out of your thigh.” He huffs. “I wouldn’t feel good either if I were you.”

“I what?” I squawk and look down at my leg.

Sure enough, that fucking carving knife is hilt deep in the top of my thigh with the point sticking out of the back. My jeans are soaked in blood and I can feel it running down my calf and into my boot. A wave of nausea hits me and I drop my head back to Nick’s shoulder.

“Oh god,” I swallow hard and squeeze my eyes shut as the pain starts to kick in.

“Calvin!” Charlotte cries.

I hear her feet hit the floor as she hops off the counter. She drops to her knees next to me and grabs my bloody hand. “Oh my god! Are you okay?”

I have to laugh. “Pinky, I got a knife in my thigh, so… no, I’m not okay.”

“I’m so sorry! I’m so sorry!” she cries.

“Charlotte, baby, are you okay? Did he hurt you? How are my babies?” I ask, cutting her off.

I feel like I’m going to pass out, but I need to know if she’s okay before I let that happen. I can hear Parker in the background on the phone with the police. So no doubt, there will be an ambulance here soon.

“No, no, I’m okay, we’re okay” she answers in a trembling voice.

“Good…good…” I breathe before the blackness envelops me.