Annihilate Me (Vol. 4) (The Annihilate Me Series) (22 page)

So,
I stepped away from the rack.
 
And
when I did, the woman I’d been competing with sighed with relief and said
loudly enough for me to hear:
 
“Finally.”

I
was in a good mood, so I let it pass.
 
I couldn’t blame her.
 
Right
now, with this crowd, this floor was one tough environment and only the most
determined got what they wanted.
 
I
walked over to Lisa, and Tank followed behind me.
 
“What do you have?” I asked.

“Look
at this dress.”
 
She lifted it up
for me and held it to her chest.
 
“Calvin Klein—and it’s marked down.
 
I can afford it.
 
Perfect for Christmas Eve or for New
Year’s Eve.
 
Either or.
 
What do you think?”

I
admired it.
 
It was a classic sheath
dress that featured dark sequins between layers of lightweight tulle.
 
It came to just above her knee, and it
shimmered and sparkled in ways that I thought complemented Lisa’s
personality.
 
“Gorgeous,” I said.

She
leaned casually toward my ear.
 
“If
ever there was a time to splurge, it’s now.”
 
She looked up at Tank and posed with the
dress held in front of her.
 
“What
do you think?”

He
seemed reluctant to say much of anything because he was working.
 
So I linked arms with him and said,
“Look, for the moment, you’re off duty.
 
We need a man’s opinion.
 
Is
this the one, or should she keep looking?”

“I
think you’d look beautiful in it,” he said.
 
But then he glanced at me before turning
back to Lisa.
 
“But I kind of see
you in red.”

“You
do?” Lisa asked.

“Well,
for me, I do.
 
Like the red sweater
you’re wearing.
 
I think it looks
nice on you.
 
But what you have
there also is nice.
 
Either way.”

“Let
me look for something in red.”

“While
you do that, I’m going to do some shopping of my own,” I said.

“OK,
cookie.”

“Tank,
you can stay with Lisa.
 
I think she’d
like your opinion.
 
I’m just going
to go right over there.
 
You won’t
be able to miss me.”

“I
need to be with you, Jennifer.”
 
He
looked at Lisa.
 
“I hope you
understand.”

“Of
course I do.
 
You’re working.
 
I’ll call each of you over when I find
something in red.
 
Look at this
place.
 
It’s popping with
color.
 
I’ll find something in a few
minutes.
 
Jennifer, go and do what
you have to do.
 
I’m fine.
 
In fact, I’m perfect.”

After
an additional thirty minutes of maneuvering through the hordes of people and pawing
through racks of clothes, I had gathered enough items to try on in the fitting
room.
 

I
went to the woman who was managing this particular fitting area, and gave her
my clothes.
 
She sifted through
them, and I was allowed to wait in line with a dozen other women until it was
finally my turn to grab one of the rooms.
 
Once inside, I locked the door behind me, and started to try everything
on.
 
I was three dresses and two
pairs of pants into it when a small knock came at the door.

“Lisa?”
I said.

“Mmm-hmm.”

“Do
you have something to show me?”

“Mmm-hmm.”

But
when I opened the door, it wasn’t Lisa standing beyond it.
 
It was another woman.
 
One so swift that she was able to press
herself inside, bare a knife, close the door behind us, lock it, and shove me
back against the wall with her hand against my throat before I could react.

“One
word our of your mouth, and I’ll cut you, bitch.
 
Try me.
 
Please, try me.
 
I’d love nothing but to end your life
now.
 
Give me a reason.
 
Just one reason….”

She
was wearing a blonde wig—it probably looked real from afar, but up close,
I could tell it was a wig.
 
Dark
glasses covered her eyes.
 
Her
complexion seemed to suggest that she was somewhere in her thirties.
 
She was wearing a nondescript black coat
and had clothes hung over her left arm.
 
I struggled against her, but she was stronger than I was.
 
She pressed the blade against my neck
and said, “I will kill you.
 
Don’t
give me a reason to.
 
All you have
to do is listen to what I have to say, and then carry it back to Alexander
Wenn.
 
Are we clear?”

Terrified,
I nodded at her.

She
dipped her hand into her coat pocket and pulled out a cell phone.
 
With her thumb, she turned it on,
pressed a few buttons, and then aimed it at my face.
 

She
took three photos of me with the knife against my throat.
 
Then she dropped the phone in her pocket
and said, “You’re going to die.
 
Not
here.
 
But in a matter of days.
 
Naturally, there’s a way out of that, so
here’s your saving grace, cunt.
 
Tell your boyfriend to drop all deals.
 
All takeovers.
 
Everything Wenn currently is going
after.
 
If he doesn’t, you both
die.
 
But he’ll watch you die first.
 
Make sure you tell him that.”
 

She
jerked my head and slammed it so hard against the wall that I almost blacked
out.
 
“Are you listening to me?”

I
blinked and tried to focus.
 
My head
started to swim.
 
I didn’t feel
well.
 
My heart hammered and I felt
sick to my stomach.
 
Her face was so
close to mine, it was blurred.
 
“Who
are you?” I said.
 
“Why are you
doing this?
 
What have I done to you?”

“Too
many questions.
 
When the lights
come on, remember what I said to you.
 
Alexander Wenn drops all deals and all takeovers.
 
Understand me?
 
He immediately drops everything, or you
die.
 
Say it.”

When
the lights come on?
 
I didn’t know what she meant.
 
Wide eyed, and with a knife so close
against my skin that I could feel death’s grip closing in, I nodded to her out
of fear and I said it.
 
“He drops
all deals and all takeovers, or I die.”

“You’re
an obedient little cunt, aren’t you?’

“Please—”

“You’ll
remember that?”

I
could feel my heart hammering in my head.
 
“I can’t breathe—”

“
You’ll
remember that?
”

With
her hand held so tightly against my throat, I could barely speak, I said, “I
’
ll remember.
 
Please don’t hurt—”

It
was at that moment that she bashed my head against the wall so hard that I
collapsed in a heap on the floor and skated toward the gray edges of
unconsciousness.
 

The
world began to dim.
 
The lights
started to close in.
 
The door
opened to the loud din of the crowds beyond, where no one likely had heard what
she’d done to me, and then it clicked shut.
 
As I lay there on the floor, darkness
unraveled along the periphery of my vision until it overtook my vision.
 
I felt myself begin to float.
 
I saw Alex’s face.

And
then I saw nothing at all.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

When
I came to, I was no longer in the fitting room.
 
Instead, I was in a foreign-looking room
that stung my eyes from too much light.
 
I saw a haze of figures standing around me, but the light was so
piercing, it sent a jolt of pain through my body that didn’t stop until it
reached the back of my head, which hurt for a different reason.

“Jennifer,”
someone said.

I
tightly closed my eyes and then covered them with my left hand, which had a
needle stuck into it that was secured by tape.
 
I felt sick and dizzy.
 
I knew I was hurt, but I didn’t know how
badly.
 
“The light,” I said.
 
“It’s too bright.”

“Turn
off the lights,” the person said.
 
It was a man.
 
“Just leave
that one on over there.
 
The one
farthest away from her.”

It
was Alex.
 
Thank God it was him.

When
the lights dimmed, my eyes fluttered open.
 
I blinked several times, and then, when my eyes adjusted to the light, I
saw that I was in a hospital room.
 
Alex, Lisa, Blackwell, and Tank were at my bedside.

I
looked at Alex, who was sitting closest to me and holding my hand.
 
“Where am I?” I asked.

“New
York Presbyterian.”

“How
long have I been here?”

“Five
hours.
 
They gave you a sedative in
the ambulance.
 
When you arrived,
they gave you another one so you would sleep.”

“I
was attacked,” I said.

“I
know.”

“Who
did it?”

“We
don’t know yet.”

“She
held a knife to my throat, Alex.”

“We
know that.
 
I can’t tell you how
sorry I am, Jennifer.”

“How
do you know all this?”

“There
are security cameras in the dressing rooms.
 
Saks’ security team was quick to act,
but not quick enough.
 
Whoever
attacked you knew they needed to get out quickly—and she did.”

“Do
we know who she is?”

“The
police are looking into it.”

“I’ve
tendered my resignation,” Tank said.
 
“I take full responsibility for what happened to you.
 
I’m also sorry, Jennifer.
 
All of this is on me.”

I
just looked at him.
 
“You are not
resigning,” I said.

“I
already have.
 
None of this should
have happened under my watch.”

“I
won’t accept it.
 
Neither will
Alex.”

“I
refuse to accept it,” Alex said.
 

“With
all due respect, that’s for neither of you to decide,” Tank said.
 
“I should have been aware of what was
happening, but I wasn’t.”

He
was standing at the foot of the bed.
 
From where I lay, I could see the grim expression on his face.
 
His voice was heavy with
disappointment.
  

“You
couldn’t see what was happening because that fitting room was a cluster fuck,”
I said.
 
“You saw the lines of women
waiting to try on clothes.
 
How
could you have known that in that line was a woman who was planning to attack
me?
 
You couldn’t.
 
She was a professional.
 
Come on, Tank.
 
Give yourself a break.
 
The store was packed.
 
It was sheer madness.
 
There were way too many people for you
to even have a handle on who was in line with me.
 
This has nothing to do with you.
 
Please think twice about this.
 
I won’t feel safe without you.
 
None of us will.”

“Jennifer—”
Tank said.

“We
need you.
 
This wasn’t your
fault.
 
It was my fault.
 
I thought I’d be safe.
 
I wasn’t.
 
So, to hell with it.
 
I guess I’m more vulnerable than I
thought I was.
 
I certainly never
thought that they’d try anything at a place as public as Saks, but now I know
that they will.
 
I thought a few
hours of shopping with Lisa would be harmless, especially in such a public
place.
 
Apparently, I was
wrong.”
 
I looked at him.
 
“I can’t do this without you, Tank.
 
I need you.
 
We
need you.
 
Please reconsider.”