Chase Me (20 page)

“Easier said than done,” I replied as I looked over my right shoulder to see if I could see Eddie.

“I was just calling to let you know that I was giving you the night off.”

“What?” I asked with slight hesitation.

“In about ten minutes Eddie will receive a package couriered from my office. Inside will be an itinerary. You will get one emailed to you as well.”

“Brooklyn, what the hell is this?” I nearly shouted and had to remember I was at work. I looked over at the elevator as it dinged and there was a short man with curly red hair with a envelope heading right for Eddie’s office.

“Kate, listen to me. You are scared of letting him in. You are terrified of allowing him to care for you. You will be under NYPD protection the whole night so nothing you don’t want to happen will.”

“Why?” I asked in a panic as Eddie signed for the envelope.

“I know Kurt got out, but that should not deter you from finding your own happiness. That dickless fucker will not be the reason that you shied away from Eddie.”

“Brook,” I said with a childish whimper.

“What is done is done. Besides I love a love story with a happy ending. Now go get it for the both of us.”

“Brook, I don’t like this. I would rather be at home,” I rushed out my words.

“I know, but your mom wants a son in law. Her words not mine.”

“Of course she does,” I replied as the elevator chimed again. Another courier came out and walked right up to my desk.

“Sign here,” he stated and I did as he handed me a gift wrapped present.

“What did you get me?” I asked Brooklyn as a smile crossed my face. I loved gifts.

“Kate, I didn’t send you anything,” she stated shortly as conversations around her picked up. I tore open the purple package and lifted the lid.

“AHH,” I screamed into the phone.

“What is it?” Brooklyn screamed in the headset. Eddie came flying out of his office. I couldn’t breathe. I fell to the floor and tried to scoot away but the headset was tangled around me. “Get me Taylor Cross and Mark Stone on conference, now!” Brooklyn bellowed in my ear.

“Lisa, call the police, and put them on my private line,” Eddie shouted as I kicked and wiggled to get loose. Everyone was watching as I sobbed on the floor. Eddie was on his wireless headset as he held me.

“Mark, you better get over here now,” I heard Eddie say. “Someone just killed Liza Huntington and sent the head to Kate.”

Chapter 17

“It was him wasn’t it?” I asked as the medics covered me in a gray blanket. Eddie had yet to leave my side. Henry had come down to identify his wife and then left when he found out that the baby had been cut out of her and taken to the hospital. It was a healthy four-pound baby girl.

“Kate,” Mark sighed and he sat on the floor so he could look me in the eye. “I have to ask you this. Did you recently threaten to kill, try to injure or harm the victim?”

“Mark, you know me. Of course I did. I threaten the mail man if he drops a package.”

“Then Kate I have to tell you not to leave town, and a different detective will handle this as it is a conflict of interest for me to question you further.”

I nodded as Mark leaned forward and placed a kiss on my cheek. Then he made a few phone calls and left.

“Where is she?” Brooklyn yelled at everyone the second she got off the elevator. I raised my hand like we were in elementary school and she bolted for the floor. Eddie let go so Brook could wrap me in her arms. “I’m so sorry, I’m sorry. I will fucking murder him for this,” she whispered as I held onto her.

“You are not to talk to the police without me present. You are on a protection detail until further notice.”

“Why?” I asked as Brooklyn pulled back. “We don’t even know it was him.”

Brook sat back on her heels and looked strangely at me. Then she looked up at Eddie and he shook his head nonchalantly like I wasn’t supposed to see.

“Oh, what now?” I exclaimed. “I am so tired of all the damn secrets from here on out. I am the only one with a secret.”

Brooklyn took my hand in hers and stared at me. When she got quiet you knew it was bad.

“Honey,” Brooklyn spoke excessively quiet. “There was a note.”

She pulled up her phone to show me a note that the corners had been saturated in blood, but you could still read the majority of it.

Roses are red

Violets are pale

Guess who you should’ve killed

Cause now I’m out of jail.

Took care of this problem for you, so now we can be together without any negativity in your life.

I stared at the phone while Brooklyn and Eddie talked to the cops around me. I was in a state of shock. I hated Liza and wanted her day twenty-three hours of the day, but I never anticipated anyone killing her.

“Come on,” Eddie spoke softly as he lifted me up on my feet. “We have to go,” he said, but I was in some other place. I didn’t know where we were going, but I knew we were moving down in the elevator.

We climbed into the back of a police SUV and rode away. I leaned over onto Eddie’s chest and closed my eyes. If this was a bad dream I would just wake up, if it wasn’t then I would wake up in the hell that I created by partying at night.

“Where are we?” I asked as I woke up and looked out at a rustic cabin on a lake.

“This is my parents old place,” Eddie stated, but I was confused as to why we were there.

“Why am I here?”

“The police department would like a day or two to catch up with Kurt and bring him in for questioning. No one, but Mike knows about this place and he only does because he helped me get the cars off the property without damaging them.”

“Who knows we are here?” I asked as my pulse raced with anxiety.

“Some of the detectives, Taylor Cross, Brooklyn, your mom, Mike, and probably a few others, but not many.”

“I thought your grandfather left you the cars, not your parents,” I questioned everything everyone ever said to me at this moment. My trust fled my body when I opened the box.

“Come here,” Eddie pulled me to him and we walked a few steps eastward. “Look where the sun is setting on the hill. Follow it to the trees. The house beside the third tree is my grandfathers.”

“I’m sorry,” I apologized again. I just seemed to keep screwing up around him.

“It’s okay, let me show you the house.”

Eddie took me to the door and opened it to let me inside. The hinges cried as he opened the door showing me years of not being used. He flipped on the lights that illuminated a dusty old cabin. There was a old brown couch with two recliners facing a console television that looked like it had had better days.

He held out his hand and walked me into the living room while he dusted some things. When a giant cloud of dust rose from a pillow he looked embarrassed.

“I don’t come out here,” he groaned. “We will just have to run into town.”

Then I watched as he unlocked a gun safe where countless shotguns sat waiting to be used. Then he pulled out a holster and a black pistol.

“What is that for?” I asked and he frowned.

“To shoot things, make noise, scare people, or anything else you could think of.”

“Smart ass,” I chided with a smile. “Why are you putting it on?”

“My job is to make you feel safe. This includes scaring off bears.”

“Bears?” I shouted. “Where the hell are we?”

“The Catskills,” Eddie replied like I already knew.

“Nope, in college I learned there were no grizzly bears, brown bears, or polar bears in upstate New York.”

“That is true, but there are black bears. They are essentially harmless, but it is better to be safe than sorry.”

“Oh my god,” I whined. “I ran away from a killer to get eaten by a bear.”

Eddie laughed and escorted me back out the door to the SUV. The two police men climbed inside and drove us into town.

After spending what seemed like a million dollars and buying things I was exhausted. I had been numb since I saw Brooklyn and it made me tired. On the drive home I fell asleep on Eddie and he merely held me tight.

“Hey gorgeous,” he sweetly whispered. “We are here?”

I opened my eyes and saw the cabin filled with evil dust bunnies, and groaned. Steven King would have field day in a place like this.

“I have to crank the generator,” Eddie stated as he walked around the side of the cabin and the officers helped me carry in the bags.

I brought out one of the new blanket we had bought and laid it across the dusty couch. Then I climbed on top and fell asleep.

“Brooklyn turn down the radio,” I shouted from the couch. “It’s too early for that.”

I heard nothing over a radio, and had to get my bearings to remember where I was. I looked around and the living room was no longer dusty. It looked like someone had cleaned all night. I sat up and wiped my hand across the log coffee table to feel free oil had been wiped on.

“Morning gorgeous,” Eddie stated as he walked in and the screen door closed behind him. “I brought you some grapes.”

I nodded my head and walked over to the kitchen where there was a tiny refrigerator with a freezer on top. There was a table set for four, but looked too small to hold more than two. I sat in the wooden chairs and waited as Eddie came in and started cooking.

“How long do I have to stay here?” I asked and he didn’t answer. “Can I call Brooklyn?” I asked and he nodded. So I practically lunged for my phone and dialed her number at work.

“Ms. Montgomery’s office can you please hold?” Her receptionist didn’t even wait for me to answer before pushing the damn hold button. I walked out on the back porch that faced the lake while I waited.

I would admit there were parts of it out here that were absolutely beautiful, but my life belonged in pollution, traffic, and rude people.

“Ms. Montgomery’s office how can I help you?”

“Hey Fiona,” I spoke into the phone. “Is she available?”