Loverboy (22 page)

I suddenly hear a loud thump and the sound of glass breaking coming from the kitchen.

I shake my head. “I can’t; I have duty. I do have to go, but I’ll catch you later.”

He nods as I shut and lock the door behind him. I turn to see Charlie frozen with her mouth gapping wide open as she stares toward the door.

I rush over to her and place my hands on her shoulders. “Charlie,” I say. She doesn’t reply. “Charlie, what’s wrong?” I give her a light shake. She’s completely frozen and in shock. She’s staring passed me as I give her
another light shake. “Charlie, Baby, you’ve got to talk to me.” She blinks, but she can barely move as her body begins trembling. “Charlie, you need to sit down,” I tell her, making an attempt to guide her to my couch. Luckily, she is able to move. She immediately sits and sinks into my couch. “Charlie,” I say again, pushing a few stray hairs from her eyes. “You have to talk to me. I don’t know what’s going on.” I feel worry wash over me as she stares blankly ahead. “Come on, Baby, talk to me.”

“Nick,” she finally says, her voice shaking.

I take her face in my hands. “What’s wrong? What happened?” I feel her entire body begin to shake. “Charlie, talk to me.”

“Nick.” I can see the tears well up into her eyes and her lip begins to quiver.

“Charlie, Baby, can you talk to me?” I ask, softly.

She sucks in a deep breath. “That’s him.”

“Who?” I ask. “Edmunds, who was just here?”

She forces herself to nod.

“Are you sure?” I ask.

She nods again as she begins to openly cry. “I think I’m going to be sick.”

“Shh, it’s okay,” I tell her, pulling her into my arms. “We’ll get him.” I plant a kiss on the top of her head as she looks at me with big, tear filled eyes. “Give me just two minutes,” I say. She gives me a nod in response as I head to my front door. I look out the peephole to double check for an empty hallway. I pull my phone from my pocket, and quickly redial the number that Wilson had called from just minutes before.

“Andrews, talk,” he says.

“Look, you’re going to be pissed at me when I start talking,” I start. “But, you need to know. When you called me, Charlie and I were at my apartment. That’s the part that’ll piss you off, but,” I say quickly, “it might be a good thing that we were. While here, Edmunds stopped by. Charlie heard him speak, Wilson. She recognized his voice. It’s him. Edmunds is the other guy.” I let out a much needed breath.

“
Goddamnit Andrews! Edmunds?” I hear the line click dead.

I find my way over to the couch where Charlie is as stiff as a board, sitting straight up and staring down at her feet. I lift her chin with my finger as I kneel in front of her. “We’ve got him. We’ve really got him,” I tell her. “This will all be over soon.”

She flings herself into me, throwing her arms around me with such a great force that I nearly fall back.

“Why did he come here?” She asks.

I rub her back for a moment before answering. “I don’t know. Like my boss had said, maybe he knew that I had you. He came to see. Maybe it’s a good thing we were here, since it may have very well sent him on another trail.”

“So, right now he may think that someone else has me?” She asks, pulling away to wipe at her face.

I nod. “It’s a good possibility.”

She lets out a breath that she was beginning to hold. “It could be over.”

I nod. “We’ll get him.”

She sighs. “Nick.” She says my name in such a way that I feel like a pile of butter that’s beginning to melt.

I bring my hand up to her face, and she tenderly nuzzles her cheek into it. She closes her eyes for a moment and bites on her bottom lip. “It’s all over,” she says, softly.

“Soon,” I tell her. “Very soon. We’ll get him.”

“Where he can’t hurt anyone anymore. He’s done,” she says, returning her eyes to mine.

I nod. “He’ll never hurt you or anyone else again.”

She smiles.

“And, tonight, you and I will celebrate,” I say. “We’ll see if I can actually let you put that dress on, and let you keep it on.” I laugh.

She lets out a soft laugh as she wipes away at a few stray tears. My ringing phone interrupts us. I grab it and quickly glare at the screen. It’s Sergeant Wilson again. I slide the
‘answer’
key and press it to my ear. “Hello?”

“The son-of-a-bitch is gone, Andrews. We can’t find
him,” he yells.

“What do you mean? He was just here!” I yell back.

“We can’t reach him on his phone, the GPS locator in his car is down; he’s running,” he says as I hear a loud thump in the background.

“He’s been planning this,” I say.
             

“Have you tried his home address?” I ask.

“Someone is on the way there now,” he tells me. “Look Andrews, this kid isn’t right. You stop at nothing to keep Charlotte safe. You stay with her. Do not, and I repeat, do not let her out of your sight,” he says sternly. “Do you understand me?”

“Yes, sir,” I reply. “It won’t be a problem.”

I hear the line fade as my phone flashes
‘call ended
.’

“What’s wrong?” Charlie asks.

“They’re having problems finding him.”

“What?” She jumps. “Nick, he was just here!”

“I know, I know,” I tell her, taking her face back in my hands. “From the way things look he’s been planning this for weeks.”

She sighs and places one of her hands on top of mine. Another knock at my front door makes her jump in such a way, my hands pull away from her face.

I bring my finger to my lips, signaling for her silence. She nods in response as I walk quietly to the door and glare just out the peephole. From my field of view I see nothing, but I’m smart enough to know not to trust it. I step back slowly and take a look around for Charlie’s tennis shoes. I run quietly down the hallway and grab them, returning to her, and motion for her to put them on. She gives me a frightened look, but quickly obeys as she slips her bare feet inside and ties the thin laces. I reach for her hand quietly and pull her toward my bedroom and to the farthest window from the front door.

“We have to get out of here,” I say, as the pounding at the front door grows more intense. “We’ll get out by the fire escape.”

“The fire escape,” she repeats. “Nick, I don’t do so well with heights.” She swallows hard.

“It’ll be okay,” I reassure her. “I’ll be right behind you,” I say, pushing the window up.

I guide myself over the edge and out the window onto the small fire escape. I lean my upper body back in the window, taking both of Charlie’s hands as I help guide her over the edge and onto the escape. We slowly work ourselves down the tiny, metal stairs that in the zigzag pattern almost makes you dizzy as you look down.

Coming to the end and the four foot drop, I stop to look at her. “I’m going to jump down,” I say. “You come right after me. You have to trust me; I’ll catch you.”

She gives me a nervous look, but nods as I slide myself to the edge and hop to the ground. Charlie follows my exact motions and slides herself forward enough to where I grab her hips and guide her to the ground. She lets out a long breath and looks up at me. “You did perfect.”

“Do you have your gun?” She asks.

I nod. “Don’t worry, though. We’ll get to my truck and get to the department. I’ll notify Wilson right now that he has to be in this area. We’ll get him,” I tell her as I lead her around to the parking lot. I pause at the corner of the building long enough to see that Edmunds is standing by my truck, watching every angle around him. Charlie jumps and latches hard onto my hand as I push her further back toward the building. I turn to face her. “You have got to stay close to me. We’ll have to go by foot,” I say. “I don’t see him moving. He thinks I’ll be heading to the truck. I’m sure he knows you’re with me.”

She nods slowly as a few tears trickle down her face. “Just don’t leave me.”

I shake my head. “Never.”

A few more tears make their way down her face. “Nick, whatever happens to me, know that I really have fallen for you. And, that I do love you.”

I pull her in, pressing my lips to hers and I feel her shake as she holds to me tightly. I bring my hands to her face. “Hey, we are not saying any goodbyes. I promise when this is over we’re going to Central Park.” I can see tears beginning to roll freely down her face. “And, a very long vacation together, alone.” She lets out a soft laugh over a sniffling noise. I wipe the few tears from her cheeks and nod. I give her one more kiss. I push a stray hair from her eyes. “We really have to go,” I tell her.

She nods and begins following me across the street as we walk in between various parked cars and disappear in large groups of people as they shuffle throughout the city. I can feel her heart beat through her hand as I keep her as close to me as possible. New York City in the middle of the day made it easy to lose Edmunds, but losing Charlie in any crowd can easily be devastating.

* * * * * *

I never thought I could be so happy to walk up the cracked cement steps to my department. I hear Charlie sigh behind me, and I do the same. I take a look back at her, and she suddenly looks stressed and worn. I give her a nudge next to me as I head with her to Sergeant Wilson’s office. For once, I don’t bother knocking; I push the door open and barge right in. He stands behind his desk, looking just as stressed, if not more than Charlie and I.

“Andrews.” He lets out a huff of air, nearly falling back into his leather seat. “Charlotte,” he says, looking her up and down as if to inspect her. “Thank God.”

“He came back to my apartment.” I take a few relaxing breaths. “We had to use the fire escape, but by the time we got to the parking lot he was waiting at my truck.”

“Charlotte, are you alright?” Wilson asks.

She nods slowly. “I just,” she pauses. “I just need a minute.”

I can easily feel her body tremble next to mine as I pull a nearby chair closer to her. She immediately drops into it, wrapping her arms around her body.

“Jesus H. Christ,” he huffs. “Edmunds, a decent cop.” He looks at me. “Both of ‘
em, cops,” he grumbles. “What is the world coming to?”

I shrug and shake my head. “I didn’t trust myself to take him out with Charlie
,
there.”

He gives me an understanding nod. He has killed women; there is no telling what he could have tried to do
to me alone. “Andrews, if I could talk to you alone?” He looks at Charlie. “You’ll be okay in here, Charlotte.”

She nods slowly and moves her head to look up at me.

I take a moment to kneel in front of her. “You’ll be safe in here, and no one knows you’re here but us. I’m not going far, I promise.”

She leans in and wraps her arms tightly around me. “Please don’t leave this building.”

It was at that point that I didn’t mind the audience with Wilson. He knows, and there is no hiding it. If he rips my ass a new one, then so be it. I wrap my arms around her and rest my forehead tenderly on hers. “I won’t set foot out of this building without you.” I lay one tender kiss on her lips. “You’re safe,” I reassure her.

She nods as Wilson and I walk from the room. He shuts the door behind us and ushers me a small way down the hallway. “Andrews.”

“Look, I got attached, we both did,” I say. “We didn’t plan it, it just happened.”

“Looks like you’re more than attached.”

“I’m sorry,” I say. “But things just happened; neither one of us sure as hell didn’t plan it. But, I’ve kept to my word and kept that woman safe. I’d have given my own life to keep her safe.”

He nods slowly. “Which is why I have to compliment you,” he says. “Given the, uh,” he pauses. “Situation between the two of you, you have certainly kept a level head, keeping her safe.” He glances over at me. “And right now, we’re hitting the nitty gritty, Andrews. Charlotte’s recognition of Edmunds is crucial. Not only do we need to keep her out of harm’s way, we also need to find Edmunds. I need your help on this.” He purses his lips. “I don’t think we can do this without you.”

I nod. “But what about.”

He doesn’t even let me finish. “Charlotte will be perfectly safe. We have the department on compete lockdown. No one gets in or out without Chief’s full consent. He knows who is in here, and the minute someone goes to take a leak, he will know,” he tells me. “Now, do I have you on board for this?”

I nod. “Where do we start?”

- 11 -

Charlie

I take a few more moments to just lean back in the chair and take a few more deep breaths. If it would have been easy, Nick could have gotten him at his apartment, I’m just not sure if he trusted himself to alone or if it was because he knew he had to get me somewhere safe. Either way I feel a little out of sorts. I can feel my stomach beginning to churn as I fight another bought of nausea that is beginning to set in on me that is being accompanied by a strong headache, more than likely from the stress alone. I stand and walk in a few circles and I take a few more calming breaths. I step over the large window, making a crack in the bright red drapes to glance down for a moment. People walking every which way they can, on their cell phones and PDA’s, some with newspapers in their faces who are no more paying attention to where they were going than the person passing them.

When I hear the door of the office creak open, it makes me jump slightly and turn quickly. Another officer steps in, quietly shutting it behind him. I take a breath and I hold it. Nick had reassured me that I was safe.

“Charlotte Murphy?” He says, walking closer. “Andrews sent me for you.”

“Where’s Nick?” I ask, crossing my arms firmly in front of my body.

“He and Sergeant Wilson stepped out,” he tells me. “They said they might be a while, so Andrews sent me to take you elsewhere in the building.”

I shake my head; it wasn’t right.
He
wasn’t right. Nick had made a promise that he wouldn’t set a foot out of this building without me. “Nick wouldn’t leave without telling me.”

He nods. “It was an emergency.”

I shake my head again. “No.” He takes a few steps closer to me and I back around to the other side of the desk. “I know better. Where’s Nick?”

He continues to move slowly but steadily closer to me as I round the other side of the desk. “I told you, he and
sarge stepped out,” he says firmly.

I give my head a violent shake. “No! He wouldn’t have left without coming to tell me himself,” I protest. I finally see an opening and make a mad dash for the door. He’s too quick for me, catching me and pushing me against the back wall in one quick movement.
             

“You scream and fucking Andrews dies,” he says roughly.

My body completely freezes. There were three. This whole time, there were three of them.

He pushes me hard against the wall and makes my back ache within seconds. “Not one sound, do you understand?”

I can’t move. I can’t even speak.

He wraps a hand around my throat, and I feel my head slam into the corner where the wall met the window edge. I groan in pain and finally force myself to nod.
             

“Good girl,” he tells me. “I don’t suppose you remember me? I don’t suppose you remember much of anything. You were so drugged it made it easier. It was nicer.” He pushes against me. “I won’t be so nice this time. You make one move that pisses me off, and Andrews dies. Understand me?”

I force a nod. “Where is he?”

“With Edmunds,” he replies.

I feel my heart sink and my body locks in place. I can barely move, and I suddenly feel weak as tears came quick. The nausea is beginning to creep up and into my throat and the headache is already worse. I feel another surge of pain shoot down my back as he tightens his grip on my throat.

“Oh, poor little girl,” he taunts. “Guess it makes it harder after you spend seven hours fucking each other. It makes you quite attached to one another.”

I suddenly feel ill as I realize that he had been watching us. I feel my body go limp quickly. He begins supporting all my weight against the wall as I suddenly have no strength left.

“It was just ridiculous with your little dates and flirting,” he says. “It was like watching the fucking
Days of Our Lives
!”

I begin crying as his hand tightens around my neck.

“Oh shut up. I can’t take your fucking crying. He’s fine,” he shoots at me. “Depending on you; you’re going to stop crying and you’re going to walk out of this building with me. You will not scream, cry, or do anything that will alert anyone. Do you understand?”

For as much pain I am feeling, and the mess that I’m in, I think about Nick. If he is somehow with Edmunds, it could very well be bad. Even though these men have the strength to overpower me, I don’t believe they would be able to overturn Nick. At the same time, I don’t know if a gun is involved. Nick could be hurt, or worse, killed. My mind scatters for a moment, and his hand tightening around my throat pulls me back to my grim reality.
Loverboy has me again, and this time, I don’t think I’ll make it out alive. He gives me a shake as he is waiting on my reply to cooperate. I finally nod. For Nick’s sake.