Finding Her Rhythm (Backstage Pass Series) (16 page)

THOSE ARE SOME CUTE KIDS THAT ROCKER HAS. BET THEY'RE WORTH A PRETTY PENNY. AND THAT GIRL, SHE MIGHT BE RIGHT UP SOME GUY'S ALLEY. WOULDN'T MIND A TASTE OF TAMING THAT ONE MYSELF. AFTER ALL, YOU CAN'T STAY BEHIND THOSE WALLS FOREVER…

No no no. Would this nightmare never end? Taylor bent her head, tears welling up, but then fear struck again. Was Bradley here? Had he hung around the post office to catch her? He had to have tracked down location somehow.

A quick scope didn't show his car or him skulking around, but she wasn't taking any chances. She pealed out of the parking lot and drove to nowhere in particular, watching carefully for anyone following her.

Sure she was alone, only then did she head back to the estate. Then laughed at her hysteria. Obviously Bradley knew she was living with Michael Korvello, he just couldn't get inside.

The tension draining from her shoulders as she passed through the gates was incredible. But Bradley was right. She couldn't stay locked up here forever.

Neither could the kids.

School would start agai
n in two weeks. Other than drop-off and pickup, she wasn't sure how tight security was at the upscale private school. Bradley no longer had a clean record, but there were probably ways to lie about it. He could show up with a cleaning crew, sneak onto the soccer field after Matthew's practice. Ambush them at the mall. She couldn't keep them safe 24-7.

Michael had been both father and mother to those kids from the moment they were born. He wasn't a perfect parent, but who was? He tried, way more than his late wife had. It would kill him if anything happened to Matthew and McKayla.

And it would be all her fault.

She’d often
thought about the danger she might put the family in since she’d come to work for them, but lying low for a few months should have been enough to kill this problem. With this threat, Bradley had gone off the deep end—he was obviously mentally unstable if he could threaten a child. He’d risen to a whole new level of crazy.

She'd never be able to face Michael if she brought harm to Matthew and McKayla. Hell, she'd never be able to face herself either.

But how could she leave the family she'd come to love as her own?

Chapter Fourteen

Michael held the door open for Matthew and McKayla to roll their luggage through, all the while hearing the house phone ring over and over. It went blessedly silent just as he entered the kitchen.

“
Taylor? Where are you?” he called, but nothing stirred.

“
Isn't she here, Dad?” McKayla asked. She'd been really disappointed when Taylor hadn't been with him at the airport, but he'd assured her they would see Taylor when they got home.

“
She should be,” he mused.

“
Her car wasn't in the garage,” Matthew said.

Michael automatically asked,
“Are you sure?” but Matthew would know. He noticed everything about the cars in the garage, even the very end stall where Taylor's little economy sedan had taken up residence.

“
Wonder where she went?” Michael said. “Maybe to get something special for dinner since Susan is off. Why don't you two go put your stuff in your rooms while I give her a call? K?”

The inevitable whining started.
“Do we have to unpack now? We just walked in the door.”

“
I didn't say unpack,” he playfully groused. “I said pull the mess to your rooms so I don't have to trip over it. Capeesh?”

“
Capeesh,” they said in unison before trudging off with suitcases in tow.

A quick call to Taylor's cell phone didn't get answered, so he walked up to his room. She'd all but moved in—at his insistence. He wanted her there at night, and when they woke up in the morning. Heck, all day
wasn't a bad deal either. He couldn't believe how much he'd wished she was with him while he stood outside security, waiting for the kids to deplane. And they had missed her too. He had a feeling his announcement that he wanted Taylor to be more of a family member than paid employee would go over very well with these two.

Glancing around his room, Michael spotted a folded card on the dresser. Good. It just wasn't like Taylor to leave without letting him know, and for some reason anxiety had settled at the ba
se of his spine.

There was probably a perfectly logical explanation—

Dear Michael, I know it’s the coward's way out to say good-bye this way, but I'll admit I didn't have the courage to face you with the truth.

No. Not his Taylor.

This just isn't the best place for me right now.

All those nights. How could it not be right?

You're such an incredible man. Your kids are very lucky to have you as a father. One day a woman will be lucky enough to have you in her life too.

But not you, huh, sweetheart?

I'm so sorry, Michael. I wish it didn't have to be this way, that I didn't have to go. But it’s the best move for everyone.

As he heard his kids in the hall, he sneered. Best for everyone? Or best for Taylor?

But then he thought back to everything they'd done, everything they’d said to each other. All the guidance and encouragement she'd given him as a father. All the intimacies she'd trusted him with as a lover.

This wasn't right. Something was very wrong. He’d listen to his heart this time…not his past. He started reading the note one more time.

When his cell rang, he snatched it out of his pocket. To his disappointment the screen didn't say
Taylor
, but maybe Stephen could help him instead.

“
Where is she?” he barked into the phone.

“
Um, Michael?” Stephen asked.

“
Yes. Where is she?”

The other ma
n's words sped up. “She's already gone?”

“
What the hell is going on, Stephen? I'm having a really hard time buying the ‘it's me not you’ crap she left me in this Dear John letter.”

“
If it doesn't include the name Bradley Sandoval, it’s a whole crock of bull anyway.”

“
Bradley? You mean that guy she was involved with after her parents died?” He dropped onto the edge of the bed. Where had she gone?

“
That's the one. I was afraid when he got out of jail something would happen—”

“
He went to jail for hurting Taylor?” She hadn't mentioned that part.

“
Yes, but that was only the first time. He went to jail most recently for breaking into my office, but he was released on bail.”

Whoa, wait a minute.
“Come again?”

“
Hmm.” Silence reined on the other end for a moment, grating on Michael's nerves, then Stephen asked, “What exactly did Taylor tell you about Bradley?”

“
Just that she dated him not long after her parents died.” He decided to keep the sexual details to himself. “And that he ended up being scary abusive before she broke it off.”

“
I was afraid of th—”

“
Afraid of what?” Michael ground out through clenched teeth.

Stephen suffered from some frustration himself.
“If you'd quit interrupting, I could explain.”

The first unprofessional words Stephen had ever spoken to him shut Michael up quick, because he wanted answers.

“Taylor did break it off with Bradley,” Stephen explained, slowly down for a minute. “Then the son of a bitch decided he owned her and wasn't going to let her get away.”

Owned her?
What kind of crazy whacko was this guy?

“
He stalked her for almost six months before I got her to your place. Showed up at her job at the middle school. She had to change her cell phone number several times. But it was him breaking into her apartment… holy shit, that was scary. It was the last straw.”

He broke into her—God have mercy on this man's soul, because Michael sure
as hell wouldn't once he got ahold of him.

“
We only had a short time to hide her before he got out on bail. I helped. I moved her grandmother to a new nursing facility and changed her name. Then I got Taylor the job as your nanny, because I knew she'd be safe there.”

“
You knew her all along?”

“
We grew up together. What Bradley did to her—tearing her down, criticizing her weight, her teaching—he didn't care who heard him. But it wasn't until he got physically rough that she found the courage to get out. Of course, that was only the beginning.”

“
Sounds like.”

“
I'm sorry, Michael. I know I didn't give you all the facts, but she was perfect for the job. I just wanted her to be safe.”

So did Michael.
Please God, let her be safe.
“I understand,” he said.

The tension in Stephen’s voice ramped up again.
“She left me a message saying she'd received a letter from Bradley in her PO box. He's been watching her come and go from your estate, and he threatened her.”

“
Why didn't she just tell me? We have bodyguards—”

“
He didn't just threaten her, Michael.”

He swallowed
, hard.

Stephen continued,
“He threatened your children. Bastard knows exactly where to hurt her.”

Michael, too. He'd die if anything happened to his family.

“She couldn't risk it, Michael. You know the kids aren't under surveillance all the time, and it would have devastated her if something happened. She said her only choice was to go away.”

That had him straightening.
“She's left? For good?”

“
I don't think so. Not yet. Her message said she was going to visit her grandmother one more time. She has this idea that if she drops off the radar, then Bradley will lose interest.”

“
I just want her here, where I can protect her.”

“
I was hoping you'd feel that way,” Stephen said, proving Taylor had shared something their time together with her friend. “She's been trying to hold everything together on her own for so long, I don't think it even occurs to her to ask for help anymore.”

Michael rushed back down the hall, trucking for the garage.
“Give me the address.” He paused in front of McKayla’s room. “And Stephen, thanks.”

“
For once,” Stephen said, “I'd like to see Taylor get the knight in shining armor she deserves.”

* * *

Michael rushed through the nursing home doors.
Please let her still be here. Please.
Images of Taylor alone, needing his help, burned through his brain.

He would not let that happen
.

He paused at the nurses’ station, giving the name Stephen
said he'd used for Taylor's grandmother.

“
I'm sorry, sir,” the nurse said. “Miss Maddie hasn't had any visitors all day.”

“
Can I check her room, just to be sure?”

He tried to curb his impatience as the nurse insisted he sign in, reminding himself it was her job to keep the patients safe. But a quick
search room 402 revealed no one but the frail woman bearing a resemblance to Taylor lying in the bed. Pausing out of respect, Michael bent low and whispered in the sleeping woman's ear. “I promise I'll take care of her.” Then he kissed her paper-thin cheek and walked slowly back out to the parking lot.

Now what? Would Taylor stop here? He knew she would.
There was no way she’d leave without seeing her last living relative. But had she come and gone? Or had she not gotten here yet? Had Bradley found her before she could get away?

As he stood in the late summer heat, trying to decide what to do, his gaze caught on a maroon sedan at the other end of the parking lot. His pulse sped up. Maybe Taylor was sitting in her car?

Sprinting over, he was disappointed to find the driver’s seat empty. Where had she gone? He bent to look in the window. In the backseat he saw Taylor's tote bag and purse. Where was she?

Walking back to the sidewalk, he swept the front lawn with a thorough eye. There, in the shade of t
he hydrangea bushes, lay a flip-flop with a bright yellow sunflower on it.

The same kind he'd seen Taylor wear back and forth to the pool several times. Running over, he picked it up. The strap was broken. Taylor was here…and somehow Bradley was here too.

Dropping the shoe, Michael raced around the side of the building, listening closely for anything that might lead him to her. How long had she been here? He found himself facing a wooded area bordering a privacy fence that protected the nursing home inhabitants. He slowed down, not wanting to miss anything in his rush.

He paused on the edge of the tree line and pulled out his cell phone. A quick call to 911 put him in touch with an operator in seconds.
“This is Michael Korvello. I'm at Sandy Ridge Nursing Home. I need assistance. There's a woman who has been kidnapped from her car and taken into the trees to the left of the building. Please send the police immediately.”

“
Sir—”

Michael d
idn't wait for her instructions; he simply left the phone open and laid it on the ground. Plunging into the trees, luckily clear of most undergrowth except ferns, he kept his gaze moving as he jogged. His emotions urged him to sweep back and forth in case he missed her, but his instincts urged him to take a methodical approach. He had to be sure he covered every inch. He'd follow the perimeter first.

He had run about five minutes along the front, then side edge when he heard a noise. Pausing, he listened closely. Sure enough, a voice. Easing in, careful not to give himself away, he stalked in the same direction.

“I told you I'd find you, bitch.”

Michael's muscles tightened in warning, but he kept control. He needed to know what he was walking into first.

“You are mine, Taylor. Only mine. I will not share. And I'm pretty sure you'll need to be punished for breaking that rule. Am I right?”

Taylor's whimper broke his heart, but Michael eased into the line of sight with caution. About fifty yards away, Taylor rested on her knees, her back facing him. He couldn't see her
hands, though he suspected they were tied, just like the gag around her mouth. Michael could see the knotted ends right below the fist clenched in her hair. But it was the glint of sunlight off metal that ratcheted up Michael's nerves.

Bradley
was holding a knife.

“
No one's going to help you out here, Taylor,” the man said as he crouched over her. “Bet you didn't tell anyone you were coming, huh? Not a smart move, even for you.”

Michael had the advantage of surprise, and he'd definitely need it. Bradley had a weapon; Michael ha
d nothing. The other man was beefy, the muscles in his arms thick and defined. Even though Michael worked out, he suspected this guy had him by about fifty pounds of muscle or more. He'd have to hope he had all the smarts in this equation.