Trust Me (38 page)

We are sitting at the dining room table with all seven newspaper articles and their accompanying typed notes and manila envelopes, phone record bills from when the texts were sent to me, the notes I received, the dead flowers from my apartment, and the live ones from the hotel. My stomach is twisting into knots from seeing this sicko’s work displayed on the table.

“Miss Scott?”

Bane’s words snap me out of my trance, and I stop staring at the objects.

“Have you thought of anything else regarding the guy who delivered the flowers to your apartment or the waiter who gave you the note at the charity event?”

Putting my hands on my head, I try to conjure the images back to see if there is anything else I remember. It’s exactly what I’ve already told Bane. I have nothing new. “No, I’m sorry. I wasn’t on guard, so I didn’t give either person a second thought.”

He looks away from me to write in his notepad. Since we got on the plane and Damien outlined the entire situation to him, he’s been writing constantly.

“Miss Scott, since meeting Mr. Wales, can you think of anyone who has made you feel uncomfortable, regardless of how small it was?”

It’s amazing that Bane is still in his suit, looking pristine and crisp. I’m exhausted and look like I’ve been up for a solid forty-eight hours.

Questions, questions, questions are what we’ve been answering for the last few hours. Most of the questions sound the same to me even though they are asked in different ways.
What did this guy do before becoming Damien’s head of security?
I can sense Damien trusts him…at least as much as he seems to trust people in general.

“Um, besides Martin, Cassandra, Brad, Dustin, and Damien’s dad, I can’t think of anyone else.” I look over at Damien. Mentioning his dad just accidentally slipped out. “Sorry.”

“It’s fine, baby. Don’t even worry about it.”

Bane picks up the articles and reads them again, one by one, before taking more notes. “Mr. Wales, here is the list of names I’ve compiled of everyone you said you have had some sort of altercation or disagreement with. I need you to prioritize who you believe are the worst threats. I will look into each person, but your input will give me a basis to start with.”

He pushes the notepad to Damien, and after briefly looking it over, Damien starts making notations in the columns. The list is long. It seems that emotions run pretty high in the sports business.

Bane picks up another article and starts writing away in another notebook. He lays his pen down and pours himself a glass of water.

“Mr. Wales, Miss Scott, I believe I have a theory.”

That gets our full attention.

“Mr. Wales, after hearing your summary of the last seven years of your life, I believe this person is trying to convey a message to you with each article.”

Damien lays his pen on the notepad. “Please continue, Bane.”

Sitting across from us, he arranges the newspaper clippings in a row. “For now, I’m going to assume that this is the killer communicating with you. However, we’ll need to keep an open mind to other possibilities. I believe this person has been sending you clues and warnings throughout the years. I have gone through all the articles and categorized them as a clue or warning. It appears that this person is letting you know that he or she has been watching you. Without the more aggressive tactics toward Miss Scott, I’m not sure we would have pieced this together. In my opinion, the killer has been laying a trail, waiting for the perfect moment to act.”

He picks up the first article and slides it to Damien. In an informative tone, he says, “The first year you received an article, you were twenty-two. It was the one-year anniversary of Rebecca’s death. The article was centered on the wealth you and your sister had inherited shortly before her death. It implies that people with this kind of money should watch their backs, especially when they make a lot of enemies.

“I’ve marked this as a warning article. Earlier that year, it was officially announced you would be taking over the football team when you turned twenty-six as stipulated by your grandparent’s will. The announcement created a considerable amount of enemies for you.”

Damien’s hand automatically reaches for mine, and he gives it a squeeze as if I’m going to disappear. He seems to be keeping a strong facade, but I know this must be killing him. I’m feeling a little panicked. In the article, there is a picture of Damien hugging Rebecca. She was beautiful. She looked like Damien but in a female form.

After Damien is done reading the article, Bane hands him another one. “This is the third article you received.”

Before Bane begins, I ask, “What about the second one?”

After shuffling the articles around, he pushes forward the second, fourth, and sixth articles. “From what I have surmised, I believe the even years are clues to what happened to Rebecca. All three of these articles have similar theories—she was taken out of state, the killer was someone your family knew, and your parents withheld information from the authorities. These articles were all more factual, but I will keep looking to see if anything correlates to what was happening in Mr. Wales’s life during those years.”

Damien is focused on the articles, meticulously reading them. At this point, my eyes are so tired. I just sit there, taking in this huge convoluted mess that seems impossible to decipher.
I can’t believe someone would go to these lengths to get revenge.

Once Damien is finished studying the articles, he sits back. “Carry on, Bane.”

As Damien is absorbing it all, I have no idea if he agrees or disagrees with Bane’s theory and assumptions.

Bane returns the second, fourth, and sixth articles into the pile. Then, he brings the focus back to the third article. “This one speculated that one of Rebecca’s immediate family members killed her. The article insinuates that people can never trust those who are closest to them, including family and friends. I consider this a warning article. This was the same year when you found out Martin Mills had betrayed you by sleeping with Cassandra Williams, effectively dissolving your relationship with them.”

I feel sick from looking at the newspaper articles and seeing the pictures of Damien’s beautiful sister who had her life robbed from her because of a crazy person. The creepier Bane’s theory gets, the more my headache grows.

Damien does the same as he did before. He reads the article without saying a word, and then he pushes it back to Bane.

“Any questions so far, Mr. Wales?” Bane asks as he hands over another article.

“No, carry on.”

The fifth article has a picture of Damien’s parents on a stage in front of a room full of people. I know my eyes bulge slightly as I stare at his mother, who does not appear to be grief-stricken at all. She’s done up to the nines, and it looks like she’s giving a speech. Based on the caption, I realize they were at a ball that took place less than two weeks after Rebecca’s disappearance but before she was found.
Bleh, bleh, bleh.

Bane continues, “Sir, this article alludes to how your parents were enjoying all the publicity. The paper claimed that Rebecca’s disappearance was a potential stunt to get attention. It referred to how public attention makes a person a target and puts loved ones at risk. I’m marking this as a warning article. It was the year you took over the sports empire your grandfather had left you. That year, you also won Man of the Year along with other awards. Basically, it was the year you were publicized the most. I believe the killer was implying that anyone you loved would be in danger.”

Immediately, goose bumps form on my skin.
This is too much crazy shit to digest.

Damien squeezes my hand again to get my attention. “Alli, I will keep you safe. No one is going to get to you.” He lifts my hand and kisses it. “I swear that we will find this fucker.”

Leaning into his shoulder, I respond, “I know.”

Bane gives us a minute until Damien focuses his attention back to the article.

“Carry on, Bane.”

When Bane grabs the seventh and last article, his eyes shift to me for a second. “The article received this year was a detailed account of how the police believed Rebecca had been kidnapped. Similar to the articles received on the even years, it is more factual, and it theorizes that the intruder knew the house well and was waiting for Rebecca’s return. Police assumed she had been subdued. The article notes the only thing missing was a white quilt with pink flowers. To date, that quilt has not been found. I presume that this is close to how the killer actually took Rebecca. I consider this a warning because I think this person is letting us know that he plans to try and take Miss Scott like he did Rebecca.”

My vision blurs a little, but I focus on taking regular breaths to stay strong.
Plans for me? Shit.
I put my mask in place, so Damien can focus on the task of finding this guy instead of worrying about how I am handling the situation.

Damien reads the last article and sits back in his chair. He hasn’t removed his hand from mine. “How the fuck did I not see this?” He’s beyond agitated with himself.

“Mr. Wales, is there anything you cared about that could have been taken from you before Miss Scott came into your life?” He’s looks at Damien and then glances my way.

Damien keeps his gaze on me as he answers Bane. “There was nothing. I had this all investigated before, but nothing was ever linked because they just appeared to be random articles to fuck with me. Alli’s the one thing that I want more than anything in this world, and this asshole knows it.”

A tear rolls down my cheek at Damien’s words. Until I came into his life, he has just been passing through the motions, distancing himself from everything around him.

Damien and Bane start discussing the articles in more detail as I space out. The scariest part of this craziness is that this nut job apparently thinks I am incredibly special, and he is playing his ultimate card by using me. This sick person has been waiting all this time to have something that was worth threatening Damien. Chills run up my spine from just thinking about it.

As dawn starts to break, I begin to drift off to sleep.
Maybe if I just rest for a second, I’ll get my second wind.
Don’t…want…to…miss…a…thing.

I’m awakened with a slight jostling as I am being carried in the most lovingly gentle embrace. Sleepily, I nuzzle into his chest. Through a yawn, I say, “Damien, I can walk. Are we done? I don’t want to miss anything.” My body is beyond tired, and his scent further lulls me as I close my eyes.

A door opens and closes, and then my body hits a soft mattress. He kisses me on the forehead and starts to pull away.

“Damien…”

“Shh, baby, go back to sleep. I promise to fill you in on everything in the morning. We’re just going to go over some more details. You need your rest. There will be a security guard outside our door if you need anything.”

I can’t ignore his request with how exhausted I am.
A little sleep will do me some good.
Laying my head back on the pillow, I fall asleep before Damien even leaves the room.

Feeling warm, I slowly awaken, engulfed in Damien’s naked limbs.
I wonder what time he came to bed.
I crane my head to see the clock. It’s 4:34 p.m.
Wow, I was really tired.
Damien is fast asleep beside me. He looks peaceful. When he is calm like this, it becomes evident to me how much stress he’s been under during the last couple of weeks.

After freeing myself, I decide to get ready before heading to the kitchen for some food. I want so badly to know what Damien and Bane talked about, but Damien must be exhausted. He didn’t even stir when I left the bed. As a light sleeper, he is normally in tune with my every movement.

My mind is still a whirlwind with everything I learned yesterday. In just the last twenty-four hours, it feels like a year has come and gone.
Can someone really be that crazy?

As I open the bedroom door, I am taken aback when I see a security guard standing right there.

“Good morning,” I say to him.

He tips his head to me.

Geez, this is awkward.
“It seems like a lovely day,” I say.