Trust Me II (69 page)

“Wasn’t difficult, the house was still there and available. The room he used for screwing his women was there, all I had to do was find some useable items from the neighbors’ barns to have fun with. When the local blokes would bring their girls there to shag them, I’d make some noise and scare them off. They thought the place was haunted. Nobody ever knew I was living there for all those years. All the farms around the place made it simple to steal food and I’d go to that girl’s place after her grandmother died. I had a bed and water and made good use of it, especially during the winter. It was all so easy. There was a stash of money the old lady had laying around the place so I could get the things I wanted and I could sell off her gold and jewelry when I needed more; simple pickings.”

“Is that how you found Harry Stone?” she asked.

“He knew I was taking the old ladies stuff, but for a cut he would sell it for me or melt down the gold himself. I was able to get what I wanted without any hassle.”

“Was he involved in killing his wife?”
she asked him as he turned to take another step toward her.

“
I knew my uncle was screwing the bitch, so I told Stone about it. After I was put on a plane back to Germany, I waited to make sure it was safe before I got off and went to Stone’s place. He told me she’d left him, so I decided to go check out my uncle’s place and sure enough, she was there. I watched him shag her; he did it so many times, until he finally went to London, then I snuck in and tied her up. I took her back to her husband where she belonged.

“We had quite a fun time with her, or at least I did; her old man couldn’t get it up long enough to
jerk off. He was so angry with her for leaving him, that he strangled her. I didn’t know what to do with the body, so I figured if we buried it back at the farm, then my uncle would be indicated and he’d go to jail instead of us, but nobody ever found her. That’s when I decided to bury the others there. That first girl was already buried there, so it made sense to use it for all of them. If anyone was to ever find out, they’d think the old man did. It was such an easy crime and I would have gotten away with it longer if it weren’t for Stone’s cold feet. He threatened to turn me in, so I had to leave Yorks. I hid out in London until one day I saw your old man. Figured he owed me, after all I never told uncle about him and Miriam.”

“How did you get out of jail so early?” Sandra asked, frowning at a shadow
that moved on the stairs. She was praying it wasn’t Sabrina or Silvano; she had to keep things between the two of them until help arrived.

“Vigano caught me stealing from
your husband one day he was there with his father,” he said proudly. “He had a problem with the ladies and money. He told me he’d turn me in unless I cut him in on the profits. It was a very nice business until that stupid foreman caught me and I got fired. After I was sent to prison, he arranged a license for me to work. He set up a dummy company and paid me so the authorities didn’t catch on. Truth was, we were having a bit of fun with a new business of our own. We’d hire whores to do a few films for us and sell them over the internet. We were making a nice living until old man Vigano found out what his son was doing and put a stop to it.

“When I was released I read in the papers that Ashford was getting married. He owed me for sending me to prison in the first place. Vigano hated you for breaking his nose, so it all worked out for the best. I got revenge on the bastard and he got you. What could be better? Only now I don’t have to share the profit.”

“Silvano killed those guards didn’t he?”

“You are so eager to know everything, aren’t you?” he snorted again. “Yes he killed them. He managed to shoot out the tires and forced them into a tree.
All it took was a few extra bullets and a bit of petrol and the vehicle caught on fire. It was dumb luck that they put another prisoner in the van that morning, or people would have known I escaped. But now I think it’s time for you to shut up. Without that sniveling little wench around, I think we could have ourselves a bit of fun.”

Bachmeier took a step closer
to her, but Sandra surprised him by pulling the gun from behind her back. He stopped in mid step, the pistol pointing at him prevented him from coming any closer.

“You are full of tricks aren’t you?” he
asked. “Perhaps I’ll keep you after that husband of yours pays up, eh?”

“I don’t think so,” a voice said from the dark stairs, forcing them both to turn, seeing Creighton standing in the shadows beside Andrew and the Interpol police. Bachmeier laughed again, leaning against the side of a table behind him.

“So, come for the little wife, have we?” he said with a yellow smile. “Why don’t you
go and get her? I won’t stop you.” He raised the hand that had been holding the gun at his side and cocked it, pointing it at Sandra.

“Put it down Bachmeier,” Andrew said as
Creighton took a step forward. Morris stopped him with a hand on his shoulder, holding him out of the way. “There’s no place to go. You’re under arrest.”

“I may not be able to leave, but neither will she,” he said with a wicked laugh
. He turned back to her as a shot sounded around the room followed by a short, eerie silence.

Bachmeier
saw Sandra’s stunned expression as he focused on her face. He laughed wildly, blood oozing from his chest; his hand shook and the gun fell from his grip to the floor.

“You’re
a much better shot than I thought you’d be,” he told her, coughing against the blood that filled his throat.

“I didn’t shoot you,” Sandra said in a hushed whisper, watching the frown cross
his face. He turned to look at Andrew, a smoking gun pointing toward him. Bachmeier laughed a sickening gurgling sound, falling to his knees, his hands pressing against the hole in his chest. He collapsed in a dead heap on the stone floor a few moments later; his lifeless body twitched twice, the sound of his breathing garbled as his body fought for one last breath of air, then the room fell silent as death claimed his evil soul.

Sandra
continued to stare at the man as she slid slowly down the wall; her legs no longer able to hold her. Her head began to swim with the events that unfolded in front of her, the past two days catching up to her in one solid rush. Creighton was at her side in a flash, lifting her in his arms and hugging her close, his lips claiming hers in a deep passionate kiss.

The horror and fear of the entire event overtook her and she began to sob against his broad chest, her arms
circling around his neck. She couldn’t believe all that had happened, and just like the aftermath of a tornado, she was exhausted beyond belief. Her lungs fought for air as she continued to sob against his broad chest, feeling herself being lifted into his strong arms. She was at last where she wanted to be, tucked securely in his embrace, never again wanting to be any farther away from him than she currently was.

The light of morning brought with it the pain of her battle wounds and Sandra moaned as she rolled over. Her head was pounding, her face throbbing from where she had unknowingly been laying on it and her body ached from her hair to her toes. She had never felt so sore or so exhausted before. It was like she hadn’t slept in weeks. She knew, if it wasn’t for the need to pee, she would probably still be asleep.

With a reluctant sigh, she climbed out of the bed and looked around. She could see out of her swollen eye a bit more this morning than last night
, which made her happy. They had returned to the flat in Versailles shortly after dawn, having been released from the hospital. She was given a shot to help her sleep, but not until the doctors made certain there were no broken bones. The handsome doctor who had seen them several weeks earlier was on call and arrived in the emergency room, insisting on giving her an ultrasound to check that the baby was well.

Creighton had made her eat before leaving the hospital and
after the shot she fell into a restful slumber beside him, while Morris drove them home.

The
bedroom was as dark as it possibly could be, though there was still a degree of light that shone through the slits of the curtains. She padded her way into the bathroom and frowned at the woman who stared at her from the mirror. Her face did not look as bad as it felt, though her cheek was swollen and a dark purple bruise tinted her tanned features. Her eye was definitely black and blue and her lip was fat from where Silvano had struck her. All in all, she supposed it could have been worse; but if she ever saw that fat slug again, she would do much worse than injure his manhood.

Several minutes passed by before she had the energy to return to the bedroom. She had used the facilities, washed her face and managed to brush her teeth before
trying to pull her hair into a ponytail, then chose to leave it down; it hid more of her face that way. She gathered her jeans and tee-shirt and sighed; they had been cleaned and pressed and ready for her to slip back into them; once again, proof that money spoke volumes. She was amazed at how hungry she felt and the need to be with her husband was so mind consuming that she didn’t care about anything else.

Sandra opened the door to the bedroom and walked out, finding Creighton sitting at the dining table with the newspaper
in one hand, a cup of coffee in the other. He looked up when she entered the room and smiled, putting the paper aside and going to her, wrapping her in his arms.

“You should be sleeping,” he scolded her gently. “The doctor said you needed your rest.”

“I’m hungry and I wanted to be with you,” she insisted, a lopsided grin pulling on her fat lip.

“Then come with me and I’ll feed you,” he said, taking her by the hand and leading her to the table. She sat down as he went into the kitchen, dishing up the
ham and egg casserole he had already made. He brought the plate to her with a fresh croissant and sat it on the table in front of her as she retrieved the paper from where he had been sitting. He poured a glass of milk for her while she began to read the story on the front page, though the most she could do was look at the picture of Andrew and Morris in front of an array of microphones and cameras.

“It says that the Yorkshire murders had been solved and that Bachmeier
was killed in a kidnapping attempt.” He explained the article to her with very little added description.

“Our names are in here,” she said.

“Yes they are. It tells who the kidnap victims were and how you managed to escape. It doesn’t go into much actual detail; that will come when the reports are filed and everyone has been interviewed.”

“How’s Sabrina?” she asked, pushing the paper aside and picking up her fork.

“She’s still shaken, but she’s alright. She said it was because of you she escaped unharmed. She said you made sure Bachmeier and Silvano took their anger out on you first.”

“She was in the wrong place at the wrong time,” Sandra said
with a shrug as she began shoveling the eggs into her mouth. “Silvano told Bachmeier he wasn’t supposed to bring her; it was only supposed to be me. I needed to stay calm since she was having a difficult time concentrating.”

“I am so sorry for all the pain and grief my past has caused you,” he said in a very
quiet tone a few minutes later.

“It wasn’t your fault,” she insisted, taking a drink of her milk. “Bachmeier was just pla
in crazy; you had nothing to do with that. You weren’t the one who moved next to Miriam and you weren’t the one who told him he could move in with his uncle.”

“But I’m the one who put you in the midst of all of this. If I had just continued to admire you from afar, then you wouldn’t have gotten mixed up with all this insanity.”

“I’m glad you didn’t stay away,” she insisted. “Because of you, I found a life I want to live. It’s our love that gave me the courage to survive all of that. I don’t ever want you to think any of that was because of you.”

“Why don’t you go take a hot bath and relax,” he said as she pushed her
empty plate aside. “Andrew needs you to make a statement later, if you’re feeling up to it and The Don is coming up from Italy. Sabrina is at the police station now and I’ve had Clark come over to watch her. He’s going to take her shopping; I’m hoping that will make her feel better.”

“I’m sure it will,” Sandra
sighed. “She loves shopping and a new pair of shoes will brighten her spirits, especially since she left hers in Miriam’s basement.” Creighton laughed as he stood and pulled her into his strong embrace, kissing her lips gently, his hand caressing her back and hips.

“If either one of them would have touched you…”

“They didn’t,” she interjected. “I wouldn’t have allowed it. As is, Silvano is going to have a very sore penis for a while.” Creighton looked at her for a moment with an odd expression in his eyes, before tuning her toward the bathroom and patting her bottom.

“Tub,” he told her. “I’ll bring in something to drink and a pain killer in a few minutes.” Sandra did as he order
ed and left him alone to watch her exaggerated wiggle.

She
frowned as she sat on the side of the tub, filling it with warm water. There was something he wasn’t telling her, she knew it, but she couldn’t put her finger on it. It was more of a feeling she got from him and she knew deep down he was hiding something important.