AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I can send him an electronic message that will appear on his television. I can give your contact information for this Villa so that he can contact you at his convenience. Will that be acceptable?” Jarred held his tablet, waiting for her permission to do just that.
“Yes. Tell him he can contact me when he wants. I doubt I’ll sleep much tonight.” Jarred nodded as he punched in the message. With a final nod, he opened the door to the hallway. She heard him speaking to someone before he shut the door. Sighing, she looked around the Villa, wondering if Stieg was nearby. If he saw her, would he know who she was, or would she have to convince him she wasn’t a crazy fan?
Lisbeth walked her bags to her room and decided to call Deb and give her an update. She couldn’t tell her everything of course, but she did know Stieg would be at the hotel tomorrow. She was glad she took Deb’s advice to talk to Captain Amsted. Otherwise, she’d still be miserable and questioning her sanity.
Chapter Five
The large conference room was packed with people when Lisbeth walked in with Dave, Sadie, and Marc. The raised stage area had been set up with a long table, chairs and microphones. Behind the stage, a large screen had been dropped from the ceiling, and a podium was far to Lisbeth’s left. Two aisles ran the length of hundreds of chairs for the audience, but a microphone was on a stand at the end of each aisle. Lisbeth was afraid she’d hyperventilate as they walked to their seats. God, Stieg would be here soon. She nearly tripped over her own feet when Dave grabbed her arm to steady her.
“Calm down. You won’t get to see him if you’re getting whisked out of here in an ambulance.” Just like her training and drills, Dave’s calm voice helped her to regain some control.
Sadie turned to her and gave her a sympathetic smile. Her warm hands grabbed Lisbeth’s own cold ones. “Lisbeth, I can only imagine how you must be feeling. Take a deep breath, honey. Did you sleep at all last night?” Lisbeth shook her head and swallowed as the emcee came out on stage and stood behind the podium. The room quieted down, waiting to hear what the man was going to say.
“Everyone find your seats, please. The room is going to darken soon for the trailer, and we don’t want anyone to get hurt in the low light.” The noise in the room grew as excited people found their assigned seats. Lisbeth swore she felt surrounded by static electricity.
Sadie continued to hold her hand as they found where they were sitting in the third row of the far-left section of seats. The stars were going to be to her right, all the way across the large room. She didn’t think Stieg would be able to see her. Her heart nearly sank to her toes. Marc sat down first, then Sadie and her with Dave in the aisle seat.
Marc reached across his wife to get Lisbeth’s attention. “Don’t worry, Lisbeth, I signed up to ask a question. When it’s my turn, I’ll let you go to the mic, and you’ll get his attention then. If that doesn’t work, we can get into the meet and greet. Now breathe before you turn blue.”
Lisbeth jumped in her seat and crowd screamed when the lights suddenly shut out. A loud boom happened at the back of the room and traveled down hidden speakers to the front of the room before the screen lit up. The crowd was already going wild, while she held tighter to Sadie’s hand, hoping she wasn’t hurting her. Her nerves were drawn so tight she was surprised she wasn’t screaming. Or fainting. She was so out of control her knees were shaking. She took a deep breath, then another, trying to focus on calming her heart rate.
Dave put his arm over her shoulder and leaned to whisper to her. “Lisbeth, I’ll walk you to the microphone if you need help. I know some of what you are feeling, and I promise you this, it’s going to be okay. I’ve never led you wrong, have I?” Lisbeth knew he was right. He’d always been a calm and effective leader. She trusted had him with her life. Literally.
The trailer played to the oohs and awws of the crowd, but Lisbeth hardly saw it. She played in her mind every scenario of what could happen when she stepped to the microphone. She imagined everything from Stieg not recognizing her in the least to him running to her in slow motion to take her into his arms. She began to shake as the lights came on. This was it.
The emcee walked out to the crowd cheering and shouting. Applause almost drown out the man as he stood clapping at the screen. As he got the crowd to quiet down, Lisbeth noticed security guards dressed in black uniforms walking to stand in front of the stage.
“How was that for exciting, huh?” The crowd cheered again. “Now for the real reason you are all here. I’d like to introduce the cast who will be talking to you about this movie and who will take questions.” The crowd came to their feet. The emcee introduced all the major stars of the movie, saving the main two stars, Alison and Hans, for last. Lisbeth nearly cried when she though Stieg wouldn’t be there. Some of the stars who were supposed to be here had to cancel, perhaps he wasn’t coming. It seemed hours since the trailer started. God, she was falling apart.
“And last but not least, you all know this next man from television and movies but most recently for his Academy Award-winning portrayal of Europe’s most notorious contemporary serial killer in the movie Darkness Falls.” A buzzing began in Lisbeth’s ears as the crowd began to cheer. “Ladies and gentlemen the director of Saturday Moon, Mr. Stieg Warner!”
All went quiet for Lisbeth. It was as if someone shut off her hearing. Stieg walked onto the stage then everything seemed to move in slow motion. She saw him smile as he walked out and shook the emcee’s hand. The cast members each stood and either hugged him or shook his hand, but all she could hear was her heartbeat in her ears and her unsteady breathing. She was covered in cold chills and was trembling so hard she thought her bones would come through her skin. Dave had his arm around her, shaking her to get her attention, but she couldn’t look away from the man who haunted her dreams and owned her heart.
“Miss Mohr, Lisbeth.” Dave was saying her name in her ear. “Hey, come on. You’ve come this far—don’t wimp out on me now. You’re white as a sheet. You faced death when we nearly crashed after the time rip. You can do this.” She felt her head nod, but she didn’t look away from Stieg. She could feel Sadie rubbing her arm, but she still couldn’t look at anything but Stieg.
“Lisbeth, take a breath and get ready. They’ll be calling you for your question. Dave, you’ll have to go with her. Right now, I don’t think she could walk.” Marc’s voice sounded far away. She felt her body being shaken and closed her eyes. Every emotion flo
oded her. Fear, desire, hope, desperation, love. She opened her eyes to see Dave inches from her face.
“This is it. Are you ready?” She felt her head nod and Dave pulling her up. He held her hand as he tugged her toward the microphone stand at the end of the aisle. She stood meekly behind him as he pulled the microphone from the stand and brought it to his mouth. He gave a little chuckle before he spoke. “I had to help my friend down here—she’s a little star struck.” The crowd laughed, some shouting out words of understanding. “I believe her question is for Mr. Warner.”
She took a deep breath and focused on seeing a large silver microphone in front of her face. She reached a shaking hand out and nearly dropped it, but Dave steadied her. Dave stepped back, unblocking her view of Stieg. Somewhere a camera behind the stage focused in on her face. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see herself on the huge screen, wide-eyed, pale and trembling. A split screen of the cast appeared next to her for all to see.
“Hello.” She cleared her throat and locked eyes with him. Her fingers felt numb and cold. “I – I wanted to know.” Her heart began to pound when she noticed his eyes had widened. He slowly stood up, his mouth opened and closed. He put his left arm out and waved to someone out of sight. From the side of the stage, a muscular dark-haired man walked out to him, saying something she couldn’t hear. Stieg grabbed his arm and nodded. “I…” Her mind went blank as Stieg moved away from the table. It seemed to her that the room was going dark around her, but Dave grabbed her sides as her knees got weak.
Lisbeth jumped and dropped the microphone as loud alarms shrieked through the conference room. She turned in circles, watching the room erupt into chaos. She heard Dave beside her, but she didn’t understand his words. Movement from the front of the room drew her attention as the security guards jumped up on the stage and led the stars out the back. She screamed in fear and loss as Stieg struggled with a guard who was dragging him away, his arms outstretched toward her. She screamed his name and felt the crowd rushing into the aisles to escape the room. The emcee came over the loudspeakers, telling everyone to remain calm and evacuate out the back. Dave wrapped his arms around her waist and fought against the crowd to get her to the side of the room. Marc and Sadie were already there, pressed against the wall to avoid being trampled.
“No! No, no, no!” She felt panic rise as Stieg was rushed out of her view behind the stage. Tears streamed down her face, and she felt Sadie’s arms wrap around her. Her body shook with her sobs. Stieg was ripped out of her life again. But it was worse this time because she wasn’t dreaming.
*****
Stieg paced the back of the room like a lion in a cage. “Fuck!” His angry shout got the attention of everyone close by. The guard assigned to him, already on alert, scanned the room for danger.
Jonas ran up to him and with his phone against his ear. “Calm down, Stieg. I’m on it.”
He could feel himself hyperventilating and stopped moving to lean his back against the wall. Jonas placed a hand on his shoulder. “She knows you’re here and obviously you know she’s here. It’s only a matter of time before you find her. Relax, or they’ll lock you up somewhere.” Jonas was drawn back to the phone conversation leaving Stieg alone with his thoughts. He put his head against the wall and slid down, covering his face with his hands.
Jonas knelt and put his mouth close to Stieg’s ear. “The question was supposed to go to Marc Kensington, the owner of KenSpec Labs. I have some connections checking the register for his reservations. I’ll find where she is staying, and I’ll have you knocking on her door soon. Take a breath man.” Stieg felt himself nodding, but his heart was beating so hard it was difficult to hear Jonas.
