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Paisley inched closer to Carmen, looking for any sign of a threat. She wanted to know who Carmen was and how she knew so much about the situation. “Someone was trying to poison me. What kind of poison could have been in the soup?"
Carmen's expression turned solemn as she seemed to choose her words carefully. "It's difficult to say without the results of the toxicology test. There are numerous possibilities when it comes to poisoning, ranging from common substances to more rare and exotic compounds. It could be something easily accessible or a specialized toxin designed to be undetectable. It depends on how sophisticated the plan was. Knowing that information will be very helpful to the investigation. If it was a full operation with backing from a group—”
“You think it’s a group of people trying to kill me?” Paisley shuddered, realizing how insidious the situation was. She tried to bring reason back to this conversation. There was a conventional way to handle things like this. Not a mysterious woman with a promise of protection. Paisley cleared her throat. "The doctors said that detectives will be here soon. They’ll figure this out.”
Carmen shook her head. “They won’t. Or not in time. There is an escalation. Moving from threats to an attempted murder is following a dangerous trajectory. A formula. Something my people know well. The only way to handle this when it rises to this level is to be completely insulated, in order to survive. If you stay visible, in your normal environment after an escalation like this, the odds that you’ll die are high. I’m sorry to be so blunt. I wish there was another way. But I’m asking you to trust me. I have connections to ensure no stones are left unturned while investigating and you are out of the reach of these people. We have resources the detectives don’t.”
“Doug would never leave me.” Paisley blinked her tears free and they rolled down her cheeks. She thought perhaps she’d cried herself out, but there seemed no end in sight.
“But he’d want you to leave. He’d want you to be safe. If he was awake right now, don’t you believe he’d want you to do everything you could to stay alive? That’s how serious this is.”
“Stay alive?” Paisley gasped. “I don’t understand why this is all happening.”
“I’ll find out. I can do that once you’re somewhere safe. But you can’t be here. If you’re here when the detectives arrive, I won’t be able to help you.”
“Why? The police will help right? We all want the same thing.”
“I don’t know what they want. I don’t know who you can trust. Until I do, the circle has to remain small. Just my people. That’s the only way I can be sure. The police will investigate, but protecting you is something they can’t do.”
“And how do you know you can trust your people? How do I know? You haven’t even told me who you are.”
“My people are my family. I trust them with my life. You can do the same.”
“You’re just a family that goes around looking for people to help? How do you know what’s going on with me?”
“Long before I started, there were other women doing this work. I simply stepped into their shoes when they needed me. It’s a legacy of trying to break the cycle of abuse and stalking. We know what we’re doing because, sadly, we have so much experience.”
“Who exactly is the organization?”
“Gloria Kinross. She started all this trying to save her friends life. It’s grown into something worldwide.”
“And how did you get involved with them? I’ve never heard of anything like this.”
“I needed them.” Carmen’s cheeks pinked slightly. “They saved my life and I am spending it now, trying to do the same for others. I remember being on the receiving end of this conversation. I stood right where you are. You need to know that we'll employ every resource at our disposal, from forensic analysis to gathering information and tracking down leads. But we need to act swiftly, before the threat escalates."
As Paisley took one last look down the hospital hallway, the weight of the unknown future lay heavy on her shoulders. Little did she know, the path she had chosen would be winding and take her to the brink. All she could do right now was follow Carmen and hope she would be there before she stepped off that ledge.
CHAPTER2
PAISLEY
Kidnapping had such a narrow definition. It was limiting really. Paisley hadn’t technically been taken against her will. She’d agree to get on the flight. Packed a small bag in a terrible rush. She had no idea what she’d thrown in. A running list of all the important stuff she’d left behind filled her brain. The harder thing was accepting that she couldn’t tell anyone she was leaving or where she was going. Since her first big break in the movies, her team had always known her daily schedule. They were her wake-up calls. Her ride back to a hotel or out to dinner. She’d never felt alone because so many people she cared about were on this ride with her. Now, it was only her. Well, not technically, but it might as well have been.
It wasn’t like she could tell anyone on her team where she was going because she had no idea. Being in on the plan would have made her feel better. She didn’t know where the plane would land. What would be waiting for her on the other side of this journey? What was she supposed to do now? It was all a mystery.
“Do you need anything?” Ben asked, fidgeting in his seat and looking to the rear of the plane like he might make her a sandwich if she asked for it. The man was stoic and so far had given her space. She appreciated that. Carmen introduced them on the tarmac then left soon thereafter. Ben looked as shell shocked as Paisley felt, but he’d regained his composure while she was still catching her breath.
“I’m fine.” Paisley knew this would be her new position on things. She wasn’t in Hollywood anymore. There would be no crew on set to cater to her needs. Life was going to change. She’d have to be fine with anything, because the alternative was that someone might kill her. There was an imbalance to it all.
The sad irony was she’d arrived in Hollywood with just a backpack and there she was again, leaving with just a few possessions to her name. All she’d fought for in her career, the long hours and physical endurance, meant nothing now. Someone could swoop in and take it all away by threatening her life. And worst of all, she was letting them win.
“I can get you a drink. What do you like?” Ben was suddenly wigging her out. All his reserved composure was gone as the minutes ticked by. He’d clearly been tossed into this situation with the same amount of preparation she’d gotten. Which was not nearly enough. She heard the hushed conversation on the runway between Carmen and Ben. The urgency, the pushback. How he’d finally agreed to go. It wasn’t really a ringing endorsement from her protector, but he certainly looked physically up for the job.
“Really, I’m good. Do you know where we’re going?” She shifted in her seat and pulled her sweater tighter. “I didn’t know what to pack. Will it be cold? Hot?”
“We’ll get it all sorted out.” That seemed like his way of saying he had no idea. His blue eyes darted away as he tended to opening a bag of pretzels. The jet was something similar to what she would normally use for travel. The difference was the way they’d ushered her on it in the dark of night. How they’d used an airstrip she hadn’t realized existed.
Carmen insisted, if she was going to escape the cat and mouse game she was dealing with, she’d have to give herself over to the process. Trust the people who were about to whisk her to safety.
