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He was right. Hudson wasn’t here. What the hell were we going to do? I wished I hadn’t left the office. At least there I would have been safe with plenty of people around. I tried not to give him the satisfaction of knowing we were both scared, but it was hard to hide it. We ran to the bedroom and locked the door behind us even though we knew it wouldn’t take him long to get inside the room.
“What do we do? Let’s try to find something that we can defend ourselves with,” Lacey suggested, panicking. Her first instinct was to go to her closet and grab a stiletto heel. It might not seem like much but getting stabbed with one of those would hurt like hell. Good choice. After searching the bathroom, nothing was in there that could be deemed useful. The only other option I had was a heel. At least, it was something.
Shawn hadn’t made much noise since we locked the door. That reminded me of scary movies when the victim thought the killer had left, but indeed he was just waiting for her to come back out. I was not that stupid. I wouldn’t be leaving this room until I heard Hudson’s voice. I knew he would come to find me. It was only a matter of time, but what should I do in the meantime? “Shawn, I know you are out there. What do you want?” I asked but got no reply. Maybe I could talk him down like I did the first time. We had a history together so there must be something I could say to calm him down.
“I know you feel like everyone has left you behind, but I’m still here. You still have me. You know that, right?”
I could hear heavy breathing outside the door, letting me know he was close. “Stop lying to me! You left me for some other man like trash. Well, you are the trash, not me. No one will ever throw me away like that again!” Shawn yelled then started kicking at the door. Where was Hudson?
Outside the bedroom door, we heard two men. At first, I thought it was Hudson until they continued kicking down the door. “I’m coming for you, bitch!” a man yelled, but I didn’t recognize his voice. I turned around to find Lacey huddled up in the corner with her face in between her knees.
“Do you know that man?” I already knew the answer.
“That’s Drew. He got out today. Why would he come after me again?”
Both men stormed inside, and suddenly, I couldn't move. It was happening. It was going to be the end. I didn’t want the last thing Hudson remembered about me to be me storming out of his office in tears. That would break him again. My fists clenched, and my self-defense training kicked in. I was not going down without a fight. No way in hell. Shawn’s eyes traveled from my feet to my eyes in a matter of milliseconds.
“Why are you doing this? You will end up in prison. Why are you throwing away your life?” I didn’t know why I was asking him questions. I was thinking that if I could stall him, maybe Hudson would show up. Instead of calming him down, his fist went through the wall.
“Stop messing with my head. Your mind games aren’t going to help this time,” he said, salivating like a rabid dog. He punched the mirror, and it shattered, leaving his hand bloody. I inched away from him, cutting my feet on the glass.
Lacey was behind me, still in the corner, trying to talk Drew down. Stalling was exactly what she was doing now too. It pained me to hear her talk about how she was worthless and only he could show her what being with a real man was like. Of course, I knew it was all bullshit, but I still didn’t like her saying those things. The sad thing was, he believed it.
My attention returned to Shawn who was watching me like he was hunting prey. He licked his lips as he gauged his attack. I hid the heel behind my back, hoping he wouldn’t notice it. My hands were beginning to shake which was making it harder to keep the shoe unnoticed from Drew who was still yelling at my sister behind me. One precise hit to the throat, and he could be dead, but timing was going to be key. If only my sister and I could communicate, then this plan could work.
In high school, my father made me take self-defense classes, but nothing could have prepared me for dealing with a psychopath. In theory, the classes were a great idea, but I didn’t quite deem them helpful in that situation.
I didn’t want to take my eyes off him because then he would attack, and I wouldn’t be ready. I could see blows beginning behind me while my sister begged him to stop. I knew it was my turn next. Shawn’s eyebrow twitched, and then a smile started to form. That was one of the last things I saw before everything went black.
Chapter 26
Hudson
Iwalked into Chris’ office to see if he could assist me. Laurel had turned off her phone. I needed to know where she was at. Deep down, I knew she wouldn’t be at her apartment or mine. She was mad so that was the last place she would go.
He grabbed her number and tracked it to our apartment complex. Was she home? It made me feel better to know she was not mad enough to stay gone. That made my heart calm down. I didn’t want to lose her.
I went back to my office, snatched my keys, and headed that way. I needed to explain to her why I had to do that and then apologize over and over. I couldn’t bear the thought of her being angry with me over that. I felt honored she would stand up for me to Lyla like that. As soon as I got downstairs, I got in my car and attempted to call her again, but it still went straight to voicemail. Why would she turn her phone off if she was at home? It seemed odd.
When I finally pulled up to our building, I collected my stuff and headed upstairs to the apartment. To my surprise, when I got inside, she was not there. I called out for her but got no response. I searched the bedroom and bathroom but still nothing. It was possible she was at her apartment. I knocked on her door but still nothing. Something wasn’t right. If she was here, she would at least answer the door. Could she be at Lacey’s?
I walked down the hall to find Lacey’s door kicked down. My hands ran through my hair as I tried to figure out what happened. I ran into the bedroom and saw Laurel and Lacey on the floor with blood all over them. My eyes started to water at the thought that it had happened to them both again. Why did this keep happening? I searched the rest of the apartment, but nobody else was there.
Back in the bedroom, I tried to get one of them to talk, but both were unconscious with what looked like several blows to the head, chest, and abdomen. Who did this? I pulled out my cell phone and called 9-1-1. Waiting for them to arrive, I didn’t move either of them in case it made their injuries worse. I tried to talk to them and see if I could get them to wake up but no such luck.
When the ambulance arrived, they took both out on stretchers. I called Chris and let him know what was going on. I needed to know who did that to them. The police advised me they wanted to ask me some questions since I was the first person to find them.
“Do you know anyone who would want to hurt these women?” the police officer asked.
“Lacey was attacked several months ago by an ex-boyfriend who is in jail I believe, and Laurel was assaulted by an ex-boyfriend just a couple of days ago. Both men should be in jail.” I couldn’t keep my words from stuttering. My whole body was shaking at the thought that he got ahold of her again. Why hadn’t I been there to protect them? I blamed myself because if I wouldn’t have fired her, then she would have still been at the office with me. That would have never happened.
The police promised they would find Shawn, but it would take some time. In the meantime, I rode in the ambulance with Laurel. I wanted to hold her hand and tell her everything was going to be okay. I was never going to leave her side again. I couldn’t stand to look at her right now because it made me feel guilty.
When we reached the hospital, they asked me to stay behind so that they both could get tests done to see the extent of the damage. I didn’t want to let her go, but I knew it needed to be done. While I was sitting in the waiting room, my mother showed up. “Son, what happened? I saw your building on the news, and then you wouldn’t answer your phone. I was so concerned. Who is it? Who is hurt?” she asked with tears streaming down her face.
I looked down at my feet, trying not to start crying again. “Mom, it’s Laurel and Lacey. They were both brutally beaten. Right now, the doctors are looking at them.” She bobbed her head in disbelief and put her face in her palms. I was with her. I never thought something like this would happen again. It needed to end. Right now! “Mom, I have some things I need to take care of. Can you call me if they have any news on them?” I asked her before walking out the door.
Right now, all I wanted was for Shawn to be caught and put away forever. My thought was that Chris could likely obtain his number and trace it.
