Cat 'N Mouse (28 page)

“Yes.”

“And if you’re right, my life is still in danger.” She pulled her hand out of his, opened the door and ran into her father’s arms. Prescott had his arm wrapped around her as they walked toward the house.

Sam got out and grabbed her bag. As he approached the steps, Prescott turned and said, “You can leave the bag. We don’t need your services anymore.”

Alexandria pulled away, looking at her father. “No, Daddy. He stays. Please.”

“Whatever you want, Princess,” Prescott said, but his eyes reflected something very different. He wanted Sam gone. Well tough, he would stay until Alexandria dismissed him.

“I’m going upstairs to lie down for a while. We can talk later,” she said to her father with that lost little girl look on her face.

She reached for Sam’s hand and he took it, following her up the marble staircase. He didn’t need to look back to know that Prescott was watching them. The stalker had forced Princess to come home, but on her terms. Prescott hadn’t seen that coming. He wanted control again. The frozen shock on his face when Alexandria asked him to stay had sent Prescott into panic mode.

They reached the landing at the top of the stairs. When Sam looked back over his shoulder, he saw Prescott rushing into his office. He figured Matt was on speed dial and they were going to have a long discussion, among other things.

Pushing Matt and Prescott from his mind, Sam focused on Alexandria as he followed her down the wide hallway. It reminded him of a hotel foyer.

Pale green wallpaper covered the walls. The flooring had hardwood and a green carpet runner covered the length of the hall. Paintings hung on the wall, perfectly measured with lighting above each one. He felt like he was in a museum.

As Sam walked the stairs and down the hallway, he began to wonder where Sienna had fallen over the railing to her death. The crime scene photo… Yeah, he called it a crime scene and would continue to do so until he was convinced otherwise.

Alexandria let go of his hand as she moved toward the door at the end of the hallway. Pausing for a moment, her eyes fell on the door at the other end of the hallway. It was as if she was in a trance.

“Are you okay?” He touched her shoulder.

She jumped then shook her head. “I grew up in this room,” she said, her voice cracked and she cleared her throat, opening what he assumed was her bedroom door.

Sam felt like he’d walked into something out of one of those fancy decorating magazine. Everything including the wall was covered in satin and lace, all girly and pretty. The sudden feeling of being out of his depth plagued him again. He’d told her they would talk when all this was over. Talk about what? A future. He couldn’t give her anything remotely close to this palace.

Not now he told himself. There was time enough to worry about that tomorrow and what would happen between them. Right now, Alexandria needed him.

Alexandria walked over to the bed and stood staring at it. He knew she was thinking about the condo. She inhaled then exhaled slowly, climbing into bed, laying on her back, and staring up at the ceiling.

Sam kicked off his shoes and slipped in next to her. He pulled her close and laced his fingers through hers. She made no sound but when he saw the tears rolling down the corner of her eyes hitting the pillow, it broke his heart.

“I’m sorry,” Sam said because he couldn’t think of anything else to say. He wanted to promise her that everything would be okay, but it would be a lie. The stalker had forced them back to the estate where it all began and he was afraid for her.

“Promise me you won’t leave until you catch him.” She turned facing him and he rolled onto his side. He could feel her breath on his face.

“I told you I wouldn’t until I find him.”

“If it’s not Edward Cain then who do you think it is?”

“As I said, I think Edward was involved but I believe he had an accomplice.”

“Who?”

“I don’t know.” Sam shook his head. “I have a lot of unanswered questions.”

“Like what?”

Her eyes searched his for answers. He couldn’t give her the answers she needed. All he had were hunches with nothing to back them up. If he could take away her pain, he would. Since he couldn’t, he did the next best thing. He kissed her and she responded.

“Get some rest first. You hardly slept last night, remember?” She blushed and he kissed her again. “We’ll talk after. I’ll be here when you wake up. I promise.”

“Every time I close my eyes, I see her face.”

She had that lost look on her face again. Sam knew she was talking about her mother, and there was nothing he could do to comfort her except tighten his arms around her.

“I see her on the floor, blood everywhere. The condo…the blood. It’s like I’m destined to have the same fate.”

Sam felt helpless. The incident at the condo and moving back to the estate had unleashed the horror of her mother’s death once again. He wanted to help her, but didn’t know how.

“Shh… I’m here. What do you want me to do?”

“Make love to me.”

Sam didn’t hesitate; he just kissed her slowly exploring her mouth. He felt her lips tremble beneath his. He pulled away to take off his clothes. She laid there watching him with tears in her eyes then got up and took off her dress.

He thought she would join him in the bed, but she didn’t. She sat on the edge of the bed naked, staring off into space with her shoulders slouched. Sam caressed her back, his hand moving up her shoulder, gently easing her back on the bed onto her back and moved over her. Her cheeks were wet. She responded eagerly when he kissed her.

Their lovemaking wasn’t about his need tonight. It was all about her. Her needs. She wanted to forget the horror she’d seen and wanted him to help her do it. He felt it in the way she clung to him, the way she kissed him.

He took his time, foregoing his own needs. That he had never done with anyone. With every touch and kiss, he realized that he loved her more than he had anyone else. He took his time kissing her until there were no more tears, only need. It was a need that connected two people from two different worlds in a place where money and status wasn’t an issue, only their heartbeat. They came together and their bodies became one, moving together. With breaths mingling and legs entwined, she fell asleep in his arms with tears rolling down her cheeks.

•  •  •

Darkness had fallen over the room when Sam heard Alexandria’s deep even breath. He had wanted to get up an hour ago but didn’t want to disturb her. She had fallen asleep on his arm. It wasn’t a peaceful sleep either.

He lay there watching her in the dark, trying to make sense of the nightmare at her apartment. Cain with a bullet hole in his temple, the walls covered with blood. Even if the evidence didn’t support his theory, he was sure that Cain hadn’t killed himself.

So the million dollar question…if Cain hadn’t killed himself, then who had and why? He’d seen that handwriting before on the suicide note. It wasn’t Cain’s handwriting. He was sure of it. How? It was a gut feeling.

Then there was the police report on Sienna. The murder may have happened twenty years ago but he couldn’t help but think it was connected to the stalker. How exactly, he wasn’t sure, but he needed to find answers. Prescott had the answers.

Sam carefully slid his right arm from under Alexandria’s neck and slipped out of the bed, flexing his arm to get the blood flowing again. The light shining under the door was enough for him to dress in the dark without disturbing her. When he opened the door he glanced back and saw that she’d rolled over to the spot he’d vacated. She was still asleep when he closed the door behind him.

He heard voices as he got to the landing. As he descended the stairs, he saw Mimi and Matt entering Prescott’s office, closing the door. They’re having a party and didn’t have the courtesy to invite him.

We can’t have that now, can we?

Sam was halfway down the stairs when the lights flicked and the thunder roared above. All conversations came to an abrupt halt when he opened the door of Prescott’s office.

“Well, what’s this? A dress rehearsal so that everyone can get their story straight.”

Matt glared at him then turned away, looking at Prescott. He and Matt hadn’t spoken since their early morning conversation, and Sam was sure Matt had mentioned that to Prescott.

Mimi had the decency to look guilty about something, but Prescott still had the ‘you’re not welcome in my house’ look on his face. Sam didn’t let that stop him and barged into the office.

“What do you think, this is a conspiracy?” Matt asked, raking his hands through his hair and turned his back to Sam.

“I neither invited you into my house,” Prescott said, hatred gleamed in his eyes, “or my daughter’s bed.”

“It’s not your invitation I require for your daughter’s bed. You can’t pay me to leave it either.”

Only the sound of the thunder and the rain beating the windows filled the room.

“Get out of my house!” Prescott flung his hand toward the door. When Sam didn’t budge, it looked like he was going to physically throw him out.

“I’m not going—” Sam stopped when he saw the video camera Matt had taken from Alexandria’s apartment. Matt said he was taking it to the police station to file a report. Moving over to the desk, he picked up the camera and swore, glaring at Matt. “Tell me you’re not apart of this mess, Matt?”

Silence. Bone chilling silence. The thunder clashed again and the light flicked off and on again. The rain pelting against the window grew louder and louder.

Sam turned to Prescott. “Someone poured blood all over the walls of your daughter’s bedroom and slashed the mattress on the bed. Cain’s body is on her floor with a bullet hole in his temple. What if she was in the apartment? Was she supposed to die too?”

“Oh my God,” Mimi cried. “Tell me you didn’t do this, Warren. Tell me!”

“Shut up! I didn’t authorize this.”

Prescott pinched the bridge of his nose and sat down at the corner of his desk. He stared up at the ceiling as if he was looking for some divine help.

“God’s not going to help you. You bastard. What did you do, Prescott?” Sam’s voice was low and lethal. The only thing that stopped him from putting a bullet into Prescott’s head was Alexandria. Matt didn’t react to Prescott’s comment and Sam suspected he was involved somehow.

When Prescott spoke, his voice was heavy with guilt. “He was only supposed to scare her.”

Matt said nothing. That’s when Sam was certain Matt was involved.

“Wait a minute, you knew about this? Is that why you brought me in, to clean up your mess?”

“Matt wanted nothing to do with it and told me to call it off,” Prescott said. “I tried to but Edward wouldn’t take no for an answer. You were supposed to protect her until she came back home. Everything would be okay after that.”

Sam looked at Prescott in disbelief. He really believed what he was saying. How could—

“Tell me it’s not true, Daddy.”

Sam whipped around and saw Alexandria standing at the door. The pain he saw on her face was nothing compared to when she saw the disaster at her apartment. It was a look of disillusionment. The man she loved, her father, had tried to kill her.

“Princess…”

“Don’t ever call me that again!”

She turned from the door. Sam knew what she was going to do. Run. She couldn’t run and hide. She had to stop running. Tonight it stopped.

“No, Alexandria,” Sam said, his voice stern. She had made it into the entry hallway before she stopped and turned to look at him. “You need to stand up to him. I won’t let him hurt you anymore.”

It seemed that was all the encouragement she needed for she turned slowly to face her father.

“Why, Daddy? Why would you do this to me?”

“Because I didn’t want to lose you like I did your mother. After your mother had you she wanted to go back to her ex-husband. I wouldn’t let her because she belonged to me.”

“She was your wife, not your property,” Sam said disgusted.

“She became mine when she agreed to marry me. When I wouldn’t give her a divorce she started drinking and the pills followed. That was her doing.”

“I remember now,” Alexandria said.

A
lexandria grabbed onto the door for support. She awoke from her nightmare only to walk into another. She stared at her father and he seemed to age right in front of her eyes. She saw the wrinkles in his tanned face for the first time. His hands trembled. How could he have done this?

Maybe she was still asleep, she kept telling herself. No. She was wide awake listening to her father doing what he did best. He had an explanation for everything.

“The night of the accident when I came home, Sienna was drunk as usual. She said she was leaving and taking you with her. She was on her way to your room with the car keys in her hand. I told her she could go ahead and kill herself if she wanted to, but you were staying with me.”

“She was my mother.” Alexandria looked at her father. Hate rose up in her. “You killed her.”

“No, Princess. She started toward your room and I grabbed her hand to stop her. She was drunk and started to hit me. I told her we were through. She picked up the vase we fought. I pulled it from her hands and…she lost her balance, tumbling over the banister. I didn’t want a scandal. That’s why I had it covered up. I couldn’t let you remember it. I couldn’t lose you too. Her death was an accident, Alexandria, I swear.”

Everything about that night that was locked away in her mind all those years overwhelmed her. She heard the vase crash to the floor. Memories flooded her mind like water breaking through a dam. She remembered her father shouting at someone, her mother lying on the floor, the police.

Mimi had rushed into her bedroom and had given her something to drink to calm her down. Alexandria couldn’t remember anything after that because she was too tired. She had thought it was a dream, but when she’d awaken the next day, her mother was dead.

She let the ramifications of what her father told her sink in and how far he’d gone to cover up the lies she’d lived with all those years.