Crazy For You (15 page)

He
slumped
his head against the cool steel, but that didn’t help in simmering his temper.

He squeezed his eyes closed.
Hold on,
Kendra
. I’m coming as soon as I can find a way to get out of here.

The squeaky hinges of the entrance to the bedrooms echoed through the hall. The soft pad of nurse’s shoes overrode the beat of his heart. “Hello,” he called again, searching the narrow path.

When the nurse stopped in front of his door, he sighed. Thank
goodness
it was Carrie, the only nurse he trusted in this hellhole. After a year of being placed in this facility, he’d made friends with the cute, young nurse. Thankfully, he still had retained his charm, because he got her to believe his innocence. Unfortunately, nobody else would. If it weren’t for Carrie, he wouldn’t have been able to do what he’d accomplished so far.

“Hi, Joshua.
You have a visitor again this evening.”

He widened his eyes, the tightness in his chest beginning to disappear. “I do?”

“Yes.” She unlocked the door.

He stepped out and wanted to heave a sigh of relief but held it inside for now. “Is it my cousin,
Kendra
?”

She shook her head. “No. There’s an older Hispanic woman and a middle-aged man
who looks like Elton John
.”

Panic settled back in his heart. He didn’t recognize her brief description
of the woman, but the man…that could only be one person. Kendra’s assistant, George.

Hurrying his steps to get to them, Carrie almost had to run beside him to catch up. When she unlocked the door going into the game room, and he noticed the man, his heart clenched.
It was
George, and
Terrel’s
housekeeper, Lucinda.

What are they doing here? Will
George
recognize me?

This really wasn’t the time he wanted the truth to come out, but he didn’t have a choice in the matter. Then it struck him and he caught his breath.
Kendra
.
Something was definitely wrong.

Deciding not to act insane in front of the hospital faculty this time, he rushed to Lucinda. Tears swam in her eyes and she bit her knuckles. Her
gaze swept over him and little by little color
left her face.

“Ay,
Díos
mío
,” she muttered.
“
Estas
vivo!”

Joshua touched her shoulder. “Yes, I’m alive.” He glanced at
Kendra
’s assistant. “George, what’s happened?”

The man sucked in his breath. “You know me?”

“Yes.”

A sob tore from George’s throat. He covered his hand over his mouth and shook his head. Joshua didn’t have time for this. He needed answers now.

“What’s happened to
Kendra
?”

All at once, Lucinda began mumbling, some words in English some in Spanish, and George blubbered like a fool, making it almost impossible to follow the conversation either of them were having.

Joshua
held up his hand. “Please slow down. I don’t understand.”

Lucinda wiped her wet eyes. “It is
Kendra
. Mr. Montgomery has taken her.”

For a quick second, all energy left him, and he swayed. Grabbing the back of the nearest chair for support, he breathed slow, trying to regain control. He squeezed his eyes closed and scrambled for an idea. But in the end, there was only one thing to do to save
Kendra
.

He needed to escape...again.

He looked back at Lucinda. “Do you know where he’s taken her?”

“
Sí
.”

“Will you take me there?”

Her eyes widened. “But
Señor
Montgomery
, you are in here.”

He fisted his hands. “Not for long.”

George reached out and grabbed his arm, stopping him. “Wait.”

“What?”

“Are you...Eli?”

Joshua nodded. “I am...but how did you guess?”

George wiped his wet eyes. “Joshua didn’t know
Kendra
well enough to care for her this much.
But
Eli did.” He withdrew a silk blue handkerchief and dabbed his nose. “I can tell you really love her.”

“I do. And I’ll do anything to protect her.” Joshua turned and hurried toward the nurse, Carrie. The closer he came, the wider her eyes opened. Before he could say anything, she held up her hands and shook her head.

“No, Joshua,” she whispered. “I know what you’re going to ask, and the answer is no. I’ll lose my job this time. Dr. Goodwin is back from vacation and he’ll know. I’m surprised they didn’t find out about this last time.”

He grasped her hands. “Dr. Goodwin may not work here much longer.
Kendra
’s father is having the doctor checked into. I have a feeling he’ll be staying in his own padded room for a while.”

She bit her bottom lip and glanced around the room. “But Joshua, look at those guards over there. They will stop me…us. They are three times stronger than we are.” She shook her head. “This time it won’t work, I just know it.”

He surveyed the room. There had to be something they could do. Suddenly, an idea popped into his head and he swung his gaze back to Carrie. “Fake a heart attack.”

She arched a brow. “Excuse me?”

“You heard me. Clutch your chest and fall to the floor. Pretend you’re having problems breathing.”

“Are you serious?”

“Yes. Do it, but give me the keys to the front door first.”

Her hand opened and closed over the large set of silver keys, her eyebrows drawing together.

“Carrie, you know I’m not crazy. I’ve done nothing wrong. In a few short weeks all of this will be in the open.” He touched her shoulder. “I won’t let you lose your job. Once I take over as the president of Montgomery Aisle, I’ll have control again, and I’ll be in the position to help you better.” He squeezed his hand over her shoulder. “Please believe me.”

Slowly she brought the keys to him and dropped them in his hand. “You know I’ve never believed you were crazy.”

He smiled. “Thanks.”

She nodded. “Now go save the woman you love.”

Joshua moved away and motioned his head for Lucinda and George to follow. They took slow steps toward the exit. Joshua kept his eyes on the nearest guard, praying Carrie’s little scene would work.

Within minutes Carrie’s cry echoed through the room, then came a loud gasp for air. A strong clunk made the floor shake briefly as she fell. Just as he’d hoped, all the guards ran to her. He didn’t
waste any time in hurrying to the door and slipping the key inside. George and Lucinda watched for any signs of trouble, ready to warn him, but so far, there weren’t any.

When they reached outside, they all made a mad dash to George’s car. “Let me drive,” Joshua shouted.

George didn’t question, but threw the keys to him.

Once they were all inside and buckled, Joshua stomped on the gas pedal, squealing tires as he drove them out of there. All the way out of the parking lot, Lucinda and George kept their gazes out of the windows as they watched for guards. It was as if luck were on his side, because they made it to the freeway without any problems.

After a while passed of nothing but silence, George leaned forward from the back seat and looked at Joshua through the
rearview
mirror. “Why didn’t you tell
Kendra
?”

Joshua glanced at the assistant then moved his attention back to the road. “You mean tell
Kendra
that Joshua and Eli
are
the same person?”

“Yes.”

He sighed heavily, inwardly cursing. It had been haunting him for a few days now. How could he explain things to her if he couldn’t understand them himself?

“Because I never thought things would get this far.” He shook his head. “During the five years I’ve been locked away, I’ve escape
d a few times
. Each
escape, I tried to find someone to believe my story.
Nobody
would. T
hey believed
Terrel’s
story,
instead
.
Terrel
found out about my escapes and had
Dr. Goodwin torture me.” He shudd
ered, not wanting to remember the kind of punishments that man had put him through. “Anyway, one day I found a book in the institution’s library. It was the story
Kendra
’s father wrote. That was when the idea of future-man struck me. If
Kendra
thought I was a man from the future, maybe, just maybe, it might work. She wouldn’t think I was a man who’d escaped the mental hospital like everyone else had thought.”

He paused and chuckled. “Maybe I am crazy.” He glanced in the mirror at George’s wide eyes. “Do you think she’ll hate me when I tell her the truth?”

George shrugged. “Eli swept her off her feet like no other man had done. She was deeply saddened when Eli left because she didn’t think your love was meant to be. Maybe she’ll be thrilled to see you again, and maybe she’ll hate you when she realizes you’ve tricked her.”

Joshua gritted his teeth. “But I didn’t mean to trick her,” he bit out. “I was desperate to find someone to help me. I
needed to convince someone to help me before I knew I needed to be back in the hospital. Doctor Goodwin went on vacation, and I had to be back before he came back or else he would drug me again.
”

George patted his shoulder. “I’m sure everything will work out with you and
Kendra
.”

Joshua smiled, but not fully. “Thanks, George. You’re a good friend to
Kendra
.”

Lucinda directed him to the house she’d driven by when following
Terrel
. As they passed by and she pointed it out, he sucked in a quick breath. “Lucinda? Do you know who lives there?”

“No. I saw
Señor
Terrel
take
Kendra
away, so I followed. Do you know who lives here?”

“Tina
LaRousse
.”

Both Lucinda and George gasped simultaneously. Anger lines popped in George’s forehead. “Why, that little tramp. She has always coveted
Kendra
’s designs. Now she is coveting
Kendra
’s fiancé.”

Joshua arched his eyebrow
.

George
quickly
cleared his throat. “I mean her
ex-
fiance
. I wonder why
Terrel
is dealing with the likes of
her?
”

Joshua chuckled. “Little Miss Tina
LaRousse
was one of
Terrel’s
early drug friends. Before my father died, Tina and a handful of others like her partied with
Terrel
all the time. That was before she became big in the fashion world, of course.”

George huffed. “Did you know Tina ships some of her designs to California and Hawaii?” He leaned back in the seat and folded his arms. “I still can’t understand why they think her designs are better than
Kendra
’s.”

“I can.” Joshua met the other man’s gaze through the rearview mirror again. “Because of
Terrel’s
drug trafficking business, that’s why. I bet you a million dollars she sews the bags of cocaine in the hems of her dresses.”

George gasped and covered his mouth. “
Are you kidding?
” he muttered.

Joshua chuckled and nodded. “
I wish I was.
”

He drove to the end of the block and stopped. Resting his wrists on the steering wheel, he took a deep breath. “Now...what are we going to do?”

George puffed out his chest. “Give me two minutes alone with that
LaRousse
, and I’ll take care of her.”

Joshua held back a laugh. By the heat sparking in the assistant’s eyes, Joshua had no doubt the man would carry through with his threat.

From the passenger’s seat, Lucinda released a shriek and pointed out the window. “Look, there’s Miss
LaRousse
now.”

He swiveled his head and looked behind him toward her house. Tina, dressed in regular blue jeans tight enough to have been painted on, and a pink belly-shirt, strutted out to her car and climbed in. While she backed out of the driveway, Joshua’s smile widened.

Perfect timing!

* * * *

When the door closed downstairs,
Kendra
sighed in relief. At least no harm would come to her while Tina was out of the house. And
Terrel
was probably in some ridiculous meeting trying to figure out a way to blackmail someone.
Probably her father.
She rolled her eyes.
Terrel
had always been selfish and devious. Why hadn’t she seen that before now?