Just A Woman (The Porter Trilogy Book 2) (27 page)

“Mr. Porter,” Nelson said, his slimy voice crawling up my skin. “To what do I owe the honor of your visit? Have you come to endorse my campaign for the next election?”

“Thank you, Senator Nelson, for seeing me, but unfortunately, the reason for my visit is of a more personal nature,” I said back, bile lacing my throat and spite lining my words.

“How interesting,” he responded, humor lacing his remark.

The growl within me rose up, threatening to spill over at his condescending retort. I had a sneaky suspicion that he knew exactly why I was here and was goading me. Suddenly, I felt like coming here might have been a bad idea. But, I was just as smart as Nelson and could play his game just as well.

“Yes, I’m sure you’re aware that I am dating someone very special. Charlotte Hightower, your son’s ex-girlfriend. Well, unfortunately, it seems as if your son has been meddling in her life again, and one of his antics killed two men, one of them was her father. I came here today to put a stop to this, Nelson, and I would appreciate your support in the matter.”

I watched throughout my speech as Nelson’s face contorted from amusement to anger. His fist bunched on his desk and a vein protruding from above his collar on his neck stood out bright blue against his ever growing red face.

Just when I began to get nervous at the silence that stretched throughout the room, and contemplated getting up and walking out, Nelson’s rage cooled instantly. He reached his hands up to straighten his tie before reaching in his desk drawer.

Immediately, I knew I had made a mistake, when he pulled out a silenced .22  hand gun and aimed it at my head. Normally a .22 wouldn’t do too much damage when shooting someone. Sure, it would hurt, but you’d most likely walk away from the bullet, but at point blank range with only a solid wood desk between us, I knew I didn’t stand a chance if he decided to squeeze that trigger.

Switching tactics, I hoped that offering my small piece of blackmail up to him would make him back down. Summoning the remaining amount of courage I possessed, I stood up and placed my fists down on the desk.

“Nelson, I would consider putting that gun away. My bodyguard is on standby with proof of your son’s antics and is ready to deliver it to the media. If you want to even think of another term, you might want to choose your next actions more carefully.”

Without pause, Nelson busted into a large belly laugh, shaking the desk in front of him, the gun still aimed between my eyes.

“You stupid fool. You think Robert could have pulled this off on his own? That imbecile barely survived prison and is lucky to be alive. But, regardless, he is still my son and NO ONE hurts what is mine. Your bodyguard shot him in the shoulder during Robert’s pathetic kidnapping attempt. I don’t care how much of an idiot he is, he’s my son, and no one hurts him except for me. Now, if you want to even think about living to see another day, or to see that woman of yours again, sit your ass down, Porter!”

I didn’t want to. I didn’t want to show him an ounce of fear, no matter the amount that was currently flowing through my body. But I also didn’t want to be stupid. Maybe if he calmed down, I could convince him to let me go. He’d flat out admitted that Robert hadn’t been the only person doing the planning in the death of Charlotte’s father and the attack on her mom.

Sitting down, I prayed that Steve took my lead and sat down as well, hopefully without a gun in his hands. After a moment, he did sit, but he didn’t drop the weapon.

“Now that that is out of the way, let’s get down to business. Call Charlotte and that little baby of yours. We are going to have a nice little chat, together.”

The indescribable rage within me boiled. He knew about the baby? How? I wasn’t sure, but he did, and
no one
threatened my child. I needed to calm down, but all I could see was red tinted everything. I wouldn’t stand for my whole world to be threatened. He could kill me if he needed to, I knew Bracks would protect them, but he was not going to kill Charlotte or our miracle.

I couldn’t stop the growl that came from me at my response, “No.”

Just then, creepy biker came up behind me, pointing his own gun at my head, pushing into my temple, but I’d be damned if their threats were going to break me. I wouldn’t call her. I refused to call her.

“No!” I growled again, this time pushing the gun off of my head.

Putting his hand up, Nelson motioned for biker man to stand down and take a step back. I let out a silent breath I hadn’t realized I had been holding. At the same time, Nelson put down his own gun, still within his reach, and brought a phone up and onto the desk.

“It’s no matter, Porter, I’ll just call her myself, but I will tell you, you are making it worse for her by not complying.”

I watched, transfixed, at the horror of him dialing a number. Was it her cell? Her office phone? Maybe her home? How did he even know where she was? I prayed she wouldn’t answer. I prayed to everything and everyone that she just wouldn’t answer.

“Hello, Charlotte, it’s good to hear your voice,” he mewled into the phone. After a moment, he continued, “I’m hurt, Charlotte. How can you not recognize my voice? It’s me, Steve Nelson.”

Charlotte

I love Rachel Mansfield, but today, of all days, I didn’t particularly like her. I had never been so busy, especially on a Friday, and all I really wanted to do was to get home, soak in a tub, and have hot crazy sex with my super hunky boyfriend. I blushed at the thought. These pregnancy hormones were making me think incredibly dirty things at all times of the day. I was insatiable, not that Alex minded, of course.

Walking up to Rachel’s office, I lightly knocked on the door. Normally, I found the door open, as she liked an open door policy, so finding it closed, when I knew she wasn’t in a meeting, was a bit strange.

“Come in,” Rachel called from the other side of the door, her voice seemingly somber.

As directed, I turned the handle and walked in, heading for Rachel’s desk. I stopped short when I saw a man I knew sitting in a chair directly in front of her desk.

“Bracks?” I questioned. “What are you doing here?”

The silence was nerve wracking as I watched both Rachel and Bracks look at each other and then look at me. What happened? Why was Bracks even here? Shouldn’t he have been with Alex at work? His text this morning said he had gone in early, and he hadn’t been there when I woke up.

“Charlotte, sit down,” Rachel asked, motioning to the seat on Brack’s right.

Taking a seat, I waited until one of them spoke up, to tell me what the hell was going on. When I couldn’t take the silence anymore, along with the back and forth eyes, I stood back up. I couldn’t take the creepy atmosphere anymore.

“What the hell is going on, Rachel? Is it something with Alex? Is he ok? Oh God. Did he go to that meeting with Nelson?” I could feel myself starting to hyperventilate. I needed to calm down. This couldn’t be good for the baby. I searched around the office, looking for something to ease my breathing.

In my pocket, my phone vibrated. Trying to calm myself and regulate my breathing, I reached into my pocket and pulled out my phone. A text.

From- Alex Porter (310) 555-7481

I love you

Xoxo

-A

A gust of breath exited my lungs as I crunched over in my seat. He was ok. He was texting me. Hitting reply, I told him I loved him too, before looking up at both Rachel and Bracks.

“That was Alex. He’s good. But why are you here, Bracks? Did he send you to keep an eye on me, because last I checked, he could do that from his office,” I said, pointing to the cameras in the ceiling and chuckling to myself.

My laugh turned into nervous giggles when neither of them said anything, their silence echoing in the room, their eyes darting around again.

In my hands, my phone vibrated again. I had hoped it was another text from Alex, letting me in on a prank they were doing, or even just to tell me something dull and boring about work, but instead it was a phone call, from Danny. Hitting the ignore button, I faced back to Rachel.

“Please tell me, what’s going on?” I whispered, needing to know so I could prepare myself. Why did they look so conspiratory?

“Charlotte, he asked us not to tell you but we both agreed that you had a right to know, as long as you promised to stay put, here in the office,” Rachel told me, her voice full of nerves.

The thoughts running through my head were numerous, all worse than the last. I knew he was ok, since I had just received a message from him, so what was he doing that he swore his bodyguard and his pseudo mom to secrecy? Did he actually go to the meeting with Nelson? Had it gone bad? No, that didn’t make sense, if it went wrong and something happened, would he have been able to text me so non chalantly? I didn’t think so.

Maybe it had been a good meeting and he was on his way here so we could celebrate? Then why did Rachel and Bracks look to be on edge as much as they were? I couldn’t take it anymore. The thoughts inside my head were giving me a headache.

“Just tell me,” I mumbled.

Before they could answer, my phone rang in my hands again. It was Danny. What was going on with him? I couldn’t think about that now. I hit ignore and looked back up at Rachel.

“He went to speak with Steve Nelson at his office,” Rachel spilled out.

“And?” I asked nervously.

This time Bracks responded. “We haven’t heard anything yet, but Alex will be fine. Even if Steve refuses to cooperate, we have everything we need to go to the police and tank the Senator’s campaign. That’s the card Alex will play if his hands are tied. I’m not worried.”

Biting my lip, I looked down into my lap. Why would he go without me? He knew how much I needed to be there, for my own sake. I could feel myself getting angrier and angrier by the second, and when my phone lit up in my hands again, another call from Danny, I punched the accept button and hollered into the phone.

“What, Danny? I’m a bit busy.”

“Guess again,
daydreamer,
” a familiar voice sneered in my ear.

I could feel the blood drain from my face and my hands start shaking. Thank God I was sitting down, with the tremors that were now attacking my body. Both Rachel and Bracks were standing in front of me within a split second.

It couldn’t be. Why in the fuck did Robert have Danny’s phone? Although my brain was a little slow to catch on, I knew why Robert was there, and it couldn’t be good.

“Robert?” I whispered.

“Ding, Ding, Ding. What do we have for her Johnny?” Robert mimed a TV game show. “ What’s wrong,
daydreamer
? You don’t recognize my voice?”

“Why do you keep calling me that, Robert?” I asked, tears already streaming down my face.

“That’s what you are, aren’t you? A daydreamer with her musings? How pathetic. I--”

Suddenly, he was cut off by the sound of Danny screaming in the background.

“Charlotte, don’t listen to him. Don’t come after me. I’ll be fine. Don’t leave Alex’s sight.”

Just as fast as the shouting started, it ended. I heard a grunt and a crash and then, nothing else.

“WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO, ROBERT??!!” I screamed into the phone, standing up abruptly, forcing Rachel and Bracks to take a step back.

“Why don’t you come and find out, Charlie? You still remember where you live, right? Or have you spent too much time with your legs wrapped around that asshole, Porter?” His evil laugh permeated my senses. “But you better come quickly, Charlotte. Pretty boy won’t last too long. I may only have one bullet left in this gun, but Russian Roulette is quite a fun game, don’t you think?”

Before I had the chance to answer, the call disconnected. Pulling it from my ear, I stared at the screen, flashing the time I had been on the phone. What had felt like hours lasted less than five minutes. Without thought, I selected redial and paled when it went straight to voicemail.

Redial.

Voicemail.

Redial.

Voicemail.

“FUCK,” I screeched, attempting to throw my phone at the wall. Luckily Bracks caught it before I had the opportunity.

“Miss Hightower, what’s going on?” he said, depositing my phone into his pocket.

“He’s got Danny. Robert. He has Danny. Oh my God, he’s going to kill him. One bullet. Russian Roulette.” My words clashed together to form incoherent sentences. Unable to take anymore, I crumpled to the ground.

My best friend was in the hands of the enemy, and that enemy had a gun. I couldn’t handle another death on my hands. I wouldn’t survive. Rachel put her arms around me and I batted them away. I didn’t deserve comfort. I did all of this and now, I was going to pay the ultimate price.

Letting my emotions calm, I stood up and addressed Bracks, “I’m going to Corona. Don’t try to stop me. I have to get to Danny. Give me my phone.” If I said any more than few word sentences, I was going to lose my cool.

Crossing his arms over his chest, his face taking on a hard exterior, Bracks handed over my phone. “You’re not going anywhere, Charlotte. We will call the cops, and they will handle it. You’re pregnant, and Alex would kill me.”

“I don’t fucking care, Bracks. I don’t. I’m going to Corona right fucking now!” I bellowed.

I almost dropped my phone when it rang in my hands. Without looking, I answered, praying it was Danny. “Hello? Danny?” I rushed out.

“Hello Charlotte, it’s good to hear your voice,” a man said, his tone not ringing any bells.

“Who is this?” I asked, clearly not in my right mind to be talking to whoever this was in the midst of my current problem.

“I’m hurt, Charlotte. How can you not recognize my voice? It’s me, Steve Nelson,” the Senator replied.

For the second time in the last thirty minutes, my world crumbled around me. Before I could speak again, Bracks took the phone from my hand and put it on speaker.

“I can see you’re speechless, Charlotte, but don’t worry, I’ll do all of the talking. Your lovely boyfriend is sitting here, and if you don’t come, right now, to my office, I will shoot him, and I will kill him. So, why don’t you be a good girl, get in your car, and drive to my office? You have one hour.” His voice was like nails on a chalkboard.