The Devil's Game (17 page)

Damien had to go into work for a few hours that Saturday but was back before noon.

“What do you say we go grab lunch somewhere near the beach?”

“I like that idea,” she said ,and the two of them headed out in Damien’s Porsche. They enjoyed a leisurely lunch at a bistro on the water, and when he finally paid the bill, Damien invited her to walk with him along the boardwalk.

“I have something I want to talk to you about,” he said.

“Okay,” she replied, worried what it could be.

He took her hand and led her out to the crowded pavement. Of course everyone was spending Saturday afternoon at the beach. They walked for several minutes and he still had not said anything.

“What is it you wanted to talk to me about?” she asked, hoping she didn’t regret pushing him.

“I wanted to ask you about the graduate program you’re applying for.”

“Oh. Okay, what about it?”

“I’m curious why you chose—”

Just then, someone in a jacket and ball cap rushed past them, bumping his shoulder into Damien.

“Excuse me,” Damien said, even though it wasn’t his fault. The guy seemed not to have noticed, and they continued walking.

“I wanted to ask—”

“Damien Bishop!”

Damien and Karina both turned around to see the same guy facing them, holding a gun, and while Karina would later remember it as having happened so fast, everything slowed down as she registered the gun and Damien’s men rushing toward the attacker. And then all at once Damien was stepping in front of her at the same moment the bodyguards reached the man—just as shot went off and Karina was knocked off her feet by Damien falling against her. She managed to land on her ass, but Damien was on his back next to her, blood soaking the left corner of his shirt.

“Oh my god, Damien!” she said, leaning over him. “Damien!” She looked around to see that most people had hit the ground at the sound of the gunshot, but some people were still standing, coming closer now that Damien’s men were on the attacker, securing his hands.

“Someone call 911!” she screamed but quickly realized that one of Damien’s bodyguards was already on the phone.

“Damien,” she said, looking down at him with tears in her eyes.

“It’s okay,” he said through gritted teeth.

“Okay? Damien, you’ve been shot!”

He lifted his head enough to look down and see the red staining his clothes. “So I have,” he said. “That’s annoying.”

She laughed, which only made her cry more. “Stop being such an ass,” she said. “This is serious. Don’t you die on me.”

“At least your beautiful face would be the last thing I see.”

“Shut up,” she scolded. “I would punch you if you weren’t shot.”

“I appreciate the restraint,” he said. “Honestly, I don’t think it’s that bad.”

He tried to sit up, but Karina stopped him.

“You are not moving until help gets here,” she told him, taking his hand.

“How long is that going to take?” he asked just as one of Damien’s men came over, still on the phone.

“EMTs are on their way, sir,” he said. “We aren’t far from the nearest hospital, so it shouldn’t be too long.”

“Good,” said Damien with a nod as he squeezed Karina’s hand.

He seemed fine, but all the blood terrified Karina, and she worried that he was in shock.

Damien’s bodyguard was right, and sirens could soon be heard. It wasn’t long before paramedics and police officers were pushing through the crowd. One officer pulled Karina to the side while the medics attended to Damien. She answered their questions as best she could—there wasn’t much to say—and watched as Damien was put on a stretcher and wheeled to the ambulance.

“Where are they taking him?” she asked the officer. “Can I go with him?”

The officer nodded, and Karina rushed to the ambulance.

“Can I go with him?” she repeated to the medic as he was about to step into the vehicle.

“Are you his wife?” he asked.

“No, but I’m—” She didn’t have an answer for him. Girlfriend didn’t sound like the right word either.

“She’s with me,” Damien said from inside, and the medic helped her in.

“Is he going to be okay?” she asked, taking Damien’s hand again.

“We’ll know more when we get to the hospital,” said the EMT, keeping pressure on the upper left side of his chest.

Karina frowned.

“It’s fine,” Damien said.

The sirens came on again as the ambulance started moving, and Karina gave a little prayer, hoping that he really was fine.

Final Days

It didn’t take long for them to get to the hospital, and Karina was left at the front desk while they wheeled Damien into a room.

“Karina!”

She spun around to see Tom walking through the doors.

“Is he okay?” he asked.

“I don’t know,” she said. “They aren’t telling me much. Damien insists he’s fine.”

“Of course he does.”

A nurse walked up to them carrying a clipboard.

“Is one of you able to fill out paperwork for Mr. Bishop?” she asked.

“I’ve got it,” Tom said, taking the board and pen.

He and Karina moved over to some nearby chairs.

“What happened?” Tom asked.

“I don’t know,” she said. “We were just walking when some random guy pulled a gun on us. He shouted Damien’s name, though, so he obviously knew him.”

The police officers from the scene walked in, accompanied by Damien’s security, and one of them pointed in their direction.

“Will you hold this for a second?” Tom asked, handing her the clipboard.

Karina took the paperwork and watched with curiosity as Tom walked up to them and they all moved into a corner to talk. After what felt like forever, Tom returned and the cops headed down the same direction Damien had been taken.

“Is everything okay?” she asked Tom.

“Yeah, it’s fine. That was a close call,” he said. “How are you doing?”

“I’m terrified,” she replied, staring at nothing. “I’m in shock. Mostly I’m just worried about Damien.”

“You and me both,” Tom said as he continued filling out the forms.

“I think I’m falling for him, Tom,” she sighed, and he sucked in a breath.

“You can’t say anything,” he said. “I like you Karina, I really do. And that’s why I’m warning you that this can’t end well.”

“I know,” she muttered.

“I’m the closest thing he has to a friend, and I can tell you that Damien Bishop doesn’t do…
that
. I’m not even sure if he’s capable of it.”

“You can’t mean that.”

“He’s too jaded. He’s spent his life surrounded by fake, superficial people. People who only want to be around you if you have something to benefit them.”

“Sounds like he’s not the only one who’s jaded.”

“It’s our world,” Tom said with a shrug. “Even if I don’t have Damien’s money, I see what it does to people. How it shows their true colors.”

Karina leaned her head on Tom’s shoulder. “I don’t care about his money. I just want him to be okay.”

“I know,” he said. “Me too.”

Tom let her sit like that for a while until a doctor came out.

“You can see him now,” she said and led them to one of the rooms.

Damien was sitting shirtless on a table with bandaging around his left arm.

“He’s free to go home,” the doctor said before walking out.

“Wait,” Karina called after her. “That’s it? He’s been shot and you’re sending him home already?”

“It was just a graze,” Damien said, starting to put the bloody shirt back on, then thinking twice about it. “Tom, will you find a shop or something nearby and get me a clean shirt?”

“On it,” Tom said and walked out of the room.

Damien jumped off the table and threw the shirt in the bin marked “biological hazards.”

“Just a graze?” Karina asked. “But there was so much blood. And why were you in here for so long?”

“The bullet managed to nick a vein. They stopped the bleeding quickly enough, but they wanted to make sure I wasn’t light-headed before they let me go.”

“And here I was sick with worry out there.”

He touched her cheek. “You weren’t really that worried about me, were you?”

“Of course I was! Damien, I watched a man shoot you.”

His face went dark. “I’m just glad he didn’t hit anyone else. Especially you.”

“Who is he? The police asked me a couple questions, but they seemed to get everything they needed from your security team. I noticed they even spoke with Tom.”

“He was a stalker.”

“You have a stalker?” she asked.

“Yes and no. He’s been stalking this model who I happened to accompany to an event once. Our picture was in some tabloid and he started sending me threatening letters, accusing me of stealing his girlfriend. My men looked into it and he didn’t seem like a real threat. But I guess he had a psychotic break recently and for some reason blamed me.”

“Oh my god, Damien, that’s messed up.”

“And that’s why I have security.”

“But this man still shot you.”

“And he probably would have succeeded in killing me if it hadn’t been for them.” He frowned. “Or you. I’m just sorry that you were in harm’s way.”

“What happened last time?” she asked. “You said something had happened once before. Was that a stalker as well?”

He shook his head. “It was a cousin.”

“A cousin,” she repeated, wide-eyed.

“After my parents died, she apparently felt slighted for being left out of the will, even though we’d never had much contact with her. She tried to sabotage my car, thinking that if I died, she would inherit everything. Fortunately, she not only did a horrible job of executing the plan, but she left so much evidence that there was no doubt who it was. And the irony of it was that if anything had happened to me, a little would have gone to staff, but the bulk of it is set up to go to various charities.”

“I’m so sorry,” Karina said.

“Don’t worry about it,” he said, shrugging. “Like I said, I never really knew her. Now she’s just my crazy cousin.”

“Where is she now?”

“Serving a life sentence in prison.”

“That’s awful,” she said, crossing her arms.

Tom walked in carrying a plastic bag. “I managed to find a t-shirt in the gift shop,” he said.

Damien pulled out the navy blue t-shirt that said Miami, FL across the chest.

“It was the plainest thing they had,” Tom explained.

“I just need it to get me home.”

Apparently word had gotten out that an attempt had been made on Damien Bishop’s life, because as they neared the glass entrance doors of the hospital, news teams could be seen waiting outside.

“I’ve got this,” Tom said. “You go out a side entrance and have security pick you up. I’ll meet you back at the house.”

“What’s he doing?” Karina asked as Damien led her through the hospital, looking for a door that wasn’t being watched.

“He’s giving a statement on my behalf,” he said. “I’m not a fan of talking to the press in the first place, and the last thing I need is footage of me in this awful t-shirt on the nightly news.”

“I kinda like the t-shirt,” she said with a smirk.

“It’s a little tight,” he grumbled.

“Exactly.”

He looked at her and smiled just as they found an exit. His bodyguards found them quickly and dropped them off at the restaurant where Damien’s car was still waiting.

Karina couldn’t believe how late it was by the time they got back to the house. Now that Damien was safe and well, she felt cheated. In less than forty-eight hours, she was heading home.

“How exactly am I getting home on Monday?” she asked hesitantly when they sat down to dinner.

“The same way you arrived here,” he said.

“Your plane?”

He nodded. “Is that all right?”

“Of course.”

“Um, what time?”

“I told Jim he should plan take-off for eleven,” he told her. “That way he can get back at a decent hour.”

“That sounds fair,” she said, pushing the food on her plate around.

“Are you that eager to leave now that I’ve put you in danger?” he said in jest, but she could see the uncertainty in his eyes.

“What? You didn’t put me in danger.”

“A man fired a gun at us today, Karina. It could have just as easily hit you instead of me.”

“That’s not your fault,” she said. While it wasn’t a pleasant topic, at least they weren’t discussing her homecoming any longer.

He grabbed her hand resting on the table.

“I don’t know what I would have done if something had happened to you,” he said.