| Chapter Twenty-Two Kat sighed tiredly as the cab pulled up in front of the hotel. She was beginning to doubt her wisdom in flying in so late at night. Granted it made it easier to get into the hotel undetected, but after working all day, waiting around her place for hours afterward, too keyed up to relax and then spending the last two hours flying across the country she was dead beat. Not the way she intended to be when she saw Howie again. She paid the driver as he handed her her luggage and thanked him before walking inside the hotel. She stopped by the front desk, checked in under an assumed name, received her key and declined the assistance of the bellboy. She stepped onto the elevator and smiled in anticipation. Howie knew she would be here tonight and they’d both been looking forward to being with each other again. The soft ding of the elevator brought her attention forward just in time to see the doors slide open. Kat adjusted the straps of her bags and stepped out of the elevator. She glanced at the signs to see which way she should go and headed towards Howie’s room with a smile on her face. ‘Just a few more steps,’ she thought and her feet unconsciously picked up the pace. She found the room and slid her cardkey into the slot. Hearing the lock click, she pushed the door open and entered the semi-dark room. She set her bags down and crossed from the foyer into the room and stopped in her tracks. Howie laid sprawled on the bed, clad in nothing but his boxers. His jaw was slack and his position wasn’t normal for Howie. Usually he slept curled on his side. A shiver of alarm skittered up her spine. Something wasn’t right, but she couldn’t put her finger on it. Moving silently, she walked to the side of the bed and looked down on Howie. His breathing wasn’t deep like that of a person asleep, but yet it wasn’t shallow either, it was somewhere in the middle. Her heart kicked against her ribs and her breath locked in her throat. Feeling panicky, she reached down and placed her hand on his shoulder and shook him. When that failed to rouse him, she shook him again and called his name. She knew she was bordering on hysteria, as she sank down next to him and lightly smacked at his face. “Come on Howie, you’re scaring me. Wake up please,” she begged as the notes of panic sounded more pronounced with every syllable. Still there was no response. Except for the rising and falling of his chest there was no movement. Standing up, her eyes never leaving him, she ran for the door. She flung it open and in a decibel she couldn’t believe she could reach, screamed, “SOMEONE HELP ME, HELP ME PLEASE.” Somewhere, a part of her was still functioning. She knew no one would be able to enter the room if the door shut, so she pulled the bar lock out and let it hold the door ajar before turning back to the room. Her sharp gasp echoed loudly as she took in the view before her. She felt dizzy for a brief moment and then a strong sense of anger, the likes of which she’d never experienced grabbed her in a chokehold. “What are you doing here?” she spat out as she advanced on the woman standing just outside the bathroom door, wrapped only in a skimpy towel. Not giving the woman a chance to answer she shot another question at her. “What have you done to him?” Sasha took a step back as Kat advanced closer still. The door flew open, but neither woman noticed. “I asked you a question,” Kat said as her hand flew up and connected with the side of Sasha’s face. In that instant utter chaos broke out in the room. Kat flew at Sasha only to be hauled back by a pair of strong arms. Sasha went ghost white and she backed up as far as the wall would allow. And raised voices were all talking at once. “Let me go,” Kat yelled as she struggled against the arms that held her. “She’s done something to Howie, I can’t wake him up,” she railed as she began to kick against the person holding her. “Kat! Kat stop it now before you get hurt,” a raspy voice instructed close to her ear as the arms holding her own down at her sides squeezed tighter. Kat, recognizing the voice sagged against him and breathed deeply, trying to regain her control. She raised her head and her eyes pinned Sasha in place. “Tell me what you did to him,” she demanded in a strangely calm voice that scared even her. Clutching the towel to her, Sasha stuttered, “I… I slipped him a roofie.” At hearing that piece of information and knowing what Sasha had intended to happen, Kat howled in outrage and broke free of AJ’s lax grip. She landed one solid punch to the woman’s face, hearing bones crunch under the onslaught, before being pulled away. “Get her out of here,” AJ demanded harshly as he struggled to keep Kat pinned against the wall. Marcus moved quickly and grabbed Sasha and hurried her out of the room. “Let me go! Damn it I said let me go,” Kat yelled as AJ held onto her tightly until Marcus and Sasha were out of the room. “You calm down, I’ll let you go,” he said softly, hoping that by speaking softly she would calm down and relax. He’d never seen someone move as fast or react with that kind of fury before, and he was slightly amazed that someone as calm and in control as Kat was could react like that. In slow degrees he felt her relaxing. She quit pulling against his arms and her muscles didn’t have that hard edge of tenseness to them. “I’m going to let you go now. Okay?” he asked as he watched her closely. Kat nodded her understanding and AJ removed his arms from her. He stayed close enough to her in case she tried to go after Sasha, or in case her legs gave out. He knew what it was like to run on adrenaline and he also knew what it was like when you came down. “Are you okay?” he asked. “Are you okay?” he asked. Kat raised tortured eyes to him and she stared at him unable to speak. Instead she turned away from him and the others in the room and silently went to Howie and sat down on the edge of the bed. Gently she laid a hand on his shoulder and was relieved at the physical contact with the man she loved. She leaned down and whispered, “You have to be okay Howard. You just have to be. I couldn’t live without you.” “Kat,” Slowly she lifted her head and turned. She wasn’t sure who had called her name so she just said, “Hmm?” “Can you tell us what happened?” Raul asked in a gentle voice as he came closer to the bed. In a detached voice, Kat related the events of the last half hour. Imparting how she knew something was wrong, to screaming for help only to turn and find Sasha standing there. The whole time she spoke her face was emotionless, until she spoke Sasha’s name and then her eyes flared fire. “I think Howie’ll be fine. The drug she slipped him just knocks you out. He’ll wake up with a really bad headache and he probably won’t remember what happened,” Raul told her as he laid a comforting hand on her shoulder. “He has to be told,” Kat said as her eyes met his. He could see she was struggling with her emotions and he squeezed her shoulder gently, silently telling her that she wasn’t alone. “I’ll stay here tonight, sleep on the couch. So if you need me for anything,” he let the rest of his sentence hang and then moved away so that the others could speak to her before going back to their own rooms. AJ waited until the end and then moved to her side and pulled her into a hug. “I’m so sorry AJ. I didn’t hurt you did I?” she asked with her head buried in the crook of his neck. “It’s okay, I’ll live,” he said lightly and was relieved to hear her chuckle. He stepped away from her and slid his hand under her chin, bringing her eyes up to meet his. “I’m just down the hall,” he reminded her and she offered him a faint smile in return before sitting down next to Howie. She half listened as AJ said good night to Raul and then she heard the door click shut. “How about we move the club chair and the ottoman over here for you?” Raul suggested. Kat nodded and moved to the end of the bed so he could rearrange the furniture. “Thanks.” “No problem. Get some sleep okay?” Kat nodded, but seriously doubted she’d be able to sleep at all. She got settled in the chair, pulled a blanket over her legs and then reached for Howie’s hand. She needed to know he was all right, needed to have some type of physical contact with him, but she was afraid to lay down next to him, fearful of his reaction come morning. She laced her fingers through his and squeezed, hoping for a reaction. She didn’t get one and tears flooded her eyes. She knew it wasn’t his fault he couldn’t respond, but in her heart she knew things would never be the same for them again. Reunion Index Chapter Twenty-three Main page |