Since he was unable to get her up and to her counseling sessions, Nick had arranged for her therapist to come to the house. She came, but not much was happening. Mostly she just sat in the room with Celeste. Though Nick had to agree, it was better than nothing.
He had called the police and informed them of the breaking and entering. They’d sent a man out to the house, but he was unable to come up with any proof. He took Nick’s statement about the Silver BMW, but Nick knew that not much was going to happen. There were lots of Silver BMW’s manufactured and produced. So according to the police it could have been anyone.
Nick still insisted on AJ. But he had an alibi, and the police hardly even thought him a suspect. Which just pissed Nick off. Though, he was still determined to prove it AJ. Just as soon as he came up with a way to do just that. But until then, he and AJ were not on speaking terms. Well, more like he refused to speak to AJ. AJ had tried to call and explain to Nick, but he wouldn’t hear it. Finally he’d given up.
The ringing of the phone pulled Nick out of the deep slumber he’d been in. He lifted himself up and glanced next to him at Celeste. She didn’t seem to have heard the phone. Nick had taken to sleeping in her room with her. She would at first grab his arm and pull him down beside her, but after a while, he just came in and climbed in next to her. It not only made her feel better, but himself also. That way he would be there to protect her if anything happened.
“Yello?” He grabbed the phone off the nightstand next to the bed and held it to his ear.
“Nick?” AJ’s voice came over the line.
Nick groaned. This was like the hundredth time in the past three days that AJ had called. Okay, maybe not really that much, but close enough. “What?” He snapped. His patience was quickly growing thin.
“Nick, listen….I know you don’t want to talk to me, but I think I know who raped Celeste.” AJ spoke quickly, his voice sounding excited.
“So, you’re finally going to admit it now?” Nick dryly responded.
“I’m serious Nick. I found something I think you’d be interested in seeing.” AJ replied.
“What?” Nick sighed. This ought to be good. What kinda of bullshit was AJ going to pull now?
“Not over the phone. You have to see this.” Suddenly his voice dropped. “Can you meet me in two hours at The Mill?”
Nick glanced over at Celeste. “AJ…I don’t think that’s a good idea….” He began. He felt uneasy just leaving Celeste by herself. Look at what had happened when he’d just left her to go take a shower.
“Nick man, come on. This is all the proof you need. You can take this to the police and get your man.”
“Fine.” Nick rolled his eyes. He was a bit intrigued to see what kind of crap AJ had come up with. “But you’d better be there.”
“I will.” AJ assured him. “Two hours. I’ll be there man.”
“Fine.” Then Nick replaced the receiver and lay back down. The Mill was a popular restaurant in Orlando. Nick had known AJ had given him the two hours to get himself up and into the city. He snuggled up to Celeste and just watched her sleep. Poor girl, she was so beautiful. And now changed for life. He knew she’d never be the same girl she was before the party. He knew that light in her eyes was probably distinguished forever now, or at least for a long, long time.
Nick partially blamed himself for what had happened. If only he hadn’t taken her to the party. If only he hadn’t gotten so involved in the video games that he had hardly paid attention to her. If only he had insisted that she stay with him at all times. If only she’d never met AJ.
With a sigh, Nick pulled himself up and climbed out of the bed. He would call Mrs. Hallwell again and see if she’d come sit with Celeste while he went and met AJ. And if he came back and something had happened to her, he’d kill him. He just knew he would.
Half an hour later, Nick was pulling out of his driveway and securely closing the gate behind him. Mrs. Hallwell had been left with strict instructions not to let anyone into the house and call him if anything at all happened. Even though she may be older, she was a tough cookie. So they should be fine. At least he hoped so.
He left his phone on and in the seat next to him as he drove. What the hell was AJ trying to pull now? Maybe he had felt guilty and was finally going to admit to Nick what he’d done. It was about damn time. Or maybe AJ had come up with some bullshit lie about how it just couldn’t be him. Whatever the reason, AJ better not piss him off. Wouldn’t matter who was around…he’d beat the scrawny guy down.
Nick made it into Orlando and to The Mill’s parking lot with five minutes to spare. Before heading into the restaurant he phoned home and spoke to Mrs. Hallwell, who assured him everything was fine. In fact, she’d just gotten Celeste some soup. Yes, Celeste was still in her room, but she was eating. Nick didn’t bother to tell her that she ate anyway, he just said great and hung up.
He entered the restaurant and pulled his sunglasses off, glancing around he didn’t see AJ anywhere. Usually AJ ran about five minutes late, so he had a little bit of time. He approached the host and asked for a small, quiet, out of the way, table for two. Of course he was seated almost immediately.
Twenty-five minutes later AJ still hadn’t arrived and Nick frowned as he checked his watch. With an uneasy feeling he pulled out his phone and dialed AJ’s cell number. The phone rang and the voice mail picked up. Frowning again, he dialed AJ’s home number and got the machine. What was going on? Nick’s uneasy feeling had increased considerably. Something was up. But what?
Suddenly a thought hit him. What if AJ had just called Nick and asked to meet him, so he could get Nick out and get into the house and get Celeste? With a sickening feeling in his stomach, he quickly punched in his house number. The phone rang once…twice…three…four times…
“Hey, you know who you’ve reached, leave a message and if…..”
Nick clicked off his phone and jumped up from the table. Shit! That damn fucking bastard! If he hurt her again, he was going to kill him. Kill him and make it slow and painful! Shit, he shouldn’t have been so stupid as to fall for that! Damn…and Mrs. Hallwell. Shit!
Throwing a twenty on the table he bumped into a waiter and quickly apologized. Then he hurried out of the restaurant and to his car. He should have known something like this was going to happen. Damn that AJ. He was dead. So dead.
Nick neared his Durango and suddenly stopped. The vehicle was sitting lopsided. With a frown on his forehead he slowly approached the car and his eyes grew wide. His tires were flat. Circling the vehicle he let out a loud curse and kicked a tire. They’d been slashed. All four of them.
That fucking AJ McLean was not going to live to see another day. Nick was going to fucking kill him and then hang his body for all to see. Something was happening. He was going after Celeste again. He just knew it.
With trembling hands, more from anger than fear, Nick pulled out his phone and dialed the first person that came into his head.
“Hey!” The voice greeted him on the second ring.
“D?” Nick about shouted into the phone.
“Nick, what’s wrong?” Howie responded.
“D, I’m at The Mill, my tires have been slashed. I need you to come get me. We’ve got to get to Celeste, I think she’s in trouble.”
“What?” Howie’s voice came through the phone confused.
Nick shook his head. “I don’t have time to explain. Just come get me and I’ll tell you on the way back to my place. Hurry!” He stressed.
“Alright.” Howie agreed and Nick breathed a sigh of relief. “Give me half an hour.”
“D, I don’t think we have that long.” Nick informed him. “Can you make it fifteen?”
Howie sighed. “Yeah, okay….fifteen, I’ll be there.”
“Great! Fifteen!” Then Nick hung up. But he didn’t even know if fifteen was going to be enough time. With a glimmer of hope, he dialed his home number again, but swore and hung up when the machine answered. Something bad was happening. Something very bad. He could feel it. He just hoped that Howie would make it and they’d get back to his place in time. They had to. Celeste’s life was riding on the line.