Chapter 6
 
         With Janet's list of what she'd need in hand, Trevor entered the Valley Inn Lobby
     and was ready to go straight to Suite 902-- but the sight of Axel at the front desk
     stopped him cold.
         He appeared to be writing something, so he didn't see Trevor come in, OR dart
     behind a pillar. Trevor's hands clenched into fists at the sight of the lummox that
     once treated his Janet so badly, but he managed to calm down by the time Axel
     finished writing. Only after he'd left the building did Trevor come out of hiding and
     catch the elevator to the 9th floor.
         On his way back out Trevor picked up her messages-- she'd called over earlier
     and explained he would be getting them-- and had the one from Axel opened
     and read by the time he was back out to the car. "Stupid, stupid, stupid," he
     laughed, shaking his head.
 
         Janet was sitting at the computer, legal pads and address books strewn
     everywhere, when Trevor returned. "Holy spreadsheets, Bat girl... do you EVER stop
     working?" he asked with a cackle.
         "Did you just call me 'Bat girl'?"
         "Would you rather be 'Batman'?"
         "I'd rather be 'Robin'. Isn't it obvious?" She smiled, still studying a tablet of writing in
     front of her. "I'll have you know that this is our guest list I'm working so hard on...
     Tim called, and didn't seem to mind if I got in and started using this-- oh, and he's
     staying the night at Oyster's; I said it was fine unless he heard otherwise..."
         When she finally looked up she noticed how large a suitcase Trevor had lugged
     in. "Looks like my overnight bag has developed a bit of a weight problem..."
         "Well, I just thought we might as well move some other things over here while
     we're at it."
         "Uh-huh..."
         "And-- maybe you should just hide out here until Hurricane Axel blows through
     town."
         But he was sounding too suspicious. "Trevor, what happened?"
         He took a seat on the couch and pulled her down next to him. "He was over
     there, Janet."
         "What?" she cried, dismayed. "He's a little quicker than I remembered. Did he see
     you?"
         "No." Trevor reached into his coat pocket. "He was too busy writing this."
         Looking like she was about to swallow some foul tasting medicine, she took the
     note from Trevor's fingers and began reading out loud.
         "'Jan Jan, you must be doing even better than I thought if you can afford to live
     in this fancy place...' 'afford' he spelled with only one 'f'," she noted.
         "Yeah, I caught that too."
         "'...You can run but you can't hide... just because lover boy saved the day this
     time doesn't mean I'm all done with you no siree...I'll be showing you how wrong
     you were to--'" she gasped, not believing her eyes. "'-- to let me dump you!'
         "I thought you'd get a kick out of that," Trevor chucked, stroking her hair.
         "'It won't be long now, Jan Jan, I'll remind you what it's like to be with a man who
     treats his woman right, don't worry your pretty new head about a thing, I'll take
     care of it. Later baby-- Axel.'" She took a breath. "The run-on sentence king strikes
     again."
         "So, ready to let me turn this over to Derek?"
         She put her hands over her ear. "No, come on, not the police..."
         "Sweetheart, if he was dumb enough to practically threaten you in writing, we've
     gotta use it." Trevor reached up and pulled her hands away. "Maybe you just
     need a good night's sleep."
         "I'll agree with you on that. Time for us to go to bed--" she stopped herself, then
     squeezed his hands and corrected, "That is, for you to go to your room, and me to
     go to mine."
         "Awe, you're no fun," he complained, pinning her arms behind her with his own,
     pulling her into a feisty kiss.
         "Let me shut down what I was doing on the computer," she giggled, wiggling
     away from him momentarily.
         As she gathered her things, Trevor ambled closer. "Even Mo-Mo's got a better
     handle on this e-mail stuff than I do," he chuckled. "How embarrassing."
         "Are you telling me you're computer illiterate?"
         "Nope, just call it... web site weary."
         "Well with me around, you'll get the hang of it and start sending me love letters
     down the information superhighway in no time."
         "When you put it that way-- I might just learn it tomorrow," he grinned, wrapping
     around her from behind and nuzzling her neck.
         "Trevor, we can't--"
         "I know, I know." But he was thinking otherwise, once he was alone in his room.
 
         By 1:55 AM Janet's sleep was more than restless-- it was frantic. Trevor was almost
     asleep himself when her whimpers shook him awake again. "Janet... wake up..."
     he whispered, but she came awake with a terrible jolt anyway.
         "It's okay, sweetheart... shh," he said softly, pulling her to his chest with ease once
     she was awake enough to realize it was him.
         "Trevor, he was after me... the Valley Inn was empty except for Axel and me... I
     stayed ahead of him at first, but I was running through the halls, pounding on
     doors, trying to get someone's attention, but..." little by little the tension in her
     body softened as the warmth of Trevor's body started to soothe her. Raising her
     head a little, she leaned into his shoulder and steadied her trembling voice.
     ...But no one was there, and he kept gaining on me, laughing and bellowing out
     all the mean names he used to call me..."
         "Shhh... it was just a dream, Babe... you're okay now..."
         "Mmmm...Trevor, I'm so glad you're here..." Suddenly she jerked her head up to
     look him in the eyes. "Wait a minute. WHY are you here?"
         He tried not to look too guilty. "Don't say it like that-- I'm being a perfect
     gentleman! And I've got your tears soaking through my pajamas to prove it," he
     laughed, tugging on his collar.
         "And you just happened to know you'd need to be on nightmare patrol?"
         "Well I couldn't sleep, thinking about you right downstairs, moonlight coming in
     the window and kissing your face... what can I say? I was-- jealous of the
     moonlight." He brushed the remainder of her tears away gently with his hand.
         She smiled up at him. "Nice sleep wear. This is a good look for you," she teased.
         "Yeah, well... don't tell Mo-Mo," he said with a wink. "Now, we've got to get you
     back to sleep so you can be nice and alert when we go talk to Derek tomorrow."
         "Trevor, please--"
         "This is no longer open to discussion... we're getting married in just a few weeks. You
     don't need to be worrying about anything else. So we're gonna take that note
     and get a restraining order going. The end." Trevor slid down from where he'd
     been sitting in the bed, wrapping his arms around her. "Now, how are we going to
     get you relaxed enough to catch your 40 winks... hmmmm...."
         He began to "think" of ways, and she moaned softly when she felt his hand slide
     down her nightgown, past her hips. "What about Amanda?" she protested.
         "She sleeps like a rock after midnight... we'll hear her if she wakes up, I promise.
     Okay?"
         "Mmmm..." was her only verbal response, but the way she reached behind his
     head and coaxed Trevor's lips to her shoulder was a much clearer answer.
         He didn't spend the whole night in there, of course. And Amanda was none the
     wiser when she was up and running around in the morning. The only thing she
     noticed was that Trevor slept a little later than usual. "Good morning,
     sleepyhead," she sang as he stumbled down the stairs.
         "Have you eaten yet, Mo-Mo?" he yawned.
         "Yep. Mommy made me some pancakes before she left."
         "Before she left?" Trevor snapped to his senses. He went to the front window and
     sure enough, her car was gone. "Did she say if she'd be back?"
         "Nope. She just said she's got a zillion things to do with Miss Keefer."
         "And I suppose she--" he went to the coffee table where he'd last seen the note
     from Axel. "--Took the note," he sighed to himself. "Damn."
 
 
 
 
Re-view Chapters
1/ 2/ 3/ 4/ 5/ 6/ 7/ 8/ 9/ 10/ 11/ 12/ 13/ 14/ 15/ 16/ 17/ 18/ 19/ 20/ 21