All of My Soul (32 page)

Chapter
Twenty-Four

A second was all the longer it was displayed
before the screen went dark. The guests of honor on the stage never
even noticed it, but the audience had.

I covered my mouth with my hand to hide my
fear as everyone in the crowd looked at each other in confusion.
People were bewildered, and the applause died out as they murmured
to each other, speculating about what they had just glimpsed.

I didn’t think anyone had recognized that it
was me on the screen, but I knew this was a threat from Mackenzie.
She was either here somewhere or she had been here recently. Not
only was I horrified that everyone had seen my naked body, but it
wasn’t safe to be here.

Lincoln pulled me close to him with his good
arm, turning me into his chest.

“We’re leaving! Now!” Lincoln said in a harsh
voice, and I peeked up to see Brody hovering close behind me.

The three of us weaved through the crowd
toward the elevator. I was sandwiched between Lincoln and Brody,
both of them pressing tight against me, shielding me from everyone
around us.

Carter suddenly appeared in front of us,
blocking our way, just as we reached the elevator.

“Move!” Lincoln commanded.

His brother held his hand up. “No, Lincoln.
You have to talk to Dad. You have to deal with this.”

Lincoln’s arm tightened around me as he tried
to sidestep around his brother, ignoring what Carter had just
said.

Carter moved to block us again. “Dad knows
that was Jillian’s picture. We have to go talk to him. This could
ruin his career!”

Oh no! I couldn’t let that happen. I didn’t
want to be responsible for that. I looked across the crowd and saw
Kennedy and Brian talking to Lincoln’s mom as the senator stood in
a circle off to the side with three other men, their heads
together. They were deep in conversation, no doubt strategizing
about damage control.

I tried to hold my tears back. I didn’t want
to be the cause of this mess.

Lincoln got in Carter’s face. “You are
overreacting! Dad will be fine. I need to get Jillian out of
here.”

Just then, the microphone squawked again
drawing our attention as the mayor tapped on it to check if it was
still on. She held up her hands and leaned in to speak. “Sorry
about that folks! Just a minor technical glitch that is in no way
connected to the governor, his campaign, or anyone else here.”

She painted on a fake smile. It was obvious
she was trying to smooth things over. Her public relations man
would be disappointed with that horrible excuse for a cover story.
No one would buy this being a technical glitch. Especially when the
screen lit up again, and my picture flashed once more.

A collective gasp came from the crowd, and
several women screamed. I felt sick to my stomach, and I heard the
mayor yell for someone to shut it down.

Lincoln’s arm tightened around me again.
“We’re leaving!”

I planted my feet and pulled away from him.
He looked down at me with confusion and anger.

“Lincoln, no. You have to speak to your
father.” His parents would hate me now. I was causing problems. The
senator’s career could be in jeopardy because of me. I couldn’t
live with myself if that happened, even if it wasn’t my fault.

Grabbing the back of my head, Lincoln brought
his face down to mine and frowned. “No. We’re leaving. I have to
get you somewhere safe.”

“I’ll leave with Brody, but please. Stay and
deal with this.”

“I’m not leaving your side until I know
you’re safe.”

“Brody and I will go somewhere safe, but I
can’t let anything happen to your family. I couldn’t live with
myself. You have to go talk to your dad.”

Lincoln’s jaw ticked under his skin, and I
could see the conflict in his eyes. He didn’t like this, but he saw
I had a point. “I can’t let anything happen to you.”

I cupped his face. “Nothing will. You’ve made
sure I’m safe. You’ve given me Brody. I’ll be okay without you for
a little while.”

Lincoln’s eyes flickered to Brody. “Don’t let
her out of your sight for a second.”

“Of course not, sir.” Brody scanned the crowd
around us, looking for danger.

“Listen to me,” Lincoln demanded as he moved
his hand to my cheek to get my attention. “Stay close to Brody.
I’ll make this as quick as possible, and then I’m not leaving your
side.”

I nodded and kissed him quickly. I didn’t
want to leave him, but I wouldn’t let him make me a priority over
his family’s safety. I couldn’t allow that. I had already caused
enough problems.

“Please be careful. If anything happens to
you…” His eyes pleaded with me to understand the seriousness of the
situation.

Panic built inside me, and I tried to
suppress it. I needed to get out of here. People were beginning to
stare. “I’ll be fine, baby. Take care of this.”

He kissed me again, and I could sense his
desperation. He was terrified something would happen to me, but I
pulled out of his grasp and started toward the elevator without
looking back. I didn’t want to see the faces in the crowd if anyone
knew that was my body up there.

“Do you really think she’s here?” I asked
Brody in a small voice as we rode down alone in the elevator. I
tried not to think about the fact that the whole rooftop full of
elegant and influential people had just seen my naked body, but in
reality Mackenzie had done a lot of damage tonight and not just to
me this time.

“It’s hard to say. That’s why we need to get
you out of here. We’ll have to speak to the people in charge of the
video system. Find out how easy or difficult it would be to hack
into.”

“I forgot my purse,” I said
absentmindedly.

“Security will grab it. We’ll get it later. I
have to get you out of here.”

I nodded and nervously played with the watch
on my wrist. It was the one Lincoln had given me for Valentine’s
Day. God, that seemed like ages ago. We had been through so much
since then, and tonight was the culmination of months of stress
imposed by one hate-filled beauty queen.

I suddenly felt the elevator slow and stop
underneath us. A small bell signaled our arrival as the number four
lit up above the door. Brody took one giant step toward the control
panel and held down the door-closed button.

“We don’t have time for this,” he muttered
but the silver reflective doors slid open despite his wishes,
revealing an ornate hall lobby. With the exception of a sign
announcing this floor was closed due to renovations, the space in
front of us was empty as far as I could see.

“Stay back,” Brody ordered me as he drew his
weapon out from under his tuxedo jacket.

I shrank back against the mirrored back wall
of the elevator. “Is that really necessary?” I didn’t doubt that
Mackenzie wanted to hurt me, but a gun? That seemed excessive.

Brody didn’t answer as he held the gun up and
took one step out of the elevator.

A shot rang out, and I screamed as Brody’s
body was jerked back against the wall. Eyes wide, he grunted and
twitched as he collapsed to the floor of the elevator, his legs
blocking the doors from closing.

“Brody!” I moved closer to him and started to
kneel down next to him when a familiar voice made me freeze.

“Uh, uh, uh. I wouldn’t do that if I were
you.”

I looked over my shoulder and saw Mackenzie
casually leaning against the doorframe of the elevator, looking
beautiful as always. Her hair was artfully piled on top of her
head, and the strapless, knee-length black dress she wore was
covered in multicolored sequins that sparkled when she moved. She
looked like she was about to compete in one of her pageants.

A man with a long scar over his eyebrow stood
next to her in dark jeans and a dirty black T-shirt. Asher Epps
pointed a black-and-yellow gun at Brody. Two long wires connected
the two of them, and every time Asher squeezed the trigger, tremors
rocked through Brody’s body.

Asher looked at the weapon in his hand with
utmost adoration. “You like it?” He laughed as he squeezed the stun
gun again causing Brody to flop like a fish on the elevator floor.
“M-97X Taser. Slightly modified, of course.”

“Stop!” I screamed as I backed away into the
opposite corner of the metal cage. The urge to run away as fast as
possible started to overtake me, but I also wanted to help
Brody.

“Shut the hell up, bitch.” The hate in
Mackenzie’s voice was terrifying.

Asher let out a wicked laugh and shocked
Brody again, this time not letting go of the trigger. A repetitive
ticking noise from the gun filled the elevator as nonstop
electricity flowed into Brody’s twitching body. A small amount of
white foam began forming on his mouth.

“Stop! Stop! I’ll do whatever you want. Just
stop hurting him!” Brody didn’t deserve this. He was just doing his
job.

“Damn right you will. Get out here,”
Mackenzie demanded.

Asher moved to the side to let me out of the
elevator but didn’t put the stun gun away. The joy on his face at
the sight of Brody suffering was disgusting.

Mackenzie immediately grabbed a fistful of my
hair, ripping bobby pins out, and yanked my head down to waist
level. I cried out from the sudden pain.

“You little bitch. You just couldn’t stay
away from him, could you? He’s mine!” She pulled my face up to
hers, and I clutched at her fist in my hair, trying to stop the
pain.

“Please stop,” I begged, knowing it was
futile.

Her evil smile twisted up at the corners.
“Oh, we’ve only just started.”

Hairy muscular hands grabbed me from behind
as Mackenzie let go of my hair. Asher’s hand covered my mouth while
his other squeezed at my throat, his thumb pressing painfully into
my windpipe.

I struggled and whimpered against his hold,
but his grip on me only tightened as he pulled me backward down the
hall.

The last thing I saw before we turned a
corner was Brody’s crumpled, unconscious body. His feet were still
sticking out into the hallway, blocking the doors from closing.
Hopefully someone would be sent to investigate why the elevator was
stuck. There were forty floors of rooms in this hotel. Once Lincoln
discovered we were missing, it would take forever to search for us.
Maybe Brody’s feet would help narrow the search.

Asher pulled me down a hallway until
Mackenzie opened a door and I was yanked inside a utility closet.
Panic rose inside me. I feared if I went in that room, I might
never come out, and I suddenly didn’t care if Asher crushed my
windpipe. I needed to get out of there. I tried to remember back to
the one self-defense class I had taken in college. A surge of
adrenaline went through me as I pulled down on Asher’s hand that
covered my mouth and sunk my teeth into the meaty flesh at the base
of his thumb.

Asher cried out from behind me and loosened
his grip. I thrust my elbow backward, connecting with the bridge of
his nose, and he stumbled away from me. Now was my chance! Clawing
at his hand at my neck, I managed to wrench myself out of his grasp
and kick the pointed heel of my shoe into his shin. When he reacted
to the pain, I vaulted forward and grabbed the doorjamb before the
door could close.

Pain unexpectedly shot through me, and I
collapsed to the floor as all my muscles clenched. My hands and
legs involuntarily contracted inward, and I shook on the floor as
electricity zapped through me. The pain was unbearable. I wanted to
scream, but my body wouldn’t react to any command I gave it until
suddenly the pain evaporated, leaving me lying on the floor gasping
for breath.

Mackenzie knelt down next to me. She had a
particularly evil grin on her face as she held up the
yellow-and-black gun and looked at it lovingly. “Yeah. I got one
too. I was hoping you’d try to run. Pretty effective, don’t you
think?”

I rolled to my back away from her as Asher
closed the door and turned the deadbolt, locking us inside the
small room.

Okay, be smarter than this,
I told
myself. If I was going to get out of this, I had to use my
brain.

“Lincoln’s going to know it was you. If you
let me go now, I won’t say anything. I’ll break up with him, and
you can have him.” Just saying it made my heart hurt, but it was
the only thing I could think of that she might believe.

“Not good enough.” She grabbed my hair again
and stood up, pulling me with her. She slammed me back against the
door, her face inches from mine. “You’re going to pay for ever
thinking you deserved him. I’m the one who should be with him. Do
you have any idea what I’ve done to get where I am? And you think
you can just swoop in and steal him from me?” Her voice had gotten
screechy as she yelled at me, her eyes wide with emotion.

I hated her. I never hated anyone before.
Even when she sent my naked picture to everyone on campus, deep
down I still blamed myself for trusting her. But now? She wanted to
make me pay for falling in love with someone she wanted. That was
pure insanity.

“You’re insane if you think he wants you. He
regrets ever touching you.”

For a brief second I was relieved when she
let go of my hair, but the pain was only gone for a split second
before the butt of the stun gun made contact with my cheekbone. She
brought her hand back and hit me again just below my eye. Pain
exploded across my face, and I brought my hands up to shield myself
as she started screaming in my face.

“I’m the best thing he’s ever had! You think
you can even compare to me?”

Defiance rose up inside me. I wasn’t going to
let her win again. I didn’t care how many times she hit me. Lincoln
deserved to have me defend our love instead of deny it.

“What bothers you more, Mackenzie? The fact
that Lincoln wants me or that he doesn’t want you? You know as well
as I do he kicked you to the curb months before he ever met me. I
could disappear out of his life, and he would still never go
crawling back to you. You disgust him.”