Fantasy Attraction (Hidden Secrets) (8 page)

“So where in this can I help?”

“You’re a P.I. now, aren’t you?  Can’t you help me find her?”

“Sure man.  What’s her name?”

“I don’t know.”

“Okay, where does she live?”

“I don’t know.  I know this sounds crazy, but all I have is her cell phone number.  I know that isn’t much to go on, but I need you to help me please.”  I pleaded.

“I’ll do everything I can man.  A phone number is a good lead, but if she doesn’t have it registered in her name or it’s a prepaid phone, I may not be able to help you there.  I’ll keep you updated on what I find out though okay?”

“Thanks man.”  I stood up.  “I have an asshole to deal with.”

“Now Carson…Don’t get yourself in trouble.  You won’t be able to be with your girl if you do something stupid.”

“Jay, I have to handle this now before he thinks he’s Mr. Big Stuff.  Don’t worry.  I know what I’m doing.  He needs a lesson in limitations and I’m going to teach him it.”  I hissed as I started to head for the office door.

“Like you taught Alex?” Jason yelled from behind me.

It was a statement that stopped me dead in my tracks. 

“That almost killed your sister; hell
, your whole family.  Don’t do that again.  I won’t stand for it.”

“Like you stood for it the first time?” I smirked at him. 

He chuckles.  “Yeah, well,” he shrugs.

“Don’t worry, Jason.  This one will be solved in the ring with others watching.  Not alone and with weapons.  But he will pay.  You just find, my
Angel.”  I said before walking out of the office and out to my truck leaving a stunned Jason behind.

Once inside my truck, I pulled out my phone and dialed Kayla.  She didn’t answer.  I called again.  No answer.  I was starting to get worried.  I kept calling until she finally answered.

“Thank God! Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.  What do you need?”

I could hear what sounded like crying in the background and for some reason my chest tightened.

“Nothing
, just wanted to make sure you were okay.  You know I worry about you.”

“I’m fine.  I told you that my friend needed me.  I’ll call you before I leave.”

“Okay.  I may not answer just leave a message.  I’m beating the shit outta Tommy in a few minutes.  Love you.  Bye.”

“Curry no wait! You…” I hear her say right before I hang up.

Starting my truck and I pull out of the parking lot, I relived last night’s events so I am good and angry when I step into that ring with Tommy.

CHAPTER SEVEN

~COLLEEN~

Last night hurt a lot more than it should have, which tells me I let him too clos
e.  I knew better than to let my guard down and yet I did anyway.  Going last night was a mistake; I knew it before I even left.  But again that was my fault for not trusting my instincts. For a moment, I let myself dream, hope and I knew better than that.

To add to the mix, I broke a lot last night and completely trashed my apartment.  Morning came early and I had a meeting to go to for the foundation Kayla and I are working on together, but I couldn’t do it.  I just couldn’t face the world right now.  I needed to get my walls back up first.  Imagine my surprise when Kayla showed up at my apartment.  She looked like she had been crying and
that was all it took for my dam to break.

Kayla immediately wrapped her arms around me and hugged me tight
ly while I cried.  She was like the sister I wished I had growing up.  I knew now why people loved her so much.  Her staff raved about her constantly.

“Sorry.” I said
, pulling back and wiping my eyes.

“Don’t be sorry.  It should be me apologizing.
  I never should have told you to go last night.  I thought by the way you… I shouldn’t have offered advice to you.  Let’s face it; my life was a mess until I almost lost my only friend and companion.”

“It isn’t your fault, Kayla.  You are in a position to give advice.  I made the mistake of thinking he was different; that he was worth it.  He wasn’t and that is my fault.  I mean his girlfriend showed up right there when he was telling me, I was turning him on.”

“Oh Hun, his girlfriend showed up?  What a pig!  That guy sounds like a worthless, sorry excuse for a man.  But Lee, he’s out there.  The guy for you, he’s out there searching for you.”

Kayla was proving to be a wonderful friend, but she had that part all wrong.  There was no one out there for me.  None of that was meant for me.

“No, he’s not.  Kayla, you were meant to be happy to overcome what was taken from you and take some back.  I’m not.” I said, looking away from her.

“Why?  Because you were dealt a shit hand during a time you couldn’t stop it? 
Hun, your mother was the wrong one.  Not you.”

“Yes…” My voice broke as I tried to answer.

“Honey, talk to me.  You can trust me.  I promise you.”

I stared up at Kayla and I knew in my heart that I could trust her.  She has overcome so much; maybe she could help me overcome my past too.  It would be nice to stand on solid ground again and not feel like I was going to fall at any moment.

“My mother beat me and verbally abused me and even cut all my hair off because she thought I was prettier than her.  That wasn’t the whole of it.  My dad and I ran away.  He took me to the bar with him and we ran away.  It was the best year of my life.  Just me and my dad and I never had to worry about hiding or anything.  I got comfortable in my life.  We thought it was all finally over.  We were wrong.  It all had only just begun. See we did not know that she had a major drug problem, or that she was mixed up with very dangerous people.  She found us a few times and we had to move when she did, but we got away from her for a bit anyway.  The last time she found us, I was home alone.  I was thirteen years old. She was there when I got home from school.  She jumped out when I least expected it and started to hit me.  I’d had enough by this point.”  I moved away from Kayla and began pacing up and down my living room.

“I started hitting her back.  I didn’t care anymore.  She wasn’t a mother.  She wasn’t family.  She wasn’t a friend.  I hated her!  I hated her, Kayla.  I swung whatever I could get my hands on.  She pulled out a gun and pointed it at me…”

“You little bitch!  You think you can get away with treating me like that?  How dare you lay a hand on me!”  The gun was pointed right at my chest.

I didn’t care what she did to me.  She was nothing to me.  She deserved nothing from me.
 

“Shoot me, Harriet!  Shoot me!  I hate you!”

I heard the click of the gun being cocked at the same time I heard the keys in the door. It was like everything went into slow motion.  Nothing seemed real.  I spun around.

“Daddy! Nooooo!”

I had no more than got the words out of my mouth when I heard the gun fire.  It was a sound you never forget.  It was like a firework going off without the screech build up and the bright colors at the end.  No, there was a screech after it and it was me screaming, when I realized my father had been shot.  The redness started small on his white button up shirt and began to widen.

The look on my dad’s face was one I will never forget.  His eyes were wide as he clutched his chest and stared at Harriet and then turned to me before mouthing “Sorry, flower.”

I moved in what seemed like slow motion toward my dad.  Turning my back on Harriet, I ran to my dad and wrapped my arms around him as he started to fall.

“Daddy, no,” I sobbed.

“Flower, I love you.  I’m sorry I didn’t protect you better.  Please be better than your mom, be better than me.  Don’t stand for anything.  I will be with you always,” he started coughing and blood splattered my shirt.

“No, Daddy.  You can’t leave me.  I need you. Please don’t leave me alone.” I cried.

“I…love…you…flo…” He never got to finish.

I watched the life drain from his eyes and he went limp in my arms.

“No, Daddy! Please! Daddy!” I cried.

I was broke from my thoughts by Kayla wrapping her arms around me.  I felt empty inside just as I did that day.  My life changed after that.

“I was then moved in with my mom after that.  She told them that it was a robbery gone wrong and because they had no proof to prove her wrong other than my word. That last four years of my life were…”  I shook my head.

“Oh my God, Lee.  I’m so sorry,” her vo
ice cracked which caused my own tears to fall.

My knees gave out and I mourned for my dad all over again.  I mourned for the life I used to have, that I thought I would have.  Kayla’s phone kept ringing while she just sat there and ignored it.  Not even acknowledging it.  I knew then that she was a friend.  She was putting whatever life she had aside to comfort a friend in need.

After the fifth time of ringing, she huffed and grabbed her phone.

“What?” She huffed down the phone. “I’m fine.  What do you need? … I’m fine.  I told you that my friend needed me.  I’ll call you before I leave. … Curry no wait! You better not be…” The phone beeped in
her ear signaling the call had ended.

“Damn it!” Kayla yelled as she started dialing on her phone.

“What’s wrong?” I ask, trying hard to get myself under control.

“My brother is about to do something stupid and I need to stop him.”

She put the phone back to her ear and waited.  “Babe, what is going on? … He just called. … Yeah, I’ll meet you there, wait for me outside.  I thought you were going to talk to him. … No. … Okay love you, bye.”

She puts her phone down and runs her hands through her hair.

“Is there anything I can do to help?”

“No, apparently my brother lost a girl he really likes last night and it’s a guy he trains with fault.  Now he’s going to the gym to fight him in the ring.”

“Is he a wrestler?”

“No kick
boxer.  You going to be okay? You can come with and watch my brother work if you want.”

“
No, I’ll be fine.  I have a mess to clean up.  You go take care of your family and thank you for today.”

When Kayla left, I turned and looked around my apartment.  It was actually a lot better than it was last night, thank God, but there was sti
ll more work to be done.  Housework would be the distraction, I needed right now.  But first, I want a run.  I didn’t run yesterday because my nerves were too bad and I wanted to look perfect for an asshole.  Shaking my head, I went to my room and put on my running gear and was out the door five minutes later.

I loved to run.  It was a great way to melt the stress away for me.  I ran a lot.  Usually close to ten miles a day.  As I ran past the
familiar businesses, my mind wandered back to Carson. How could I have misjudged him so horribly?  He called me every night and we talked until the butt crack of dawn.  He even texted me randomly during the day we were to meet.  Where the hell was his girlfriend then?

Carson even ran after me when I left the bar.  With his girlfriend standing there, he ran after me and said nothing to the girl.  Could I be wrong and it wasn’t a girlfriend?  I remember his face as he talked to me on the phone.  He smiled and it wasn’t a fake smile.  It was genuine happiness to talk to me.  The look of desire that spread across his face as he locked eyes with mine for those few seconds before that woman
jumped in his lap.

She
was in his lap for crying out loud and he caught her.  She ran her hand on his chest.  The very chest I have dreamed and fantasized about touching for weeks now.  He didn’t move her hand away, but he didn’t look at her either.  Why the hell couldn’t it have gone smoothly?  Just this once, have something work in my favor?  Is that too much to ask?

Carson got too close and real fast.  Maybe it’s good that things happened the way they did because it prevented me from allowing him to get any closer.  I don’t need to get close to another person to either lose or be hurt by them.

I was running past the section of town we call Healthzone.  It houses mainly gym’s, dietician offices, health food stores… you know those kinds of things.  I slowed in front of a kick boxing gym when I looked in the window and saw two guys circling each other in the ring.  It was hard to see their faces because of the distance, but I soon saw Kayla and Jason standing alongside the ring. There were some other guys standing there too. I wondered if that was her family.

Standing outside, I watched the guys circling each other. One guy had long black hair and was really tan.  The other had short hair brown, he was tan, but not like the other guy.  Both were fit, but I have
to say the tone look was more prominent on the short haired guy than the other.  I watched the dark haired guy swing, but missed.  The short haired guy shuffled his feet and bounced from one foot to the other.  The other guy takes another swing and missing his mark again.

It continued on like that for
several more swings.  I thought at first that the short haired guy wasn’t going to swing at all, but his head shifted in my direction and I could have sworn he was looking at me.  He dropped his head down and moved in.  Swing after swing, he nailed his target.  Swing after swing, I could almost feel the anger flowing through the short haired guy.  It was in his stature, the way he stepped into it and threw his whole body into each swing.  This guy was pissed. 

Just as it was starting to get good I saw Jason look toward the door.  I didn’t want to interrupt whatever was going on.  Kayla had seemed very worried about her brother.  So I took off.

I couldn’t get the image of the fighters out of my head.  I wanted to learn that.
  To learn how to throw the precise punch to knock out an opponent and be able to get to safety.  I want to be able to stand against any attacker and know I have an edge, an unforeseen factor that they didn’t count on; a surprise attack.

I finished my run and ended back home.  As soon as I had a shower, I began to clean my house top to bottom.  I was just about done when I heard my phone go off.  The thought of Kayla checking up on me had my heart swelling in my chest.  I’ve never had anyone care about me since my dad passed away.

Grabbing my phone off the coffee table, I plopped down on the couch and opened the text.  I froze.  It wasn’t Kayla.  It was Carson.

Carson
: Will you talk to me today?

Carson
:  Please.

Carson
:  How can I make this right?  I swear to you I never lied to you. Please I need you to hear me out.  If after that you still decide that you don’t want to see me then I will leave you alone.

Carson
:  Please my Angel.

Me
:  Give me some time.  I will be in touch.

Carson
:  Let me call you.  You don’t need to talk.  You can just listen. Please.

Me
: I’m sorry I can’t.  Not right now.  Soon.  I have to go.