Pieces For You (37 page)

“I’m scared,” I whispered.

“I won’t let anything hurt you, baby.  Never again.”

“I don’t want you to get hurt because of me,” I confessed.

“Not gonna happen.  Nothing can take me from your side,” he said.  I heard him through the phone and behind me.

He was here.  As terrified as I was, the fear ebbed with his nearness.  This man would kill before allowing anyone to harm me.  I thought him a monster two months ago because of his willingness to protect me with force.  Now that same knowledge brought solace.

He scooped me into his arms and cradled me against his chest.  I could feel his heart pounding as if he had run a marathon, but his exterior looked as placid as a lake on a still day.  Griffin might have been upset, but was not letting it show.

“Tell me, Lo-baby,” he commanded gently.

I explained what I had found in my car and he inhaled sharply, his muscles contracting involuntarily.  A beat passed before he resumed stroking my back, repeatedly kissing the top of my head.  He clutched me against his broad chest as if he were afraid someone might try to snatch me from his arms.

Hunter arrived shortly thereafter and Griffin provided a brief explanation.  I watched Hunter flinch before switching into FBI mode.  He asked me if I could describe the man I thought I saw, but I’d only seen a dark blur as I ran—I couldn’t even be certain it was a man.  He nodded before leaving to meet Det. Norse in the parking lot, squeezing my shoulder in a silent show of support as he passed.

Ev arrived a half-hour later; she had no idea what transpired while she was at the accountant’s office.  After a brief rundown from Griffin, accompanied by a look cautioning her to keep it cool, Ev sat in the chair next to us and took my hand in hers without saying a word.  I suspected any words that might have left her mouth would be profane and violent.

It was nearly an hour later when Hunter returned to tell us beyond the obvious.  The police had found tracks in the area I indicated, but it was hardly conclusive proof in a public parking lot.  When I asked directly, Hunter said he suspected the liquid was blood, most likely animal, purchased at a butcher.  He may have been bluffing, but I clung to the explanation as gospel; any other possibility was too horrifying.  The computer forensic team would examine the authenticity of the photo.  Hunter stressed the possibility that it was not me and that it could have been altered to make it appear to be me, but I knew.  In my bones, I knew it was me…that night.  I could see the fresh bite mark on my breast, a scar I still carried that would never go away.

After a few questions to clarify the timeline, Hunter sent me home…or more accurately, he sent me to Griffin’s house.  I could tell Ev wanted us to stay at their apartment so she could be assured of my safety, but there was no way I was subjecting myself to Hunter’s pull-out couch-of-pain.

Once at Griffin’s, he set me on the couch before activating the alarm and checking every door, window, and closet.  Satisfied the house was safe, he carried me upstairs, placed me in a steaming hot bath, and then tucked me into bed.  We spoke very little, other than words of love.  I fell asleep to the sound of his steady breathing beneath my ear.

"Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear, not absence of fear."  -Mark Twain

The next week was a social experiment in the effects of constant companionship on a group of jittery, tense individuals.  Griffin and Hunter had ascended to their full Alpha-male glory, their overprotection verging on suffocation.  Ev was equally as overbearing in her own way.  It was agreed that I would stay at Griffin’s house for security reasons, and Ev and Hunter showed up with overnight bags the first night.  Between the three of them, the only moments I had to myself were when I went to the bathroom.  Even then I didn’t get to shower alone, for crying out loud…although that wasn’t so bad, seeing as Griffin made sure I cried out loud each time he joined me.

The oppressive concern descended into bickering as to how to best protect me, which I largely stayed out of.  Despite the diverging opinions, they managed to agree on several issues, which, despite my protests, included barring me from working at Higher Yearning altogether.  I was only
allowed
to work my day shifts at The Stop because Griffin was with me the entire time, except when I was working in the kitchen where Tiny, the head bouncer, had the sudden, mysterious need to pass his days.  When I questioned Griffin, he only shrugged with unconvincing innocence.

As scared as I was, their over-the-top concern kept me calm in a strange way.  With them worrying obsessively every second of the day, I was forced to be the voice of reason and calm.  Who had time to be terrified when I was busy reining in guard dogs 1, 2, and 3?

Hunter hauled the Varbeck family into FBI headquarters and questioned them for hours without success.  They maintained ignorance of any threats against me.  Neither the police nor FBI had been able to find a significant financial connection between the Varbecks’ accounts and the witnesses who dropped out.  Hunter had petitioned for a warrant to examine the disbursements from their legal firm’s escrow accounts, but the warrant was denied due to insufficient cause.

My deposition was scheduled to take place in three days—we had officially reached DEFCON 1.  Hunter wore his sidearm at all times, even in the house, and police cruisers were stationed outside Griffin’s house around the clock at the request of the assistant DA.

We were sharing a breakfast of blueberry pancakes when Hunter’s phone rang.  He excused himself to the office as we continued.  When he returned, his face was the definition of shock and relief.  He opened his mouth to speak then snapped it shut, shaking his head. 

“Well?” Ev and I said in unison. 

Ev continued, “You’re starting to freak me out…say something.”

“That was Det. Norse.  He called to tell me…shit, I don’t know how to tell you this.”

“Spit it out!” Ev, Griffin, and I all snapped at him.

“Heath is dead.”

“What?” I asked, while Ev questioned, “How?”, and Griff muttered, “Thank God.”

“He was beaten to death at Riverhead.  They aren’t exactly sure how it happened.  They were on the way back from dinner and a fight broke out between two gang members.  The guards broke it up and when they regained control, Heath was on the ground—dead.  The warden believes he was the intended target all along and the fight was a diversion.  Heath had lodged several complaints about his treatment by the other inmates and made some vile accusations, but there was no concrete proof that anything non-consensual occurred.  He was most likely killed for opening his mouth.”

“Holy fuck,” I whispered.  “I…wow.”

We all sat quietly, lost in our thoughts.

“Does it make me a bad person if all I feel is relief?”

“No,” all three practically shouted.

Griffin left his seat and squatted before me.

“Love, you’re the one he hurt, the one he threatened to hurt again—of course you are feeling relieved.  You have nothing to feel guilty about.”  He wrapped his arms around me, covering my face in consoling kisses. “You’re safe now…you are safe.”

We spent the rest of the day in a strange fog.  It was surreal to have the weight of fear lifted.  I hadn’t realized how heavy the burden was, how much it influenced my every thought and decision, until I was freed of the anvil sitting atop me.  I felt like I could fly.

Griffin opened a bottle of champagne and, despite the early hour, we toasted the end of Heath’s reign of terror.  Huntleigh left shortly thereafter with promises to come for dinner the following night.  I asked Griff if we could finally return to my house and he immediately packed an overnight bag and took me home.  We shut out the world, turning off our phones and unplugging the house phone, and spent the night celebrating in a much more intimate way.

The next morning I awoke, muscles aching in the sweetest of ways, and smiled a smile I hadn’t felt in nine months.  Raising my head from my human pillow, I saw that Griffin was still fast asleep.  No surprise there, the man had exhausted himself last night; I even thought he managed to add a few new pages to the Kama Sutra.  I was fairly certain a few of his moves defied gravity—what a lucky, lucky girl.

Deciding he needed to sleep, I slipped from the bed and headed down to the kitchen to prep breakfast—something revitalizing would be needed because I planned to continue our self-imposed sequestering for the rest of the day.

The doorbell rang and I hustled to answer it before they rang again and woke Griffin.  I swung the door open to a sea of flashes, my name ringing out from several directions above the sound of the shutter clicks.

“Miss Whitney, do you have any comment on the death of Heath Varbeck?”

I slammed the door and slid to the floor in shock.

“What the—” I heard Griffin ask as his footsteps approached.

He glanced out the window as he neared me.

“Shit.”

He scooped me off the floor and carried me to the family room located in the back of the house, as far from the reporters as possible.

“How did they find out about me?  The DA promised my name would be kept confidential until the trial.  With Heath dead, there is no trial; no reason to have my name plastered across newspapers.”

“I don’t know, baby.  We’ll find out and I’ll figure out a way to stop this.”

“How did they even get in here?  They had to clear the guard booth, right?”

“Another question I intend to have answered very soon,” he said, anger straining his words.

He wrapped a blanket around me before walking to the kitchen and returning with our cell phones.  The minute he powered mine on, bells and vibrations sounded incessantly to announce a barrage of messages. 

“Lo-baby, I’m going to call Hunter and make us some coffee.  Don’t read or listen to those messages right now…wait until the shock wears off, okay?”

I nodded my agreement, but lifted my phone to call Everleigh—it went straight to voicemail.

Griffin returned a few minutes later with a mug in each hand.  After he settled on the couch, he drew my legs across his lap and began to massage my foot.  Uh-oh, I wasn’t going to like whatever he was about to say.

“Ev’s phone has been going nuts since 6 a.m., Hunter’s too.  Someone, most likely from the DA’s office, sold the transcripts of the depositions to the media along with the news of Heath’s death.  The DA is going to find who did it and they
will
be prosecuted, but there is no way to undo the damage.  Ev and Hunter’s depositions both referred to you by name, and when reporters realized who your family was, they jumped on it.”

Of course they would—old money, a recognizable name in elite circles…it may not be as well-known as the Hiltons or Rockefellers, but there was enough recognition to entice the vultures.  I sighed.  This was precisely what my parents had feared.  I knew the media would be interested during the trial, but I didn’t think their attention would be this intense.  No doubt Heath’s murder while in prison had elevated the salaciousness of the sound bites.

“Hunter is going to have some patrol cars sent over to help us get out of here.  We’ll head to my house and hide out there.  It probably won’t hold them off for very long, but it will buy us a little time to figure out how to handle them.”

“I have a better idea.  Can you take a few days off from The Stop?  We won’t go too far in case of an emergency.  I know it’s last minute and you haven’t had time to make arr—”

He kissed my lips, smothering my words.

“That’s better.  Yes, whatever you are thinking—yes.  You come first, Lo, always.”

I exhaled deeply as warmth and love for this man flooded my every cell.

“Thank you.  I was thinking we could head out east to the vineyards for a few days.  Let the craziness die down a bit.  I heard the Jedediah Hawkins Inn is fantastic.”

Griffin chuckled, “I don’t suppose the fact that the Jedediah Hawkins restaurant is supposed to be
fantastic
had any effect on your choice.”

“Maybe,” I said coyly.

“I’ll call now and book a room and reservations for dinner.  Go pack your bag and we’ll leave in an hour.”

I kissed him, pulling him against me fully to show my appreciation, before releasing him and dashing to my room.

We left an hour later under police escort.  The further east we drove, the more our tension melted away.  We both needed this break from the tragedies and worries of the last nine months.  We needed time alone to enjoy one another without any threats or work issues looming.  We needed time to be Griffin and Sam.

I called Thia during the drive to cancel my appointment for the following day.  I briefly explained about Heath’s death and the subsequent media frenzy before confessing that Griffin and I were going to hide out for a few days.  She granted her therapeutic blessing, after making me promise I would gorge myself on food during the mini-vacation.  She also made me promise I would call her if I needed to talk, day or night.