Around sundown Amber couldn’t hold her eyes open any longer. She needed a good night’s rest before continuing on. She pulled over to a hotel and booked a room. She grabbed her overnight bag and locked the car door. Amber didn’t even bother with supper. She walked into the room, dropped her bag and started to change into her nightshirt.
Her phone was almost dead from the number of times Derek had tried to reach her. She refused to talk to him. If she did, she might turn around and go back. She couldn’t do that. She wouldn’t take the chance he could be killed. Much like Olivia, she cared about him too much. If she was really honest with herself, she had fallen in love with the FBI agent. She couldn’t take it if something happened to him. It was best she stay far away until she knew who was stalking her.
Amber plugged her cell phone into the wall, popped a sleeping pill and lay down. She wanted oblivion tonight. She didn’t want to think about Derek, Olivia or her stalker. She wanted to sleep and not wake up until morning.
Dozing off to sleep, Amber began having dreams about being chased. Someone was after her but she couldn’t see his face. She couldn’t open her eyes. She kept stumbling and falling down because she couldn’t see where she was going. Why couldn’t she open her eyes? If she could see, she could get away. Wake up, she screamed to herself. Wake up. But it was no use.
Amber kept running but she could hear him getting closer and closer. She could hear laughter, maniacal laughter that told her he was coming. She screamed.
Amber sat up in bed drenched in sweat. Heart pounding she told herself it was just a dream. She climbed out of bed and got a glass of water to calm herself. She sat on the side of her bed until her heart stopped racing and she could breathe normally. When the shuddering stopped, Amber crawled back under the covers and drifted slowly back to sleep.
Derek was still driving frantically. They knew where she was, but his instincts told him to hurry. He was still a few hours away. They had tried to track down her stalker but had been told he was out of town. This news had Derek driving like a madman to get to her. Local police were parked outside her hotel, but there were still warning bells going off in his head.
Matt had stayed in Atlanta to coordinate with local authorities and fill them in on all the details. State and local police were cooperating, but no one had seen the vehicle they believed the stalker was driving. They had already checked out where he was supposed to be. The aunt he had been taking care of had passed away more than a year earlier. Apparently, he had not informed his wife of this. So far the authorities had been unable to locate him. Matt knew this fact was driving his brother over the edge.
He prayed they would find Amber before her stalker did. For his brother’s sake, they needed to get to her quickly. His gut was also screaming at him.
Derek and Matt stayed in constant communication as Derek drove. He knew exactly what was happening as if in real time. The closer he got to Amber’s hotel, the more nervous he became. It would be a little after sunrise before he made it. He prayed it would not be too late.
Around five the next morning, Amber stretched and started to sit up in bed. She heard a sound that made her freeze.
“It’s about time, Sleeping Beauty,” a male voice called out from the shadows.
Amber looked around but at first saw no one.
“We have to get going soon, sweetheart, you need to get packed,” the voice called again.
This time Amber recognized the sound. “Patrick,” she asked with a tremor in her voice. Surely not. Not Olivia’s husband.
“Yes. Don't act like you didn't know. I have wanted to hear you say my name for so long,” he sighed. “Now, as lovely as you are in your nightshirt, I need you to get dressed so we can leave here. I don’t need any of those local cops parked outside your car following us. Is there something you forgot to mention about Derek? The cops showed up at your hotel too quickly for your boyfriend to simply be in finance. No matter, we will be long gone before he catches up to you.”
Amber shook her head. “I’m not going anywhere with you,” she stated.
Patrick simply chuckled. He turned on a lamp and Amber saw the steel of a gun barrel leveled at her heart. She jumped out of bed, grabbed her bag and ran to the bathroom.
“Don’t be long, my love, my patience has worn thin with these games we have been playing. Four and a half years is long enough, don’t you think,” Patrick called out to Amber.
Amber dressed quickly, splashed water on her face and repacked her bags. She wanted a shower but didn’t dare with Patrick in the room. Hoping to grab her cell phone Amber walked back to the bedside table but saw only her empty charger still plugged into the wall.
“Looking for this,” Patrick asked as he held up her phone. “You won’t need it for a while.” He threw her phone on the floor and stepped on it, crushing it beneath his weight.
Amber groaned silently. She had no way of letting anyone know where she was. “Why are you doing this,” she whispered. “You’re married to my best friend.”
Patrick laughed. “Olivia? I just married her to keep track of you. It was easy reeling her in. And I am her loving husband. She told me everything. She enjoyed talking about you. Every time you called I heard all about it. I didn’t even have to pry the information out of her. She had no idea she was leading me right to your door every time,” Patrick laughed again. It was a hysterical type of laughter that made Amber shudder.
“I don’t understand. Why me,” Amber asked.
Patrick glared at Amber. “You don't remember? You smiled at me so sweetly that first day of class. I was so shy, knew no one on campus and there you were. A beautiful, blond, beauty smiling at a nerd like me. Everyone questioned my choice to be a nurse, made fun of me for it. But that first day in class, you looked at me and smiled as if I were the only man in the world. I will never forget that day,” Patrick said.
“I don’t remember you,” Amber said softly.
“How could you not remember,” Patrick snarled. “That was the greatest day of my life.”
“I’m sorry. I don’t remember you,” Amber insisted.
Patrick continued to talk as if Amber had said nothing. “That was the greatest day. I was so looking forward to class the next day. I wanted to see your beautiful face, your smile. But you were not there. You didn’t come back to class for two weeks. And when you did, you looked right through me as if I didn’t even exist. You looked at me like every other girl has always looked at me. Every day, the same thing. I would smile, you would look right through me.”
Amber thought back. “That was the day my parents died,” she replied. She remembered getting the call from Olivia’s parents that said she needed to come home. Olivia by her side, she drove back to Alma to bury both her mother and her father.
“No excuses, Amber,” Patrick replied nastily.
Amber wondered if he had ever talked that way to Olivia. Surely her friend would have noticed she was living with a maniac.
“What about Olivia? Didn’t you love her at all? You were going to have a baby with her,” Amber said
Patrick laughed again. The sound made Amber’s stomach clench.
“I couldn’t let her have that baby,” Patrick replied. “I did everything I could to make sure she didn’t get pregnant, but somehow the bitch managed it. But I took care of it. I made sure she didn’t have the brat. Only you will have my babies,” Patrick said.
Amber thought she was going to be sick. She was truly dealing with a lunatic and she was unsure how to handle the situation. Maybe if she kept him talking, she would be able to come up with a solution. It wasn’t as if Derek would be able to come rescue her. He didn’t know where she was.
The sun was just beginning to peak through her curtains as she asked, “You mean you never loved Olivia, even a little?”
“Jealous are we,” asked Patrick. “Never fear, darling. I’ve saved all my love and devot
ion for you. I simply had to put up with her sloppy kisses and haphazard lovemaking until the day we could be together. Now, no one will come between us.” Patrick laughed again. “Grab your things or we will leave without them.”
“Wait,” Amber cried. Thinking quickly, she lowered her head and asked softly, “Tell me how you were able to get rid of those men and make it look like an accident.” It made her physically ill to play into his sick fantasy but she wanted to keep him talking.
“That part was easy,” Patrick bragged. Proud of his accomplishments and having no idea the authorities were onto him, Patrick explained in great detail each and every victim he had hurt or killed during the four years of torture Amber had endured. It took him a long time to go through all of them, and the longer he talked the more excited he became. It was like an aphrodisiac for him.
Amber was getting nauseous listening to the maniac who had turned her world upside down. She didn’t know how much more she could take. Suddenly, there was a knock on her door.
“Amber,” Derek yelled. “Open this door or I will kick it in.”
Amber screamed as Patrick lunged for her.
Derek heard Amber’s scream and did just as he had threatened. He kicked the door down. Once inside, Derek’s heart stopped. Patrick had Amber locked tight against his chest with a gun pointed at her head.
“Come any closer, Derek, and I will shoot her,” Patrick snarled.
“Put the gun down, Patrick,” Derek said calmly. “You won’t get away with this. The police have this room surrounded.”
“If you care about her at all you will leave this room now and call off the cavalry,” Patrick replied. “I will kill her.”
“I can’t do that, Patrick,” Derek said drawing his own gun. He refused to look at her afraid if he did, he would make a mistake that would cost Amber her life.
Derek and Patrick circled the room, guns drawn. Amber decided she could not do this anymore. It had to end now. One way or another. Screaming Derek’s name, she lifted her feet and went limp in Patrick’s arms becoming dead weight. When she did, it threw Patrick off balance and he looked down, lowering the gun. Derek took that split second and fired his weapon. It was a clean shot.
Amber sobbed as she crawled away from Patrick’s lifeless body. Derek ran to her, grabbed her up, and hugged her as local police poured into the hotel room. Quickly sidestepping the body, Derek walked out of the room with Amber in his arms. He told the cops he was taking her to another hotel and he would call with their whereabouts so they could get statements later in the day.
Later that afternoon when Amber woke from a long, drug induced sleep, Derek was waiting for her. He filled her in on what he had learned the day before and she told him the reason Patrick had been infatuated.
Derek took her to the police station and they were able to give their statements. As soon as they were through, Amber asked Derek to take her home. She was still trying to figure out how Olivia was going to take this news and hoped her fragile friend would not be further shattered by what she would soon learn.
Derek and Amber drove the entire way to Atlanta in near silence. Amber could not bring herself to think about or talk about the last few days anymore. She needed time to process what had happened, but she wasn’t fully ready to face it. Derek was still hurt by the fact she had left without talking with him first. He understood her logic, but it still stung. Neither could bring themselves to discuss the thoughts rolling through their heads.
Arriving back at his brother’s house, Derek unloaded their bags and urged Amber to get some rest. Complying, Amber walked up the stairs and crawled into her bed without even changing. She needed sleep. Deep, pain free, thoughtless, sleep.
Derek came into the house, deposited their bags, and called his brother. Matt had left to tell Olivia in person what had happened and about her husband’s involvement. He thought Amber would appreciate it coming from him rather than a cold deputy who had no idea of the bond between the girls. He hoped he could be of some small comfort to Amber’s friend. She had already been through so much.
After talking with his brother and finding out Olivia’s reaction to the news, Derek walked upstairs to check on Amber. Finding her fully clothed, he undressed her and pulled a night shirt from her bag. He put it on her then took off his own clothes and crawled in bed beside her. He needed to hold her and she needed to be held even though she was already asleep.
Amber snuggled further into Derek as he pulled her close. She was unaware of the gesture but he was not. He held her all night barely sleeping himself. In the morning, the two would need to talk. He would suggest a counselor for the nightmare she had been through and possibly one for Olivia as well. They would both need help getting through this. Hopefully, they would still have each other.
♥ Epilogue ♥