Chapter 44
Michael
Ronnie’s pulse pounds against my palm. “I swear, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“No?”
She tries to shake her head, but my grip keeps her from moving much. I’m not cutting off her air supply, though it’s taking quite a bit of control to refrain.
“Let her go, Michael,” the bartender pleads.
“Not until she tells me what she’s done. It’s all a little too convenient to be a coincidence.”
“I have no idea what’s going on. All I know is I saw her go down a hallway with a man. I assumed it was you until I saw you standing here without her.”
I narrow my eyes at her. “Do you truly think I’m that much of an idiot? Addie would never willingly go with another man.”
The room begins to stir as everyone’s attention is drawn toward the hallway on the opposite side of the bar.
Keeping a hold of Ronnie, I turn my gaze. Her name is a thread of sound as I take in her ravaged face. “Adalaide.”
I drag a protesting Ronnie by her biceps as I race across the room to my girl. The second I’m standing in front of her, I shove Ronnie at the security officer and then palm Addie’s wet cheeks. “Who did this to you?”
The security officer next to Addie starts to puff up, but when Addie melts into me, he relaxes.
Addie, on the other hand, is radiating anger. She turns her head toward Ronnie and the security officer. “Veronica. She knocked me out in the bathroom and then tied me up in one of the rooms. She set up an entire scene as if she were me.”
My lethal gaze lands back on the woman in question. I don’t even need to see her terrified expression to know she was the mastermind behind everything. “I want this woman arrested for kidnapping and assault.”
The man nods. “We can detain her, but we don’t have legal authority to actually arrest her.”
“Then find someone who does because I will not let her get away with this.”
“Michael, please,” Ronnie whines. “That’s not what happened. She’s lying.”
The security guy waves us toward a door at the back of the club. “Let’s take this somewhere without an audience.”
At my nod, he leads us across the room. I wrap my arm around Addie, encouraging her to snuggle into my chest. I’m so fucking relieved she’s okay.
My insides are roiling at the thought of what she was put through.
I don’t even have the full story, and I want to rage.
I’m going to have to keep my shit together while Addie tells me the rest. I have a feeling I’m going to want to kill Ronnie by the end of this.
The officer leads us through an employee-only area until we reach a small surveillance office. On one side is a U-shaped desk filled with monitors and a couple of swivel chairs. The other side has a loveseat and two leather chairs around a low-sitting coffee table.
Ronnie gets placed in one of the swivel chairs while I lead Addie to sit on the couch.
Another officer with slicked-back brown hair comes in before I can ask for the full story. “I’ve contacted the Greensboro Police. They’re on their way here now.”
“What?” Ronnie screeches. She tries to stand, but the security guys make her stay sitting.
“I’m Travis, head of security for the club,” the new guy introduces himself. “First, I want to profusely apologize to you, Addie, for what you’ve been through tonight. This is wholly unacceptable, and we will be taking action to rectify the situation.”
“Thank you,” Addie responds in a scratchy voice.
I’ve never felt more useless than I do right now.
I want to bundle her into my chest and hightail it out of here.
I wish we could be alone instead of surrounded by strangers and the woman who fucking attacked her.
How can she sit here as if she’s totally fine?
I’m dying inside, and I’m not the one who was hurt tonight.
Travis nods. “The man you were with has made it clear he’s willing to cooperate in any way the police need. He’s currently in another office with the club’s manager.”
“What man?” I growl.
Addie gently rubs my arm. “Can I explain when the police get here? I don’t want to have to start all over again.”
I deflate. “Of course.” She leans against me, seeking solace in my arms. I hold her tight, trying to convey that I’ll be by her side no matter what happened tonight. I’m naturally jumping to the worst-case scenario, and I hope like fuck it didn’t happen.
Tense silence hangs over the office while we wait. It takes the police almost twenty minutes to get here. Two officers are led in by a svelte-looking woman who leaves almost as quickly as she came.
The tall, lanky officer speaks first. “Good evening. I’m Officer Justice, and this is my partner, Officer Peters. Someone reported being assaulted?”
“I was,” Addie says, straightening from her position against my shoulder.
“Veronica”—she points at the woman—“accosted me in the bathroom in the club. She hit me over the head with something—I didn’t see what—and while I was knocked out, she somehow carried me into one of the rooms where she proceeded to restrain my arms and legs, blindfold me, and gag me. ”
“That’s a lie! I didn’t do anything!” Veronica shouts.
“Excuse me.” Officer Peters interrupts. “Is there another office I could escort Miss Veronica to wait in?”
Travis nods. “Yeah, I can show you where.”
Officer Peters leads Ronnie out of the room behind Travis while she rants about how unfairly she’s being treated. The whole room seems to deflate once she’s gone.
Then Officer Justice nods toward Addie to continue her story.
“I assume Ronnie left after restraining me because I heard the door close. Then a man entered sometime later. I didn’t recognize his voice, yet he seemed to know who I was.
I quickly surmised that Ronnie had pretended to be me and set up an entire scene with this man.
I did my best to get out of the restraints, and it was only after several minutes of fighting my bindings that the man finally realized I was not consenting to the scene.
He helped me out of the restraints, and I got away from him and pushed the panic button.
I do not believe he was being malicious.
I think he genuinely thought I knew the prearranged safe word, or action, and since I hadn’t used it, I was fine to continue. ”
“Jesus, Adalaide.” I run my free hand through my hair as I take a deep breath. I can’t imagine how terrified she was in such a vulnerable state.
Officer Justice makes a noise of acknowledgment. “I assume the man next to you isn’t the same man?”
Addie huffs a humorless laugh. “No. This is my boyfriend.”
“I’m sorry to ask, but were you sexually assaulted?”
“No. It didn’t get that far.”
I close my eyes, letting out a relieved breath. Thank god.
“I’m Rex, one of the club’s security guys.
” The man with longer brown hair finally introduces himself.
“We detained the guy we found her with, and he’s indicated he’s willing to cooperate.
He’s verified this story to us as well. We also have security cameras outside the bathrooms, if you’d like to take a look at that footage. ”
Officer Justice nods. “Please.”
Rex sits in one of the swivel chairs and starts clicking through the cameras. Addie and I both stand from the couch to get a better look.
My jaw drops as I watch Ronnie and her best friend, Samantha, carry a clearly knocked-out Addie out of the bathroom.
They have Addie’s arms around their shoulders, and they’ve wrapped their free arms around Addie’s waist. To anyone glancing at them, they look like they’re cuddling a potential partner.
“That’s Ronnie’s best friend, Samantha,” I tell Officer Justice.
Rex pulls up a second camera that shows the two women carrying Addie down the hallway and into a room.
Samantha comes out a minute later, walking back to the lounge before she’s out of sight. Then Ronnie follows a bit later, a smug smirk on her face.
“I’ll need you to send that to me,” Officer Justice says, handing Rex a business card. He turns toward me and Addie with an apologetic look on his face. “I’m sorry this happened to you. I need to go interview Veronica and this other man. Do you have the information for the second woman?”
“Her name is Samantha Hoffer,” I respond. “I don’t have any other information for her, though.”
Rex jumps in. “I can look up her membership information and send it to you as well.”
Officer Justice nods before looking at Addie. “Is there anything else you want or need to add to your statement?”
“Not that I can think of.”
“Did you want to press charges against the man who assaulted you?”
“If you find out he knew exactly what was happening and who I was, then yes. If he was a victim of Ronnie’s schemes too, then no.”
“Then I just need a way to get in contact with you for any follow-up questions, and you’re free to go.”
Addie gives him her phone number, and I give him mine as well. Then Rex escorts us to the employee entrance so we don’t have to walk back through the club.
“I’m really sorry this happened to you, ma’am,” Rex says. “The club manager wanted us to tell you that they’ll be in contact in the next couple of days, and they wanted us to apologize on their behalf.”
Addie just nods. Her exhaustion is palpable now. I wrap her in my arms and escort her to my truck. With my hands on her hips, I lift her into the passenger seat before jogging around to get in on the driver’s side.
I slam the door closed, and silence descends.
My gaze is fixed on Addie. When her chin starts to tremble, I can’t hold back any longer.
I scoop her into my arms and hold her against my chest. Her sobs echo through the cab, screaming of heartbreak and terror.
Tears roll down my cheeks right along with hers, but I keep her face tucked into my neck.
All the what-ifs are rolling through my head.
I dismiss them as quickly as they come, knowing it won’t help to dwell on something that didn’t happen.
The love of my life is safe in my arms now. The worst didn’t happen like I’d feared, and all I want is to go home to rest.
It takes Addie half an hour before her sobs finally slow down enough to get them under control. Her breaths hiccup for a bit while she wipes her eyes and nose with the tissues I keep in my glove box.
“I was so scared,” Addie whispers. “But then I got angry. I knew what that bitch had done, and I was not about to let her get away with it. I knew you’d be looking for me, so I just kept telling myself, if I can get out of this, you’ll be there waiting for me.”
“I’m so sorry I didn’t find you sooner. I was willing to squeeze the life out of Ronnie to get the answers I needed. She was too smug about you being gone. It didn’t make sense.”
“That’s why you were holding her by the throat,” Addie guesses.
“Yes. She’s lucky you walked in the room when you did. I might’ve gone to jail for assault myself.”
“Can she file charges too?”
“No. I wasn’t even holding her hard enough to bruise. Plus, I can say I was detaining her, given her involvement in your kidnapping.”
“Good. I’m going to push for the prosecutor to charge her with everything they possibly can.”
“And I’ll bet she pleads guilty instead of going to court. There’s too much evidence, and she’ll likely get a deal if she does.”
“As long as she does jail time, I don’t care.”
“I’ll make sure of it.”
“I love you, Michael. Thanks for always being my hero.” Addie’s weary smile makes my chest ache.
“I love you too, Trouble. I’m so proud of how strong you were in there.”
“Take me home?”
“Gladly.”