Chapter 23
Ridge
It only took me thirty minutes to get to my office, which was a damned miracle in itself.
It helped that Violet and Drake were taken to the bigger hospital on the outskirts of Atlanta rather than the smaller one in our town of Clear Lake.
Despite all the people who tried to welcome me back as I made my way through the building, I brushed past everyone and didn’t say a single word to anyone as I went.
There was a time when I only kept one outfit in the office, but after the house sold, I transferred a few things to a closet in my office in case I needed to change for any given event, the gym, a meeting, or whatever.
It was about to serve me well, since I no longer had a home to run to for a change of clothes and shower.
Without thinking, I picked an outfit, turned the shower on, and started to strip down when a noise in the corner, where the linens and cleaning supplies were housed, made me turn.
I threw a towel around my waist and yanked the door open to find a very unkempt Fiona there with a stash of food and drinks.
Immediately, I closed the door and rushed out to my office to pick up the phone.
She didn’t even look up at me. It was as if she didn’t even register another person was in the room and caught her.
Her hair was a mess of knots, her clothes looked as though she hadn’t changed them in days, and the stench from the closet led me to believe that she might have been going to the bathroom in there despite there being a toilet to use only a few feet away.
“Security, call the police. Tell them Fiona Iverson was hiding in the private bathroom in my office. They need to come get her before I take care of business for them.”
A second later, the phone rang back to me in the office, and I picked it up. “Ridge Westover,”
“Mr. Westover, this is Officer James Daughtry, security for your building informed us that you have an intruder in your office.”
“That’s correct. Fiona Iverson is hiding in a closet in my bathroom.
I came here to shower and change before heading back to the hospital to be with my pregnant wife.
My lawyer sent proof to you that Fiona drugged and raped me previously, and I believe you have video evidence that she also caused my wife’s accident yesterday. ”
“We do have that information and are on our way to you as we speak.”
“I am not letting her out of this office, no matter what it takes to keep her here. I will not give her the opportunity to hurt my wife or our baby again.”
“I understand. Do what you need to do within reason. I have it on good authority from your lawyer that there are cameras in your office recording all the time.”
“Not sure if they’re recording as I’ve been in another country for months, and obviously this bitch was able to get into my secure building somehow. It looks like she’s been living in the bathroom of my office for quite some time.”
“We’re getting your security team on top of turning the cameras on now. It’s for your protection as well as our ability to document what’s happened.”
“Great, meanwhile, I’m standing here in a towel with a psycho bitch hiding in the other room. If you could hurry it up, I’d be grateful.”
I was surprised that Fiona hadn’t come out of her hiding spot yet.
“I am going to ask you to stay on the phone with me, and in fact request that you place me on speakerphone if you’re able. My line is being recorded, so we can use this in court if we hear anything in the background before the security cameras are brought back online.”
I flipped the line to speakerphone and put the handset down. “Whoever aided her in getting in and out of the building, I want them charged as an accessory,” I said.
“We will look into everything regarding this case and make the appropriate arrests as necessary. Do you know why Ms. Iverson might be hiding out in your office?”
“No clue. She’s hinted more than once that she was independently wealthy and didn’t have to worry about bills. I assumed that was how she was able to hide for so long, since I’ve had a private detective on her for a few months now.”
“Mind telling me why you hired someone to find and follow her?”
I explained the entire situation from beginning to end.
I imagine the asshole had me retell everything just to keep me busy on the line until they could get there.
Just as I wrapped up everything that I knew on my end concerning Fiona, her behavior, and what little we knew about her family, the police came through my office doors with guns raised while shouting demands.
I raised my hands above my head before dropping one enough to point to my private bathroom. The shower was still running, and the room had steamed up pretty effectively. Within minutes, they had Fiona in cuffs and brought her out into the main portion of my office.
“A cell phone is buzzing against the floor in there,” an officer called out.
“Shit, I need to get that. The doctor warned that Violet might go into labor early.”
The asshole cop wouldn’t let me pass until detective Daughtry came over and gave the okay. There were several missed calls and when I dialed back, Mark told me that they rushed Violet into labor and delivery and didn’t think they had time to prep for a c-section.
“I have to go!”
“I’ll give you a ride as soon as you’re dressed,” Daughtry said.
He left the room. I turned the shower off, slipped into the clean clothes I had laid out, and then stuffed my feet into a pair of gym shoes as I made my way back out to the office.
“Let’s go,” Daughtry said.
“What about Fiona?”
“She’s being taken to the station and booked in. Due to the nature of her recent crimes, the DA is going to make damn sure that no bail is set, especially since you seem to think she is independently wealthy for some reason.”
“Usually in cases like this, we lack in evidence. This time, the woman left a video trail behind for us to follow. She also had a history involving attempted blackmail. She was mumbling something about how her father made her do it when they took her away. And don’t be surprised if the defense tries to claim insanity.
She’s acting like a basket case, and I’m not convinced it isn’t an act since she knows she’s been caught. ”
“The wild thing is that you have to be crazy to do these things, right? She is fucking nuts, but she also knows exactly what she’s doing.”
“Yeah, that’s the part that’s above my pay grade, man. Let’s just get you to the hospital in time to see your baby be born, if we can.”