Chapter Thirty-Three
Tommy
“Someone better find the fucker before I do,” I bark out to anyone who can hear me because if I get my hands on him again, I don’t think I’d be able to stop.
He kicked me so hard in the balls I had dropped to the floor as he made a run for it.
He is such a shit bag, too scared to face me but stupid enough to hurt her, again.
What is the fucking point in paying for a security team when this happens right under their noses.
There is no way he is that clever, is he? How far did he take it with her?
Shit!
In my rage to find him, I had left Maya alone.
I rush back into the bar, back to my girl, hopefully the team can do something right and find the bastard.
The bar is almost empty as they were forced to shut when all this shit broke loose.
I step into the hallway where I’d last seen Maya, but there is no one in sight, just trails of blood around the entrance to the stock room.
Where the hell is she?
“Maya!” I yell out in despair. My mind in overdrive, not knowing what to do or where to look first.
“Tommy?” Someone calls to me, but I can’t pull myself out of the spiral that I’m falling down.
Somebody touches my elbow, shocking me out of my trance. I spin around to see my youngest sister, Lucy.
“Maya is just getting loaded into an ambulance, she passed out and has some nasty cuts on her face. They’re taking her to get looked over but they’re not too worried. If we’re quick, we might just catch up to them.”
I feel the air whoosh out of my lungs. Thank fuck for that, she’s going to be okay. My eyes sting, but I can’t cry, not when he’s still out there. This can’t go on.
This feels eerily like DeJa’Vu as I walk along the hospital corridor to Maya’s room.
I didn’t make it in time to get in the ambulance with her but knowing she was safe and that her friends are with her put me slightly at ease.
I had needed to bollock the worlds shittest security team for not being capable of doing their job before I left.
They seem to think that he isn’t working alone, either that or he’s a genius. How can one man evade so many people? He shouldn’t have been able to make it inside the bar at all, never mind cornering her like that.
I get to Maya’s room and pause outside, looking intently at the door.
What if it’s happening again? What if I open this door and she doesn’t know who I am?
I don’t know if my heart could take it. I love that woman so fucking much that the thought of being without her again makes my heart miss a beat.
I slowly push the door open and see Fallon and Max stood at the end of the bed with my girl curled onto her side, her back to me. I silently stride across the room, unable to keep myself from her side for another moment. She looks so small and fragile tucked up into the foetal position.
Fallon and Max don’t say a word as I reach out to Maya, resting a hand on her back to let her know I’m here. Her body stiffens at my touch.
No baby, please no.
“Don’t touch me!” She cries out as her body begins to shudder.
“Baby, its me. You’re okay, I’m here now. Please, look at me,” I beg, those pesky tears threatening to come again.
“Tommy?” She asks weakly.
“I’m here,” I whisper as she turns to face me. The usually beautiful bright eyes of hers stare into mine, but now all they show is sadness. Her bottom lip trembles as she takes me in, almost as if she can’t quite believe I’m real.
Seeing her up close almost breaks me. Her face is banged up pretty bad. Her eye already turning a deep shade of purple, with deep cuts on her forehead. Speckles of crimson are scattered all over her face and neck, possibly a mixture of both her own and Jakes blood.
“I’m so sorry!” she cries as she reaches for me.
“Sorry? Baby, you have fuck all to be sorry about,” I state. Confused as to why she’d say such a thing.
“I thought it was you when he grabbed me. He smelt like you. Why would he smell like you?” She begs for an answer I can’t give.
“Do you want to tell me what happened?” I ask, needing to understand more.
“He… he grabbed me from behind and pulled me into a room. It was so dark, I couldn’t see anything. All I could sense was the smells and the sounds. He was wearing your aftershave!”
She sobs, her body almost convulsing as she tries to get her words out. I still don’t understand why she’s apologising though. He is the one who did wrong, not her.
“I let him touch me!” She wails, before continuing. “I felt him kiss me and I knew, I knew it wasn’t you. So he hurt me and I tried Tommy, I tried so hard to get away.”
My fists tighten into the sheet covering her. What the actual fuck! I can’t hide the fury that radiates from every part of me. I’m going to skin him alive, he touched what is mine.
“I promise I didn’t know. I really didn’t know,” She keeps repeating. Tears streaming down her devastated face. Then I realise why; she thinks I’m angry at her.
“Maya, baby. I’m not angry with you. I’m angry with that creature of a man that manipulated you!” I take a seat on the bed and open my arms, making enough room for her. She crawls onto my lap, holding onto me like her life depends on it. “Did he do anything else?” I ask through gritted teeth.
“N-no. He didn’t make it that far but he, he started to. You opened the door before it got anywhere,” She whimpers, the memory tormenting her.
I hold her close as she cries. Thoughts of not finding her aren’t even worth imagining, but my brain is a masochist. Scenarios of him and her flashing like a movie reel through my mind. He tried to rape her!
A fresh wave fury rushes through my veins.
I stroke her hair and breathe her in as I attempt to dampen it.
I take deep breathes and remind myself; she’s here and she’s safe.
I repeat it to myself over and over, the phrase a mantra in my mind.
Life without Maya wouldn’t be worth living, she is my everything.
“Where are the others?” I ask, more interested as to why none of them were with her when this happened.
“Someone attacked Gracie. Blair and Jen are with her now.” Fallon replies in a small voice.
Heartbreak and remorse shining through her eyes.
Maya straightens at that, she must have forgotten that they were in the room too.
“That’s how we lost you. We were almost at the bathroom when someone whacked Gracie from behind.
She dropped to the floor unconscious and when I looked up you were gone.
” Silent tears trickle down her cheeks. “I’m so sorry Maya, I didn’t mean to leave you. ”
“Don’t,” Maya replies softly. “Gracie is just as important Fal. Do we know how she’s doing? I need to go and see her.” She attempts to get out of bed but I press a gentle but firm hand on her shoulder.
“Baby, you need to stay here,” I tell her as she tries to move again.
“No!” she says more forcefully. “I need to make sure she’s okay. It was him, wasn’t it?”
“We’re assuming so. You stay here and I will go and check how she’s doing. You need get yourself better before you start running around the hospital,” Max says, trying to joke but the humour doesn’t reach his eyes.
“Thanks bro,” I nod to him and understanding crosses between us.
She can’t leave this room until we know she’s safe.
Max and Fallon leave the room in search of our friends, Fallon is so pale that she looks ill and it makes me realise that this must bring back so many horrible memories of Harry’s death.
My phone vibrates in my pocket and I check it to see that I have a text;
Jenson – You won’t believe this. He disabled all the cameras in the building one hour prior to you finding her. The little shit is smarter than we think.
Well shit.
I’ve never felt a hatred this strong in my entire life.
It felt so good to lay into him, I just wish I had finished the job when I had him.
He is one slimy little fucker, I don’t know how he managed to get away from me.
One minute we were fighting, the next he had fucked off in the opposite direction.
Now I learn we can’t even capture the moment he entered the bar or where he was hiding. What the fuck is his problem? To a degree I understand his obsession, Maya is something else but even I wouldn’t go to the lengths he is.
I look down at my girl, her arms wrapped around me so tight it’s like I’m her life jacket, gripping onto me in hopes to survive the storm.
Worry lines crease between her brows, looking just how she used to when she was younger.
I promised myself back then that I’d do anything to not let her feel this way again, it kills me to see her look so broken.
I will find him, if it’s the last thing I do.