Chapter 48
I catch sight of her sitting in the booth by the window as soon as Asher brings us up to the diner’s entrance. Handing him my helmet, he watches me walk through the large glass doors before riding down the road to his appointment.
With a heavy sigh, I turn back to face the diner, knowing I have my own impending meeting to contend with—a prospect I dread.
The guys didn’t feel all that comfortable leaving me alone with her. But Catalina isn’t a threat. I spent eight months with the woman, backpacking through some wild places in Mexico, and spent a further nine years living a rather solitary life in the desert with her.
Other than her questionable tea, she isn’t a danger to me or anyone. She’s just a lonely older woman who might have mixed her job with her private life and combined them, creating a problematic situation and leading to various challenges and negative consequences. Maybe it’s partially my fault that I kept her employed when, technically, I no longer needed the service I originally hired her for.
As I enter the restaurant, my gaze swiftly sweeps across the entire room. I don’t think my paranoia that he is still out there will ever fade. I have to keep reminding myself that Victor’s dead, and while we’ll never know his real motives for stalking and preying on me, the fact that he’s never going to be my shadow stalker again brings a little comfort.
I walk over to the table and slide straight into the booth opposite Catalina.
“How are you?” I keep my question simple, acknowledging silently that she looks worse for wear.
“Not good, Eden.”
I don’t want to ask, but I know my time is also limited, as Asher will probably be here in the next hour or less to pick me up.
As I’m about to ask Catalina another question, I’m interrupted by the waitress. I order a coffee and revert back to the woman opposite me.
“How’s the new house? Have you taken your sister to see it?” I ask, attempting to lighten the atmosphere between us.
“Eden, I’m in trouble,” Catalina”s voice quivers with urgency, her eyes wide with worry.
I’m concerned but I also have too much drama of my own. I mentally struggle to take on someone else”s problems.
“What kind of trouble?” I brace myself for more issues to take on even though I really do not need this right now.
“I owe the IRS money. A lot of money,” Catalina blurts out, her tone heavy with dread.
I nod slowly, considering my options. ”How much is ‘a lot”?” I inquire, trying to maintain a semblance of calm.
She hesitates.
“I’m going to jail.”
“You’re not going to jail.”
She shakes her head; desperation is evident on her face. “You see, Eden, I always thought by remaining in employment, I’d get the opportunity to pay them slowly. But who is going to hire an old woman so close to retirement?”
“I don’t know, Catalina,” I admit, feeling a pang of exhaustion. “But I’m confused. Don’t you have a savings or retirement fund?”
She worked and lived with me for so long; I never paid attention to her spending, but she was never a heavy spender. What did she do with her paychecks every month?
“When Andy died, his way of handling money died with him. I was never good at it.”
“Why didn’t you ever ask me for help with running your money? I could have had my accountant handle it for you.”
“I never wanted to impose my private matters with you.”
Yet, she’s doing it now.
“How much do you owe?”
“Seventy-five thousand dollars.”
I nearly choke on my own saliva.
“Fuck, Catalina. That’s a lot of money!”
“So now you understand my desperation to work again?”
“Working again won’t solve the original problem. Where your money goes to is the real issue here.”
“So, will you help me?”
“Yes. Gather all your paperwork together, and tomorrow, I’ll speak with Frank, my accountant. His firm has an office in New York, so you’ll be able to discuss your financial matters with him.”
I observe her worried face and put my hand over her shaky arm.
“Frank will sort you out. You don’t have to worry anymore.”
“Thank you, Eden.” She sips on her coffee. “So when will we be returning to Terra Sands?”
It suddenly dawns on me that she got the wrong end of the stick I offered her.
“Umm. I’m sorry, but you misunderstood. Frank will help you with your finances. I will also instruct him to sort out your IRS issues on my bill. But you’re not returning to Terra Sands.”
Her face drops with that last statement.
“But—”
“Catalina,” I interrupt. “I need to start a new chapter in my life with my boyfriends and my career. I need this for myself. I’ve never had a family before, and the five of us want to be one. Unfortunately, there is no real need for your services. I made that clear back in New York.”
“I stayed with you all these years, and now you want to throw me away like disposable garbage.” Her frown deepens, etching lines of worry across her face, mirroring the heaviness in her voice.
“I certainly have not done that! I bought you a home, and now I’ve extended my gratitude to pay off your IRS troubles and give you accounting services for free! Considering everything, I think you’re doing extremely well with what I’ve offered you!”
“Those men have been with you for less than five minutes, and I’ve been with you for fourteen years and you call them family but me just some staff.”
Maybe my mental exhaustion is the cause of my anger, but I can’t sit back and allow her to talk about my boyfriends like they mean nothing to me.
“You were never just some staff. Had you been, you would have had your ass in jail, not because of tax fraud but because you poisoned your employer with illicit drugs. So, I think we’re done here. This is the last help I can offer you. If you need more money, then I suggest you sell the house and buy something smaller or go live with your sister, but the direct cash avenue to me just closed two minutes ago.”
I grab my cell phone from the table to leave, but Catalina grabs my forearm.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” she says, looking frightful as her eyes tear up. “Everything is just overwhelming. One minute, I’m living with you at Terra Sands; the next, I’m not. Everything is happening so fast and, it”s confusing.”
“Maybe,” I say, sitting back in the booth and staring at her as I consider her position in all this. “Maybe, and I’m sorry for that. But I have this second chance in my life, and I want to take it. My stalker is dead, so I don’t have to run anymore.”
She looks up at me, and her facial expression changes quite dramatically.
“I heard. I didn’t bring it up because I wasn’t sure you wanted to talk about it. But your record label did a publicity spin on it. How could you have allowed it, after what happened?”
“Because we agreed to it. Sure, I was traumatized by the kidnapping, but it”s over, he’s dead, and he took ten years of my life that I’ll never get back, and I sure as hell wasn’t going to miss jumping on an opportunity to celebrate his death and use it as a stepping stone to jumpstart my career. Sure, I’ll need special counseling and therapy after what happened, but I’ll be fixed, and I’ll have my boyfriends to lean against when things get tough.”
“They won’t stick around. They never do.”
“You don’t know that,” I retort. “But these men. Catalina, they aren’t just ordinary musicians. These men will go to war to get back what’s theirs. I saw them jump out of a fucking helicopter to save my ass. Jagger, point blank, shot the bastard who was pointing his gun at me. And when the bastard wouldn’t fucking die, Asher punched the life out of him. And you want to know what I did? I clung onto my best friend, sheltered her eyes from the onslaught, and enjoyed watching every one of my men battle it out against my aggressors. Then we all climbed into a helicopter, washed up a bit, went to a stadium, and sang our hearts out to thousands of people who cheered for us.”
“I saw your concert.” She mumbles low. “So, are you officially dating these men? People will ask now about you and Jagger.”
“I don’t care what people think,” I explain, firmly set on my decision. “We agreed to never talk about the nature of our relationship. Maybe in our next performance, I’ll kiss Haze. But the truth is, we’ll never talk about it because what the public needs to know is when we’re dropping the next single or concert dates. Everything else is not up for disclosure. And when I kiss my men in public, it’s because I can, not because I’m putting up a show. We control what we release to the public, and that will only consist of our music. Nothing else. What we do with our lives is undisclosed, and everyone can wonder. We have a press conference in two days, and that’s what we’re telling the world. Who we sleep with is nobody’s business.”
“The press will continue to pursue you.”
I shrug my shoulder because I don’t care what the press does. They’ve already dragged me to the bottom of the pit; I’ve been there, so there’s nothing new they can do that’ll bother me.
“They can try,” I explain. “But we’re moving back to Terra Sands, and the desert is an unforgiving place for those who want to wallow around.”
“I guess, then congratulations?”
“Thank you, Catalina.”
“I have all my paperwork in my car. We could go get it so you can pass it on to your accountant.”
I look out the window and see the white Chevy I bought her some years ago. It’s parked in the far right of the parking lot.
“You’re driving back to New York alone?”
“Eden, I don’t want to seem ungrateful for everything you gave me, but you need to understand that I lived with you in a desert for ten years, I didn’t have the opportunity to make friends and those who I did know before I started working for you passed away. So, yes, I’m driving back to New York alone.”
“I’m sorry, Catalina, I didn’t….” I don’t even know how to finish my sentence. I don’t feel guilty because I never asked her to stay. She just tagged along with me.
“So, will you accompany me to give you the paperwork?”
“You could just scan and email them to Frank.”
“With the scanner and computer I don’t have?”
Dammit. I need to get out of here.
“Fine,” I say, pursing my lips, “I’ll take them and post the documents to Frank via a courier for you,” I slide out of the booth, leave some bills on the table, and go to pay for our coffees.
“Thank you for everything, Eden. I really appreciate this.”
“That’s fine, Catalina,” I’d love to say, it’s the least I can do, but I know she’ll take advantage of every word I utter.
I open my phone and text Asher to tell him my meeting with Catalina is over, and he needs to pick me up pronto.
Asher:Sure, I will be there in ten.
While Catalina rummages through her shit in the trunk of her car, I silently stand nearby, scanning the parking lot. It’s just an eerie feeling I have. Maybe it’s because I’m so used to a suited bodyguard nearby that I feel vulnerable. But my threat was eliminated, and I need to learn to live again like an average person who isn’t being hunted by some psychopath.
“I think I left the file at the motel.”
I sigh. This day will never end for me.
Rick’s funeral was devastating enough, now I have to deal with Catalina’s mess.
“Can’t you just courrier them?”
“Do you know how much that will cost?”
I’m tempted to give her a wad of money and just let her fuck off, but I can’t insult her like this. She’s an older lady whose main vice was that she got attached to her boss and is finding it hard to make new adjustments in her life.
“Where’s your hotel?”
“Not far, about five minutes away.”
I make a quick estimation. One last favor and then I need to cut my ties. I can’t be a constant lifeline to this woman.
“Fine! I’ll come with you, but you’ll need to bring me back here because Asher is on his way to pick me up.”
“I could take you home if you like.”
“Thank you, but I have a date with Ash, and I don’t know what he’s planned, so I’d rather avoid ruining his plans and meet him where I said I would.”
I open the passenger door and slide in. It kind of stinks in here, and it’s messy with her personal belongings, so unlike the organized Catalina I know. I observe her getting in the driver’s seat and starting the vehicle.
There’s something off about her. She seems stressed out, and like she”s not looking after herself.
“Catalina, how’s your sister?” I ask. I have never met the woman, but I know that’s where she’s been staying these last weeks.
“Good,” she says, not turning to look at me. For once, she remains silent.
Fine by me, I look down at my phone and text Asher with the latest plan, telling him wait at the diner for me when he arrives.
I feel the car slow down and make a turn, I look up at the parking lot she’s just driven into, and I’m confused.
“Why are we here?” I ask, looking at the dark mall and empty parking area. I have no idea where we are, and it’s nighttime, making my orientation worse.
“We need to talk, Eden.”
She parks the car, and I’m getting serious creepy vibes.
“Catalina, I agreed to pick up your financial documents from your hotel. Asher is waiting for me at the diner. Can’t we just do that?”
“You were just fourteen when I came to look after you. I treated you like my own daughter, and I never cared about the money. Hearing about your childhood history on Tone Wars resonated with me in a way I had never felt before. You never had a mother, and I wanted to be that woman for you. Every daughter needs a mother.”
“I wasn’t your daughter, Catalina.”
“Yes, you were. I also had a daughter I was forced to give up for adoption. I know that baby was you.”
“No, Catalina. You’re not my mother. My biological mother gave me up for adoption when I was six because I had a heart condition. I remember my mother, and that woman isn’t you. My mother died three years later from a drug overdose. I looked her up when I wanted to be emancipated from the state to make sure she wouldn’t come crawling out of the woodwork. My mother died, and she never declared who my father was at birth either.”
“But, that’s not …”
“Catalina, please take me back to the diner now,” I say, feeling uneasy and regretting getting in the car. It’s obvious Catalina is suffering from old age dementia, maybe mental instability or something.
“No! You need to sit here and listen.” Catalina’s voice is strained, the words barely escaping her clenched teeth. “I had to take care of you for fourteen years. Watch you pass out, undress and bathe you, put you to bed. So I deserve to be your mother! Do you think some caretaker would go to that extent! I loved you like a daughter, Eden!”
“I passed out because you drugged me, Catalina. No mother with a sane mind would do that to her daughter!”
I go to open the door, and it’s locked.
“Open the goddamn door,” I yell angrily, turning to look at her straight in the eye. I’m so done with this woman.
“No!” Catalina’s eyes flash with anger, her chest rising and falling rapidly as she struggles to contain her emotions. “You’re going to sit and hear me because I deserve it. After everything I did for you, I deserve to be heard.”
As I struggle to get the door open, the familiar metallic sound I know so well goes off, and the blood in my head suddenly turns to stone-cold fear, sending shivers down my spine.
Slowly turning around, my eyes drop to the gun in her hand, pointed at me, and I already know she’s released the safety clip.
“Catalina, what are you doing?” I demand, my voice quivering with a mixture of frustration and fear. My heart’s pounding so hard, it’s ready to break out of my chest and make a run for its escape.
“You wanted to know where I spent my money all these years. I don’t have documents for them to show your accountant.”
“Okay, well, we can sort something else out with Frank.” I feel a cold sweat breaking out on my forehead realizing with a sinking feeling that I made a grave mistake getting in this car.
Fuck, fuck, and more fuck.
“I spent all my money paying a man called Victor to keep you on the straight and narrow, and for ten years, it worked. You were mine, and we were happy. But those men had to come looking for us again. And then you threw me out of your life. I raised you, Eden. How could you replace me with those men after everything we’ve been through together.”
Tears fill my eyes with the realization of what she did to me.
“You hired a man to rape me and do all those despicable things. I trusted you, Catalina. Why would you do that to me?”
“Because you wouldn’t leave them!” Her eyes are wide and demonic. “You needed to be cleaned of those men!”
“Do you know what Victor did to me during those five days he held me captive?”
“But I took care of you after that. I made everything better for you and made sure you healed.”
“I never healed, Catalina. One never heals from something like that.”
“Yes, you did! I helped you. That’s why I gave you relief to sleep your trauma off, and I took care of you while you slept. I loved you, Eden. You hired me to be your mother, and when I saw your ad, I knew you’d call me to be your mother. I came running.”
Have I been living with a psychopath for fourteen years?
“Were you responsible for Storm’s kidnapping and lacing Callum’s tobacco?”
“I never harmed the dog. It was supposed to be a warning to keep you at Terra Sands, but instead, you left. Lacing that junkie’s tobacco was easy. It was supposed to break up the band.”
“And arrange for my trailer to be bombed?” She nods her head in reply. “That could have killed me!”
A wave of panic washes over me, my breaths coming in short, shallow gasps as I struggle to maintain my composure.
“Did you have your husband killed so you can live with me in LA?”
“He would never have understood that I had a daughter before we married.”
My mouth hangs agape. I lived with a murdering psychopath for half my life.
My eyes remain fixed on the gun pointed at me. There isn’t a soul around I can scream to for help.
“Put the gun down, Catalina. You don’t want to do this,” my voice barely audible over the pounding of my own heart.
“Yes, I do. I gave you life, so I have the right to take it away. If I can’t have you in this life, no one will.”
My eyes blaze with frenzied intensity, and I know with a sickening certainty that I am in the presence of someone truly dangerous.
“Catalina, let”s talk about this. You’re not in the right frame of mind to make this decision.”
“You were supposed to die yesterday. I gave that bastard the last of my money, and he failed. So now I need to do this myself. But I can’t live this life without you, so I will join you in the underworld, and we will be together like we were always meant to be.”
I grasp the reality of my situation with a chilling certainty I am face to face with a woman on the brink of madness. A woman whose obsession has now turned deadly.
As she continues to talk random jibberish, I carefully slip my hand into my pocket and pull out a device. One that I swear will never leave me again if I live past this. Slowly, I press the small item in my hand.