Chapter Thirty-Three
Taylor
While Holly and I talk, I make a pitcher of sweet tea.
We won’t be able to drink it because it will need to chill for a few hours, but I’ll be home tomorrow and I’ll have it ready in the fridge.
I’m interested in everything going on with my sister, not to mention I’m sick of thinking about the sordid details of my life, so I pepper her with questions and happily listen to all she has to say.
“The house next to me is for sale,” Holly tells me as I finish steeping the black tea bags in boiling water.
I have ten or fifteen minutes to wait, so I sit down beside her at my kitchen table. Glancing outside through the door to the yard, I see a bunny rabbit sitting on the grass and I smile.
“Yeah? Maybe you’ll get a hot new neighbor?” I waggle my eyebrows and she laughs.
My sister is divorced and unluckily for her, the asshole lives in the same neighborhood with his pregnant girlfriend who he left Holly for. I call him Sir Douchebag, but I don’t want to bring him up to her now.
She tells me about upcoming summer community events where she lives. My sister loves holidays, even the upcoming Fourth of July, and she volunteers for committees no matter how busy she is with school and her own life. But she lives for Christmas.
I glance at my watch and remove the tea bags, then add the sugar, stirring. After adding cold water and a final stir to the tea, I put it in the refrigerator.
I turn to Holly. “I don’t have food to offer, but are you sure you don’t want water or tea or something?”
She shakes her head. “No, thanks. I’m good. Now let’s talk about the baby! I can’t wait to be an auntie and spoil him rotten.”
I grin because I know she will.
The doorbell rings and I glance at Holly.
“I have no idea who that could be.” Neighbors don’t stop by often.
The age group of my community skews to the older side.
And Holly, the only one who’d come over without warning, is here with me.
I doubt it’s Jack. He knows I want some sister time with Holly.
“There’s only one way to find out.” She pops up from her seat, but I grab her arm.
“Okay, but remember, Jack said don’t open the door.” We walk through the kitchen and out to the hallway leading to the entryway.
“Who is it?” Holly calls out before I can step up to the peephole and check for myself.
“Open the fucking door, Taylor.”
“Shit!” Hearing Chandler’s furious voice, the blood drains from my head and I immediately grow dizzy.
“What do we do?” my sister asks, gripping my hand.
“I don’t know.” My heart slams against my chest. “He’s supposed to be at the police station! I need to call Jack. You call 911.”
Chandler slams his fist against the door again. “I know you’re in there, Taylor!”
Ignoring him, we rush back to the kitchen and grab our phones. I call Jack, but it goes straight to voice mail, so I leave a panicked message, hoping he gets it soon.
On the other side of the room, Holly explains our situation to the 911 operator, gives my address, thanks them and places the phone down on the counter.
“They asked me to stay on the line,” she explains to me.
I nod.
We glance at each other, neither one of us knowing what to do about the angry man still banging on my front door until suddenly, he stops.
I glance at Holly. “That can’t be good.”
In his distressed state, Chandler isn’t just going to walk away, something he confirms by slamming on the kitchen door leading to the patio, all but pressing his face to the window. Startled, I yelp and my sister’s nails dig into the skin on my arm.
His expression is a mask of fury, eyebrows drawn down, his mouth a grim slash, and the combination is pure rage. I knew he’d be furious, but to come over here like a madman? He’s unhinged.
In shock, I glance at my younger sister, startled to see she’s lifted her phone, and I watch as she taps the video button. I jerk my gaze to Chandler’s, but he’s not looking at Holly. His anger is solely focused on me.
Without warning, he slams his fist through the pane of glass. I scream as he reaches down and grabs the inside doorknob, letting himself in.
Blood streams down his arm as he stalks toward me. “You bitch. We had a deal. How dare you turn me in to the feds!”
I swallow hard and take a step back. “It wasn’t a deal, you were blackmailing me,” I remind him. It’s probably not a good idea to piss him off, but I refuse to be a victim or cower in a corner.
“Do you really think I’m going to just turn myself in and not take you down with me?” he asks, a sneer on his face.
My next words are going to set him off, but I can’t hold them in. “The federal agents know everything, and they aren’t going to charge me.”
His gaze narrows. “You’re going to pay. Before I go down for this, I’m going to make. You. Pay.” He slams his bloody hand down on my kitchen table.
I tremble, my hands shaking. Where are the police?
For the first time, his gaze slides to my sister, zeroing in on her cell phone. “Are you recording me?” he asks, voice rising.
He lunges for her, and I yell, “Run!” I turn and bolt out of the kitchen and down the hall, dragging her with me. I get to the powder room, yank her inside, and lock the door behind us.
Panting, I glance at her. “Are you okay?”
“I grabbed my phone!” She nods, wide-eyed. “He’s insane!” She lifts her phone, still on with 911 and puts it to her ear. “I don’t know what he’s going to do to us but I’m video taping!” She tells the operator.
He bangs on the door, yelling obscenities and threats.
“Keep recording,” I say on a shaky breath.
She nods. “I haven’t stopped.”
“Give me that phone!” Chandler shouts, beating at the door. “And do not post that video!”
“Fuck off,” I tell him, refusing to act like I’m cowering in here.
Which, I am, because who knows what he’s capable of?
He’s clearly lost his mind. I never thought he’d flip like this, becoming some unhinged version of himself, but I suppose the thought of prison has him petrified.
He’s always been the one in control and I ripped that from him, leaving him to face the consequences of his actions.
My phone is still in my hand and I see Jack’s name on the caller ID but I can’t answer, not until we know we’re safe.
Holly leans against the bathroom door, still recording his ranting. He threatens to strangle me when he gets his hands on me and promises that Holly will be next.
Suddenly, it grows quiet. I can practically hear the sound of my heart beating rapidly in my chest. Then, footsteps and an unfamiliar voice. “Charleston P.D. Back away from the door and put your hands in the air.”
I let out my first deep breath since I realized it was Chandler at my door. I glance at Holly, who pauses the recording and sinks to the floor in a relieved heap.
“What in the ever-loving hell was that?” she asks, her face pale.
I’m sure my coloring matches hers. That was Senator Chandler Cross losing his mind, I think to myself but remain silent.
Outside the door, Chandler speaks. He’s returned to sanity of sorts and is attempting to explain to the police that this is all a misunderstanding. That he just wanted to talk to me. He insists I panicked and locked myself in the bathroom.
“And the broken glass and door in the kitchen? The blood running down your arm? Is that a misunderstanding too?” a man I assume is a police officer asks. “Hands behind your back and turn around.”
“You won’t get away with this. I’m a state senator and I have rights.”
“Yeah, last I heard, your rights were supposed to be read to you down at the station. You didn’t turn yourself in as promised, but don’t worry. Now you’ll get a private escort downtown. Nice and flashy, just how you like it.”
“Ouch!” he yells. “They’re too tight.”
“Take him out of here,” the officer says.
Holly smirks.
We listen to the sound of a scuffle outside as Chandler is taken away, berating the police and blustering about how much trouble the man will be in.
“He’s in total denial,” I say to my sister, who nods and rises off the floor.
Her lips lift and she holds up her phone. The uploaded video on a social media site is playing for the world to see. “He’s so done,” she mutters.
Smiling now, I nod.
“Ladies? Charleston P.D. It’s safe to come out now.”
Taking Holly’s hand, I turn the knob that unlocks the door and step into the hallway to deal with the fallout.