Chapter 24
Chapter Twenty-Four
ATLAS
It’d been so long since I danced that I’d forgotten just how much fun it was to let loose with friends and move your body. But maybe because it’d been so long, and with the sudden crowd of bodies surrounding us, I was burning up.
I called over to Sam to tell him I was heading to the bathroom. He tried to follow me, but I insisted that I’d be fine by myself. Sam looked like he was really enjoying himself with Ryker, and what could happen in a busy bathroom anyway?
What should have been a busy bathroom was completely deserted when I entered. Not a single person was at the urinal, and all the stall doors were wide open, which was just as well. It meant I could piss in peace.
I whipped out my dick and aimed into the urinal. My eyes squinted in relief as my bladder emptied. It made the pressure inside my head lessen a bit too. I was feeling much better when washing my hands and even hummed along to the song blaring inside the bar.
It was then that I saw the piece of paper taped to the underside of the paper towel holder. It would have gone unnoticed if my brain hadn’t basically been trained to spot these random notes.
I had no doubt that the note had been placed there for me. Did that mean he was here? Had the stalker followed me here and slipped the note right before I came into the bathroom? Or was it placed here long before today?
The doors to the stalls were opened, but I double-checked each stall again just in case. They were empty. I reached for the note, feeling bolder now that I was certain I was alone in the bathroom.
It was strange how you could be conditioned to hate the sight of something, but bile rose in my throat at the sight of the cutesy font. How someone doing something so vile had handwriting that looked so innocent was beyond me.
It was chilling.
And the chill turned my body ice cold when I finally comprehended the words in the note: Meet me in the back if you want to see your plaything again. Come alone.
Fuck!
The stalker had called Hector my plaything at the corn maze. Did that mean he’d somehow gotten to Hector? This whole plan was based on using myself as bait. I didn’t consider the fact that someone else could get hurt.
My mind raced, trying to think of when the last time I saw Hector was. He was sitting at the bar with Becca.
He’ll still be there.
I tried to calm myself with that thought. The stalker was grasping at straws now that the entire town was on the lookout for him.
Besides, Hector was strong and double the size of the stalker. He could take care of himself.
But what if Hector had let his guard down?
I’d been the one to tell him the stalker wasn’t violent. That he was nothing more than an obsessed pervert. I’d been the one to say that this plan was safe. A low-pressure plan to snuff out the stalker, and if that didn’t work, it was a fun night out with friends.
I was so fucking foolish. And when I scrambled out of the bathroom in search of Hector, he wasn’t at the bar.
My stomach rolled. Nausea was the tamest thing I was currently feeling. My body burned, and my head was dizzy with a headache that came on too quickly.
I surveyed the entire room, hoping to catch sight of Hector and reassure myself that the stalker was bullshitting. Hector was perfectly safe. But the more I searched and failed to catch even a hint of him, the more I lost hope.
God, I’d been so fucking stupid thinking a childish plan like this would work. If anything happened to Hector…fuck!
I couldn’t even bear to think about it. All I knew was that I’d never forgive myself if Hector was hurt in any way.
A rational part of my brain told me to find my friends. They probably knew where Hector was. But what if the stalker wasn’t bluffing? What if telling others of the situation put Hector in more danger?
I would have sprinted into the patio area if not for trying not to draw attention to myself. The late October air was a cold splash to the face. It wasn’t nearly as cold as Christmas Falls, but the wind might as well have been blades of ice with how chilled with fear I was.
There were a few groups out on the patio, all doing their own thing and seemingly not paying attention to the world around them. I was disappointed to see that Hector was still nowhere in sight. The stalker wasn’t there either.
I looked around, thinking I might find another note that would point me to where they were. I was rewarded with one taped to a tree on the outskirts of the woods that lay behind the bar.
The fucking irony of my plan banking on luring him into the woods, and in reality, the fucking stalker was now the one luring me away for some fresh air.
Of course, he was one step ahead. I was so stupid to think I could outsmart someone who’d stalked me for months.
I didn’t hesitate to enter the woods and snatch the note.
You’re getting warmer.
I took that to mean he wanted me to head deeper into the woods. Well, he was going to get exactly what he wanted. If it meant keeping Hector safe, I would willingly walk into the trap.
I kept walking until the light from the bar’s patio barely lit my way anymore. I turned on my phone’s flashlight to illuminate the path in front of me.
The first rule of survival was never give away your positioning, but I had no doubt the stalker had already started tracking me the moment I walked into the woods.
I could practically feel his eyes on me, so there was no point in my walking blindly in the dark and potentially tripping and breaking a leg.
Another minute in, and there was finally another note, once again taped onto a tree. I swirled around, phone in hand, to try catching the stalker off guard, but that was wishful thinking. Only darkness and the shadows of trees surrounded me.
I took a shaky breath and turned back to the note. I snatched it from the tree and quickly skimmed it.
Behind you.
Hector
I almost shot forward when the fucker grabbed Atlas around the neck, but Clay stopped me before we could blow our cover.
We’d been trailing the two of them since they’d entered the forest. We had no idea why Atlas had proceeded with the plan without letting any of us know first, but it was better to give him backup first and ask questions later.
Clay had noticed Atlas was acting strange ever since leaving the bathroom and quickly rounded all of us up. The stalker had made himself easy to spot with how blatantly he made his intentions of following Atlas into the woods.
The lot of us kept our distance while tracking the two of them. We thankfully blended into the trees with our dark outfits—which, now that I thought about it, must have been a deliberate choice on their part and a happy coincidence on mine.
Meanwhile, Atlas’ white silk shirt was basically a giant target that made him easy to spot. I knew that was the entire point, but I still hated having him as bait.
The stalker didn’t seem to care about his surroundings. He was so focused on following Atlas that he didn’t even check to make sure he wasn’t being followed.
And now we had a video of him holding Atlas against him with an arm wrapped around his neck. Thankfully, he didn’t look like he was carrying a weapon. Atlas’ phone dropped to the ground, flashlight side up and casting them into the spotlight.
Dan kept filming on his phone while the others spread out to form a circle around Atlas and the stalker. They all moved quietly and stayed behind the trees. I wouldn’t have known they were there if I wasn’t in on the plan in the first place.
“Oh, how long I’ve been waiting for this. You’re finally coming to me willingly, Atlas,” the stalker said in a hiss.
I couldn’t see Atlas’ face, but he was trembling hard enough for me to see even from here. My brave man. I knew this was all part of the plan, but he must be terrified still.
I wanted this to be over already. I wanted to charge in and grab the stalker, beat him until he was too scared to come back, or even… I’d never wanted to hurt anyone before, but this fucker evoked my murderous side.
Clay placed a hand on my shoulder, as if knowing I needed the reminder of why we hadn’t tackled the fucker to the ground yet. He could arrest him on charges of stalking, sure, but the only real evidence was the one video of him taping the note on the diner’s door the other night.
With a real good lawyer, the stalker could get away with the minimum sentence. A year or two in prison and a fine were nowhere near enough. I never wanted to catch the scent of this guy again. Which meant we needed this solid video evidence of his aggressiveness.
“What did you do with Hector?” Atlas gasped out. His hands were clutching the stalker’s forearm as if trying to prevent him from choking him.
Clay and I glanced at each other. Did Atlas think something happened to me? Was that why he ventured out here without any backup?
“You don’t need to know. All you have to do is follow me willingly. I’m not a bad guy, you see. I don’t like using force, and I prefer my playthings to come with me on their own accord. You’ll be good for me, won’t you, Atlas?”
The fucker licked a stripe down Atlas’ neck. It took everything in me to stop the growl that lingered in my throat.
“Who the fuck are you?” Atlas yelled. He was being so fucking brave while handling this situation.
“I’m disappointed you don’t remember me, sweet thing. If only you hadn’t run away, we could have already had a taste of you.”
My fists clenched with the need to punch the pervert until even his mother wouldn’t recognize him, but I kept myself under control, even if it was killing me. I couldn’t be above the law. I couldn’t mess up the plan and needed to wait for Clay’s signal.
“That’s the second time you’ve said that. Run away from—wait… You were there.” Atlas paused. His breathing was ragged and so loud that I could hear it clearly. “That day…you were sitting on his couch and calling me his plaything. You’re Garrett’s fuck buddy!”
“Hmm. Close, sweetheart. Garrett and I don’t fuck. We like to share men between us, and you would have been our next conquest. Oh, I was so close to having you, after months of hearing him talk about you. Of how good you are in bed, how dominant and provocative. You would have been perfect for us.”
“Fuck you! You’ll never get what you want from me.”
“Oh, but I will. If you want to see your lover again, that is.”
Atlas froze, and I wanted to kill that fucker for using me to scare Atlas like this.
“Is he okay?” Atlas’ voice was so small and vulnerable. I glanced at Clay, and he held out his hand for me to stay still. I didn’t know if I could hold back much longer. I was about to say fuck it to hell and charge up there.
“For now. But who knows what I’ll do to him if you don’t give me what I want.”
“Are you going to kill him?” Atlas said, voice trembling.
“Perhaps, if you don’t listen. I’ll kill him if I have to,” the stalker spat out.
And that was when Clay gave me the signal.
“Love, run!” I yelled.
They both turned my way, but Atlas reacted quickly and elbowed the fucker in the stomach while he was distracted. It was enough for the stalker’s arm to loosen around Atlas’ neck and for Atlas to escape.
Then my love was running in my direction.
I came out of my hiding place and ran to meet Atlas.
The fucker straightened himself and ran in the other direction.
He was fast, which was probably another reason he’d been able to evade us so far.
I let him be, knowing that our friends would be able to handle him, and focused on my man.
Atlas crashed into my arms like a bullet. “Hector! I thought he had you. I thought something happened to you,” he babbled into my chest. I could feel a wet spot growing where his face nuzzled against me.
“I’m okay, love. I’m okay. It’s over now. We’re safe,” I murmured softly.
Atlas’ head jolted up. His tear-streaked face just about shattered my heart. “The stalker, we need to—”
He tried to turn around, but I pressed his head against me again. “Shh. It’s okay. They have it handled. We’re safe now,” I repeated.
I covered his eyes. I never wanted him to have to look at that fucker again.
Over Atlas’ shoulder, I could see our friends rounding the guy. Becca and Sam were already a force to be reckoned with, but adding on the other guys, who were all giant and a wall of muscles? Honestly, I almost felt sorry for the poor motherfucker.
Almost.
Okay, not really.
He deserved everything that was coming to him and more.
Our friends quickly got the guy on his stomach. Dan pulled out a rope from somewhere and looked all too excited to tie the guy up…which reminded me to never get on his bad side.
“We got him!” Sam yelled, and Atlas slumped in my arms.
“It’s over. You’ll never have to see him again,” I murmured and petted his hair.
Atlas took a deep, steadying breath and nuzzled my neck. “Can we leave?”
I looked toward our friends, who waved us off. I had complete faith that they would handle things from here, which meant I could focus on taking care of my man.
“Let’s go home, love.”