Chapter Five
“Start right at the beginning,” Caitlin demanded. “Why do you think this photographer—what’s his name? Stephen White?—is behind everything that has been happening to you?”
Don had made coffee and they were all sitting in the loving room.
Hannah glanced at Darryn. “I got him fired because… well, because he was pestering me, behaving inappropriately, and…the point is, he threatened to make my life hell and that’s what he’s been doing.”
“So the hit and run accident in Mahé was him?” Caitlin asked incredulously.
“Well, initially I thought it was just an accident. But then he sent me a text message saying he was sorry to hear about the accident and that I should be more careful—anything could happen, any time.”
Darryn jumped up. “Why didn’t you tell anyone about it?”
“I thought he was just a nuisance, but then…”
“Zoe was pushed into a crowd while you and she were having a good time in Mahé. I—” began Caitlin.
“Which, by the way, wouldn’t have happened if you’d stayed in the hotel like I asked,” Darryn interrupted. He knew he should keep quiet, but he couldn’t believe what he was hearing.
Hannah gave him a cool look. “You didn’t ask. You ordered two security guards to prevent us from leaving the hotel.”
Don slapped him on the back, chuckling. “Oh, man, you still have a lot to learn.”
Darryn shrugged off his brother’s hand. Hell, he was only trying to protect her.
“So what exactly happened the night Zoe got hurt?” Caitlin asked.
“I saw him out of the corner of my eye while Zoe and I were having a drink. I was frantically trying to get us to safety, but Zoe and I got separated. He struck out at her, thinking it was me. We were wearing similar clothing. That was when I knew he was the one responsible for the hit and run, and I realized Zoe and I weren’t safe. ”
Hannah glanced over at him, her eyes filled with remorse. “And you were right. Tt was my fault Zoe was hurt and I still feel terrible about it.”
Caitlin glared at him while she spoke to Hannah. “It certainly wasn’t your fault. Don’t even think that. This guy is obviously unstable. Nothing that happened is of your doing, please remember that.”
Darryn rubbed his face. Yeah, he knew that now, but at the time he was so upset that Hannah was hurt, he’d lashed out at her. Instead of being nice, he scolded.
He wanted to punch something. If he could get his hands on Stephen White. He had never liked the guy, but he never thought White would stoop this low.
“Well, I have to agree with you,” Don said. “It has to be him.”
Hannah crossed her arms. “I should have taken his threats seriously, but I honestly didn’t think he was capable of being this vindictive.
He never admits to anything in his text messages, of course, but he always knows exactly what has happened, and somehow he knows my every move!
” Hannah exclaimed, and Caitlin took her hand.
Darryn looked at his brother and sister-in-law. “She hasn’t told you everything, though. She left out that she got him fired right after the three days we spent together.”
Hannah’s mouth dropped open. “You told them about us?”
“Yes, he did, and now I understand so much better why you were so upset two year ago!” Caitlin exclaimed. “And don’t worry,” she said, giving Darryn a look. “I’ve told him exactly what an idiot he was to believe the drivel this White guy said about you.”
“What do you know about White, apart from the fact that you and he went to the same school? You were obviously very quick to believe everything he said.”
Darryn rubbed his face. “I never even liked the guy. And you’re right, I shouldn’t have been so quick to believe him.
He was always into computers, and everyone assumed that’s what he would go into.
Then one day he phoned me out of the blue, said he was also a fashion photographer, and could I help him with contacts. So I did.”
He thought of something and looked at Hannah. “You and I spent three days together, and then you got White fired. Why then?”
Hannah lifted an eyebrow. “Oh, now you want to listen to what I have to say?”
Darryn sighed. “I’m sorry, okay? I shouldn’t have believed the guy, but he—”
“Told you about my tattoo and you believed him,” Hannah said.
“I…yes. I…how did he know about it?” He held his breath.
“Darryn!” Caitlin scolded.
Hannah looked at him, ignoring her sister. “If you listened to me two years ago, I could have told you the truth then, but you—”
“I know, okay? I know,” he said.
Hannah glared at him, but continued talking.
“Some of the other models and I were joking about our secret tattoos at some point during our stay on Mahé. Stephen was forever listening around corners or peeping through holes, and that was probably how he’d heard about it.
I can promise you, I’d rather slit my own throat than let that idiot touch me.
” She shuddered. “I’ve never met such a creepy man in my life! ”
“So why did you wait until that day to lay a complaint against him?” Darryn asked. He frowned. “And how did you know he told me about your tattoo? Did he tell you?”
“Because…” Hannah began, but she swallowed and looked down at her clasped hands.
“I heard you talking to him outside my door. I heard what he told you, I heard you walking away. I stupidly thought that if I ran after you, I could convince you he was lying, that he never saw my tattoo. But when I opened the door, he…he was right there. He pushed me back into the room…”
Furious, Darryn jumped up, his hands in fists. “What?”
“I didn’t think, I just reacted. I kicked him in the groin, shoved him out of my room, and phoned my agent.” She looked up. “And that’s what got him fired. Not the fact that he told you I sleep around. Which, by the way, isn’t true.”
Darryn looked her straight in the eye. “I knew that. I…I was just so freaked out by the—”
“It happened a long time ago. Forget about it.” Hannah waved his words away before he could finish.
“We are going to get to the bottom of this. At least you have security now,” Caitlin said fervently and hugged Hannah close.
Hannah pushed her away. “What security?”
Caitlin looked in Darryn’s direction and lifted an eyebrow. “You didn’t tell her?”
Darryn cleared his throat and studied his fingers. “Thought it would be best coming from you.”
“Yeah, right,” Caitlin said with a knowing look.
She took Hannah’s hands in hers. “You are in danger. You know that, we know that. Don and Darryn organized security outside your door. Someone will always be around and will escort you wherever you need to go.”
Hannah shook her head, clearly upset. “I’ve thought about security too, but I don’t want someone following me around! That’s no way to live.”
Don took a seat next to his wife. “We know. But what’s the alternative? This guy isn’t going to stop any time soon, until he’s in custody. Please accept it?”
“Please?” Caitlin said. “I didn’t tell Mom we were going to visit you, but she’s going to find out within the next few hours that I’m here with you…”
Caitlin’s phone rang and, grinning, she stood up. “And there she is,” she said and walked away to answer.
*
Tears welled up again and Hannah angrily wiped them away. Crying wasn’t going to stop Stephen White, wasn’t going to change what was going on in his twisted mind.
Life had to go on. She looked at her watch. “I have to leave for my appointment, otherwise I’m going to be so late.” She stood up and looked around, trying to think in spite of the nagging fear that something was about to happen. “My bag…” She remembered. “I need to get my bag.”
“You are not going alone,” Darryn said.
Hannah sighed in frustration. “This is work—I don’t want a damn security guard following me around.”
“Then I’m going with you,” Darryn said and got up as well.
“Going where?” Caitlin asked as she walked back into the room.
“I have an appointment—it’s about work.”
“She’s not going alone, I—”
“We’ll all go,” Caitlin said and picked up her bag. Don also got up.
“That’s not—” Hannah began, but Caitlin lifted her chin stubbornly.
“We’re here, we’re going with you.”
Hannah sighed. “Okay, then!” She hissed in frustration as she walked toward her room. “I just want to get my bag.” And hopefully a few minutes to herself. Darryn’s presence was overwhelming; she was scared and worried, and she hated this feeling of dread she’d been carrying around for two years.
Hopefully, a few minutes alone would help her at least get her equilibrium back.
*
Forty minutes later, she and Caitlin sat waiting in the restaurant. Darryn and Don wanted to stay outside and watch who entered the restaurant.
“So, where is this guy you’re supposed to meet?” asked Caitlin as she glanced at her watch again.
Hannah peered over her shoulder and scanned the faces of the other customers. The now familiar niggling feeling at the back of her neck told her something was wrong.
“I don’t know. Let me check with my agent.” She quickly searched for her number on her phone.
While she waited for Karen to answer, she turned around to look at the door, but the people entering the restaurant were all strangers.
Finally, Karen answered her phone.
“Karen, Hannah. I’m at the restaurant where I’m supposed to meet the photographer from last week’s shoot, but he isn’t here. Can you check, please?”
“Of course,” Karen said calmly. “Hang on if you don’t mind. I’ll call him from my landline.”
A few minutes later, Hannah ended the call and grabbed her bag. “Let’s get out of here.” She grabbed Caitlin’s hand.
“What?” asked Caitlin, stunned but following her out of the restaurant.
Outside, Darryn saw them and reached them in a few strides. “What happened?” he barked and put his hands on her shoulders.
“Karen says…she phoned the photographer while I was waiting. The photographer didn’t make the appointment for today. He doesn’t know anything about it.”
Darryn glanced around them quickly before he steered her toward the car. “We have to leave. Now.” He opened the back door for her.
Inside the car, Caitlin held her close.
“We’re going to get to the bottom of this. Don knows an attorney; he phoned him before we left Cape Town. He’s going to contact the police and see what we can do,” she crooned while stroking Hannah’s hair.
“They spoke to me yesterday,” Hannah said. “I said I’d contact them today, but with everything…”
“It’s fine. The Paris Prefecture of Police will know what to do,” Caitlin continued.
Hannah tried to listen to her sister’s voice, her eyes on Darryn’s broad shoulders as he steered the car skillfully through the traffic.
Her phone rang, and she answered without checking who was calling. Maybe Karen had news. Maybe she had it wrong and there was miscommunication, maybe—
“So you think you’re clever?” a voice hissed in her ear. “You were supposed to meet with me alone!” The furious person at the other side of the line took a deep breath. “But remember, I know where you live, I know where your sisters live, I know where your mother—”
Rage tore through Hanna. “Listen to me, you piece of trash! You have a problem with me, you deal with me. Leave my sisters and my mother out of it!”
The next minute, brakes squealed and Darryn stopped the car. Furious, he grabbed her phone. “White, you bastard, if I get my hands on you…”
But whoever had been on the other side had put the phone down.
“Was it White? What did he say? What did he want?” Darryn barked.
Hannah threw her arms in the air. “I don’t know! It could be him—he was shouting, so I can’t be sure!”
Darryn’s head whipped to the front again, and he gripped the steering wheel tightly. The car moved forward again.
“What did he say?” he asked again, his eyes nearly black in the rearview mirror.
“He told me he knows where my sisters and my mother…” Hannah hiccupped, “live.” She ended on a sob.
Darryn muttered a string of curses, and Don put a hand on his arm. Caitlin hugged Hannah close.
Don took out his phone and started punching in a number.
“Don, phone that attorney. We have to let the police know what’s going on,” Caitlin said.
“Exactly what I’m doing,” he said.
“I’m calling David and Dale. They should know what’s going on,” Darryn announced.