Chapter Twelve
Her scent filled his whole being, and Darryn woke up grunting. Damn, he knew it was a dream, but he could swear he felt her hand in his.
Something warm was nestled close to his side, and he looked down. His breath left his body in a whoosh. Lying next to him, on the side that hadn’t been injured, one hand tucked under her chin, was Hannah. All her glorious hair was spread out over the pillow next to him.
A hole he didn’t even know he had, filled up, overflowed, and a peace he’d never experienced before settled over him. She was here, in his house, in his bed, she was fine, and he would make sure she stayed that way, even if it meant getting another blow to the head.
He tried to lift his hand; he wanted to touch her, but the pain in his shoulder left him gasping.
Her eyes flew open. “Hi.” She smiled. “How are you feeling?” She lifted herself up on her elbow.
He stilled. If he lived to be a hundred, he would never forget this sight.
Hannah, not quite awake yet, her hair all over the place, her blue eyes with traces of dreams still lurking in their depths, staring up at him, her mouth half-open.
His heart stopped before it started beating erratically.
He loved this woman with an intensity that left him aching for her.
“Damn, woman, you’re a sight for sore eyes,” he said gruffly and lifted the arm he could move. He touched her face, her hair, cupped her cheek. “You’re really here. And you’re not hurt.”
“But you are.” She gently slid her hands over the bandages on his head, her eyes filling.
“I’m fine,” he said and caught her hand, bringing it to his lips. “Don’t ever disappear like that again, you hear?” He growled and, catching her hair in his fist, he brought her mouth closer for a kiss.
Thirstily, he drank from her lips, reveled in her softness, her gentleness, and thanked his lucky stars she wanted to be here with him.
Out of breath, she finally lifted her head, trailing her fingers over his face, his jaw. “He warned me to stay away from you, otherwise he would hurt you and my family. That’s why I had to leave, but then he hurt you anyway.” She swallowed, her lip quivering.
He pulled her down for a quick kiss. “I underestimated him, not something that will happen again. The man is clearly deranged—no sane person would behave like this. According to my mother, he’s been imitating me since school.
I don’t know what his problem is and frankly I don’t care.
We have arranged for a private detective, and Don called the police last night. ”
“The police?”
“Yeah, I know they’re useless, but I think it’s vital to lodge a formal complaint. They’ll be here sometime this morning. You’re not leaving my sight until that man is behind bars.”
“She’ll need strong coffee to put up with you then,” Don said from the doorway and entered the room with a tray. “Three coffees coming up.”
Darryn cleared his throat, touched his brother’s hand briefly. “Thanks for staying.”
“You’re my baby brother,” Don said gruffly before he held the tray out toward Hannah. “I’m actually sorry White didn’t return—I was ready for him.”
*
Hannah’s throat constricted as she watched the two brothers. Don put his hand lightly on Darryn’s shoulder, the love and worry obvious in his touch.
The Cavallos might be hard businessmen, but from what she had witnessed thus far, they were also fierce protectors, as well as loyal and caring husbands, guarding what was theirs with great ardor.
She should have trusted Darryn and told him about Stephen’s threat. If she’d done that, he wouldn’t be lying here now, literally battered and bruised.
“Don’t,” he said, reading her mind. He pushed her hair back. “It’s obvious now he would have come after me, no matter what you did or didn’t do. None of this is your fault, please know that.”
“I have a new phone for you.” Don took the phone out of his pocket. “I had to get food—this guy’s cupboards and fridge are totally empty, so I picked one up for you.” He handed it to her. “Thought you’d need to get in touch with your agent.”
“Thanks,” Hannah said. “But Karen thought her phone may be bugged and…”
“The rest of the family will arrive soon and we can discuss this again, but my feeling is we have to flush out this guy. We know he’s here, so Karen is, at least for the moment, safe. Call her. Also, I arranged for your hired car to be picked up. We’ll drop you at your place later.”
“Thanks.” Hannah tried to get up from the bed, but Darryn pulled her down for another kiss.
“Don’t go too far away, please?”
She smiled, touching his face. “Karen must be very worried. Let me phone her and then I’m going to take a shower.”
Darryn’s eyes darkened, and she remembered their previous conversation about showers.
“Take your call, but Don put your suitcase over there,” Darryn said and pointed toward her bag sitting on a nearby chair. “Use my bathroom?”
She nodded and fled the room. Wow, he was hurt and his face swollen, but one look from his chocolate brown eyes had her nearly melting.
*
The police arrived shortly after the rest of the family. Her sisters, Dana, her mother, and Darryn’s mother, Rosa had pulled her in for a group hug.
“I’m so glad you’re not hurt.” Her mother sniffled and cupped Hannah’s face. “You’re my baby. I was going mad not knowing where you were.”
“I’m so sorry,” Hannah said, hugging her mom again. “But—”
Her mother patted her arm. “I know. There is a crazy person out there.”
Darryn had refused to stay in bed. He was dressed, but still very pale. He pulled Hannah down next to him on the couch and took one of her hands in both of his.
Everyone sat down, and Don explained to the police what had been happening, including the attack on Darryn.
One of the two policemen looked at Hannah. “Let’s leave last night’s attack out of the picture for the moment. Can you give a detailed account of the incidents you think Stephen White has been involved in?”
“Not ‘think.’ We know!” Darryn interjected.
The policeman nodded, but kept his eyes on Hannah.
Her throat constricted. She didn’t want to remember all the horrible things that had happened over the last two years, let alone talk about them. But she also wanted this to stop.
Darryn tightened his hold on her hand, and she took a deep breath. With him by her side, she could do anything, even talk about Stephen bloody White.
Starting with Stephen getting fired because of her complaint, she listed the events that had happened chronologically.
“Do you have any concrete proof that everything that happened to you was this White fellow’s doing?” the policeman asked.
“Well, I have…had the messages that he’d left on my phone, but I left that back in my apartment in Paris.”
“I brought it with me.” Caitlin rummaged through her bag. “I thought you might need it. I switched it off, and Don took the SIM card and battery out so it couldn’t be traced.” She handed the phone to the policeman.
“The trouble is, he never admitted to doing anything, although the only times I heard from him were after the incidents I’ve just told you about,” Hannah said.
The two policemen looked at one another, then put the phone down on the coffee table.
One cleared his throat as he looked at Darryn. “And you think the person who attacked you last night was the same individual?”
Darryn glared at the policeman. “I don’t think that, I know that. I was here, I saw, and I heard him. He said very clearly, ‘She’s mine.’”
The policeman coughed. “The doctor said you have a concussion. You don’t think—”
“No, damn it, I don’t ‘think,’” Darryn said sarcastically. “I bloody well know it was him!”
The policemen got up. “If you could get us a report from your doctor?”
Darryn grunted. “Well, then, we’ll—”
Caitlin’s phone rang, and she stared at the device. “It’s from the same number I received the message from last night—the one saying you were on your way,” she said with a frown.
“It’s my landlady on Jacobsbaai. Let me answer it,” Hannah said and, with a feeling of apprehension, she stood up and took the phone.
“Hallo, it’s Hannah,” she said, trying to sound calm.
“Hannah, my dear, I…I don’t even know why I’m telling you this, but the neighbors called me early this morning. The house…there was a fire, and the bedroom part of the house has been completely destroyed,” she ended tearfully.
Hannah could feel all the blood leaving her face. The words penetrated her stunned brain. She understood what they meant, but she couldn’t process the message. “A fire,” she whispered. “In the bedroom where I would have been sleeping…”
Cursing, Darryn got up, but Don had already taken the phone from Hannah’s limp fingers.
Hannah turned to Darryn. His face was even paler than before.
“What the hell happened?” He growled and pulled her close.
“There was a fire.” She swallowed the bile that threatened to rise in her throat.
Her mother rushed forward, taking her hand. “Sweetheart.” She couldn’t get more out.
“The…house in Jacobsbaai, the bedroom where I slept…” Hannah inhaled quickly when she remembered.
“I left the light on by accident, and only noticed it as I was driving away. I didn’t want to waste time going back and switching it off, but I told the landlady about it.
” She stared at Don, who was still talking to the landlady.
And the implication of what had happened finally sank in.
“It’s all my fault her beautiful home is ruined.
Stephen figured out where I was, saw the light…
” Hannah whispered, appalled by what had happened.
Darryn hugged her close. Everyone was now standing and staring at Don, who was still on the phone.
“Thank you for letting us know.” Don ended the call.
“That means—”
“He knew where you were and thought you were still in the house,” Caitlin barely got out. Her eyes were big. “He wanted to kill you,” she whispered.
They all stared at Caitlin. Hannah tried to make sense of what she was hearing. Kill her? He had scared her, scared her sisters, and had hurt Darryn. And then he tried to kill her?
“What the hell more proof do you want?” Darryn growled, turning to the policemen. “There’s a crazy man out there, and you need to find him!” he nearly shouted.
The policemen moved toward the front door. “We’ll call the police stations in the neighboring towns of Saldanha and Vredenburg. Jacobsbaai doesn’t have a police station. Let’s see what we can find out.”
Don got up and walked the policemen out. The rest of them stared at one another. David sat down and fiddled with his phone.
“Yeah, yeah, that’s code for we don’t believe you and you won’t hear from us again,” Darryn grumbled.
“What about that private detective?” Rosa asked Don. “Have you spoken to him? Does he have a plan?”
“We’ve spoken,” he said, taking out his phone. “I’ll find out what he knows.”
“I’ve been searching on the Internet and there is an article on News24 about the fire,” David said, scrolling down on his phone. “It clearly states that nobody was injured in the fire.” He looked at Hannah. “So White will know you are still alive.”
Hannah stared at David, her mind sluggishly processing what she was hearing.
“They didn’t take your phone with them!” Zoe called out and picked up Hannah’s phone that was still lying on the coffee table where the policeman had left it. “Let me see if they’re still outside—”
“No, wait,” Hannah said, finally coming out of her stupor. She put her hand out for the phone. Like yesterday morning, a calm settled over her. “He wants me, right? Well, let him find me.” She closed her hand over the phone. “Where is the phone’s battery?” she asked Caitlin.
“Are you completely crazy?” Darryn tried to take the phone from her.
But she moved away quickly and turned to face all of them.
“You saw the policemen. They don’t believe a word I’m saying.
They will probably phone the police in Saldanha and wherever, but it’s not going to happen today.
And I’m done being scared, done running, done being the victim.
This time I’m not alone, but Stephen doesn’t know that. Let him find me,” she repeated.
Darryn opened his mouth again, his hands fisted.
Dale put a hand on his shoulder. “She’s right, you know? He’s not going to stop before he does what he’s set out to do. In his screwed-up mind, Hannah is the reason he lost his job and he—”
“‘She’s mine, I saw her first,’” Darryn murmured. “That’s what he said before he hit me. So, in his mind, he saw you first and if he can’t have you—”
“Nobody else will either. He’d rather me dead,” Hannah said. “Well, let him try.” Lifting her chin, she pushed her hair back.