One week later:Christine was on her way to the break room to get herself and Chase some muffins and coffee when Mason grabbed her arm and pushed her into the filing room.“Hey! What the hell, Mason?” She pulled her arm free of his grasp and shoved him away from her.He locked the door from inside.“Mason?” Christine backed away from him, her back against one of the cabinets. Trying her best to remain calm, she folded her arms across her tummy.“I need to speak to you. Sorry if I scared you, but this is the only way I could get you alone.” He spoke in a low tone, his eyes darting from her to the door.Christine rubbed the goosebumps that appeared on her arms. Being trapped in a enclosed space with a man stirred her anxiety and she tried her best to steady her breathing. “What do you want, Mason?”“Don’t be like that, Darlin’. What poison has Chase been feeding you? Before you went with him on that awful day, we had a connection. You can’t deny it, can you?” Mason came closer to her, s
“Do you really think he will come?” Camilla asked, twirling a strand of hair around her finger.Mason watched her through lazy eyes, his arms spread out along the couch, ankles crossed together. “Oh, I know he will. You see, Chase would never leave a lady in distress.” He snarled, “Unless you didn’t play your part well.”Camilla frowned at him. “I did what I could. He seemed very suspicious.”“Really?” He got up and stalked to her. She cringed when he stood over her, lifting her chin to look into his cold eyes. “Sugarplum, I paid you a shitload of money for this. Are you chickening out on me?” His fingers dug into her soft flesh.“You’re hurting me, Mason.” She yelped when he grabbed a fistful of her black hair, pulling her up from the chair. His other hand surrounded her long neck. His grip tightened so much she struggled to breathe.“I’ll do worse than hurt you, my sweet. You’d better not double-cross me. You get me?” he whispered next to her ear.Tears of pain filled her dark eyes.
Christine looked at her watch – for the hundredth time. Nine in the evening and still Chase wasn’t home. His phone went straight to voice message. She picked up her phone to call Alexander, then changed her mind and put it down again.There was no reason to panic. His meeting with the client was just taking longer than expected. No need to get paranoid, she told herself. She ran a bath for herself, filling the bathroom with the scent of jasmine. Undressing in front of the mirror, she smiled as she watched the small bulge where their new life was growing, safe and wanted.Christine thought about Chase, how he struggled to be patient to wait for her to say yes to their next step. He wanted to get married as soon as possible. The last few weeks she had been giving it serious thought and decided that she wanted to get engaged. He was the man she wanted to be with for the rest of her life. Why put it off any longer?*** Someone was pounding on his head with a six-pound hammer, and he wish
True to his word Alexander and Erica arrived at Chase’s house within an hour.They found Christine in tears on the living room floor. Erica rushed to her side.“Alex, make some tea for us, please.” Erica instructed in her no-nonsense tone.Alexander did as she asked without hesitation. He knew Erica would handle the situation better than he could. Chase had better have a damn good excuse for this. Christine was carrying his child for fuck’s sake.Looking through the cupboards to find the tea and sugar, he found a small white packet hidden among the cups at the top shelf.“Oh, Jesus God!” his fist closed around it. “Please, let it not be what I think this is.” The kettle whistled on the gas. He turned it off. Trying to stay calm but boiling on the inside, he made the tea on autopilot and carried it through to the living room. The little white packet felt like it burned a hole in his pocket.Erica saw the pinched look on his face but knowing her husband she kept quiet. Christine was her
Chase woke up nauseous and disorientated. At first, he thought he had gone blind, everything was dim and out of focus. Then he understood his left eye was swollen shut. Holding his throbbing head, he sat up slowly. Blood had dried at the side of his head. He ran his head over the cakey mess.“What the fuck happened?” he asked the silent room. Only when he shivered did he realize he was buck naked. Chase tried to remember, but his head felt like it was stuffed full of cotton wool. Water. He needed something to drink.A bloodied and dirty shirt he recognized as his own lay next to him. He put it on with shaking hands. Where was the rest of his suit, he wondered. What was he even doing here? He was supposed to be at home with Christine.He stood, his legs shaking so much he almost toppled over and then he saw her.A scream wrenched from his parched throat at seeing the naked body of the black-haired woman, her face beaten to a bloody pulp. She lay on the stained carpet, not moving.“Oh,
Alexander slapped his cell phone down on the desk and leaned back in his chair tugging on his tie. He had just ended the call with the DA’s office. This has created a shitstorm like no other. Fortunately, he prevented them from searching Chase’s car and apartment. That could buy them some time.His jaw hurt from clenching his teeth and he was so damn tired. There had been no sleep for him at all. Erica stayed with Christine last night and he called Raven and Ellen to come as soon as possible. The twins stayed home from school to keep them out of publicity, if word got out. He needed to safeguard them from noxious people. It was the least he could do.He needed to talk to Chase before he says or does something stupid in his current state. At least the Captain informed him in which hospital he was being detained. Knowing Christine would like to see him for herself, he thought it best not to take her with him.Family members weren’t actually allowed to visit an accused person in hospital
On the third day, after hearing nothing further from Alexander, Christine decided to go to the office. Her mother phoned this morning wanting to get on the first flight over. She refused, saying it would be best for them not to come. The truth was she didn’t have the strength to deal with her parents right now.Waiting for the Lyft she ordered, she checked herself in the bedroom mirror. Her face looked gaunt and the light make-up she applied hardly concealed the dark rings underneath her eyes. Her nights were spent crying and having horrible dreams. She even considered going back to her therapist, but then she decided against it. There was no time for it. She had to focus on Chase.She needed to find out exactly what the charges against him was and what evidence or motive they had to keep him in the holding cells. She could get absolutely no information out of the police. They refused to let her see him. It had Alexander written all over it, of that, she was positive.A notification o
Chase’s eyes widened with shock. His mouth dry as a bone as he tried to form words to speak. The photos were shocking, to say the least.“Where… Where did these come from?” he managed to speak at last. The look on Christine’s face made him want to scream that this wasn’t him, he would never betray her like this. But the man in the photos were unmistakably him. He could only look at them in disgust.“They were delivered to the office.” She answered without meeting his gaze.Alexander picked up the photos. He would have to enter them into evidence. It didn’t look good for Chase. The prosecutor could argue motive.“I don’t have to tell you how bad this looks, do I?” he narrowed his eyes at his son.“Dad, I… I only know there was someone else there, they injected me with something. It must have been heroin.” He remembered the sudden rush of euphoria he felt as the drug took effect. “Whoever was there must have taken these…” he couldn’t even bring himself to name them. He turned his face a