Surrounded and Tracked

“Miss. Talbot! Can you tell us why you cheated on your fiancé?”

“Miss. Talbot! How do you feel now that you’re going to be a single mother?”

“What is going to happen to Colt Techs after this? Are you and Mr. Colt going to remain business partners?”

The noises from her past filled her head as images of crowds chasing her flashed through her mind. She was running away from them trying to protect her belly when one of them grabbed the sleeve of her shirt ripping it and making her stumble forward.

Her father and her cousin were watching her from afar within the safety of their office while Nadia was thrown to the gutter as vultures swarmed around her ripping out at her flesh.

Miss Talbot!

Miss Talbot!

Miss Talbot!

“No! No! Enough!” Nadia called out putting both hands against her ears trying to block away the sounds.

“Nadia! This way!” Suddenly, Nadia wasn’t back in the past but instead, she was facing the same predicament as reporters threatened to swarm toward her.

She felt a hand tug her backward as a hand reached out for her to grab her from amongst the cameras and microphones.

“Let’s go!” She heard the familiar voice tell her and as she looked up she found herself looking at Dean’s alarmed blue eyes.

“Daniel! Block them for a moment!” He ordered before wrapping his arms around her and pulling her toward the car parked at the end of the street.

As Dean closed the door of the car, her eyes remained wide as she stared at the crowd that was still threatening to spill over toward her.

 “Nadia!” She felt a pair of hands rest on her shoulders and shake her lightly snapping her back to reality.

Dean was looking down at her, his blue eyes filled with worry as he reached out for her face tucking away a lock of her hair.

“Hey. You’re okay now, sweetheart. Everything is going to be fine,” He reassured stroking her arms gently lulling her away from her nightmarish thoughts.

“There, take a deep breath and look at me. You’re safe now,” Dean repeated his steady deep voice reassuring her frantic beating heart.

She leaned forward pressing her head against his chest and took deep breaths feeling one of his hands stroking the back of her neck while the other kept holding her arm lightly.

In a few moments, she felt the safety of Dean’s embrace wash away all of her panic and she looked up at him to find him looking down at her with worry.

“Are you okay?” He asked and she nodded silently.

Dean sighed and leaned back looking relieved.

“Thank God. I was worried for a moment there.” He said and she smiled at him, her heartwarming at his caring, honest gestures.

She looked at the front to find the bodyguard who helped her and Dean’s closest friend Keith trying pointedly to ignore them. Embarrassed that they had seen her in the state she blushed and Dean pulled her back to him.

"What are you grinning at," Dean grumbled at Keith who smiled back at his friend.

"Hi, Nadia! Glad to see you again," Keith said with amusement making her smile with his lightheartedness.

“Thanks for helping, everyone. I thought I was a goner for a moment there,” Nadia said with a wry laugh.

Keith looked at her through the windshield mirror and nodded with a mischievous grin.

“Well, this is kind of exciting. It’s my first pick-up and dash mission so I’m definitely going to add it to my curriculum,” he said making both Nadia and the bodyguard laugh.

“I’m glad you’re okay, Miss. Rowell,” The bodyguard said as he looked back at her with a smile.

Dean then cleared his throat looking a bit annoyed as he looked at his friend.

“More importantly, where’s Luke right now?” He asked drawing her attention back to her son.

Nadia was already on her phone dialing Mrs. Payne. She almost forgot her son in her relief that she wasn’t living her worse nightmare.

“Mrs. Payne! This is me, are you and Luke okay?!” She asked frantically as soon as the ringing stopped.

“Yes my dear. Luke is playing with his friends right now waiting for his nanny to pick him up,” Mrs. Payne answered with a worried tone.

“Is something the matter?”

“I can’t tell you the details over the phone. But can you hold on to him until I’m there? Tell the nanny that she can go home early today,” she told her,

“Alright, I will do that. Drive safely,” Mrs. Payne told her before hanging up.

“Where are we heading?” Dean asked.

“To the kindergarten,” She said, “We need to pick up Luke,”

“Alright…” Keith said making a U-turn when Nadia showed him the coordinates.

“I don’t think the press has enough time to figure out where your son is already,” Daniel, said.

“Daniel is right. I think Luke is safe for now…” Dean told her.

Nadia remained silent. She knew they were right, but she still couldn’t help but worry about Luke. She needed to get to her son. Unless she has him in her arms, she wouldn’t be able to relax.

****

Troy Rolland cursed under his breath as he watched the car speed away from the back alley. He had underestimated how fast the news spread about the sole heir of WTech.

He should have delayed publishing that article until he talked to his employer. Now he was going to have a much harder time getting the scoop he wanted.

Not that his employer didn’t pay him well enough. But he was hoping to strike it big in his career with this scoop.

This was always a side mission he could rely on for cash, but he hadn’t expected it to make so much buzz. His employer had been adamant over the years no matter how long time passed. He tasked him to find her.

But he couldn’t, no matter how much he looked and how many people he hired. Nadia Talbot vanished from the world as if she never existed.

Then after five years, his employer seemed to have given up on her, ordering him to follow around WTech’s CEO for a while to see if he could dig up some dirt on him. And BINGO!

Right by Dean Wess’ side, a carbon copy of Nadia Talbot stood there. Only her name was Nadia Rowell, and she seemed to have changed her hair color from the dark brown she had back when she was a Talbot, to what he found out was her natural hair color, Chestnut.

It took weeks of staking out to find out the scandalous news of those two being involved. And a hefty sum to extract the information from one of their not-so-loyal employees, just to be sure.

But now, it turned out like this… He needed more info. He also needed a little more time. His phone rang and he looked down to find his employer’s ID.

Figured the bastard would only call him now. Although he had sent him a message two days ago.

Ignoring the call, he made his way toward the car. If he couldn’t get to Nadia Talbot here, he knew the next place where she should be heading. He would be getting his scoop. No matter what it took him. This was his golden egg now. There was no way that he was going to let go of it easily.

***********

“We need to change cars before heading to the kindergarten,” Daniel informed them as they reached an intersection.

“I informed the security office and they will be sending us a car. We can make the exchange at the next convenience store.

“That’s great. I can drive around with my car in case there is a tail on us,” Keith told them.

Dean nodded and they were out of the car as soon as they parked.

“The car is in the back,” Daniel informed them, “I will remain with your friend just in case, Mr.Wess. Another security detail should be driving your car,”

“Great! Thank you,” Dean said before taking Nadia’s hand and making his way out of the store.

The car was waiting for them there and Dean gave them the instructions to head to Luke’s school. Nadia was nervous throughout the whole exchange counting the seconds they wasted on this.

She knew that this was necessary, it would be troublesome if they ended up leading the press to Luke’s school. Tapping her heels against the car floor, she impatiently waited for the driver to get to their destination. Just as she could almost see the building, her phone rang.

Mrs. Payne was calling her. Nadia answered as soon as the phone rang.

“Nadia… I don’t know how to say this. The nanny already took Luke by the time I got to his class she had already left! I’m so sorry!” Fear downed on her. She should have called the Nanny herself, why didn’t she think of that?

“I need to hang up, Mrs Payne. Maybe I can reach the Nanny before it’s too late.” She said knowing that their house was off-limits. The press was probably already swarming the place.

“There’s something else,” Mrs. Payne added, “There is a man here asking for you… He’s asking for Nadia Talbot…”

Nadia’s heart sank when she heard that name, Nadia Talbot. He was asking for Nadia Talbot, Not Nadia Rowell…

He knew who she was…