Love's Road Home (29 page)

He pounded once on the women’s dressing room door and called, "Beth, I’m coming in!"

As the doorknob turned beneath his fingers, Tom heard a squeaking sound from within, like that of a tiny mouse. But he paid no attention to it—until he’d already entered the changing room and the door was shut behind him.

And by then it was too late.

This was so much worse than the spider and maggot-filled package. And so unexpected that his heart nearly stopped.

Beth stood in front of him, but she was not alone. Close beside her was a familiar-looking young woman, similar to Beth in height but slighter in build. The brunette was dressed in a red leather miniskirt and barely-there pink tank top.

It was an outfit meant to attract a man’s attention, but the only thing Tom saw was the knife she was holding.

It was pressed against
Bethany
’s tender throat, which lay exposed by her low-cut dress.

The woman’s other hand was wound around Beth’s long hair, keeping her trapped.

"Let her go." He kept his voice low and even. He had no idea what was happening, but he also had no intention of upsetting this psychopath. Not with Beth’s life at risk.

"No, Tom! She took you away from me, and she can’t do that! You were supposed to love me, not her!" A hard tug on Beth’s hair emphasized the brunette’s anger. And her instability.

After a quick look to verify she hadn’t been cut, Tom’s gaze slid up to catch Beth’s. The fear he saw in her wide eyes was almost more than he could take.

Not sure what the intruder’s reaction would be but needing to try anything to get Beth released, Tom explained, "I don’t even know who you are."

Oops, wrong thing to say.

His remark resulted in another yank to Beth’s scalp and a drop of blood appearing on her pale skin. Her chest rose and fell frantically as her breathing accelerated.

"Yes, you know me! I’m Casey!" was the screeching response. "Don’t you remember?"

Another look at Beth’s face revealed the pain she was in. Apparently Casey was stronger than she looked.

"That’s right! Casey. Of course I remember you." Tom took a small step toward the women, willing to do whatever was necessary to save Beth from this lunatic.

"Stay back! I swear I’ll hurt her." Casey moved two steps back, dragging
Bethany
with her. Her eyes narrowed as she gave further warning. "You’d better not be lying to me, Tom."

Tom held up his hands in, he hoped, a non-threatening manner. "I wouldn’t lie to you, Casey." He took a chance. "I just didn’t recognize you with your hair pulled back. It was down every other time I saw you."

Oh,
please
let
that
be
true.

Casey’s eyes brightened, and she gave Tom a wide smile. "You noticed! I wanted to look more sophisticated for you tonight. And up-dos are so much classier than this long mess, don’t you think?" She gave yet another tug on Beth’s hair, and her smile twisted into a devilish smirk.

"Maybe I should fix it. What do you think, a shaggy dog cut for a flea bag like her?" She moved the knife from
Bethany
’s throat to her nape, and Tom saw his chance.

But as soon as he stepped forward, Casey swung her arm toward him. "Uh, uh. I love you, Tom, and I don’t want to hurt you. But you’re making this very hard."

Tom stood his ground, hoping to keep Casey’s attention on him. "Then let’s make it easy. Let her go and we can leave here. Together."

Her eyes widened. "You’d come with me? And forget all about her?"

Yeah, like that would ever happen,
nutso
.

"Casey, look at yourself. You’re beautiful." And obviously narcissistic in addition to being insane, because she did what he instructed. She shifted position so her back was to the door and she could see her reflection in the vanity mirror.

But all along she kept a firm grip on Beth’s hair and her weapon raised in mid-air. So Tom tried to distract her further. "And no other woman has tried so hard to get my attention, so I know you really do love me."

"Oh, yes. I do." Casey’s eyes slid from the mirror to meet Tom’s. "I’ve followed you this whole tour. And I watched you at the hardware store, too."

What? This girl had more problems than he’d thought.

"You were at my family’s hardware store? In
Georgia
?" Hearing footsteps in the hallway outside, Tom raised his voice to cover the noise as best he could. "Why didn’t you say hello to me, Casey? I would’ve talked to you. It didn’t have to come to this."

Once again it was the wrong thing to say. Casey’s brows immediately pulled together, and the overhead light glinted on the knife’s short but sharp blade as she wagged it at him.

"You wouldn’t have talked to me! You were too busy with that other woman before, in
Savannah
. And now this one’s throwing herself at you like a common tramp!" This time her yank caused Beth to cry out. "I’ve had it! You’re mine, and you always will be!" Casey moved quickly, but it all felt like slow motion to Tom.

"No!" He lunged forward, grabbing for the girl’s arm before her weapon could make its intended slice across Beth’s throat.

At the same time, the door at Casey’s back was pushed open, shoving her off balance—and into Tom.

•

As soon as her captor began to fall away and a knife was no longer aimed at her jugular, Beth twisted to get loose.

Minus a few hairs, she sidestepped the door as it swung open. "Watch out!" she yelled to whoever was entering.

"Beth, are you—oh my God! We need help!" Hannah’s cries brought the sound of heavy footfalls on the stairs.

But Beth didn’t wait for assistance. Instead, she grabbed a chair from in front of the vanity and swung it with all her might, knocking Casey away from Tom. A second blow caused the girl to drop her weapon, and Hannah finished her off with a right hook.

As Casey fell to the floor, Beth hurried to Tom’s side and wrapped her shaky arms around him. She pressed her face into the warm curve of his neck, inhaling the musky scent of him. "Are you all right?"

He returned her embrace, hugging her so tightly she could hardly breathe. "I should be asking you that." She felt his lips brush against her temple. "But the way you took her out, I guess I know the answer already."

Beth tilted her head back to meet his gaze. "Trust me, it was the adrenaline," she answered as assorted band and crew members piled through the doorway and stumbled to a halt.

"Thanks for hurrying, guys," Hannah commented dryly. "Don’t worry that little Miss Wacko here wanted to slice us up into sushi." With a motion of her hand she indicated both the dazed woman sprawled on the floor and the knife firmly held in place by the toe of her black shoe. "We handled it."

"What the hell happened here?" Jack demanded to know.

Hannah shrugged her shoulders and nodded toward Beth and Tom. "They know more than I do."

"She was in the room when I got here." Beth twisted in Tom’s hold but kept an arm around his waist. "She grabbed me and threatened me with that knife. I think she took it off the snack tray."

Sam leaned over to wrap a handkerchief around the blade and pull it out of Casey’s reach. "Did anyone call the police?"

"Already done, Sam." Mike held up his cell phone. "And George is going to make an announcement that the Meet and Greet is cancelled."

"No, don’t do that." Tom’s voice was insistent but somehow didn’t sound quite right. "You guys need to see the fans. Security has this covered for now." He haphazardly waved his left arm toward the two uniformed men who were watching over a handcuffed Casey, now seated upright on the floor. "Beth and I will join you as soon as we’re done talking to the police."

The more talking he did, the more slurred his speech became. And the heavier he felt against her side. "Tom, do you—"

Then Beth felt the warm liquid on her bare back for the first time. "Oh, God! He’s been hurt!"

Leo and Dylan hurried to relieve her of Tom’s weight, pushing him into a chair just as his knees gave out. Beth moved to see how badly he’d been cut, and she nearly got sick.

Tom’s right arm was hanging loosely at his side, the forearm covered in blood. Like a scene from a horror movie, dark red liquid dripped from his fingertips and onto the floor. There was no way for her to tell how much damage had actually been done.

"Someone get a doctor!" she yelled, grabbing a clean hand towel from the vanity and wrapping it around Tom’s arm.

He was getting so pale. And there was so much blood.

What if an artery had been cut? What if they couldn’t stop the bleeding in time?

"Hurry!" she screamed.

•

He could smell her. The light berry scent of her soaps and lotions mingled with the antiseptic odor that prevailed in places like this.

Tom opened his eyes to find Beth sitting by the side of his hospital bed. He’d told the doctors in the emergency room that he didn’t want to be admitted, but they’d insisted on keeping an eye on him for a few hours. A six-inch-long cut made by a dirtied paring knife wasn’t something they wanted to ignore.

He’d been unable to talk to Beth while in the ER or during transit to this room. And, unfortunately, as soon as he’d been left alone, Tom had fallen asleep.

He must have napped for at least four or five hours, since it was now daylight. He could easily see Beth’s pensive features in the dim light sneaking in between the vertical blinds. She was looking at the muted television hanging on the wall in front of his bed, but it was obvious she wasn’t following the action on the screen. She wore a pale blue sleeveless top, denim shorts, and sandals, which meant she’d been able to return to the hotel after the attack last night.

Attack. God, how that word scared him. He’d almost lost her. Forever.

And because of what had happened, he knew—despite her put-together appearance—odds were she was a mess inside.

"Hi," he said softly, not wanting to startle her.

She jumped anyway. After quickly using the remote to turn off the TV, she turned to face him.

He saw right away that her face bore traces of the previous night’s incident. There were circles under her eyes, and her lips trembled so much she could hardly form a token smile.

"Oh, good. You’re awake. The nurse said to let you sleep as long as you wanted. That your body needed help to recover from the shock it received." She
teared
up and her smile faltered, but she promptly leaned over to kiss his brow, not letting him see her distress. When she sat back in the chair, her composure was back in place.

"Are you ready to hear the whole story? The deal with Casey the
nutjob
?"

Tom cautiously nodded his head. "Only if you want to tell me." He didn’t want anything else to upset Beth. She’d been through enough hell in her life, especially in the last week. But she curled her long legs beneath her, rested her chin in her hand, and began to speak briskly, as though the entire incident was something she’d heard about on the nightly news.

"Her real name is Cassiopeia
Sommersby
—
geez
, with a name like that, who wouldn’t go crazy?" She shook her head and waved her hand back and forth. "But, anyway, her father is some super-rich corporate shark based outside of
Savannah
, and her mother is your stereotypical socialite—busy with shopping and looking good. Oh, and Casey’s being transferred from the Albany County Jail to a private mental hospital. Daddy dearest probably wants to keep this whole mess quiet, but too bad. It’ll all come out when the trial begins."