Chapter 17

<Gavin Forrester>

I ignore the angry glares of all of the people who'd been waiting to get into the bathroom. I don't see Victoria anywhere which intensifies the knot of nerves in my stomach. I pull out my phone and dial her number but it goes straight to voicemail.

Damn-it, she must've turned it off for the play.

I shove my phone in my pocket and walk around the lobby area, hoping to see her standing up against a wall waiting for me or buying some refreshments somewhere. I walk around at least 10 times before I finally decide that she must've gone back to our seats.

I walk into the auditorium and make my way back to our seats. Victoria is still nowhere to be seen. This is where my panic truly sets in. What if Talon called somebody to take care of her? What if the drug dealers came for her? I run my fingers nervously through my hair and then my phone rings. The caller I.D. reads Talon Tenebris. I roll my eyes and pick up.

"Have you lost something, Gavin?" He says innocently.

"What the hell did you do with Victoria?" I snarl, my tone dripping with venom.

"What should've been done a long time ago..." Talon still manages to sound calm which makes my anger multiply.

"You said I could have until the rehearsal dinner..." I mutter, completely pissed off at everything.

"I have eyes and ears everywhere. One of my spies told me that she and the private investigator were planning on going to the cops tonight. So, she has to go. The private investigator is already good and dead, soon enough Victoria will be that way as well." Talon lets out a laugh that could give Satan a run for his money.

I hope Talon burns in hell...

"Tell me where you have her..." I grip onto the back of one of the chairs, my nails digging deeply into the plush velvet of the cushion.

"Once I get the word that she's dead then I'll let you see her body." Talon states serenely, like he thinks he holds all the cards.

"Go to hell...I swear when I get my hands on you, I'll break your neck in half. You're going to suffer, Talon Tenebris." I clench my fist and run out of the auditorium.

"Wow, another mission you don't have the balls to complete." Talon says wickedly.

"No, see I want you dead so, I will complete that mission. You of all people know what I can do with a gun...I mean you are the one that taught me how to use some of your guns. You paid for me to go to trainings so I could keep my permit...Talon, you signed your own death certificate. If you don't have a death wish now, I suggest you make one." I hang up my phone and shove it in my pocket as I run out the front doors of the Gershwin.

Where would they have taken her? I mean Talon's and some of his operatives are pretty tacky so, they probably took her to an alley or something...

I run down the street looking for an alley and then I hear it...The ear piercing, blood-curdling scream. I keep running until I see a small group of people in an alleyway. There are three people dressed in all black standing over a thrashing figure. The figure is none other than Victoria.

Her dress is torn and discarded over by a dumpster. Then I see the glint of something silver flashing in the city lights; it's a knife that's at least 6 inches in length and already dripping with blood. One of the figures holds it up and brings it down slowly towards Victoria's heart.

Anger courses through my veins as I lunge at Talon's operatives. I take two of them down at once, their heads making a sickening crack as we hit the concrete. They don't move as I stand up. I look at the other one and he or she just runs away. I lean over Victoria and my eye catches on the multiple cuts all over her body. I check her neck for a pulse and I feel a slight one. I call the police and tell them my location. I hear the sirens wail in the distance.

"Gavin?" Victoria whispers.

"Shh, baby...It's okay. You're going to be fine; I won't let anything happen to you." I kiss her forehead and take the jackets off of the dead operatives to press onto her cuts.

I press them tight against her body in an attempt to stop all of the bleeding.

"My eyes are so heavy," She whines in a soft tone.

"Just keep them open, the ambulance is on its way." I brush the hair from her eyes so she can see me and her surroundings clearly as I continue to press the hoodie against her wounds.

"I can't and my head, it hurts so badly..." Tears appear in her eyes and she makes no move to wipe them away.

"Please, just stay awake for a few more minutes and then I promise you can sleep all you want." I place a kiss on her forehead and hear the wailing of the sirens coming closer.

"I love you," She whispers and then her eyes droop closed.

"Victoria, please no...Gosh, no, you have to stay with me...You can't sleep right now..." I shout, a feeling off nausea taking over my body.

This happened to her while I was supposed to be with her, while I was supposed to be taking care of her...In what realm of the logical mind is it okay to leave a potential murder victim alone in New York? I'm such an idiot; I never should've left her alone...

The ambulances pull up about a minute later. The sirens continue to wail as the paramedics hop out of the ambulance and wheel a gurney over to where Victoria is still lying, unconscious on the ground. One of them helps me up and a few others carefully lift her up onto the gurney. They check her pulse and discover that she has a small one.

"She's lost a lot of blood..." One paramedic shouts to someone back in the ambulance.

They wheel Victoria over to the ambulance and put her inside, slamming the door before I can even get inside.

"They need to get her to the hospital fast, you can go visit her later when she's stabilized." A man pats me on the shoulder and then hops into the back of another ambulance that had come to the scene.

"Sir, I'm Detective Stevens with the NYPD...May I ask you a few questions about what happened in this alley tonight?" I turn around and see a police man holding his badge out to me.

I nod and lean against the police car numbly.

"Who is the victim? Did you know her?" Detective Stevens pulls out a notebook and uncaps his pen.

"Victoria Grayson...I do know her, we came to a play together tonight." I say through tight lips.

"You mean to say that the person lying on that alley floor was the police chief's engaged daughter?" He says, his eyes widening.

A nod is the only response I give him. Detective Stevens then pulls out his phone and calls who I'm assuming is the police chief, judging by the level of nervousness Detective Stevens in emitting it's a fair guess.

"Sir, I just got a stabbing victim case and the eye witness claims that it's your daughter."

I'm not just claiming, it is his daughter...

"She's at Bellevue Hospital, sir...I'll meet you over there when I'm done with the eye-witness." With that Detective Stevens hangs up and turns to face me.

"If you were her date for the night then when did you notice her missing?" He asks with a serious look in his eyes.

"Towards the end of intermission...I'd been having a conversation with someone in a different area from her for most of intermission and when I'd finished up my conversation, I went to look for her. I looked all over the lobby, by the bar and in the auditorium but she was nowhere to be found. That's when I decided that maybe she'd stumbled outside. I went looking up and down the street and then I heard a scream coming from an alleyway."

"What did you see when you got to the alleyway?" Detective Stevens says as he continues to scribble notes down in his notebook.

"There were 3 hooded figures wearing all black. They were hunched over Victoria and she was thrashing at them. They had a knife that was at least 6 inches in length. I took 2 of the figures down and the other one just ran away. I then saw the multiple stabs all over Victoria's body and knew that if I didn't stop the bleeding, she'd die. So, I called the cops and then tried to use the hoodies from the men I took down to stop her bleeding. Then the ambulance showed up and took her away." I cross my arms to try and fend off the slight chill that's entered the air.

"Did either of you have anything to drink tonight?" Detective Stevens asks without looking up.

"No, we we're going to get something to eat and drink after the play." I state simply.

"Okay and what's your name? I need to put it in the file should Victoria decide to press charges." He asks in a professional tone.

Real name or alias? I guess if I give him a fake name, he'll discover that that person isn't actually real and Talon has already bribed people into expunging my record so I'm all clear...

"Gavin Forrester."

"You're free to go." He dismisses me with a wave of his hand and I walk off, down the street and towards my car.

~~~~~

I pull into the garage of my apartment , race to the elevator and then to my floor. I unlock my door and slam it shut behind me, ignoring the slight groan of my next door neighbor. I roll my eyes and stalk into my room.

Who the hell does Talon think he is? He can't promise me that I'll have until the rehearsal dinner and then go try to murder Victoria.

I take off my dress shirt and throw it down on the ground. I grab my flannel shirt and a pair of jeans before going into the bathroom. I look in the mirror and see that there's a gash on my right shoulder. I guess I got cut taking down the operatives.

I turn on the shower and finish taking off my tux. I throw it into the hamper and step under the burning water. I wash away all the blood and run a wash cloth gently over my newly acquired gash.

I step out into my bathroom again and reach for the towel. I wrap it tightly around myself and then go to the medicine cabinet for some disinfectant. I grab a cotton ball and douse it in the rubbing alcohol.

I run the wet cotton ball over the gash on my right shoulder, wincing at the stinging sensation that overtakes my shoulder. I toss the cotton ball in the trash and pull on my jeans. I run a comb through my hair and button up my flannel. Hanging my towel up on the rack, I walk out of the bathroom.

I check the time on my clock and see that the red numbers read 11 o'clock. I grab my phone and my keys before walking out into the kitchen. I unlock my liquor cabinet and look at the labels on the bottles. I pull out the nearest bottle and pop the top off of it. I take a long swig and discover that I've pulled out the Vodka. I take another deep swig and then lock it back in my liquor cabinet.

I grab my jacket and then slam my front door shut as I step out into the hallway. I lock it tight and then make my way towards the elevator so I can go back to the garage. I tap my foot impatiently as I wait for the elevator and then as I wait for the doors to open up to the garage.

As soon as I'm in the garage, I begin running towards my car. I unlock it quickly and slip into the driver's seat. As soon as the key's in the ignition, I begin driving towards Bellevue. My phone rings and I answer, putting it on speaker as I come to a red light.

"Enjoying your evening?" My blood curdles once again as Talon's voice comes on the other end of the phone.

"You need to make a death wish now, Talon Tenebris cause I swear when I get my hands on you, you aren't going to make it out alive. In fact I'll feed your carcass to a clan of angry wolves, just to make sure there's not even a sliver of hope that you'll come back." I snarl, the venom in my tone burning my lips as the words come tumbling out.

"A carcass is a term used for the dead body of an animal. I am a human in case you haven't noticed." Talon mutters humorously.

"There's no way in heaven or hell that you're human so, quit kidding yourself." I grip the steering wheel tighter as the light changes back to green.

"Gavin, it had to be done...I was doing you a favor and if you'd just let go of her, then we could've moved on with our lives." Talon sounds eerily calm. "But no, you just had to play superhero and go save her."

"You said I could have until the rehearsal dinner and you broke that promise, Talon. You can't sit here and pretend that what just happened was my fault." I shout and veer left towards the hospital.

"I never said it was..." Talon's voice gets cut off by me cursing him out.

"Shut the hell up, Talon. I'm not going to kill her. I'm not going to do what you say anymore because I'm not your puppet. Do whatever you want but remember one thing, I will always be one step ahead of you and if you think for one second that I'm going to let you hurt her then you better think again. I love Victoria and I'm not going to let anything happen to her and I'm not going to let you win. Watch out Talon...You crossed me once and if you ever try something like that again, I will not hesitate to snap your neck in half." I let out a deep breath as I finish my rant and pull into a parking spot in the hospital garage.

"You're not serious, Forrester..." Talon says with, if I'm not mistaken, fear.

"I've never been more serious in my life. I've been controlled by you and forced to kill people for far too long and I'm done. Don't cross me because I'm done hesitating, I will kill you, Talon Tenebris and I will not be sorry." With that I hang up on him and for once, don't feel fear about what he's going to do to me for lashing out at him.