~ Chapter Nineteen ~
Michelle
“God, I do not want to go in here,” I whispered under my breath. I stood outside of the hotel where the Williams & Brodsky banquet was being held. It was an hour before the guests were due to arrive. I needed to be there to ensure setup was going well. Nancy was scheduled to arrive a little later on, though she wouldn’t be staying the whole evening. This event rested entirely on my shoulders, and that knowledge made me sick to my stomach.
Let’s get this over with, I told myself, picking up my feet and placing one in front of the other until I made it through the doors to the hotel’s lobby. I went straight for the banquet hall where the event was to be held. I entered and my breath hitched. Despite my hating the occasion of this event, I will admit that the setup looked beautiful. The room lighting had been lowered, and overhead, the hotel had strung a series of lights. It gave the room an intimate feel without it being too dark. Across the room circular tables were covered in red tablecloths with beautiful bouquets of red roses in gold vases as the centerpieces. The long-back chairs were covered in white chair covers, with a red stripe running down the centers. At the front, a podium had been set up for the speakers that would give speeches throughout the night.
“Oh good, you’re here.”
I turned to the now familiar voice and smiled, greeting Ariel, the hotel’s assistant manager.
“What do you think?”
“It’s gorgeous. Exactly what I’d envisioned.”
She let out a sigh of relief. “Good.”
“We need to go over the security detail, and the itinerary one more time. I want to make sure everything is on schedule tonight.”
She nodded. “Right.”
We got to work reviewing the schedule. I even went into the hotel’s kitchen to talk with the head chef for the evening to ensure he had enough hors d'oeuvres, main dish options, and desserts. This night had to go off smoothly, because I had no doubt that Gabriel would blame me if it didn’t, and with his irrational behavior I had no idea how he’d respond. Ever since that day in his office, he had been calling day and night. Sometimes he would say he was calling to check up on how the event was going. But I knew that was bullshit since most of the time he was calling well after nine o’clock at night. He was checking up to make sure I was following his orders. Making sure that I was keeping my distance from Carter.
And there went that pang of guilt, anger, and pain I felt in my abdomen whenever I thought about Carter. I don’t know what hurt worse ― remembering the expression on his face when he left my door that night, or realizing that, that had actually been the last time I’d heard from him. He hadn’t made any attempt at contacting me since. And while I should’ve been grateful, it hurt like the hell to think that maybe he really had given up on me. On us.
“Michelle.”
I cringed at the sound of my name on Gabriel’s lips. I turned and another bout of guilt ran through my belly. Standing next to Gabriel was his wife, Marcia. Her green eyes wrinkled at the edges as she smiled, graciously.
“Please meet my wife, Marcia. Sweetie,” Gabriel turned to his wife, “this is the wonderful event planner I told you about. She put this event together for Williams & Brodsky. With my help of course,” he added, confidently, tugging at the lapel of his tuxedo.
Marcia’s smile widened and I just wanted the ground to swallow me whole.
“Pleasure to meet you. It certainly is lovely in here,” she stated, looking around.
“Thank you, Mrs. Garcia. Nothing but the best for our clients at Save the Date Event Planners. If you’ll excuse me.” I nodded before glancing over at Gabriel who was giving me a smirking look. My stomach roiled and I quickly pivoted to head toward the entrance to ensure that those entering were being directed to the right direction.
“Hey, girl.” Natoi waved once I reached the front door of the hotel. She was just one of the other employees who were also working this event with me.
“Hey, can you do me a favor? Take one of the walkie-talkies and just check inside the banquet hall and make sure everyone is getting to their tables.”
“I thought you wanted me out here?” She tilted her head, giving me a funny look.
I had just asked her to stand out here to greet the guests and direct them to the banquet room, but I’d changed my mind. I did not want to be in the same room as Gabriel and his wife. I needed to be as far from them as possible.
“I changed my mind,” I told her.
She furrowed her brows but when I didn’t respond any further, she shrugged and went inside the hotel to do as asked. I pushed out a breath, but as soon as I lifted my head my eyes crashed into a pair of glowering hazel eyes. Shock ricocheted through my body as I recognized Aaron. My heart began to flutter as I panicked, wondering if he was alone or if he was accompanied by his family. I’d forgotten that there was a listing for Townsend Industries on the invitee list. I hadn’t thought the actual CEO would show up but he had.
Aaron’s eyes narrowed upon recognition. Strangely enough, I didn’t take any offense to it. This had been the third or fourth time we’d met and I realized by then that glaring was his everyday expression. He looked at just about everyone the same way. He tilted his head in my direction but didn’t speak as he passed by, a woman at his side.
I watched as he let his hand rest at the lower part of her back, but his profile was still a hard mask. The woman, on the other hand, seemed to gaze up at him with stars in her eyes. She said something and giggled, loudly. I briefly wondered if she was the woman his mother had alluded to him falling for on Family Day. For his part, Aaron’s face tightened. He leaned down, saying something only low enough for the long-haired brunette to hear and immediately her disposition changed. Her giggling ceased and she stood erect as they passed through the doors. I wasn’t even going to try and figure out what that was all about. I almost felt sorry for the woman. Aaron wasn’t my particular idea of a fun date. His brother, on the other hand–
I wouldn’t let myself even go there. I had a job to do and then I could go home and feel sorry for myself.
I smoothed down the edges of my plain black dress, which stopped just above my knees, and focused on welcoming the incoming guests. Once it reached seven o’clock, I went inside to make sure all the guests were seated and preparing for the food to be served. During the dinner, there were a series of speakers from the law firm who discussed the early days of the firm, and the good work the firm had been doing not only for its clients but in the communities of Williamsport. It all sounded like a bunch of upper echelon guys congratulating themselves for doling out pennies to those who were less off. Either that or I was just feeling skeptical and bitter once I heard Gabriel discussing the great pro bono work he’d done during his tenure at the firm. I rolled my eyes and went to make my way to the restroom. I did not need to be present for that part of the evening.
I exited the banquet hall, but not before telling Natoi where I was going and informing her that I had my walkie-talkie if she needed me for anything. I walked down the long hall, my heels clacking against the granite floors of the hotel. I took longer than I needed in the restroom, taking in a few deep breaths and waiting long enough until I was sure Gabriel’s speech was over. The sound of his voice made me want to vomit all over his expensive tuxedo. I was even more determined to meet with the attorney I had scheduled an appointment with the following week. I was tired of Gabriel holding Diego over me and his attempts to control my life.
“Ah, there you are, mi corazón.”
My face immediately morphed into a scowl. I turned to see a haughty looking Gabriel, one hand in his pocket smiling.
“You missed my speech.”
“Not all of it, unfortunately,” I retorted.
He lifted an eyebrow. “How about I give you the private version later on tonight, in my suite?”
Revulsion nearly caused me to double over. Somehow I managed to remain upright. “No, thanks.” I waved my hand in his direction.
“Easy, Michelle. You might not want to piss me off. Your job could still hang in the balance.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Gabriel, I’m sick of your threats!” I hissed at him in a whispered voice.
“What else are you sick of? Hmm. Sick of taking care of our son? Is the stress of motherhood getting to you the same way it obviously got to your mother? The apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree, does it? And we both know, no judge in their right mind would grant anyone like you full custody, over me.”
“And what would Marcia think of all of this?”
“My wife does what I tell her to do,” he growled. “Just like you! You don’t like it? I don’t give a shit.”
“I fucking hate you!” I had never regretted meeting him more than I did in that moment. I moved to go around him and stopped short when I saw the man who stood only a few feet behind Gabriel. “Aaron,” his name fell from my lips on a surprised gasp.
“Mr. Townsend,” Gabriel stated from behind me.
Aaron didn’t respond to either of us. He simply glared at me before his eyes slowly moved over my shoulder to Gabriel. Had he overheard our entire conversation? What was he thinking? Would he go back and tell Carter what he’d heard? The questions in my mind continued but it was obvious Aaron Townsend wasn’t about to answer any of them.
He simply stepped to the side, giving me room to pass, nodding his head slightly and saying, “Michelle.”
It was his way of dismissing me, and I gladly obliged. I absolutely was in no mood to be in either man’s presence. I was sure whatever Aaron had heard wouldn’t endear him to me any further. The last time he’d caught me in a rather awkward position while I was working an event, he’d tried to have me fired. Now, I didn’t have Carter to stand up to him in my defense. My life was obviously a mess. All due to my poor decisions. I couldn’t wait until this damn banquet ended so I could get the hell out of there and lick my wounds in peace.
****
Carter
I pulled my phone out of my pocket again, checking to see if I had any missed messages from Andy. I’d called him three days prior after Diego’s visit to look up whatever information he could find Gabriel Garcia. I needed to get all of my facts lined up before I confronted either Michelle or this Gabriel.
“Fuck!” I swore at seeing a blank screen yet again. Just as I was pushing my phone back in my pocket, it began buzzing. I looked at the name of the caller and frowned. “Aaron?”
“I need to talk to you.”
That was Aaron. Straight to the point. No time for niceties or pleasantries. But then again, at that moment, neither did I.
“About what?”
“Michelle.”
My grip on the phone tightened.
“What about Michelle?” My voice was dangerously low.
“I was at a banquet dinner for Williams & Brodsky.”
“The law firm?”
“Yeah, Townsend does some business with them. Her company was hired to do the event.”
I nodded, listening, and the more he talked the more my anger grew. Apparently, he’d walked in on a private conversation between Michelle and one of the partners at the law firm.
“What was the name of this guy?”
“Garcia. Gabriel Garcia.”
Recognition of the name filled my memory. Aaron hadn’t overheard everything that’d transpired between Michelle but he’d heard enough to know Garcia was threatening her.
“Thought you’d want to handle it.”
My brother knew me so well. I even heard the menace in his own voice. Aaron might be a prick, but as I’d told Michelle, his loyalty knew no bounds. He was just as ruthless at protecting those in his inner-circle as he was in business.
“I need you to do me a favor.”
I heard him sigh on the other end right before he said, “Tell me.”
I gave Aaron instructions on who I needed him to contact. Since Andy was taking too long to come through, I’d have Aaron use the high-class, private security firm that guarded the Townsend empire. They could get information on just about anyone in the world, overnight. I almost kicked my own ass for not choosing this route first.
“I’ll be by in a little bit,” I told Aaron before ending the phone call.
“Captain, I need to leave early,” I stated at the same time I tapped on the Captain’s door to his office.
His dark head popped up from the paperwork in front of him and he frowned at me. “You’ve got three more hours on your shift, Townsend. Sean’s out for the day so I’m already a man down for this shift. The hell you need to leave early for?”
“It’s personal.” I crossed my arms over my chest.
He shook his head firmly. “No can do–” He stopped, eyes rolling upward just as the bell rang and a call came in on the station’s loudspeakers. “See, we gotta go,” he stated firmly, standing.
I wasn’t about to argue. Instead, I pushed aside my displeasure of having to wait until later that day or that night to meet up with Aaron and our security firm. As much as I needed to find out what was going on with Michelle and this Gabriel Garcia, it would have to wait.
****
I’ve got a bad feeling about this one. Those were my thoughts as soon as our rig pulled up in front of the row home. The third home in was on fire and that presented the risk of engulfing the surrounding homes. Rescue Four was the first on the scene.
“Anyone inside?” Captain Waverly asked the police officers who’d arrived first at the scene.
“Got an anonymous tip that said there was a woman and two kids inside.”
A boulder felt like it’d settled in my stomach. I made eye contact with Don, who was now scowling having overheard the officer’s words.
“A fucking tip?” Don questioned.
The officer nodded. “Yeah, caller said there was a house on fire and a woman and her kids were inside, then hung up.”
This didn’t sound right at all.
“We need to get inside,” Captain stated.
By then Corey, myself, and Don were all moving to the back of the truck, picking up our gear.
“I need to remain out here to direct the next truck when it arrives,” Captain informed us, but we were already aware of that.
“We can move a line in on the front door. We’ll need to check downstairs, too. All of these homes have basements,” I stated. I glanced over my shoulder to see Corey right behind me and Don close to him. I nodded and we all lowered our masks to cover our faces and began making our way to the door. I held the nozzle of the hose in my hand and pulled it along with each step. Even though water wasn’t flowing through the hose just yet, it was still heavy.
I touched the door handle and it felt warm to the touch but not too hot. I twisted and to my surprise the door easily opened. A nagging feeling moved down my spine. One that I didn’t like.
“Stay on my ass!” I told Corey and Don behind me. Both men nodded.
We pushed through the door and the entire first floor was engulfed in thick, black smoke. It was damn near impossible to make out even a few inches in front of me, let alone a few feet. I had to resort to feeling around for the layout of the house. If this was anything like the previous fires where there were a mother and her children, they would likely be upstairs in one of the bedrooms.
“The stairs!” I yelled through my mask. I felt a tap on my shoulder, letting me know they’d heard me and were following. Using my free hand as my eyes, I felt along the wall of the living room until I reached what felt like a bannister. Moving my hand upwards and taking a step in front of me, I realized I had reached the staircase. I didn’t waste any time as I rushed up the stairs, tugging the nozzle of the firehose, hearing the loud footsteps of the two guys behind me.
“Fire department!” I yelled as we ascended. “Anybody in here! Call out!” I continued to repeat, along with Don and Corey.
We reached the top of the stairs and I turned right while I directed Corey to go left. There were closed doors in either direction. It looked like at least two bedrooms and possibly a bathroom that needed to be checked. Don made his way to the bathroom that was close to the entrance of the stairway.
“Shit!” he cursed when flames shot out of the door. “Anything that’s in there isn’t making it out,” he informed solemnly, shutting the door.
I glanced up, seeing fire blaze across the wooden beams of the house. We needed to make this quick as I didn’t know how long we had until the entire roof collapsed.
“Fire department!” I yelled again, banging on the door to my right. It was unlocked and I pushed through, glad to see flames weren’t waiting on the other side of this door. It was filled with smoke, however. I searched the room, again using my hands as guideposts.
“Rescue Four, I think I go–AHH!”
I stood. “Corey! Come in! Rescue Four to Corey!” I immediately backtracked out of the room I’d just been in to head down the hall in the opposite direction where Corey had gone. The yell he’d just let out into our intercom had made every hair on my body stand on end.
“Don! Where’s Corey?” I questioned when my hand in front of me hit Don’s shoulder.
“He entered the second room on the left. Corey!” Don called as we ran down the hallway.
We reached the door at the same time, and to my horror, I could make out Corey sprawled on the floor.
“Rescue Four to the captain. Come in! Rescue Four to Captain Waverly!” I yelled into the intercom.
“Captain Waverly to Rescue Four.”
“Cap, Corey’s hurt.” I paused, looking up and seeing where the wooden beam that now rested on top of Corey’s right leg had fallen from. “Beam fell on him.”
“Is he conscious?”
“Corey!” I yelled. “Corey?” I yelled again, wiping soot and dust from the beam off his face mask. His eyes were closed. I moved my hand lower to feel for a pulse. I sent up a quick thank you when I felt his heartbeat in his carotid artery.
“Shit! Don, we gotta get him out of here,” I yelled to Don. The flames were crackling even more and another piece of the roof fell. I dove on top of Corey to keep him covered from anymore falling debris. When I pulled back I realized what bad shape he was in. Though he was alive now, he might not make it much longer.
Don rounded Corey’s body and attempted to push the beam from off him. A painful grunt came from Corey, revealing that he was in and out of consciousness.
“You lift, while I’ll pull him out,” I instructed to Don.
He nodded and on my count he began lifting while I pulled Corey from under the beam. It felt like it took fucking forever to get it done, but somehow we managed to pull him free from the beam. That was only half of the task we had to accomplish.
“Shit!” Don growled when he looked down. “He’s bleeding all over the place. Beam must’ve been putting pressure on that wound.”
“Fuck! We gotta get the fuck outta here.” I didn’t have time to relay the message back to the captain outside. Corey’s life still hung dangerously in the balance. Somehow a portion of the beam had penetrated the fire resistant uniform he wore and ripped right through Corey’s right leg.
“I’ll grab his upper body, you grab the lower half,” I directed Don who didn’t need me to finish before he was hoisting Corey’s lower half in his arms. Carefully, but as quickly as possible, we made our way down the hallway, backtracking to the stairs. We descended the stairs with me going down backwards, keeping an eye on the flames. It felt like it took hours just for us to reach the front door.
“Medic!” I yelled at the top of my lungs once we reached the bottom stair. Seconds later, two paramedics were by our side with their gurney. Don and I raised Corey’s body onto the gurney. By then, he was moaning but his eyes were still closed. It wasn’t until the paramedics rushed off, wheeling him to the ambulance, did I look down and see both my and Don’s gear were covered in blood. We realized it at the same time, our eyes meeting one another’s in horror as the knowledge that we were soaked in Corey’s blood.
“What the hell happened?” Captain Waverly asked, looking between us.
I didn’t pay him any attention. “We gotta get to the hospital,” I stated, feeling numb. We had to find out what was going on with Corey.
“Not yet.” Captain stopped me with a hand on my chest.
I went to slap his hand away.
“Corey is being helped by the people who can help him. We have a job to do here still,” Captain’s firm voice stated, penetrating my numbness.
My eyes collided with his. I could see the tension in the tightness around his eyes. He wanted to check on Corey just as badly as I did but he was right. The house we’d just come out of was still in flames and threatened the surrounding homes. We had a job to do.
I turned back to Don, who nodded at me and was again lifting the hose, preparing to enter the house. I followed, grabbing the hose behind him. Another fire squad arrived and moved a second hose line in. Together we put out the flames. The whole time I wondered why other beams weren’t falling. If one had been weakened to the point that it’d fallen on Corey, surely more were just as weak. But the rest of the roof held firm, as we put out the fire.
Once it was put out, we had to do a quick inspection and to my surprise there was no one else in the house. It was completely empty. As we stood examining the room where Corey had been injured, I looked over at Don to see him taking pictures of both the roof and the beam on the floor with his phone.
“We gotta go,” I told him. I was anxious to get to the hospital.
“Let’s go,” He moved past me out of the room, leaving me to trail behind him.
I took one last look at the room, and that same nagging feeling that’d been riding me since we arrived at this scene continued to gnaw at my gut.