“I could be so much more than that, Bree,” he said as he quickly bent his head and covered her lips with his.

***

“How is dad?” Austin asked as Trenton stepped through the doors.

Chad looked behind him, but the doors shut without Bree following. He stepped forward, wanting to know where she was. He waited for a minute before walking up to Trenton.

“Is Bree staying with your Dad?”

“No, she’s right behind me. She had to use the bathroom. I think she just needed a minute to herself. I wanted to get out here so the next two could go back,” Trenton answered.

“That would be me and Esther,” Joseph said, not giving anyone else a choice. He took Esther’s arm in his and they made their way through the double doors.

“I think we may be having another wedding here pretty soon,” Trenton said as he watched the two of them disappear.

“You may be right,” Lucas said with a smile. “You didn’t say how your dad was.”

“I don’t like seeing him hooked up to those monitors, and he looks too pale, but he’s a fighter. I know he’s going to pull through.”

“That’s what we needed to hear,” Lucas said as he patted Trenton’s back.

Chad continued to watch the door. He was getting a bad feeling in his gut, and if Bree didn’t get out there soon, he was hunting her down.

As he watched the clock, deciding she had five more minutes, the doors opened and Joseph stepped out with Esther at his side. She looked teary eyed, but not as concerned as she’d looked before going in.

Chad waited for Bree to come with them. The doors once again closed with no sign of her.

“Did you see Bree?” Chad asked.

Everyone turned, alerted by his tone.

“No, she wasn’t in the hallway,” Joseph said, his forehead creasing with worry.

“We need to do a search,” Chad commanded, his body on instant alert. No one argued with him. The stalker still hadn’t been caught, and they weren’t taking chances.

“We’ll go through the E.R.” Mark said.

“I’ll alert security and see if they can spot her on the cameras,” Lucas said as he walked to the front desk.

“The rest of you span out. Check all the doors and the parking lot. You all have my number if you find her,” Chad said as he rushed out the front doors. He tried not to panic. She most likely had just stepped outside for fresh air. He knew she couldn’t stand the smell of the hospital. He tried calling her, but in their haste to get to the hospital, she’d left her phone at the ranch.

Chad tried reassuring himself that even if she had gone outside, there was no way for the stalker to know she was there, or be able to kidnap her with security everywhere. If he could shake the bad feeling, he’d feel a whole lot better.

Chapter Seventeen

Bree fought against Charlie as he defiled her lips, trying to access her mouth. She tried to tell him no, and that gave him the opening he was looking for. His tongue snaked out and slipped inside her mouth.

She gagged as he assaulted her. She couldn’t figure out what had gotten into him. His hand crept down her back and gripped her backside, tugging her hard against his body, as he thrust his hips forward, forcing his arousal against her.

“Stop!” she yelled when he released her mouth. She grabbed at his hair, pulling his head so he’d get the clue she didn’t want him kissing her.

“What are you doing?” she demanded.

“I love you, Bree. I always have and always will,” he said as if it were obvious. “I’ve waited so long for you to be ready for a relationship, and then you get knocked up by that complete piece of crap. I can be your husband and raise your child. He isn’t deserving of you. He doesn’t know you like I do,” Charlie said in an impassioned speech.

“Charlie, I don’t know what’s gotten into you, but this isn’t what I want,” she told him.

His eyes darkened in rage and he reached his hand up and slapped her hard across the face. Bree felt fear spike through her as she fought not to black out. Who was this man she thought she knew?

“Do you think you’re too good for me just because I don’t have as much money as your family? I’ve always been there for you, Bree. We just need to get you away from here. I figured if things started happening and you got scared, you’d need me. I could be your savior, rescue you from the crazy stalker,” he said. His eyes were wide as he made his speech. Bree realized he wasn’t exactly stable at that moment.

“Charlie, I’m sorry. You’re right, we really need to sit down and talk. I haven’t been very good to you lately – too self-absorbed,” she said, willing to do anything to get them back in sight of other people. She never should’ve walked off with him.

His shoulders relaxed at her words, but she knew she wasn’t out of danger yet.

“I’m really worried about my father right now, Charlie. Can we stop by and see him, then we can leave and talk about us?” Bree asked in what she hoped was a convincing voice.

“No, we can’t go back in there. If we do, Chad won’t let you leave. Can’t you see how obsessed with you he is?” Charlie asked as he shook her, making sure she was listening to him.

Bree thought that was rich, him calling Chad possessive, when he’d been stalking her, breaking into her home, and had her held against her will at that very moment.

“I know, Charlie. He doesn’t give me time alone, but we can sneak in the back door, and I can peak in on my father. I don’t even have to go in the room with him,” she pled. If she could just get inside the hospital, she could notify security and get away from the psychotic man.

She saw him considering her request, so with her stomach turning at the thought of touching him, she reached her hand up and cupped his cheek, trying to act reassuring that she actually cared about him.

He bent down and kissed her again, and she forced her body not to tense. She was so close to him taking her back. He pulled her tightly against him once more and she fought the tears wanting to fall. If he saw even an inkling of her disgust, he’d never let her in public again.

He pulled away and looked in her eyes, then his narrowed.

“You almost had me fooled. You’re just trying to get away from me. If I take you back in there, you’re going to run away. I know you’ll come to love me, though. I just have to get you away from Chad and everyone else for a while,” Charlie roared.

He grabbed her arm and started leading her around the pond, farther from the hospital. If he got her too far, she knew her chances of survival became slimmer than they already were. She started fighting against him, but he just pulled harder, laughing like he enjoyed her terror.

***

Chad ran through the parking lot of the hospital grounds, searching for any sign of Bree. He checked each car as it passed him, looking for anything unusual. Nothing! It was like she’d disappeared without a trace.

His phone rang.

“Tell me you have good news,” he barked into the mouthpiece.

“Security footage showed she exited the back door about twenty minutes ago,” Trenton said with hesitation. Chad tensed.

“A man met her outside; they chatted for a few minutes, then walked toward the trail at the rear of the hospital. The trail leads down to a serenity pond for visitors. Chad, I saw the footage – it was Charlie. I don’t know if anything is wrong, but I just… I can’t imagine she’d just disappear like that, not with my Dad in here like this…” Trenton trailed off.

Chad changed direction while still holding the phone to his ear.

“How well do you know Charlie?”

“I’ve known him since high school. I don’t… there’s no way… I can’t imagine him being involved in any of this. Maybe, somehow the stalker found out she was here and ambushed them,” Trenton trailed off.

Chad could hear the pain in Trenton’s voice. Trenton didn’t want to admit it, but it looked like they may have found their perpetrator. His stomach turned as he thought about the man with her. He should have done a better background check on him, but he was Trenton’s friend… Chad didn’t have time for excuses. He had to get to Bree. Hopefully, she was just sitting at the pond, visiting with an old friend, but his gut told him that wasn’t the case.

He found the trail and silently ran down it.

“I’m coming out. We’re right behind you,” Trenton said before disconnecting the call. He knew Chad was close and wouldn’t say anything further.

He shouldn’t have let her out of his sight at the hospital. He could’ve escorted them to the room and waited outside. He had many what ifs running through his head, but he knew those didn’t do him any good.

Chad felt his adrenaline kick into high gear as he neared the pond. He heard Bree cry out and his body went into fight mode. He had his answer. She was in danger.

He pulled out his gun as he made his way the last several feet. He spotted Charlie dragging Bree down the trail. It looked like he was leading her to the other side. He must have some sort of exit strategy planned. Charlie underestimated Chad.

Chad hid among the trees as he trailed about fifty yards behind them. He tensed when he noticed the gun in Charlie’s hand. He’d been afraid of that. Chad couldn’t risk Bree getting shot in the heat of battle.

He moved closer as he tried to get a good aim on Charlie. He had no problem shooting the man threatening Bree, but he didn’t want Charlie’s gun to somehow go off and hurt her. Chad needed to get him to point the gun somewhere else.

“Do you want me to shoot you right here?” Charlie cried when she continued to struggle against him.

“Doesn’t that defeat the whole purpose of you wanting us to be together?” she snapped.

“I don’t have to kill you, Bree. I can shoot you in the leg, then throw you over my shoulder. The pain is excruciating, but you’ll be too busy focusing on that to fight me anymore,” he threatened. Chad wanted to beat him to a bloody pulp.

“Just let me go,” Bree begged as a tear fell. That seemed to stop him in his tracks.

“I can’t, you don’t understand. I really do love you.”

“This isn’t love, Charlie,” she sobbed.

“You’ll love me, you will,” he said with determination.

Chad realized the man had completely lost his mind. He somehow thought he could make her love him. When he realized that wasn’t going to happen, he’d have no other choice, at least in his mind, than to kill her. He wouldn’t even care if she was pregnant. Heck, as twisted as he was, he’d probably wait until the baby was born, then kill her and take the child, thinking he’d at least always have a piece of her.

Chad would never let the situation get that far. They weren’t getting out of his sight. He continued to track them, drawing closer as he waited for his chance to strike.

Charlie grabbed her arm again and pulled her close and Bree threw her head back as she twisted away. She turned in Chad’s direction and their eyes locked together. He tried to silently signal her to not give him away, but her eyes softened and her lips turned up in just the barest hint of a relieved smile.