Desire Ch. 20 - Racing Home

[itztigress3]

Chapter 20 - Racing home
POV: Zac
Word Count: 3669

The trip home was a five hour flight, but it felt like an eternity to me. Getting my luggage and getting to the car felt like it was taking way too long, but the drive to the studio was just as bad. Every slow poke driver in Tulsa was in front of me and every red light caught me, it was like something was trying to prevent me from getting there. My phone went off at the third red-light and I had to check it.

You’re too late Zachary…

I could feel my heart pounding against my rib cage, it couldn’t be true. Emily was fine. She was with Casey. I could not be too late!

You should slow down Zac, you’re already too late. Hour’s too late. Your friend couldn’t stop me, no one can stop me.

I went around the car in front of me; fuck it if they gave me a ticket it was worth it. I had to get to the studio now. I tried calling her phone but it kept going to voicemail and so did Casey’s. I got another picture message and I was honestly afraid to open it. When the next red-light caught me, I could see the studio from here; I picked it up and prayed it wasn’t a bad one. The picture was of the studio door from the inside. Considering no one was coming either direction I just went, red light and all. I parked sideways in front of the building and I only turned the car off because my studio keys were on the same ring. The keys refused to work and I could hear my phone going off. I didn’t need to see anything else, there was something splattered on the inside and the window and when I pulled the door open it was red.

“Emily?” I screamed.

I ran down the hallway, she had said they were in the studio. I screamed her name again at the steps as I descended them. It was so quite. I was headed to the studio door when it opened and she was there. She and I met in the middle and she practically jumped into my arms. Her feet wrapped around me tightly and her arms were around my shoulders tightly. I was sure I was squeezing her too tightly, but she was here and she was ok. I felt the warm tears over my chilly cheeks but I felt the same hot tears against my neck where Emily had her face buried. I held her for a full ten minutes, neither of us moving. I was terrified to ask if she was ok, because I was so afraid she’d been hurt again.

“Zac…” her voice was low, barely heard her.

“Yes?”

“I won’t argue next time you tell me to come with you.”

“Are you ok? Did he hurt you Emily?”

She rose up and looked at me, tears streaked her face and her eyes were red.

“I’m ok. No, he didn’t touch me, baby I didn’t even know he was there.”

“No, I mean after you left the house.”

“No. I haven’t seen anyone.”

“Where is Casey?”

“Asleep on the sofa in the music side, I was sitting in there when I heard you screaming my name.”

She showed no sign of letting me go and when she laid her head back down I decided to go to the mixing room, there was a small sofa there we could sit and talk calmly. We would also see when Casey woke up. I walked to the room and opened the door. But I didn’t enter the room, my gasp caused Emily to rise up, but I pushed her head back down into my neck. I backed out of the room and closed the door. I carried her to the music room and sat down on one of the stools, Casey was out cold on the sofa.

“Did either of you leave the room after you got here?”

She’s sat down on my upper thighs, but still had her head against my shoulder.

“No. When I hung-up I woke him up and told him we needed to leave the house and come here. He didn’t really argue or ask until we were here and I told him you were coming home. He fell asleep here not long after we got here.”

“Why were you upset when I got here? You were already crying.”

“I got message from someone, kept telling me they were going to come and take me and that you wouldn’t make it. The last few showed a car like yours wrecked not far from here. He said you didn’t make it and that it was my fault. The last one caused my phone battery to die. Why did you come in here?”

“Someone’s been in there. Stuff is moved and it looks like red paint was splattered over some things.”

“You mean…someone was in there while we were here? The alarm would have gone off Zac.”

I paused at that, I hadn’t disarmed the alarm coming in; it should be going off right now. I went ahead and called the police then. I woke Casey up and had him sit with Emily while I spoke with the detective. I explained what had happened and she explained what happened. Casey was kind of oblivious and I promised him I would explain when we got back to the house. They had investigators check the sound room, the front door, and the alarm, which had been disarmed but the code used was Isaac’s and I knew he was in New York. We spent all morning answering questions about the messages, the room, and the door. About 12 we went home and Detective Fleming came with us. He checked the house before we were allowed inside and she showed him the box on the table.

“Did you open it or touch it?”

“No. I was on the phone with Zac and he told me to get out of the house, so I woke Casey up and we left. I didn’t touch the box at all.”

He called someone who came up and dusted it, the box had no prints. The investigator opened the box himself. He removed the letter on green paper, bagged it and laid it down flat on the table. He then removed the Styrofoam and carefully opened the two pieces to a snow globe, which he sat on the table.

“Do you recognize the snow globe?” Detective Fleming asked.

Emily walked over. “It looks like the one from El Paso, base is the same style. But the scene is…um…It’s different.”

“How?”

“The figures were different.”

I could see the snow globe and I could see her face. The scene was the same, her old living room but her figure was lying face down in the floor while the other one appeared to be sitting on her thighs. She tried to stop the guy from pressing the button, but he did anyway. There was eerie silence and then a scream; everyone was startled by the scream.

“Oh fuck! That is so tight. I guess Zac never fucked your ass before.”

“Please, stop…”

“Oh no Emily, you were very bad. I wanted to be your first, I was promised your virginity by your father. I have wanted to fuck your ass all week to make up for you just giving it to that cheating bastard.”

There was a pause in the recording, I thought it was over but then another scream came.

“That’s it, scream for me.”

*thud*

“Oh yeah, you deserve this. Letting him fuck you knowing you were mine.”

I looked at Emily whose face had lost most of the color and she was steady but she looked pretty sick. Then I heard someone throw up and turned, realizing it was Casey. Shit! I had forgotten he didn’t know anything about this or what had happened, he excused himself to the bathroom and I cleaned up the small mess quickly. Emily was reading the note and when I was done, I walked over and looked down at it.

  My dearest Emily,

I wish I could see your face when you open my presents. I am sure you love them! Custom globes are not all that cheap but you are worth it.

I wish that I could be there with you, hold you and love you. I miss that you know, having the ability to see you when I want, to see your smile, and see you move.

Of course, I treasure and value the memories made the week we spent together and look forward to our wedding as soon as I am free.

          XOXO

It pissed me off that the bastard can still hurt her while he’s behind bars.

“How can Adam get message like this out of his jail cell?” I asked.

“His visits, calls, and letters are all monitored. He’s not really sent anything like this out, we wouldn’t have mailed it.” Detective Fleming said.

Emily picked up the letter and laid it back down; the technician was repacking the globe and then wrapping the box for evidence purposes. She walked to me.

“I’m going up-stairs, I just…”

“I’ll finish whatever they need. I’ll come up when their finished.”

She walked away and went up the stairs; her movements were not normal, slower and less fluid. The other guy did some additional dusting, mostly on the table and doors and collected a few prints. They left the house at 2:30. Casey was sitting in the living room and I walked to the end of the couch.

“I’m going to check on Emily, she went up-stairs while you were in the bathroom.”

“Zac, what is going on?”

“I will explain to you after I check on her. The powers on and everything should be up so if you want to shower or get lunch or whatever, then go ahead. I know your upset but right now Emily is worse than you.”

He looked at me. “Was that her Zac? Was that your Emily on that recording?”

“Yes.”

He nodded. “I think I will shower.”

He followed me up-stairs but went to his room. Emily had showered and changed clothes but she was sitting in the chair in our bedroom. I kneeled in front of her, got her hands.

“The police are gone. They took the items for evidence and they got copies of the text messages as well.”

“How is Casey?”

“He’s upset, understandably. But, I’m more concerned about you right now.”

She sat there quietly, looking down at our hands which weren’t shaking and she seemed calm. Minutes ticket by and she just stared at our hands.

“You can tell him about what happen, but don’t give him details for that week. I uh, don’t want to hear it again and would like to just sit here while you do that.”

I kissed her hands. “Are you ok? You’ve been rather quite since I got home.”

“I just need some time to process basically. I’ll give you some time to explain things to Casey and then I will come down.”

I kissed her forehead. “It’s ok Emily, you and I are ok and we will get through this.”

She smiled as I got up, it was forced and fake but it was better than nothing. I sat there with her for another 30 minutes before I went downstairs to find Casey, who was standing in the kitchen staring at the sandwich in front of him. He looked up at me.

“So, you live here with Emily?”

“Yeah, we’ve pretty much been inseparable since the divorce was finalized.”

“You are really proving that you are the secretive brother of the bunch. I mean you kept Emily a secret for two years, you kept this a secret for over a year, what else are you hiding?”

“I keep my secrets Casey, so whatever else I am hiding is my own secret.”

“Well, yours and Emily’s.”

“Yeah, she’s quite good at getting secrets out.”

Seeing his sandwich made me realize I was hungry too, so I found tuna and made a quick sandwich and then sat down on the stool.

“Is she ok?”

“Yeah, she’s just down right now. She told me to tell you what happen but she didn’t want to be here and I can’t blame her for that.”

He finally ate his sandwich and I finished mine, once we were done we went to the living room and he sat down with me.

“So, I don’t want to pry, but were you and Emily really dating while you were married to Kate or was that you just shocking them?”

I giggled. “I wasn’t trying to shock them; we really were dating while I was married to Kate. We started dating in March. Things got very strained in October, there was a bad argument between us and we were apart for a bit. During that split I got very sick because I didn’t care about taking care of me.”

“I saw the video where you passed on stage that was Emily that ran to you wasn’t it?”

“Yes.”

He sat there patiently as I told him about what occurred after I came home, her taking care of me and the plan. I then told him what occurred in February to Emily. I didn’t provide details just the basic facts. She came downstairs and went to the kitchen as I was finishing up with what had been occurring more recently with the phone calls, letters, and packages. She sat down in the chair and waited out the last few moments of the story.

He sat quietly for a while letting it process and sink in. “The recording said Zac had never…did he really…son of a bitch I can’t even say it.”

Emily cringed some. “Yes, he did Casey. It was something that we hadn’t done yet and he wanted it to hurt that was whole purpose of everything he did. I mean, I am sure you can image what it felt like.”

“I really cannot image how that felt to you, Emily. Were you really supposed to be with him?”

“According to him it was arranged between my father and him. It’s complicated. In any event I won’t be marrying him, I moved on or I tried too. Zachary and I didn’t mean to exclude you or make you feel used.” Emily said.

“Oh no, I didn’t feel that way. Admittedly when you call the police and I saw the paint all over the room I wondered what was going on. I thought at first just a prank, but then that snow globe. That was no prank that was deliberate.”

“The paint meant that he was in the studio watching us, because the window there doesn’t show the other room. We had no idea he was even there. The alarm back-up was disconnected so it was never even on. The paint was obviously to scare Zac, since he sent him message saying he was too late.”

“He then sent her message of a wreck and scared her.”

He sat back. “So, my dear friend’s fiancé is being stalked and he’s paranoid, understandable.”

“The problem is that Adam is in jail still, but the messages are from him. Memories he would have, things he would say. It’s obvious he’s not sending them though.”

“It would have to be someone he trusts as a friend. He’s obsessed with you Emily, he believes in his mind you’re his. Whoever is doing this is someone he trusts because he wouldn’t send just anyone to watch you.” Casey said.

Emily and I looked at him. “We never thought of friends.” I said.

“I didn’t meet any of his friends; he was always alone when he came over. “ Emily said.

He looked at Emily. “Are you ok though? You seemed very upset earlier.”

She seemed to consider that question for several moments. “Yes. It just really kind of hit home when Zac sent the pictures to me that he got. Up until then it was just notes and packages, phone calls but that was nothing I couldn’t handle. But knowing someone was standing a few feet from me and then there was just too much.”

“Well, I doubt you have much to worry about with Zac home. I saw what Paul looked liked.”

I smiled. “He shouldn’t have been in there.”

“So, what now?” Casey asked.

“Nothing much really, police are done and I guess I need to get to the studio and check everything. Someone will need to pick up the other two when they land.”

“How about I stay tonight too, I’ll pick them up at the airport and take them wherever they want to go. That way you don’t have to leave her alone. The three of us can check the studio real quick and then maybe just downtime for today. I know Emily is tired and you look tired too.”

“That’s fine.”

“Fine with me.” Emily said.

The three of us returned to the studio and checked wires, computers, made sure nothing was missing and cleaned the fingerprint dust away. The paint was easy to get off some surfaces, but the walls, furniture, and the floor was hopeless. It wasn’t going to come out. Casey left at 5:50 to head to the airport to pick up my brothers and Emily and I were in our office.

“Emily?”

She looked up from the desk; she’d been staring at the same spot for well over an hour. “Yes?”

“You’re not acting like your ok.”

She sat there a few minutes before getting up and coming to me, she straddled my lap and sat down; laid her head on my shoulder and I put my arms around her.  It wasn’t long before she completely broke down; I knew she’d been holding it back all day. I held her tightly and she finally rose up.

“It didn’t occur to me until we were back home and they played the globe that he was inside the house a few feet from me. I was so insistent that I be left alone what if Casey wasn’t there Zac? Would he have simply taken pictures and left?”

“You know I can’t answer that.”

“You don’t have too. The odds that he would have simply taken pictures of me and left are slim. I never even knew the man was standing that close to me, never knew he was in the house. I had no idea he was even at the studio or how long he was there.”

“You shouldn’t have to worry about that Emily. If the power had been on then he wouldn’t have gotten inside either place. We will figure this out I promise. But until we do I really think you shouldn’t walk alone to the studio or home and you should stay near someone else. Just until we figure out who it is.”

“I called Craig earlier with the number and forwarded the pictures. He said he was going to ask Christopher if Adam had friends.”

“Isn’t he currently at Christopher’s house?”

“Yes. They think I’m stupid but I am fairly certain there together or at least having sex.”

“I am sure that’s weird to you.”

“Not really, I knew Craig was gay and I know Christopher is too. So, it’s not weird.”

I smiled at her, wiped her face off. “Let’s go home, fix some dinner and then we can go to bed. You look very tired and I know I am.”

She got up and we locked the studio up, reset the primary alarm and went home. I cooked dinner and Casey came in just before I was done. We sat at the table and talked idly about music or sports, whatever wasn’t what happened earlier. I showered before bed and contacted Tay and Ike about the paint and the problems; we decided to worry about it later. We sat up until about eight thirty and then everyone called it a night. I secured the doors and windows myself and then turned the alarm on high. I said goodnight to Casey on my way to the bedroom. I stripped down when I got to the bedroom and laid down.

“I figured you’d wear sleep pants at least.”

I pulled her close to me. “Not when I know you need to be held, that you need to feel safe. Casey won’t come in here during the night unless he has too.”

“He’s nice. I may steal him as your best friend though.”

I kissed her forehead. “Good Night Ems, you’re safe and you know it.”

She curled up tighter and purred some. “I know. Good night baby.”

She was asleep within moments and I was not far behind her.

*~*~*~ Casey *~*~*~

I watched Zac as he briefly went down the hallway after saying goodnight. I then closed the bedroom door and went to the bathroom to brush my teeth. Afterwards I stripped to boxers and lay down on the queen size bed. Zac was a powerhouse when it came to protecting her, watching him take control of the situation and calm her down was something I admired in him. At Carrick’s retreat when he had beaten Paul for simply touching her it was a side of him I’d never seen. He’d always been passive and shy.

I really wanted to ask Emily about their personal life but not once had she brought up anything that would give me the chance so I didn’t say anything. I would simply have to deal with the fact that Zac was straight and he wouldn’t want to be with me in any way. But, I was glad he was with Emily. She seemed to truly love him and she respected him, even if she also picked at him.

I finally fell asleep with thoughts of Zac and Emily floating through my mind.