~~~~~~~~~
"Please sign the first and last page and initial that you've read through each of the pages that I've marked."
Kevin Miller looked up from his cell phone a few days later as Kristen's divorce lawyer placed a stack of papers in front of him one afternoon. "What's all this?" He asked, leaning forward to investigate the documents. "Where's Kristen?"
"Mrs. Miller has declined to appear at anymore of these meetings. She has decided to drop all of her previous requests and is granting you sole ownership of any shared property and assets." The older man replied.
"I don't..."Kevin flipped through the pages he was supposed to sign and initial. "I don't understand." He finally said, looking up from the document and meeting the eyes of Kristen's lawyer across the table. "Where's my wife?" He demanded.
"As I just explained," the man replied. "Mrs. Miller will not be coming to anymore of these meetings. She has already signed the documents," he continued. "As you can see. Once you sign the divorce will be finalized." The man pulled a pen from the inside pocket of his suit coat and reached across the table, handing it to Kevin. "Please sign the first and last page and--"
"I heard you the first time." Kevin retorted in anger, refusing the pen. His lawyer put a calming hand on his shoulder but Kevin shrugged it off. What was going on? What was Kristen up to? Why was she suddenly giving up and letting him get his way? This wasn't like her. She'd been fighting with him over this divorce for the last six months and now she was suddenly just giving up? No. Something had happened.
Or someone. A voice in the back of his head interjected.
Kevin's eyes narrowed as he looked down at the paperwork in front of him. His hand fisted tightly as it lay at on the table beside the documents. It's that damn washed up boyband member she's screwing. He thought. He's talked her into this. Somehow he's got her brainwashed to believe that he's the one she wants. She wouldn't have just given up all on her own. He wants her all for himself and he knows this is how he can take her from me. Well I'm not going to let him. He's going to realize he can't always get everything he wants regardless of how much money he has or who he used to be.
"Mr. Miller?"
Kevin looked up as his wife's divorce lawyer interrupted his thoughts--his chest rising and falling rapidly in anger. He glared at the man. "No." Kevin shook his head.
"I'm sorry?" The lawyer asked.
"Kevin?" His lawyer questioned. Kevin turned his eyes to the man who he had hired to help him win this case. A lot of good you've done me. He thought. Damn if I'm paying you anything after this stunt she's pulled. He'd hired the man because he had a reputation for being the shrewdest divorce lawyer in Orlando and what had the man done? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Kristen was walking away. Even though she was giving everything to him, Kevin wasn't satisfied. He had wanted to take it all away--to see the defeat and hopelessness in her eyes--not be given it all willingly. The bitch needed to learn her place. She needed to know that she's not going to win this thing so easily.
"I'm not signing." Kevin stated firmly as he slid the documents back across the table to Kristen's lawyer. "Not until I talk to my wife." He said as he stood.
"Kevin." His lawyer began.
"Mr. Miller." Kristen's lawyer responded. "Mrs. Miller wants to be done with this. She has already signed and made her intentions to end this marriage clear." He slid the papers back across the table towards him. "Please, just sign the papers then we can all leave and you're free to go about your day."
"Not until I talk to her." Kevin repeated. He glanced back and forth between the two lawyers who were looking at each other across the conference table. "Until I talk to her." Kevin said. "Until I see her again. I'm not signing." And with that he turned and stormed out of the room.
~~~~~~~~~~
"I miss you." Chris said later that evening, his voice coming over Kristen's cell phone.
She smiled. "I miss you, too." She acknowledged as she pulled into her apartment complex's parking lot.
"No really." He replied. "I miss you."
"It's only been nine hours." She reminded him with a quiet chuckle. He "humphed" and Kristen could almost see the pout on his handsome face.
"Remind me why you're sleeping at your apartment tonight instead of here with me." He requested.
"Because you need to focus on finishing that CD." She reminded him. "And I'm distracting you by being at your house." Kristen told him as she pulled into her designated parking spot and put her Jeep into park.
"I'll make you waffles in the morning." He offered, as if he hadn't heard her. Kristen laughed.
"The sooner you get that CD done, the sooner I'll come back." She countered. They had talked about this this morning. He had done hardly any work with Mike on the CD they were trying to release because he'd been focused on helping her recover from her broken ankle and subsequent surgery this past week. While Kristen loved being with him twenty-four hours a day, she felt guilty about taking him away from his work so she had made him a deal: as soon as he finished the CD she would move in with him. Until then, she was going to spend the majority of nights at her apartment like she had before her surgery. Though she wondered who was going to be suffering more from this new arrangement, him or her.
"I'll do whatever you want me to do to you." Chris continued, drawing her from her thoughts. "You know I know how you like it." He stated, his voice low and sexy. A shiver ran down her spine at the instant mental image his statement evoked. His masterful and skillful hands and mouth running over her body, the seductive look in his dark eyes as he loved her...
"Damn you." Kristen groaned, closing her eyes and putting her head back against the driver's seat. "No." She stated firmly. "I'm not giving in to you this time."
"You're not?" He questioned.
"No." She repeated, trying to convince both herself and him. She finally turned off the Jeep, grabbed her purse and opened her door.
"I need you, Vanilla." He whined. "You're going to just leave me here to my own devises tonight?"
Kristen chuckled as she got out of her car and shut the door, locking it. "You had me this morning, Kirkpatrick." She reminded him. "You can last a day or two." She assured him as she hobbled towards the sidewalk--she was still getting used to the walking boot the doctor had given her yesterday. She crunched through the gravel and up onto the cement as she walked towards the stairs that would take her to her apartment. She heard a rustle behind her but paid no attention to it as she put her foot up onto the first stair and grabbed for the railing with her free hand-thinking it was one of the many cats that roamed around the complex, sneaking around in the bushes. "Why don't you--"
Her words were suddenly cut off and Kristen left out a muffled scream as someone put a hand over her mouth and grabbed her from behind-roughly pulling her back against them. Her heart began racing and she squirmed, trying to get out of the arms holding her, pulling her backwards. "Let me go!" She yelled, but her response wasn't heard due to the strong hand still clamped over her mouth. She struggled, but the arms holding her only gripped tighter.
"Stop squirming." Her captor demanded harshly. Kristen bit down on the hand covering her mouth--eliciting several harsh curses from her abductor. He turned her around forcefully and backhanded her across the face. Kristen saw stars as the hit caught her off guard. She stumbled slightly and blinked a few times against the tears that formed in response to the pain. She lifted a hand to her throbbing cheek. "Are you going to shut up, or do I need to hit you again?"
Kristen lifted her eyes, but the shadows from the trees and buildings surrounding her masked his face. She opened her mouth to scream--hoping to alert someone to her plight--but her assailant guess at her actions and hit her again before the noise could escape her. Again Kristen stumbled backwards. He attacker followed, taking a step towards her and hit her again. Before the blackness that was threatening overtook her, Kristen thought she head Chris's voice coming faintly over the phone lines.
"Kristen? Kristen!"
~~~~~~~~~
"Kristen? Kristen!" Chris yelled into the phone. "Kristen, answer me! What's going on?" Chris's heart raced as he listened to the sounds coming through the phone--trying to figure out what was going on. One minute she had been talking to him and the next it sounded like she was in the middle of a fist fight. She refused to answer, or maybe couldn't, and Chris got to his feet. He kept the phone pressed against his ear as he grabbed his wallet and keys and hurried towards the garage door. "Kristen, baby, if you can hear me, I'm coming. Hold on. I'm coming." The noise on the other end of the phone quieted as he got into his Escalade. He paused, his hand halfway to putting the keys into the ignition as a low, gruff voice came over the line.
"She's mine." The voice hissed. "She's mine."
The line went dead--the call disconnected. Chris sat in stunned silence for a moment than jumped into action. Throwing the car into reverse he screeched down the driveway. The tires squealed as he reached the street and shifted into drive-his heart racing. "Hang on, Vanilla." He told her, knowing that she couldn't hear him but hoping that God would convey his message to her. "Just hang on." Chris lifted his cell phone that he still held in his right hand and dialed 9-1-1.
"911, what is the nature of your emergency?" The operator answered.
"I need to report a kidnapping in process."
