Total pages in book: 43
Estimated words: 40546 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 203(@200wpm)___ 162(@250wpm)___ 135(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 40546 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 203(@200wpm)___ 162(@250wpm)___ 135(@300wpm)
“Your Daddy is… not available now.”
“You didn’t hurt him, did you?”
“He decided you weren’t worth the trouble. I explained to him all your sins and he left. He won’t come back.”
Gabriela’s head spun with frantic thoughts. What had this man done to Kole? She grabbed at something to keep him occupied. Why had security even allowed him to be there? “What do you do on the movie set?”
“I work in personnel. I have access to all your records. I know your bank account number, your measurements, your address, everything in your file.”
Horrified that the studio employed this man and gave him access to all her personal information, Gabriela missed him moving forward. When she looked up, he loomed in front of her, giving her the perfect view of his face. It was the man who’d accosted her downtown weeks ago.
She cowered back against the shelves behind her, blindly tucking PupPup into what she hoped was a safe spot. Her fingers brushed a metallic handle. Feeling along the shaft, she deduced it must be an umbrella. Maybe she could hold him away with that.
A movement caught her eye. She tried not to show any reaction at seeing Kole covered with blood, steadying himself against the shelving. He put his finger on his lips and crept closer.
“Is that goon of yours behind me? I guess this time, I’ll have to kill him.”
The man whirled around and moved faster than Gabriela would have ever believed possible. Striking with a vengeance, he lashed out with his cane. She heard the thud as he hit Kole’s hard body.
“Sarah! Call the police,” she yelled. Without thinking of running, Gabriela pulled the umbrella from its storage spot and ran behind the man. Striking him repeatedly over the head with the implement, she tried to give Kole time to fend him off.
Wham!
Staggering back, the man slammed into a rack of formal wear. His head fell back to strike the metal frame. Like the villain in a cartoon, his eyes rolled back in his head as he slid down the support to crumple on the floor.
Frozen in place, Gabriela watched him carefully for any sign of consciousness. Kole didn’t hesitate. Pulling a belt off a hanger, he secured the man’s hands and knotted his shoelaces together. Only then did he sit heavily on the concrete.
Darting to his side, she dropped to her knees before cupping his bloodied face. “Kole! You’re covered in blood. Are you okay?”
“I deserve the stitches that head wound will earn me. I allowed myself to be distracted by a bee buzzing around. As I tried to avoid getting stung, he snuck up behind me and whacked me with something. My head says it was heavy. It must have been a lucky blow. It completely knocked me out.”
He lifted a hand and felt the back of his head. “I’ll tell them to use staples.”
“How bad is it?” She stood to look around and gasped. “We need to get you to a hospital. Give me your phone.”
“Are you calling security? Because we need to deal with that first.”
“The police are on the way.” Sarah’s shocked voice came from behind them. She spoke to the dispatch person who had kept her on the line and requested an ambulance as well.
“Are you okay?” Sarah asked a couple of seconds later, studying the scene in front of her.
“I’m fine,” Kole answered.
“He’s not fine. He’s covered with blood and can barely balance himself to walk. How did you even have the power to land that cross shot?”
“That was an upper cut, Gabby girl. We need to work on your boxing skills,” Kole said, trying to be funny.
She hated the sound of his usually powerful voice shaking with more than just laughter. Gabby grabbed a shirt from the nearest shelf and wiped off his face. The blood kept oozing from the wound.
“Put pressure on it, Gabby. That will keep it from bleeding.” He waited until she followed his instructions. “Thank you, sweetheart.”
The sound of sirens grew. Sarah told the dispatcher they were close and listened to her response before adding, “I’ll go let them in.”
CHAPTER 18
In the following months, a judge sent Gunther Hamilton to a mental health institution for evaluation. The police officer handling her case told Gabriela that he would spend the rest of his probation there before transitioning back to his home. Unable to share much, he’d hinted that the man who’d attacked her had restarted the medication he’d stopped taking months ago. Of course, the studio had rushed to tell her they had not been aware of his violent tendencies, nor had he ever treated anyone with anything but respect.
What they didn’t know was Gabriela and Kole knew what had triggered Gunther’s conduct. Assigned to the set of a Daddydom romance, Gunther had not been able to handle the memories of his lost Little girl. Each day that Gabriela made the character come to life was another stab of heart-wrenching memories.