Page 45 of Dangerous Kiss
Was Stella okay? What about Rich? How had the day gone from such joy to such horror?
Biba closed her eyes, feeling helpless. What the fuck was wrong with people?
She slept, fitfully at first, but then she sunk into a deep restful slumber, waking to bright sunshine which hurt her eyes, and a familiar hand held hers.
“Snooks?”
His voice made her relax; his nickname made her smile. “Cos…”
“Thank God, you’re okay, baby. It’s going to be okay.” His green eyes were full of pain.
She reached out and stroked his cheek. “I’m okay. Stella?”
Cosimo seemed to struggle for a moment. “He took her. The FBI and the police have instigated a manhunt.”
“God.” Biba tried again to sit up again, and Cosimo helped her into position. Biba touched the heavy dressing on her abdomen. “How bad is it?”
“It could have been a lot worse. No major organs, but your artery was damaged. They’ve grafted it and seem confident you will recover quickly, but you’ll need some more blood transfusions.”
Cosimo told her all of this as if reciting what the doctors had told him gave him hope. Biba nodded.
“I honestly don’t feel bad. A little pain.”
Cosimo put the clicker in her hand. “Press this for the morphine.” He let out a shaky breath. “Christ, Biba, when I saw you covered in blood, that knife sticking out of you…I thought I’d lost you.”
“I’m still here.” Biba reached out to tilt his chin up, make him look her in the eye. “Rich?”
She saw the grief in his eyes and moaned “Oh, no…” as Cosimo told her that Rich didn’t make it. “Not Rich…God,Cos…” She began to weep, and he cradled her in his arms.
As her sobs slowed to a whimper, a doctor came in to see them. Biba could see the woman studying her for signs of pain or distress. She wiped her eyes. “I’m okay, Doc, just…a friend died.”
“Mr. Furlough? I know. I’m so sorry for your loss. How are you feeling this morning, relatively speaking?”
Biba nodded. “Actually okay…more tired than anything.”
The doctor made her lie back while she undid Biba’s dressings and examined her wounds. Biba saw the jagged incisions and stitches on her belly; Cosimo turned away, looking sickened and angry at the same time. The doctor inspected the wounds. “We managed to repair the damage easily—no organ damage, which was the main concern. No signs of infection, which is good. The tiredness you’re experiencing is because of the blood loss and trauma. You were a little anemic to start with—did you know that?”
Biba shook her head. “I didn’t.”
“Well, we’re going to keep you in for a couple of days, and then you can go home to recover.”
Biba was surprised. “So quickly?”
“You were very lucky. I’ll check back with you later.”
Both Biba and Cosimo thanked her, then Cosimo returned to sit by her. “You’ll be staying in my hotel suite while you recover. Obviously, production has been shut down on the movie; we can’t make it without Stella.”
“God, I hope she’s okay.”
Cosimo shook his head. “I just pray we find her before that psycho does something stupid.”
Stella wasn’t nearly close to being okay. Her abductor had raged at her for ‘making me hurt those people, making me kill that girl’ as he had driven her away into the night, and she had cringed away from his terrifying wrath. At least he had tossed her a blanket to cover herself, and she wrapped it tightly around her body. It saved her modesty but didn’t protect much from the biting cold.
“Where are you taking me?”
He didn’t answer. He wore a black balaclava, and bizarrely, she had noticed his bright blue eyes—too blue.Contacts? His voice was disguised, too. He was hiding.
Stella felt sick. When she watched him stab Biba so mercilessly, watched her assistant—herfriend—collapse, blood-soaked, Stella had frozen, not believing what she was seeing.Oh Biba, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.Stella wondered if she was dead.
