The Corporate Raider part 4
by Denise Mayes
"Excuse me?"
"Yes, what do you want?" The man said angrily towards the woman.
"Hi, I'm Salina, I work with your ex-girllfriend."
"Really?" The man said, turning around with an evil glint in his eyes.
"Yes, so what are you going to do? I mean considering a timid little rabbit just rejected you, I'm sure you want to get even."
"I take it you don't like her? That's unusual."
"This isn't about me, it's about you. You know you won't be able to get to her when she is in the building?"
"Why not?"
"Because the minute you left a signal was sent to the guards to not let you back in the building."
"But, I could get back in if someone helped me?"
"Yes, maybe."
"Okay, what do you want for your help, should I need it?"
"Just that she'll be out of the picture, one way or the other, I don't care what you do to acheive that, I just want her out of this company, and out of Ms. Madison's life."
"Well, I'm not going to kill her, as long as she doesn't force me too, but I can guarantee that she will quit. She may even sign herself into a mental hospital with a breakdown."
"That will be perfect, Alex would not want a mental case like that working for her, she wouldn't even want her around. Great! Okay, Here, this is my messager number. When and if you need my help just let me know, alright?"
"Okay, thanks, I'll be in touch, and who knows? Maybe you and I can hook some things up together?"
"Well let's just deal with one thing at a time right now. I have to go, but let me know what you need?" Salina then turned and headed back to the building. She went inside and up to her office.
The meeting had ended and Taylor was seeing the men out. Alex had picked up the phone and made a few calls, and by the time the girl returned, she was just hanging up from the last one.
"Sit down." Taylor closed the door and sat down as she had been told to do. She waited for the woman to talk.
"You can't go back to your townhouse."
"What? What are you talking about, I have to go back to my home." She blurted out.
"Be quiet and listen. He will not just let you break up with him, his family is not the type to just go away quietly. He'll beg you to come back to him, and for about a week, he will be as sweet as pie to you. Then he'll offer you an engagement ring, thereby ensuring you will not leave him again. After that the abuse will start, and you will be stuck, because he will let you know in no uncertain terms who he really is, and what his goal is. He chose you to be his girlfriend for a specific reason, you were shy, meek, and humble, yet honest. You're very loyal, and not the type to ask a lot of
questions, which is perfect for the type of business he's in. You would be the ever faithful, little housewife, while he on the other hand would be out philandering all over the place if you know what I mean?"
"He wouldn't hurt me." Taylor said, trying to hold on to some semblance of believing she knew the man, at least in that respect.
"Why wouldn't he? When he shows up at your house tomorrow, and believe me, he will if he's anything like his father. If you're there to greet him and tell him again that you two can't be together anymore, the first thing he will want to do is convince you that you're making a mistake. If you don't go for the verbal, then he will resort to physical means to convince you. If you're still capable of refusing him, well then he will just make you disappear, and it will look as if you just up and left. Are you understanding the type of man your involved with yet?"
The girl was trying not to cry, but it just did not work, and she buried her head in her hands.
"Do you have a place where you can go and stay?"
"My grandmother."
"Does he know anything about her other than that she's your grandmother?"
"No, I never talked to him about her. We had only been together for about four months or so, not including these last ones when he was out of town."
"Good, but I don't think you should go there to stay, plus I would worry about something happening to you and your grandmother."
"Then I could stay at a hotel or someplace like that?"
"No, he'll most likely have people out looking for you in those types of places."
"Then I don't know."
"I do, if your willing?"
"What?"
"Come and stay with me at my place. It's well secured, plus he doesn't have any idea as to where I live. Even if he was smart enough to figure out that your staying with me."
"I don't know, I mean you said you didn't want all of that around your business, why in the world would you risk it coming right to your front door?"
"Because I don't consider it a risk. Plus you chose the way I'd hoped you would, therefore, if you listen to me, then I will continue to help you. I can't help you if your hard headed or stubborn, or prideful."
"Thank you. It seems like I've been doing a lot of that lately since I became visible to you, ha...." Taylor said, managing a weak chuckle.
Alex smiled at her, then picked up the phone again and called for a moving company to go and pack up the girl's things to put into storage. Everything except her clothing and personal items which were to be delivered to her place. The moment she hung up the phone, it rang.
"Yes?" She said, irritated by the interruption.
"I got that information you wanted, and you will not believe it." Kiara said from the other end.
"I'm sure I would, you know what to do with it. I'll talk to you later, keep up the good work." Alex said and then hung up the phone.
"Hmmm...well it seems like my life is all turned upside down." Taylor said with sadness.
"Don't worry about it, it'll be back to normal again soon enough, you have my word." The woman said, as she let herself show her maternal side towards the girl. But only through her eyes.
That evening after work the two of them went to Alex's residence and she showed Taylor where she could sleep until things were back to normal. The girl's things had been brought to the house and they settled everything in the room. After everything was done, Alex left the girl alone to give her some time to think about things.
Meanwhile, she read the reports that Kiara had sent her about the boy, and the women who had passed through his life. Alex became very concerned about what she read and her mind instantly went to thinking about the girl. She went to go and make dinner, considering the fact that she had given the maid and cook the day off. While she was in starting dinner,Taylor came down the stairs and went to the kitchen to see what the woman was doing. "You cook?" She asked in surprise, in spite of how she was feeling.
Alex knew the girl was trying to get her mind off of things so she went along with the girl's attempt.
"Don't sound so surprised, I told you that there was a lot of things you didn't know about me."
"Yes, I know, but my goodness, everytime I turn around, you're doing something else that I thought you couldn't do."
"Well, well aren't we the pessimistic person." The woman said with a smirk.
"Okay, since I'm always trying to prove myself to you, then I think it is only fair that you prove something to me. Considering I am staying here with you for a while, I would just like to know one thing for sure."
"Are you challenging me to something?" Alex asked, with a gleam in her eyes, as she stopped what she was cutting to look at the girl. Taylor saw the look in the woman's eyes, and at first she had second thoughts. Then she thought about the smile that was playing at the corners of the woman's mouth, and she decided she needed to see it in full. She took a deep breath, and just said what she was thinking. "Yes." The smile was fighting to come forth, but the woman was still controlling it.
"What?"
"Tell me ten things that you can't do as well as you run your businesses? Just ten."
"Hahahaha. " The woman laughed out loud, and then said in a light tone. "There are plenty of things I'm sure I can't do."
Taylor smiled brightly at the laughter, and felt her heart skip a beat as a result of it. "Well....name something?"
"What do I get if I do?"
"What do you want?"
Alex held back the grin that tried to cross her face, due to the thought that flashed in her head. She thought to herself, "Maybe another day I can get her to ask me this same question, when things are a lot different, but for now, I better play it safe."
"You make breakfast and dinner for the next few months."
"Why cooking?"
"Because I don't like to."
"Aha, well....that makes sense, if I lose, can I call out for dinner?"
"Only if it's because of your studying, other than that, you have to cook."
"Okay."
"So what is it?"
"I want you to name ten things you don't do as well as you run your business."
"Ten things?"
"Yes."
"Okay." Alex said, as she went about preparing dinner.
"Well, I'm not good at being patient, I'm not good at being tolerant, I'm not good at pretending to be someone I'm not, I..."
"No, no fair."
"What isn't?"
"Your telling me all of these traits. I want to know things your not good at, like swimming, or hang gliding or things like that."
"No, just like you get to choose about dinner, I get to choose what I want to tell you."
"But?"
"No, no buts, either it's my way, or you automatically lose due to being disqualified?"
"But..."
"One more of those and you lose."
Taylor opened her mouth, but she realized the only word that was on her lips was the wrong one, so she closed her mouth and just nodded her head. "Good, I thought you would see it my way."
"Like I really had a choice." She said under her breath, as Alex raised a brow at her, but continued to prepare their meal.
"I'll tell you the others later." The woman said, after winning her way.
"What? You mean your not even going to tell me?"
"No, not today."
"Aw B.." The girl started to say, but Alex looked at her and with a smirk, caught her before she said it.
"Ah....careful."
Taylor gazed at her and then averted her eyes as she let out the air that she would have used to say the defeating word. "Good, let's eat, or else you'll lose before we even really get started." The girl blushed at the truthfulness of the words, and then they took their dinner to the dining room and sat at the dining room table and ate, while they talked.
"So do you?" Taylor asked, picking up a topic where she had left off a day or so ago.
"Do I what?"
"Have a special man in your life?"
"Where did that come from?"
"You never answered me the other day."
"Why?"
"Why what?" The girl asked, as she cut a piece of meat and slipped it into her mouth.
"Why do you want to know?"
"I'm just curious."
"Well you know what they say about curiousity." Alex said as she took a sip of her wine.
"Yes, but I have an answer for that one." Taylor said with a confident raise of one of her brows. Yet there was an innocence in it.
"Really? And just what is that answer?" The woman asked, leaning forward in her chair while she held her fork hanging in the air, pointing downwards in her fingers, towards her food. The girl took a drink of her wine, and then leaned forward and said in the same tone Alex had used on her earlier while dinner was being prepared. "I'll tell you later." She then smiled, timidly at first, but as the woman's mouth twitched trying to contain the laughter that was trying to force it's way out, the girl's smile broadened, and her eyes lit up. She was happy that she was once again going to be the cause behind the woman's more pleasant disposition. Alex managed to contain herself, and said to the girl's disappointment.
"We need to clear the table." Taylor sat back in her chair with obvious disappointment, but when the woman knitted her brows at her in wonder, the girl thought she was causing the woman to worry about her. She immediately came to her feet and said in a light tone of voice.
"Your right, the table does need to be cleared." She collected some of the dishes and headed for the kitchen. When she was around the corner and down the hall a bit the woman chuckled at the joke the girl had made only a moment before.
When the two went to relax, Taylor perused the collection of books that Alex had in her library, which was a far better library than her own. She picked out a mystery type story, and went to sit down on one end of a sofa while the woman sat in a sofa chair, reading over some reports. Alex looked over at the girl at times and just watched her. She saw how the girl would, at times, move strands of hair out of her face whenever she turned her head in a certain fashion. The woman watched the delicate movements of the girl. She found that she had not really noticed just how delicate the girl herself was.
Alex closed her eyes and leaned back in her chair as if resting, but it was actually her way to avoid being caught gazing at the girl. In her mind she continued to see and examine the delicate featured girl. Seeing the soft, yet chiselled cut of the girl's face, and the long graceful neck that faded gently into the young girl's shoulders, and the soft curves of her body as she sat with her legs curled under herself. Taylor glanced up from the book she was reading and saw the woman with her eyes closed. She assumed she had just drifted off to sleep, but she did not want to disturb her by getting up just yet, although she had planned to go and get some water. Taylor found herself sitting there with her book in her hand, looking at the sleeping woman.
She leaned back on the sofa she was sitting on and just looked at Alex.She found herself becoming intrigued at how peaceful the woman seemed. How completely devoid of any stress, or concern. She was amazed at the contrast she thought she would see between anyone else who had the same stresses, and how obvious they would have been even in their sleep, showing on their brows. Alex's brows were completely relaxed looking. She was beautiful, she was sexy, and she was powerful. Taylor had no concept of just how powerful this woman really was, but even in the small corner of the world that Taylor was able to see, there had been glimpses of it. The girl then started to think out loud without really realizing it. "How do you do it? How are you able to be so hard and regal out there, but so capable of such softness in here? Hmmm...You're so... multi-faceted, yet capable of making it look so simple. I wouldn't be surprised to find out that there are men lined up around the corner who would love a chance to to be with you. But then again, a lot of men probably would be very intimidated by you. My goodness you're incredible." Taylor said, with a note of sadness and obvious admiration in her voice, as she reluctantly returned her attention to her reading.
Alex opened her eyes and looked over at the girl with a slight smile curving her lips. She thought about what the girl had just said out loud. The next morning the two were eating breakfast, and the sun was not even up yet, before they went to workout together. The girl had learned the moves. She wasn't as sharp with her moves but she was effective in them. Alex had seen the change in the girl's body since she had been working out with her. She was more toned all over and her clothes looked even better on her. When they had finished their workout and went to get dressed Taylor had thought she finished first, and she went to go and talk to Alex about her schedule. She found her dressed and already downstairs waiting for her. "How do you do that?"
"What?" The woman asked, already concentrating on her expected day.
"Never mind. Do you want me to call for a car?"
"Yes, and then you can go over my schedule for the day while we're on our way to the office."
"Yes Ma'am." Taylor said, as she went and made the call for the driver.
As they waited she began going through the schedule for the woman. "Cancel that one, I really don't feel like dealing with the whining."
Taylor chuckled, and then when she saw the woman's brow raise, she swallowed and simply acknowledged the womans orders, "Yes Ma'am."
Alex smirked, but kept her eyes on the planner she had in her own hands. When they arrived at the office at 5 am, they were met by Kiara in the lobby of the building. Alex saw the detective coming towards them and she knew what it was about, so she quickly sent the girl to go and get the mail.
"Meet me in the office, after you get my mail."
"Yes Ma'am." The girl said as she turned and headed off in the opposite direction. The detective, who saw the girl leaving, slowed her pace toward Alex until the girl was gone.
"Here's the information I got on the young man, and also on some of the women he's been involved with. I think you will find it very interesting reading."
"Why do you think that?" She asked, as she opened the folder and glanced over the contents within it.
"Because it seems that our young man is a serial rapist on top of all of his other antisocial activities."
Alex's brow raised and then knitted deeply as she thought about what the information could mean to the girl's safety. "How did you find this out?" She asked, pointing to a specific paragraph within the report she was reading, as they went up in the elevator.
"I went to talk to each of them."
"And they told you that they were all virgins, before he raped them?"
"Yes, isn't that something? He's a rapist who defiles the innocent on purpose. They all said they either tried to get out of the relationship, or thought they had gotten out, when he showed up at their houses or other places out the blue. At first he tried to talk them into coming back to him, but when they refused, he lost it. They said that he told them he was not about to let anyone else have the pleasure of having them first. He said he would leave them a present so that they would always remember him, FONDLY, was how he put it to them."
"He's a sick puppy that needs to be neutered, and I'm just the one to do it." Alex said tightly, as she strode out of the elevator. She went into her office, turned on the light, sat down behind her desk, and picked up the phone to call a friend of her's. When she hung up the phone, the detective was shaking her head. "What is that about?" Alex asked, sparing only a moment to glance at the woman, and then returning her attention to what she was reading.
"I'm just amazed at the people you know. Does this girl have any idea at all?"
"No, and there really is no reason for her to know either, is that clear?
"Yes. So what do you want me to do?"
"Follow him and his shadows, make sure you have enough people along to help you. That way if he sends them on an errand then you'll have someone available to follow them, while you continue to follow him."
"Actually, you'll be pleased to know that I already initiated surveilance the day you called. Oh, and by the way, he and his men were over at the girl's house looking for her. He was very upset that she was gone. It seems he didn't expect to find that. There's a video disc in there, I think you will find it interesting also. Do you plan on letting the girl watch it with you?"
"Yes, it is her life we're talking about, she has the right to know what's going on."
"Are you going to tell her about the rapes?"
"No, that I don't think she needs to know just yet."
"Well, I'll get going and whatever I find out I'll send to you with the usual, "for your eyes only," on it?"
"Fine, good work."
Kiara left the office, but she took the stairs just in case Taylor arrived before she could leave. The elevator opened and the girl stepped out, just as the stairwell door closed behind Kiara. Taylor meanwhile headed into the office. Alex loaded the video disc and had it set when the girl came in.
"Anything good?"
"No, just the usual things." The girl answered. She sat down, handed half the stack of priority mail to Alex and she took the other half. The girl was ready to open the mail, but the woman told her to wait.
"I want you to see something from last night."
"Okay." Taylor said, as she watched the woman lean back in her chair and call for it to play. The video disc began playing. The girl was surprised to see her neighborhood, and her neighbor's townhouses in the images, then she saw some men heading towards her place.
"Who are they?"
"Wait." Alex ordered.
Taylor's mouth fell open when she saw who it was at her townhouse.
"What is he doing there?"
"You'll see."
After a few minutes the girl's ex-boyfriend and some other men were seen walking up her driveway towards her door. "What is he doing there, and who are those guys?" The girl asked, as her brows knitted with concern and confusion. "Where did you get this?"
"Never mind, just watch it."
Taylor returned her attention to the images. She saw the boy knock on the door, despite being able to see straight in, due to the curtains having been removed. "Open it!" He ordered, and one of the men took out his lock picking set and immediately went to work. "Hurry up!!" The man soon had the lock open and they went inside and began searching for the girl.
"Where the hell is she?!!" The man shouted, at no one in particular.
Taylor sat riveted and shaking as she watched and listened to the man she thought she knew.
"Where are you?! How did she get moved out of here and no one know anything?! Someone helped her, and I intend to find out who."
"Well sir, if we don't find her, she'll be the mouse that got away."
"SHUT UP! I have never lost one, and I don't intend to lose one now, especially her! And, she no longer looks like a mouse, she's actually very fine, and that's even more reason why she's not going to get away. I want her found, and whoever the person, or people are who are helping her, I want them dead. Let's go, maybe one of her neighbors know something."
The man knocked over a coat rack by accident, and noticed the outfit that he had given to the girl, hanging on it. The girl's eyes had left the images and immediately locked on Alex when he made the threat. Tears that were already rolling down her face now came faster at the thought that she had now truly endangered this woman. "God!, God, oh God,he's looking to hurt you, God..." The girl groaned in distress. "Maybe I can go talk to him?." Taylor now cried, as she tried to figure out how to get the woman out of danger.
Alex was touched by Taylor's concern for her, especially considering it was the girl herself who was really in danger. The girl came to her feet and was breathing hard. She stood still for a moment, then she made a decision. Turning she headed for the door to go and act on it. Alex was on her feet and standing in front of her before she reached the door. Taylor startled as a result, but she looked up at the woman with eyes widened by fear.
"You're not going to talk to him, he's not interested in talking." Alex stated matter-of-factly, as she crossed her arms under her chest and stood looking down at the teary eyed girl.
"But he wants you dead. I couldn't live with myself if something happened to you because of me, if I can just get him to understand...."
"Understand what? That your terrified of him, so that he can use that and keep you from speaking up, or defending yourself? Is that what you want him to understand?"
"No but..."
"No buts. I'm not worried about him, and you shouldn't either, he's just a wanna be who is nothing more than an annoying fly. One which I will have no problems swatting. Now sit down."
"But?"
"S.i.t....d.o.w.n." The Raider emphasized through her teeth.
Taylor felt for the chair and eased back down in it. She watched the woman walk around to sit on the edge of her desk. Once again she studied the shaking girl. "Why are you so worried about me? I mean he's after you?"
"Because you're an innocent person in all of this. I should have never let you talk me into moving in with you, Goodness, he wants to kill you. I can't believe I dated this man! I thought I knew him, and I find out I didn't know anything. How stupid is that?!!" The girl cried, as she continued to beat up on herself.
"Stop it!! There was no way for you to have known about him or his family. That's what they do, now stop beating up on yourself, that's what stupid!" Alex scolded, but not the same way she would scold her or anyone else if they had screwed up in their duties. This was different, it had a tone to it that rang with concern for the girl. Taylor quieted down. The woman smiled at her, then leaned forward and whispered' "It's going to be alright."
She looked in the woman's eyes, and for some unknown reason, she believed her. She gave a weak smile. Alex brought her hand under Taylor's chin to cup it, and gave it a little squeeze. The girl blushed despite everything. The woman once again controlled a grin that wanted to show.
Instead of letting it out, she stood up and said in a firm voice, "We have a lot of work to do, let's get to it." She then walked around the desk and sat back down in her chair.
She picked up a piece of mail and opening it, she went to reading it, and then had the girl make the necessary calls. Taylor watched the woman. She thought it was discreetly, but of course, Alex saw her every time. She didn't say anything, she just smiled to herself, and stored the information to think about it later. The next few days were quiet enough, with the return of Alex's strong hand on everyone. The girl thought things were back to normal, but Alex knew that while things at the office may be back to normal, everything outside of the office wasn't. The man was still out there, and still looking for the girl, so part of her thoughts were always on that.
One morning, a week or so later, around 1 a.m in the morning, Salina received a message on her messager. She picked up the phone and called the number that was showing. "Hello?"
"Yeah, it's me, I need your help finding out where the girl is. Do you know where she is staying?"
"No, I have no idea, I don't even see when she leaves."
"Shit!"
"But I know when she gets in pretty well." She informed the man.
"Really? When?"
"She usually arrives at the office around four or five so that she can get the boss her mail from the mailroom, which, by the way is in the basement." Salina said, conspiratorially.
"Excellent! I can meet her in the basement." He said.
"Yes, but first you have to get into the building, and I can assure you, you are not welcomed there."
"Okay, well that's where you come in."
"What do I get out of this?" Salina asked, wanting to make sure their deal still stood.
"What you asked for, for the girl to leave the company. I can assure you, when I get done with her, she will be under tremendous stress. She won't want to have anything to do with that place or "The Raider" when I'm done."
"Okay, then here's how you get in. I will call one of the geeks who has been begging me to go out with him, and ask him to do me a favor. I will have to return the favor to him at some point."
"But won't he ask questions?"
"No, not if I tell him not to."
"Alright then, when can you get me in?"
"How about this morning?"
"Can you arrange it?"
"Be there at three and you'll be let in. Once you are in the elevator, the mailroom is off to the right. It does a circular type thing that comes out at the top, right across from the office I work in, which is the same floor the girl works on."
"I'll be there at three sharp." The man replied and then hung up the phone and rubbed his hands together as he jumped up to get dressed. That same morning, Alex had gotten a phone call in the middle of the night from one of her V.P.'s calling to ask her if he could see her before the start of day. She told him she would meet him at the office at four in the morning, and for him not to be late. Whatever it was that he wanted to talk to her about had better be worth her coming in early. The man promised that it would be. She hung up the phone and went to dress. She wrote a note for the girl that she would see her at the office. She put the note on the dresser in the girl's room as she slept.
Alex noticed that she had come uncovered and went to cover her back up, albeit slowly, as she let her gaze rake over the girl's barely covered body. The woman breathed out slowly through her mouth as she finally covered the girl. With a look of desire in her eyes, she shook her head and stood up, composing herself. She turned and walked out of the room, as quietly as she had come in. "Whew! Can't do that again, not good!" She said to herself as she looked back at the closed door. She primped her hair, and went down the stairs and left the house.
When Taylor woke up and dressed, she saw the note on the dresser and she picked it up to read it. She saw that Alex had already left and would see her at the office. She smiled at the thoughtfulness of the woman, and picked up her briefcase. She took out the day planner and looked over Alex's schedule. She put it back in her briefcase and getting her things together, she went to get in the waiting car. Alex had told her that she didn't want her driving anywhere alone for a while. During the ride, Taylor went over some notes she had typed up for Alex last night while they were doing some work at the house. When she got to the building, she stepped out of the limo and headed in while still reading over the notes. She headed for the mailroom to get the mail. Afterwards, she headed to the elevator to go to Alex's office. She did not see where the man came from when he jumped on just as the elevator doors closed and it began going upwards.
"Dominic?!!" The girl gasped in alarm, when she saw him jump in.
"Hi, how's my girl? I've missed you?" He said as he moved closer to Taylor and she moved away from him.
"What are you doing here?"
"What do you think? I'm here to see you."
"Why?"
"Because, I don't like the way things were left between us. You know?"
"Dominic, please just leave?"
"Is that any way to talk to the man you said you were happy to be with?"
She wanted to tell him she knew who he really was, but she didn't dare, just in case he thought she was still in the dark about it. "It's just that I'm trying to focus on school and things," She said giving a plausible excuse as to why she didn't have time to see him anymore. While at the same time glancing up at the numbers as the elevator expressed past the floors. Dominic saw her eyes and knew she was hoping to make it to the top before he did anything, but he just smiled and then hit the stop button.
To Be Continued...