Page 16 of Mountain Rescue
“I headed for the front door, and two of his men were standing in front of it, blocking it so I couldn’t leave. Robert sneered, and I knew he was sending me a message, telling me he was in control. Once he seemed satisfied his message was received, he nodded at his men, and they moved away from the door.”
“Did he always have men with him when you saw him?”
“Yeah, there were always two. Lots of wealthy people around LA have bodyguards, so I didn’t really think much about it. It’s almost a status symbol to have one or two. You know, hey, look at me, I’m so rich I need a bodyguard.”
“Tell me you never went to Henri’s house again.”
“Except for that last time, never. After that, I always insisted that she meet me somewhere for lunch. When I first met Henri, she was a vibrant, happy woman. The last few months, my sweet, happy friend changed into someone afraid of her own shadow. I didn’t know what to do. I wanted to help her, but at the same time, I didn’t want to get in the middle of anything going on between her and Robert. I was afraid of the man.”
“Always go with your gut feelings.”
“And I tried to, even going so far as to try to distance myself from Henri, and I felt really guilty about that. After I’d claimed the movie I was working on was running over schedule as an excuse to not meet her a few times, she called, begging me to come to her house. She said Robert was out of town, and that she was leaving him, and she needed my help.”
“And you couldn’t say no.”
He hadn’t made it a question. “Would you have if your friend needed you?”
“No. What happened?”
“I went. Robert wasn’t there, and while I helped her pack, she told me the truth about Robert Hargrove. She claimed that she’d learned he was an illegal arms dealer. She said that was where his money really came from, along with some other stuff he was involved in. She didn’t say what specifically.”
“Did he know she’d found that out about him?”
“She said not, and I believe her. Otherwise, Robert would have had his men watching her, and they weren’t there that day. All I wanted as soon as she told me everything was to get the two of us the hell out of there. We didn’t make it.” The tears were stinging her eyes again, and she tore off some of the toilet paper.
“He came home?”
She nodded. “I... I was in her closet, looking for a leather jacket she wanted to take with her because it had been a gift from her mother, when I heard him say, ‘Going somewhere, Henrietta?’ I froze.” She squeezed her eyes shut, wishing she could bleach her mind of the rest.
“Did he know you were there? He had to have seen your car.”
“No. Their mansion had a separate five-car garage behind the house. The entrance to it is separate from the front drive. Robert had a driver, and he always used the back road.”
Dallas wrapped his hand around hers. “What did you do?”
“I hid like a coward.”
“No, you did the smart thing.”
“It doesn’t feel like it. Anyway, they got in a terrible fight about the things he was involved in, and she told him she was leaving. Then...then she yelled, ‘Rachel, he’s got a gun.’ So much for hiding, huh?” She tried to laugh but sounded a bit hysterical instead. “Seconds after she said that, a gun fired, and I heard Henri make a grunting sound.” She shuddered again. “Not a sound I ever want to hear again.”
The tears were now flowing down her cheeks. “Hiding wasn’t an option anymore, so I grabbed a pair of Henri’s stilettos, the closest things I could find for a weapon. I knew if I had any chance of getting away, I had to surprise him. He would be expecting me to walk out of the closet, fearful and begging for my life. So I did the opposite. I ran out, threw one shoe, got lucky that it hit him in the face, and then threw the other one straight at his junk.”
Dallas smiled. “Good for you.”
“Yeah, but it didn’t do the damage I hoped for. He laughed. Said he was going to enjoy having some fun with me before he sent me straight to hell to join Henri.” Strangely, Dallas’s growl warmed her. “I looked at my friend, there on the floor, and knew she was dead. I’ve never felt such rage in my life, and that’s what saved me...that rage. It made me a little crazy and fearless. I went at him like—”
“A wildcat?”
She smiled for the first time since starting her story. “Yeah, I guess so. Because I have to do fight scenes sometimes, I take kickboxing lessons, and that helped. Honestly, though, I don’t even remember what all I did to him, but I managed to get one finger in his eye, then I tore open his cheek with my fingernails. I also did some damage to his junk with my knee. It was weird, but I forgot he had a gun until it fell to the floor. I kicked it under the bed.”
“How’d you get away?”
“That’s where being a stuntwoman came in handy. He started yelling for his men, and if I tried to escape down the stairs and out the door, they’d catch me. I only had one option, and that was their bedroom balcony. I jumped.”
“You’re just full of surprises. Did you hurt yourself?”
“I’m trained how to fall, but usually there’s an air mattress to land on. I got lucky, just had a sore ankle for a day. I drove straight to the police station and reported a murder. The police went to the mansion, but no one was there. Based on my statement, they were able to get a search warrant. Henri’s body was gone, and Robert had disappeared.”
