To Breathe Again

Chapter 37 - Unsettled

Trent's POV

We rushed through the door the moment we drove up to the cabin and saw one of my guys cleaning up glass all over and had been informed that a team of cops along with my guys were searching the forest for the shooter. They had already labeled the place where the bullet had lodged into the wall behind the glass. The shot was high so either they had shitty aim, they were trying to scare her, or maybe this was simply an accident. No matter what, I needed to get to our girl.

Grant had asked where Sammy and Michelle were and was directed to the master bathroom. As we walked in, we could see Sammy leaning around her to clean up the cuts all over her back. She looked dazed and didn't acknowledge our presence when we entered the room. "We're here lil mama." Grant said, kissing her gently on her cheek while I took her hand in mine.

"Phoenix. Can you talk to us?" I said. No response.

"I don't know what to do." Sammy says, a look of complete helplessness on his face. Grant gets pissed and punches the door, knocking a nice hole in it. (At least he'll be the one fixing it later.) Phoenix doesn't even flinch. Ok, now I'm concerned. He walks out trying to calm down while I scoop Phoenix into my arms and walk her out to the bed. I set her down and then pull a chair in front of her legs. Sitting in front of her, I take hold of her face and ask her to look at me. Just like in the hospital, I have to pull her back into reality only this time she's not hyperventilating.

"Baby, I need you to listen to me." I see her eyes look a little more focused. "Can you close your eyes." She doesn't respond, simply closes her eyes. Thank God she at least hears me. "Good girl.  Baby you are so amazing. Now, I want you to think about what you feel right now."

"The bed." she quietly whispers.

"Phoenix! My beautiful Phoenix, you're rising from the ashes again Sweetheart. Keep going." I kiss her lips softly and I feel a tear go down her cheeks. "What do you hear?"

"Grant is angry. He's walking in the hallway." she whispers again.

"Yes Baby, he's very angry but he's not angry with you. He's angry that we haven't been able to keep you safe like we want to."

Just then he walks back in and talks to her softly. "We love you so much, Flower. We all love you and are here." Grant added. I could see his knuckles were white from clinching his fists. He was ready to murder someone and I don't think I would've held him back. Grant has a twisted past including an addiction to methamphetamine. He even worked for the cartels for a while as an enforcer before he got clean and got his life back on track. He is not above killing someone who hurts one of the people he loves, especially Phoenix. As we caressed and petted her, her eyes finally started looking around and found my own.

"Baby, can you repeat some numbers for me and then maybe you can try to talk to us?" I ask hoping she's ready to move forward. She nods. I start out with a few numbers in sequential order and then do a few random ones. She follows along like the good girl she is.

"Trent?" She said and blinked her eyes. My heart sprang to life.

"Yeah, Baby. We're all here." I replied, smiling at her.

She then turned to Grant, "Grant. I don't understand. I was just sitting in your hot tub. I'm sorry if it got messed up." She said with tears in her eyes.

"Sweet Flower, don't you go worryin' yer purty head now. I don't care at tal 'bout that ole hot tub. It probably needed a good tune up anyways. There's a guy out there now fixin' 'er up. It'll be better than before. Now, you just relax while Trent here takes good care of ya." She nodded and then laid her head on my shoulder while looking at Grant.

"Can ya talk to us Flower?" Grant asks.

"Ok." She replies.

"Baby, do you mind if the detective comes in? She's the same one you spoke to before." I say and she nods.

Detective Carter walks into the room and sits down in a nearby chair. "Hi Michelle. It's good to see you again even though the circumstances are not the best. How are you feeling?" She asks.

"I'm ok. I just don't understand. I don't know why someone would want to hurt me." She says quietly wiping a tear from her eyes.

"That's alright sugar. That's what we're here for. How about I ask a few questions and maybe we can look in different directions than we have." She says pulling out her pad and pen. Phoenix nods. "Good girl. I understand that you are the CFO of Highlight Technologies. How long have you been there?"

"Um about two years." she answers.

"And have you had to fire any employees?" she asks. Michelle nods. Fuck me! Why didn't I think of that? That's normally the first place I would look but for some odd reason, I figured it was some stalker after her because of her beauty. Hell, I almost wanted to stalk the woman. "How did they take the dismissal?" she continues.

"I mean, no one likes to be fired. Some were fine about it, others were pretty pissed off." She says thinking back.

"Can you give me the names of all those you fired?" Detective Carter asks.

"I think Chester can get ya that info there Detective." Grant says before Phoenix can answer. Detective Carter nods and writes down Chester's information as Grant gives it to her.

"What about your ex husbands. Have you heard from them?" She asks.

"No, I mean Clark came to the funeral but I think Manuel is still in Brazil with my daughter. I haven't heard from them in a long time." Michelle replies.

"Anyone else that might have something against you or even your son?" Carter asks.

"I'm not really sure. I mean everyone loved Tony but maybe every once in a while he made people angry online." Michelle said and my ears perked up.

"How so?" Carter asked.

"Well, Tony looks, um looked, like an all American white kid, talked like one too but every once in a while he would make a comment about Hispanics online. People would call him racist and said he can't say anything about another race. He would then tell them that his name was Tony Alejandro and he was Hispanic, himself, and could say anything he wanted about Latinos and Hispanics in general. He never said anything bad per se, he was just a jokester and would say funny things. People would say he was lying and say they would hurt him if they got their hands on him. We never took it seriously since these people were all over the world and the likeliness was slim to none. Not to mention, they didn't know his last name or even where he lived." Michelle said and I rubbed her arms to sooth her, knowing that it was painful to talk about Tony.

"I understand. Sadly, there are crazy people everywhere with mad tech skills." Carter said.

"Let me look into it for you Detective. My team can probably look closer into his accounts and those he spoke with online faster than your group can." I said. Carter smiled and agreed.

"Baby, let's get you settled and fed then we'll have a movie night. Is that ok? Sammy said while looking at Carter to tell her that her time was up. I agree. She needs to rest after this.

"Yeah Lil Mama. I'll even go grab The Princess Bride if'n that ole' sappy thing'll make ya happy." Grant says smiling at Michelle.

She nods and gives Grant the tiniest giggle, which makes me feel like I can finally breathe again.  I walk Carter to the front of the house and talk over additional details and how we can work together. While the cops finish up their investigation, Sammy and Grant put a pillow fort together and watch movies with Michelle. I, on the other hand, get with my team to figure out who the fuck is trying to hurt my woman.

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Ready for the WEEKEND!!!!  I know that my hubby will probably want to go pull in hoopnets full of catfish tomorrow but at least I can relax and read tonight!  :-)