Forbidden Disclosure(43)

Daniel picked up the phone and rented another suite. It was located around the corner at the far end. He also told them to provide her with anything she wanted and that all bills were to go to him.



“There, it’s all settled. I’ll run and grab the key at the desk and you wait right here.”



Daniel went outside the room. As soon as Katherine heard the elevator ding, she went digging. How did he find me? Opening his briefcase, she stood shocked when she saw a picture of herself crossing the street on campus. What the hell?! That son of a bitch had me followed? Oh my God! Every detail of her existence was written neatly on three pages. Run!



As quickly as she could, she grabbed her boxes and suitcase and headed out of the suite. She ran as quickly as she could to the elevator. Come on, come on, come on!



The doors opened and Daniel stepped out and looked down at her. She was breathing hard, her eyes were wide, and she was shaking.



“Katherine, what’s wrong?” Daniel was afraid that something had happened to her while he was gone.



“You had me followed?! What kind of a freak are you? You’re some stalker!”



“I had an investigator look for you. Do you know how hard I tried to find you? I tried to get to Tennessee on Thanksgiving but I wasn’t able to get there. I looked you up online and there were too many women with your name. If you would feel more comfortable, I’ll call you a cab to take you to the police station and we can talk there. I don’t care where it is. I just want to talk to you.”



“We can talk in the lobby of the motel. If you even do one thing out of line, I’ll scream. You got it?”



“Deal,” said Daniel. “I’ll do whatever you want me to do. I’ll carry your things.”



“Fine, let’s go and get this over with.” Katherine started to walk to the elevator. Daniel stayed outside in the hall.



“Are you coming or what?” Katherine spat.



“I don’t want you to feel like you’re in harm’s way. I’ll take the next elevator. Just don’t run off on me.”



Without saying a word, Katherine hit the down button, then walked in the lobby and sat on one of the sofas.



Daniel stepped out of the elevator and approached Katherine, who sat glaring at him with her arms crossed in front of her.



“I’ll be right back.” Daniel walked over to the desk and asked that all the food from room service be delivered down to the lobby instead.



“Katherine, why are you leaving town?” Daniel asked as he sat in the chair that was facing her.



“Look, I ran out of money, I couldn’t find a model, and I couldn’t pay rent. I got thrown out today and I had to quit school. Why do you care?”



“If I didn’t care, I wouldn’t have flown out here, and I wouldn’t have gone to such extremes to find you.”



Room service arrived with two carts. Daniel moved the coffee table between them. “Thank you, that’ll be all,” said Daniel as he gave the two young men a nice tip.



Katherine’s eyes lit up as the plates were uncovered. Prime rib, turkey, two kinds of salad, steamed vegetables, potatoes, and all the works.



“If you’d like something different, let me know and I’ll order it for you,” said Daniel as he lifted a plate for her and filled it with some of everything.



In his entire life, he had never seen a woman eat like she was eating. Katherine saw him watching her and slowed down her chewing.



“What?” Katherine’s cheeks blushed.



Daniel’s heart melted. “Katherine, when was the last time you ate? You look much thinner to me.”



“I’m not sure.”



“We can fight if you want, but you’re not living like this anymore. I’m even willing to fly you to Tennessee if that’s where you want to go. But this is done!” Daniel was so angry. Not at Katherine, but at himself. He should have done more to find her right away. I should have acted better than I did to begin with.



The silence between them was much appreciated by Katherine. She was afraid of the situation, but even more afraid of having to live on the streets.



“Daniel, I appreciate all of this, and yes, I do get hungry, but I’m not your problem.”



“No, because you’re not a problem. I’m doing this because I care about you. Do you want to go back to Tennessee? I can’t stomach going back there for a while, some horrible things happened at Rosie’s Farm.



“I drove by the farm and saw the barn burned to the ground. I was so worried that you had gotten hurt.”



“Really?”