Kate Pt. 01

"I don't just think it, Mark, I know it," Sarah giggled, "As a matter of fact, Kate and I are going to have lunch together today so; why don't you come along with us?"

"I'd really love to, but I can't," I regrettably replied, "I've got to have lunch with Mike and David today. It's already been planned so; I have to be there."

without you around, and I know that she'll tell me the truth."

"Hmm," I knowingly grinned, "That sounds like a pretty good plan. Be sure to let me know what she says whenever I get back, okay?"

"Okay, I will," she impishly smiled, "Now get to work ya bum."

"Yeah, whatever," I playfully teased, "I'll be in my office," and then I turned and walked into my office, closing the door behind me."

~~~~~~

"So, tell us," Mike smiled, as he, David and I sat around the table at South Street Pub, eating lunch, "How are things going with you and Kate Meyers?"

"Huh?" I dumbly replied, "What're you talking about?"

"Don't be a shit; Mark," David smiled, "Mike and I both have known her since she was a baby. Besides, she's Mike's niece by marriage. In other words, his wife, Linda, and Carolyn Meyers are sisters so; spill it."

"Aw, man," I groaned, "This isn't fair, besides; Kate and I are just friends."

"That's good," Mike smiled, "I think that the two of you will be good for one another."

"I'm glad that you approve, Mike," I smiled, "So, what's on the table, fellas, and when do I start working on the blueprints for the guys at Gaylord Entertainment?"

"That's already being taken care of as we speak," David told me, "I want you to focus on something else."

"But I thought that you wanted me to head up your new design department," I replied; a bad feeling suddenly beginning to grow in the pit of my stomach, "How can I work on the design of this new project if I'm working on something else?"

"That's already been taken care of, too," Mike said, "You just keep doing what you're doing for the time being."

"Okay," I replied, "And what exactly is it that I'm supposed to be doing?"

"Taking care of Kate," David grinned, "Why else do you think that we..."

"I've got a set of blueprints in my office, Mark," Mike suddenly interrupted David, glaring at him as if he'd said the wrong thing, "I'll have them delivered to you sometime this afternoon, okay?"

"Okay," I suspiciously replied, "What do you want me to do with them?"

"Uh, just look them over," Mike distractedly replied, "Then get back to me in a week, or so. In the mean time, I want you to take tomorrow off, maybe spend a little time with Kate. What do you think?"

"Of course," I told him, "You guys are the boss."

"I'm really glad you understand that," Mike suddenly smiled, "And David and I really appreciate it, too. Don't think for a second that we don't recognize your gifts and talents, Mark."

"Thanks, Mike," I appreciatively smiled, "I'm glad to hear it."

We finished our lunch meeting, and as I drove back to the office, the feeling I began to have in the restaurant started gnawing at me. Something wasn't right, I could feel that much. I just didn't know what it was at the time. Little did I realize that everything would come to a head, and that I would know the whole truth in a couple of weeks down the road?

There was nothing comical about what I'm getting ready to say; but it's funny that people don't realize that everything in darkness eventually comes to light, hence the reason that I'm telling you this story. However, I'm not going to jump ahead so; please be patient. Besides, the path to the truth is always, and has always been much sweeter anyway. Won't you agree?"

~~~~~~

Indeed, there had been something very suspicious in not only what Mike and David had told me over lunch, but also in their interactions between one another as well. However, I laid all of my suspicions aside when I saw Sarah back in the office.

"So, tell me," I excitedly asked her, "What did Kate have to say?"

"She didn't," Sarah worriedly replied, "She stood me up for lunch. I'm worried, too, because it's not like her to not at least call me to cancel."

"I wouldn't worry too much," I said, "Maybe she got hung up with her Mom in the office."

"I called her Mom," Sarah replied, "And she told me that Kate had already left to come and meet me, but she never showed up."

All of a sudden the phone on Sarah's desk rang, and she answered, "Mark Power's office, how may I....Oh, my God, is she alright," as tears began to fill her eyes and pour down her face, "Okay tell her that we're on the way," and then she hung up.

"What's wrong, Sarah?" I worriedly asked, "Tell me now."

"That was Carolyn Meyers," she sniffled, "Kate's in Saint Thomas hospital...she was found on the deepest level of the underground parking garage, raped and beaten pretty badly."

"Let's go," I told her, "We'll take my car.

"I've got to leave a message at the front desk," she replied crying, "I've got to tell them where we're going."

"To hell with that," I said, "I'll call Mark once we've reached the hospital...come on," and we raced down the hall and out the back door to where my car was parked.

~~~~~~

"What the hell was she thinking, parking down there?" I asked Sarah, as we drove to the hospital, "Especially with that maniac on the loose."

"That's the thing," Sarah cried, "She called the police this morning and placed a restraining order against him. She said that she agreed with the advice you gave her."

"I know that she's smart," I said, "But there's a big difference between being smart and doing dumb things."

"I agree, Mark," Sarah said, "But she's always been a strong person, and I guess she didn't think that her ex, Tyler Martin, would do what he did to her."

"Bullshit," I said, "He did it to you, didn't he?"

"Yeah, he did," she agreed, "I guess I never looked at it that way; I'm sorry, Mark."

"You don't have to apologize to me, Sarah," I replied, "Besides, what happened to Kate is hardly your fault."

"I know," she sadly told me, "But I still feel badly for her."

"I do, too," I said, my eyes beginning to fill with tears at the thought of Kate being hurt, "I wish that there was something I could do to make all of this go away."

"So, you do love her," Sarah softly told me, "Don't you?"

"I don't know," I quietly answered her; "I mean...I've only known her for a short while. How can I possibly be in love with her?"

"Haven't you ever heard of love at first sight?" Sarah pointedly asked me, "It doesn't just happen in movies ya know. It also happens in real life, too, but only few and far between; and only to very special people, Mark; and you're one of those very special people...that is something I know for a fact."

"Well, I don't know about that," I skeptically replied, "I don't..."

"Do you remember what I told you about having a lot of love in your heart to give?" Sarah asked me, as we were pulling into the parking garage at Saint Thomas Hospital, "That's how I know that you're special, Mark. Guys like you don't grow on trees, they're very few and far between, too, so; I want you to think about that when we go in to see Kate; okay?"

"Okay, I will, Sarah," I finally relented, "But for the time being, I want to make sure that Kate is going to be alright first."

"Okay," Sarah softly smiled, "You win for now, tough guy..."

~~~~~~

Chapter Five

When we arrived inside the hospital, the first thing we did was to go to the trauma ward where Carolyn had told Sarah that she and Kate would be. I was not surprised to find Carolyn waiting for us outside of Kate's door, her face a mixture of pain and anguish, with definite signs that she'd been crying.

"How is she?" was the first thing I asked, the moment we got to where Carolyn was standing, "Is she alright?"

"Mark, thank God you're here," Carolyn began to cry, folding herself within reach of my arms, and leaning against me, "The Doctor says that she's been through a lot, but she's a tough girl, and that it's going to take a little time, but she'll eventually recover."

"How soon can we see her, Carolyn," Sarah asked, beginning to cry, herself, "Please tell me that she's alright."

"The doctor gave her a sedative so; she's sleeping right now," Carolyn said, placing her arms around Sarah, and then she looked up to me, and said, "She was asking for you, Mark, I thought you should know that."

"I'll be here when she wakes," I softly told her, "You can count on that, Ms. Carolyn."

"You can call me Carolyn, Mark," she smiled, "I don't look that old to you, do I?"

"No, ma'am," I smiled, "I was just trying to be respectful, that's all."

"I know, sweetie," Carolyn gently told me, "And I think it's very noble of you, too."

"Who did this," I asked her, "And have the police arrested him for it?"

"It was Tyler Martin, that much is certain," she replied, "Because Katie told us right before the Doctor sedated her. Unfortunately no one knows where he is."

"I need to go call Mike and tell him where I am," I told the two women," I'll be right back, okay?"

"Go ahead, Mark," Sarah said, "I'll wait here with Carolyn until you get back."

~~~~~~

"Who in the fuck is responsible for this shit?" Mike angrily asked, when I called him, "I want his head on a silver platter."

"I'm going to take care of that myself," I said, "I want you to leave everything to me."

"You're not going to do a thing," he loudly bellowed, "Do you understand me?"

"I'll tell you what I do understand, Mike Dodge," I angrily seethed, "I've come to the understanding that you and David Linder didn't bring me here because of my eye for design at all. You brought me here to more or less be a boyfriend to your wife's niece, and you'd better be honest about it, or as God as my witness, I'll pack up and leave this fucking place right now."

"How dare you accuse me of something like that," "he viciously growled, "Just who in the hell do you think you're talking to, dammit?"

"I'm talking to a manipulative asshole," I growled back, "You'll have my resignation on your desk in the morning; and you can count on it, motherfucker," and before he could say another word, I hung the phone up so that I wouldn't have to hear anymore of his bullshit.

~~~~~~

When I returned to Kate's room, the door was open and Sarah and Carolyn were sitting beside Kate's bed each of them holding her hand while she slept. When I took the first look at Kate, it felt like my heart was literally being ripped from my chest. Not only was her face extremely bruised, but it looked like her left eye was almost swollen shut. Her beautiful lips looked like someone had literally stabbed her in the mouth with a fork, making it painfully obvious that someone had mercilessly beaten the shit out of her.

It was right then that I made a silent vow that the moment I to got my hands on this Tyler Martin asshole, I was going to rip him limb from limb. Then and only then, would I leave Nashville, and yes, it was going to break my heart to have to do it, but, the one thing that I don't and will not tolerate from anyone is being lied to.

Common sense told me that neither Kate, nor her mother had anything to do with the reasons why I was brought to Nashville in the first place. Still though, I knew in my heart that Mike, David, and perhaps maybe even Mike's wife, Linda had been in on it all along.

I didn't know what they thought they would be able to accomplish by pulling something like this, but in my conversation with Mike and David at lunch earlier, it was made very clear to me by David as to what I was being paid to do, and I wasn't having any of it, regardless of how much Mike tried shutting him up.

I'm an Engineer, dammit, not some kind of stud horse, or babysitter, or whatever it was that these assholes had in mind for me to do. It just goes to show that people with money think that they can get away with any fucking thing they want; regardless of how it affects others. Jeez, what a bunch of bastards they are. However; I was going to make them pay, just like I was going to make Tyler Martin pay for what he'd done to Kate, even though I was going to end up leaving anyway.

It was getting close to seven o'clock in the evening when Mike and David showed up, and one look from me showed them the contempt I was feeling for their fucking asses at that moment.

"How is she, Mark?" Mike asked, with genuine concern in his voice.

"I need to speak with you privately please," I quietly seethed, motioning for him to meet me in the hall; and then the moment we were outside of Kate's room, I closed her door, and then looked him right in the eye and told him, "You've got a lot of balls; I'll give you that."

"Wait a minute, Mark," he began, his tone of voice gentle, "I think maybe I owe you an apology."

"You owe me a hell of a lot more than that, you son of a bitch," I quietly, but angrily replied, "I still haven't decided as to whether or not I'm going to tell Kate and Carolyn about what you and David have done."

"Please don't do that," he almost begged, "It would break Katie's heart, Mark...please. I'll give you anything you want, all you have to do is name your price."

"You still don't get it, do you?" I said, trying my best not to raise my voice, "I'm one of those people who can't be bought. But now that you tried, I'm giving you an ultimatum; either you tell Kate and Carolyn, or I will, right before I leave her...thanks to you. In the mean time, I'm going to try and find the little fuck head that did this to her, and don't you dare try and stop me. Do you understand me, asshole?"

He said nothing, only nodded his head to acknowledge what I'd said to him, and then I turned and walked away. However, little did I realize that while I had tried to be quiet in my conversation with Mike; Kate's mother, Carolyn, had heard every word I'd said to him?

~~~~~~

I earned my Black Belt in Japanese Karate, Togakure Ninjutsu, when I was but sixteen years old. I had worked with the police in my hometown, teaching their new officers hand to hand combat, hence the reason I got into college on an athletic scholarship. So, needless to say, I was more than able to handle almost anything, but most certainly anyone that came across my path in life. That was the reason that the first place that I was going to look for that piece of shit, Tyler Martin, was at his fraternity house where he went to college, Vanderbuilt University.

~~~~~~

I had no trouble finding Vanderbuilt, nor did I have any trouble finding the Alpha Delta Tau fraternity house. I drove by slowly, taking my time to get a good look at this place. However, when the time came for me to strike, I was going to have to use another car, because my car would be too easily recognizable to the police, just in case there were any witnesses nearby. After driving by the frat house, I went down the street and turned around to take one last look before I went home to make my plans.

~~~~~~

I don't know how I knew this, call it intuition if you will; but I knew without a doubt that Tyler Martin was hiding out in his old frat house. I also knew that the authority of the college would never be questioned by the police, because Vanderbuilt has always had a way of taking "Special Care" of their athletes.

And, they were no different from the rest of the fucking alumni of most of the major universities in this country, well, at least at that particular time they weren't. However, I also know for a fact that things have really changed a lot since all of this took place; and that the National Collegiate Athletic Association, the N.C.A.A., has really been cracking down on crooked assholes like them.

And yes, I've always hated the way that a lot of American colleges used to recruit their athletes, buying them cars, teachers basically giving them passing grades, that kind of thing. I'm just thankful now that it no longer goes on, well; at least not nearly as much as it used to, anyway.

Still though, like I said a few moments ago, I was going to have to use a different car than my own, because, let's face it, a Corvette Stingray leaves a very definite impression once you've seen one. I knew that in order to make this prick pay for not only what he did to my beautiful Kate, but also what he did to sweet little Sarah, I was going to have to be cunning, catching him when he least expected it.

This meant that I would have to wait for a while and let him think that the coast was clear, stalking him until he made the mistake of relaxing and letting his guard down. Then, and only then would I strike, making him wish he'd never even heard of Kate, or Sarah, for that matter.

~~~~~~

After I took care of, and made the necessary arrangements to get me the items I would need to carry out my plan, I went back to the hospital to see how Kate was doing. And because of what I'd previously said to Mike, about telling Kate what he and David had been up to all along where she and I were concerned, I knew that she probably already knew what was going on so; I wanted to make sure that she understood that I had absolutely no part in any of it, hence the reason I was headed back to see her. However, little did I realize that she was in no way, shape, form, or fashion, about to let me leave her for any reason whatsoever?

~~~~~~

When I got back to Saint Thomas Hospital, visiting hours had been over for quite some time, hence the reason I had to, like the proverbial thief in the night, quietly sneak in to see her without getting caught. When I got to her room, everyone, Carolyn included, had all gone home for the evening so; when I opened the door to her room, you can imagine my surprise when I discovered that she was wide awake.

"Hi, Mark," she softly spoke, "I'm so glad to see you."

"Hello, beautiful," I tenderly replied, "How're you feeling, Kate?"

"Missing you," she very quietly spoke, slowly, but gently patting the mattress beside her, obviously in pain. However, she was still able to let me know that she wanted me to sit down on the bed with her, "There's something really important that I need to tell you, and I need to do it right now before I lose my nerve, okay?"

"Alright," I uncomfortably replied, taking a seat right next to her, as she placed her hand in mine once I was within her reach, "What is it that you wanted to tell me, Kate?"

"It's like this," she began, "Mike told me what he and David did to get you to come to Nashville, and I think it's one of the shittiest things that I've ever seen," and then her swollen, but beautiful, brown eyes began to fill with tears, as she slowly brought my hand to her face and began to bitterly weep, "I swear that I knew nothing about any of this, and I'm so sorry, Mark, but please don't leave me...please," as she continued to cry.

My heart was literally breaking wide open because of the condition she was in to begin with. However, the fact that Kate felt like she had to apologize to me for something that she had nothing to do with; caused a feeling of intense anger to rise up from very deeply within me.

I was so pissed off by then, that not only was I going to hand Tyler Martin's ass over to the police, but now I also began making plans, getting Carolyn's help, once she heard what Mike and David had done. I was going to exact a type of revenge so cold, that not only would it bring them to their knees financially, but if everything worked out properly, Kate would end up owning David Linder's, and Michael Dodge's engineering firm, those

"Shh, it's okay, baby," I tenderly soothed her, gently holding her in my arms, never before having felt what was now in my heart, "None of this was your fault, and there's no need for you to ever have to apologize, for anything again, okay?"

"Wait a minute," she looked at me smiling, "What did you just call me?"

"Oh, you heard me," I replied smiling, very softly kissing her sweet lips.