"How did you know that?" she asked, her brain finally comprehending what he had said.
"You talk in your sleep." He replied
"And you hit things." Shippen added.
"Who is Grant?" Ian asked again.
"He wouldn't happen to be Grant Stone would he?" Shaw asked suddenly. Adrienne glanced at him sharply.
"Yes… how do you know him?"
"Heard about him, serial killer right? He killed his sister because she had red hair." Shaw said, not taking his eyes off the road.
"Uh, huh. He was my last boyfriend."
Phil whistled "Talk about bad luck."
"And since you are still here, alive, what happened?" Ian asked, twisting around in his seat.
" He tried to strangle me. I hit him with a golf club then barely escaped, left England in the middle of the night, went to the hospital in the U.S. as soon as I arrived. Been here in the U.S for three years, got kidnapped by some very strange, treasure obsessed people, and you know the rest." Adrienne flopped back in her seat. "Everyone happy now that I have told my life story in a nutshell? Anyone want to know anything else about me?" Adrienne shut her eyes, feeling slightly depressed from reliving certain memories.
"You'll be glad to hear that he tried the same thing again, only he got caught this time. He's in a federal prison with a life sentence." Shaw said.
" That's just pure evil, just to try to kill people because of their hair color. I'm terribly sorry Adrienne. That's a terrible thing to live through." Ian said, putting a hand on her knee.
" It's in the past." Adrienne replied, breaking eye contact. Why does he care? He sounds like he truly means what he said. There must be more to Ian Howe than meets the eye.
Adrienne was woke up again, this time when they had reached their destination, another hotel, in New York. Thankfully, they ran into no other guests, while entering. After everyone looked at his watch, which Adrienne thought was completely unnecessary since there was a clock on the wall, a restaurant was decided upon. When asked if she had a preference on where to go, she replied "Some where dark.", in hopes that the dark would help her headache.
Viktor showed up, talked to Ian in the hall then promptly left again. Ian re-entered running a hand through his hair and looking incredibly stressed. Adrienne made a note of the fact. Something here didn't add up. Is Viktor blackmailing Ian? Or everyone here? Or is it a hostage situation? Something inside Adrienne felt glad that there was hope that… Maybe Ian is being forced to do this. Maybe he isn't truly bad….
Whatever it was, Adrienne was sure that Viktor was not a welcome member of Ian's team.
The car pulled up the Black Angus Steakhouse, shortly after the decision of where to go was made. Inside, it was as dark as Adrienne could have wanted. But what was up will all the bubbles floating through the air?
"Hey, am I the only one seeing bubbles?" She asked, rubbing her eyes.
"No, I see them too. Must be a birthday party." Phil replied.
"How is your head?" Ian asked as the hostess seated them.
"It's a lot better now."
The only places you could clearly see were the buffet lines and the salad bar. Shippen as usual, was taking pictures. Apparently, the other guys had grown used to it, they didn't even blink at the flash.
A short while later Adrienne was at the salad bar with Ian when she noticed something…strange.
"Hey, your associates have finally lost it." She said
"What?" Ian looked up from dumping half the bottle of Ranch on his salad. Shaw, Shippen and Phil were all gesturing and waving wildly at something behind them. Ian curiously glanced over his shoulder and whipped his head back around, looking horrified.
"What?" Adrienne asked.
"Hello Ian, darling." Someone purred from behind them. Adrienne turned to see a black-haired, walking toothpick addressing them, or rather Ian. Definitely a gold-digger. Adrienne noted.
"Hello Clarissa." Ian said reluctantly "Have you met my fiancée Adrienne?" Even Adrienne noticed the veiled, hate filled glare Clarissa threw at her.
"Why no. What a pleasure to meet you." She said, smiling fakely.
"Oh, likewise, I'm sure." Adrienne replied, immensely disliking this woman.
"I'm terribly sorry Clarissa, but we are in a hurry." Ian said, taking a step back.
"Oh it was soooo nice seeing you, give me a call when you have the time." Clarissa responded, taking a step toward Adrienne as she turned to go.
"Oh, I'm so sorry!" Clarissa cried as she purposely jostled Adrienne. As she stumbled Adrienne up-ended her plate and flipped almost all of her salad down the front of Clarissa's bright red, low-cut dress. She stood there in shock staring at the lettuce and tomatoes sticking out then turned and ran for the ladies room, her waist length hair streaming behind her. Ian burst into a very fake coughing fit to cover his laughter, but did nothing to hide the smirk on his face. Adrienne grabbed another salad and hurried back to their table, smirking herself.
"Who was that? An ex-girlfriend?" she asked, when they were back at the table. Ian shuddered
"Never. She won't stop stalking me."
"She might now, especially with the pictures I got." Shippen pointed out.
Adrienne woke in the dark, gasping. She needed air! Grant was choking it out of her!
"Adrienne." She nearly screamed, thinking a nightmare had come to life.
"You were screaming." It was Ian. Adrienne breathed slowly, trying to calm down.
"I hate to ask this, but can you drug me? I can't sleep like this." She asked, still shaking slightly.
"Is it the same nightmare?" Ian asked, sitting on the edge of the bed.
"It always has been. Gets worse each time."
"It's probably brought on by anxiety or stress, and your situation hasn't been free of either."
"You could do something about that, you know." Adrienne stated. There was a long silence.
"No, I can't. I'm sorry." Ian finally said.
"Why?" She asked as he rose to go. Ian didn't answer.
"I'll get you some sleeping pills."