"Kurt? Kurt! You need to stop throwing me around like this...I'm feeling
really sick." Stephanie mumbled, her eyes still fixated on the ramp. He
wasn't coming. Hunter wasn't coming out....she needed to go and throw up
somewhere. "Kurt. Put. Me. Down. Now!" Stephanie emphasized, her breathing
shaky. Kurt finally complied and looked down at her curiously. Stephanie
swallowed, blinking back her tears furiously, reached down to pick up the
mike and--
Her husbands' theme music blared over the arena. Stephanie looked back up at the ramp and saw Hunter coming down, looking royally ticked off. She bit back a smile, and tried to look at him venomously, but she couldn't quite manage it because she was so excited and relieved at the mere sight of him. Stephanie sent out a silent thank you to whatever god was listening.
Game, set and match, Hunter...the ball's in your court now. Stephanie moved closer to Vince as Hunter stepped through the ropes to the thunderous applause of the audience. Hunter walked straight over to Vince and grabbed the mike from his hands, leaving Vince stupefied for a moment. Then Vince started to protest, but one look at Hunter's face stopped him in mid sentence. Vince gave Stephanie a pitying look.
"So, you're having a baby, then? Wow! Congratulations to the happy couple! Everyone, send your love!" Hunter directed the audience.
The audience was loving this, and started booing appropriately.
"You know, when those words popped out of your mouth there Steph, I got to thinking: This feels like deja vu all over again! You're up here, saying you're pregnant, but we both know it's not true. This time around, why don't you just admit it right off? You're pulling another stunt, all in order to weasel your way back into the Federation. Admit it, damn it!"
"No...that's not what I'm doing at all! Kurt and I are having a baby together...we're in love!" Stephanie protested. He wasn't supposed to believe she was faking this! But she really should have known he'd believe that.
"Oh, come ON, Steph! This is another one of your pathetic lies! Only this time, the poor sucker in question is you, Angle."
At this, Kurt came alive. "Hey, hey, hey! You may not believe Stephanie is having my child, but let me assure you it's true, it's true!"
"Really? You're actually falling for this? Man, I thought I was stupid having fallen for it the first time around, but you have to be a real moron to believe it this time."
"Take that back, Hunter. You're being rude to Stephanie." Kurt said loudly, stepping to Stephanie's side.
Stephanie meanwhile, was trying to figure out a way to get this confrontation back on track. Things that needed to be said weren't getting said and she had to get this back in order.
"Hunter, I know that you're upset, but you really have no reason to be...we are divorced, after all!" The audience cheered loudly at the announcement that everything had been finalized, that the McMahon-Helmsley Era was officially over.
"You know what? You're right! You're absolutely right, Stephanie." Hunter came toward her slowly, so that there were only inches separating their faces. Hunter looked into Stephanie's eyes, probing, searching for what? Stephanie wondered. Whatever it was that he was searching for, he'd found it, because he turned his back to Stephanie and faced Angle.
"She's lying, Angle. I can read it in her eyes. She isn't telling the truth at all. There is NO baby, yet again."
"No! That's where you're wrong!" Stephanie yelled. "There is a baby--I am having the child of the man that I love." Stephanie said, looking straight into Hunter's eyes. She saw him blink and swallow. He had seen the truth in her eyes, but he should have listened more carefully to her words. He rasped into the microphone as he turned to Kurt again.
"If I were you, I'd demand a pregnancy test." Then he looked back at Stephanie and moved as though he were about to exit the ring, one leg dropping between the ropes. Then he paused for a moment, and pulled the leg back in. "And Kurt? One thing is for certain. I wouldn't place any bets on you being able to father any more kids!" And with that, Hunter threw down the mike and tackled Angle, tossing him hard out of the ring and slamming his head against the steel stairs of the ramp. Then he walked over Kurt's body for good measure.
The audience screamed it's approval as Stephanie watched Hunter go back up the ramp.
Well, it hadn't gone exactly as she'd hoped, but it was a start. He had been jealous...he'd never admit it of course, but he'd been dying, thinking of her and Kurt, just like she felt whenever she thought about him and Stacy. Stephanie looked over the side of the ramp where Kurt lay unconscious. She probably should go down there, but the paramedics were arriving and she didn't want to get in the way. Oh well, Kurt would wake up, his head probably killing him, but he'd survive. Stephanie shrugged it off and took her father's hand as she spoke into her microphone. "Okay, Hunter may not like it, but I am back! And let me just say one last thing: This time around, I am determined to get absolutely everything--and I do mean everything!--that I deserve. And if there's anything--or anyone who gets in my way, let me give you fair warning--you'll learn a whole new meaning of the word 'sorry'!!" And then Stephanie gracefully exited the ring, her father in tow.
"You know, you might have given me some warning!" Vince told Stephanie dryly as they closed the doors in his backstage office. "What kind of prank are you playing?"
"It's no prank, Dad. No, this is absolutely serious. It's the rest of my life, so you better believe this isn't some kind of a joke."
"But sweetheart? You and Angle? I mean, hey, he's better than Hunter any day of the week but--"
"I know you don't like Hunter, Dad, but I don't want you talking badly about him." Stephanie said as she grabbed a glass of orange juice her father had been sipping earlier that night and took a long drink.
"What do you care if I--oh Stephanie. Stephanie, you can't be serious!" Vince bellowed.
"Dad, be quiet! What on earth are you rambling about now?"
"You're still in love with that--that--that--my God!" Vince sputtered.
"Actually Dad, he's my god, but..." Stephanie joked, trying to lighten the mood.
"Stephanie, I know you...this whole pregnancy thing is not remotely your style. Besides that, you're hardly stupid enough to try the whole thing twice in a row! So I've come to the conclusion that you're actually pregnant--"
"Gee, Dad, thanks for the faith." Stephanie muttered.
"Stephanie, you tell me exactly what you are doing and I mean now!"
"No, Dad! Look, you and I, we have a deal that is entirely separate from this. I'll fulfill my part of our bargain and that is all, I don't owe you any explanations about--" Stephanie gasped and grabbed her side. "Oh, God! What the--" She yelled as she slumped to the floor.
"Stephanie? Stephanie? What's wrong--"
And that's when Vince noted the e-mail notice flashing on his computer. Dialing for security to get the paramedics with one hand, he used the other to open the e-mail. It was that sick, twisted...shakily, Vince opened the e- mail. It flashed a bloody skull and crossbones and at the bottom it read:
"Vince, Vince, Vince...didn't anyone tell you never to leave any of your drinks unattended? Time to learn that lesson the hard way, the way I learned all my lessons from you."
Horrified, Vince looked back over to his daughter, crumpled on the floor. "Stephanie?" he whispered.
Suddenly the door flung open, and Vince cringed. But it was only his son-in- law. "Get in here, shut the door! That son-of a bitch is here somewhere!" Vince rasped to Hunter.
"Vince, we're going to have a talk and we are going to have it right--What is wrong with her!?" Hunter yelled as he saw Stephanie on the ground. He knelt down on the floor next to a dazed Stephanie, whose eyes were fluttering and breathing was shallow.
Stephanie piped up to Hunter: "Wow, this hurts a lot. Like someone's stabbing me in the stomach. I've never been stabbed before, so I don't know for sure that's what it feels like but if I had to guess I think it would feel something like this and--" Stephanie broke off her ramble and giggled. Hunter looked into her eyes and could see that there was nobody home. He held her limp hand in his, massaging her wrist.
"What happened to her?" he demanded again, looking at Vince.
Vince opened his mouth to answer but there was a pounding at the door. "Paramedics!" The guy outside called.
Vince went over and wrenched open the door. "My daughter...she's been poisoned."
"With what?" one of the paramedics asked, hurrying over to Stephanie.
"I don't know! Don't you think that if I knew, I'd tell you?! But it was the orange juice, had to have been." Vince replied angrily.
"Someone test the orange juice." The paramedic directed curtly. "Sir, you're going to have to move aside." he told Hunter. But Stephanie tightened her grip on Hunter's hand, muttered something that she wanted him to stay with her, so instead of leaving, he just moved back, but was still rubbing his thumb over her wrist reassuringly. "Ma'am? Can you please follow this light with your eyes?" he asked, pulling out a penlight. Stephanie did so. She seemed to be snapping out of whatever state she had been in, Hunter thought. She was starting to sit up straight so he said softly, "Hey...take it easy. Let the guy do his job, okay?"
"Okay." Stephanie replied weakly.
"What happened, my head side hurts...my...oh my God! My baby? Is my baby okay!? What happened, somebody tell me my baby's okay. Hunter? Is the baby okay?!" Stephanie begged him.
Thrown aback by Stephanie's overwhelming panic, Hunter felt a curious need to reassure her. "Shhh...everything's fine....right?" Hunter asked the EMT, who was now taking Stephanie's pulse.
"Well, her color's coming back...pulse is getting back up there and your breathing is less shallow. Let's get you sitting up, hmm? I'll help you up." the EMT said.
"No, that's okay, I've got it." Hunter told him as he slung his arm around Stephanie's back and pulled her weight onto him. He led her over to Vince's huge desk chair and he himself perched on the armrest. Stephanie's head half-slumped onto Hunter's shoulder and he moved his arm around her neck to make her more comfortable. Stephanie was now completely aware of her surroundings again and was studying her father quizzically.
"Well, everything seems to be allright." The EMT said. "You definitely should come by the hospital though, especially since you're pregnant. Right?" Stephanie nodded. "But I don't think you need an ambulance, let's just drive you over."
"Can it wait for a couple minutes?" Vince asked the EMT quietly. "It's important...I need to tell my daughter something. It won't take long, I want her to go to the hospital, obviously, and I want that juice tested. But I need to tell her something."
"Well...I suppose it should be fine. We'll be right out the door, if she's having any problems, yell." And with that the EMTs exited. Vince looked over at Stephanie and Hunter in the chair. Hunter's eyes had glazed over and he was looking at Vince hostilely.
"Yeah, Vince, I think you've got a lot of explaining to do. Start now." Hunter said casually, but Vince could hear the subtle threat in Hunter's tone.
"You can leave. I want to talk to Stephanie now. Alone."
"Um, let me think on that for a moment...no." Hunter said.
"Now, listen, this doesn't concern you--"
"Dad, just get on with it! He's not leaving, and I don't even want him to! So start explaining, and I mean now!" Stephanie told her father, finally starting to be able to breathe again.
Vince knew it was a losing battle, so he just went over to his computer. To his surprise there was another e-mail. A new one. He opened it up--
"Oh--What the hell?" Hunter breathed, peering at the computer screen. He felt Stephanie stiffen beside him. He pulled her closer, so that the right side of his body was matched against her left. Absently, he threaded his fingers through her hair.
"What--but--that's me." Stephanie breathed. It was pictures of her,in New Orleans. Trying on clothes at the boutique with Claudine--two of them were actually pictures of her in mid-dress, she was only in her underwear. Her stomach turned. Who could have done this? Wordlessly, Vince scrolled down, and the pictures shifted from her in the boutique to her running wildly from her hotel--it must have been after seeing--seeing--seeing what she had seen in the hotel, she thought. And then, pictures of her sobbing on a park bench, the lights of the park giving her an ethereal glow. Stephanie looked at her father.
"What is this?" she asked, trying to remain calm.
"This...this is some sick freak's idea of playtime, sweetheart...I'm sorry, I didn't want to tell you, I didn't want to worry you. I didn't realize he had gotten close enough to you to get those kinds of pictures. I should have told you weeks ago, I--"
"Weeks ago? Weeks ago? How long have you been getting pictures of me from this creep? How long?" Stephanie screamed.
"Only a little while, usually they're pictures of me, your mother, your brother and his girlfriends....the pictures of you only started a week ago."
"And you didn't think to tell me? To tell me some whacked out nut job might be stalking me? Maybe just a phone call, because it's not like you've even called me in months! Something along the lines of "Hey, darling, just calling to say hi, and oh, by the way, watch out, there might be some guy watching you and can get close enough to you to take pictures of you half- naked! Maybe just a little subtle warning?"
What kind of a father would do that? I can't--I can't even believe you wouldn't tell me this!
Stephanie stopped for a moment, studying her father's guilty expression. "Wait a minute...there's more, isn't there?" she said slowly. "Why is this happening? Who's doing this?" Stephanie asked her father.
"Steph, you have to believe me, I have no idea...all the messages say are that I'm going to pay, I'm going to be sorry, I'm going to lose everything. I don't know who this is, what this is about, I don't know anything! But you have to believe me, I have the best people working on this, we will nail this s.o.b. to the wall, I promise you. I promise you, Stephanie!"
"Your promises never did mean much to me, Dad. But you know what? I don't even have the energy to deal with any of this! You put me in danger by not telling me, I could have hired somebody, some security, or something, but you didn't even let me know." Stephanie said disgustingly.
Vince opened his mouth to speak but Stephanie held up a hand and rose unsteadily from the chair. Hunter immediately stood behind her in case she fell over.
"I'm going to the hospital. I want to make sure that your grandchild is okay, no thanks to his grandfather! Um, Hunter? Could you maybe help me out the door? Room's kind of spinning a little."
"What? Yeah....sure. Let's go." Hunter replied, still glaring at Vince. "This isn't over. After Steph gets checked out, we're going to have a conversation." he told Vince. His tone immediately softened when he started talking again to Stephanie, walking her out the door, telling her he was sure everything would be fine.
Vince stared at the door, not really seeing it. It would appear he had gravely underestimated the danger here, he thought. He contemplated sending Tom with Stephanie, but he knew Hunter wouldn't leave her, so he decided against it. She'd be safe enough with Hunter, and he was one of the few people Vince had ruled out as having no connection with the stalker. But what would this maniac do next? He had to be stopped, no matter the cost. No one did this to a McMahon. No one.
"Thank you for helping me out in there...but I understand if you want to go, you know--Stacy, and everything. Kurt can come with me." Stephanie said, she knew Hunter wouldn't let that happen but wanted to look good in his eyes at least in making the offer.
Her gamble was right. "Yeah, well, sorry Princess, you're stuck with me. Angle's still seeing birdies, I'm afraid. And I don't want you going anywhere alone, with how did you put it--that 'whacked out nut job' on the loose? he teased.
"It's not funny."
He immediately sobered. "I know, believe me. I just wanted to get your mind off--well, you know."
"My supposedly non-existent baby?" she queried.
"Yeah...about that...I saw how concerned you were in there about your kid. I think I actually believe you're actually pregnant."
"Wow, all this overwhelming faith and trust from the men that I lo---" Stephanie stopped herself from saying 'love', she knew he'd panic, and said instead "boy, it all just makes a girl feel good."
The EMTs were following the two slowly, as Hunter didn't want Stephanie to be moving too fast. His chauffeur, Chad saw his employer coming and quickly opened the door. "One of you guys, come with us?" Hunter invited. "I don't want to take any chances on the way to the hospital." The man who had examined Stephanie nodded and got in with Stephanie and Hunter.
"Lay down." Hunter directed Stephanie, rummaging in the back for his jacket. "Here." he said, as he placed it over her shoulders. But to his surprise, Stephanie crossed seats in the limo and came and sat next to him. She put her head on his lap and covered herself with the jacket, pulling her long legs onto the rest of the seat and curling into a ball. Hunter didn't feel like telling her to get back over to the other side of the limo, she was probably still freaked out and he couldn't blame her. So he settled into his seat and returned the gaze of the EMT who had been watching the two curiously.
The EMT coughed and looked away discreetly as the limo pulled out of the lot and headed for the hospital.
Her husbands' theme music blared over the arena. Stephanie looked back up at the ramp and saw Hunter coming down, looking royally ticked off. She bit back a smile, and tried to look at him venomously, but she couldn't quite manage it because she was so excited and relieved at the mere sight of him. Stephanie sent out a silent thank you to whatever god was listening.
Game, set and match, Hunter...the ball's in your court now. Stephanie moved closer to Vince as Hunter stepped through the ropes to the thunderous applause of the audience. Hunter walked straight over to Vince and grabbed the mike from his hands, leaving Vince stupefied for a moment. Then Vince started to protest, but one look at Hunter's face stopped him in mid sentence. Vince gave Stephanie a pitying look.
"So, you're having a baby, then? Wow! Congratulations to the happy couple! Everyone, send your love!" Hunter directed the audience.
The audience was loving this, and started booing appropriately.
"You know, when those words popped out of your mouth there Steph, I got to thinking: This feels like deja vu all over again! You're up here, saying you're pregnant, but we both know it's not true. This time around, why don't you just admit it right off? You're pulling another stunt, all in order to weasel your way back into the Federation. Admit it, damn it!"
"No...that's not what I'm doing at all! Kurt and I are having a baby together...we're in love!" Stephanie protested. He wasn't supposed to believe she was faking this! But she really should have known he'd believe that.
"Oh, come ON, Steph! This is another one of your pathetic lies! Only this time, the poor sucker in question is you, Angle."
At this, Kurt came alive. "Hey, hey, hey! You may not believe Stephanie is having my child, but let me assure you it's true, it's true!"
"Really? You're actually falling for this? Man, I thought I was stupid having fallen for it the first time around, but you have to be a real moron to believe it this time."
"Take that back, Hunter. You're being rude to Stephanie." Kurt said loudly, stepping to Stephanie's side.
Stephanie meanwhile, was trying to figure out a way to get this confrontation back on track. Things that needed to be said weren't getting said and she had to get this back in order.
"Hunter, I know that you're upset, but you really have no reason to be...we are divorced, after all!" The audience cheered loudly at the announcement that everything had been finalized, that the McMahon-Helmsley Era was officially over.
"You know what? You're right! You're absolutely right, Stephanie." Hunter came toward her slowly, so that there were only inches separating their faces. Hunter looked into Stephanie's eyes, probing, searching for what? Stephanie wondered. Whatever it was that he was searching for, he'd found it, because he turned his back to Stephanie and faced Angle.
"She's lying, Angle. I can read it in her eyes. She isn't telling the truth at all. There is NO baby, yet again."
"No! That's where you're wrong!" Stephanie yelled. "There is a baby--I am having the child of the man that I love." Stephanie said, looking straight into Hunter's eyes. She saw him blink and swallow. He had seen the truth in her eyes, but he should have listened more carefully to her words. He rasped into the microphone as he turned to Kurt again.
"If I were you, I'd demand a pregnancy test." Then he looked back at Stephanie and moved as though he were about to exit the ring, one leg dropping between the ropes. Then he paused for a moment, and pulled the leg back in. "And Kurt? One thing is for certain. I wouldn't place any bets on you being able to father any more kids!" And with that, Hunter threw down the mike and tackled Angle, tossing him hard out of the ring and slamming his head against the steel stairs of the ramp. Then he walked over Kurt's body for good measure.
The audience screamed it's approval as Stephanie watched Hunter go back up the ramp.
Well, it hadn't gone exactly as she'd hoped, but it was a start. He had been jealous...he'd never admit it of course, but he'd been dying, thinking of her and Kurt, just like she felt whenever she thought about him and Stacy. Stephanie looked over the side of the ramp where Kurt lay unconscious. She probably should go down there, but the paramedics were arriving and she didn't want to get in the way. Oh well, Kurt would wake up, his head probably killing him, but he'd survive. Stephanie shrugged it off and took her father's hand as she spoke into her microphone. "Okay, Hunter may not like it, but I am back! And let me just say one last thing: This time around, I am determined to get absolutely everything--and I do mean everything!--that I deserve. And if there's anything--or anyone who gets in my way, let me give you fair warning--you'll learn a whole new meaning of the word 'sorry'!!" And then Stephanie gracefully exited the ring, her father in tow.
"You know, you might have given me some warning!" Vince told Stephanie dryly as they closed the doors in his backstage office. "What kind of prank are you playing?"
"It's no prank, Dad. No, this is absolutely serious. It's the rest of my life, so you better believe this isn't some kind of a joke."
"But sweetheart? You and Angle? I mean, hey, he's better than Hunter any day of the week but--"
"I know you don't like Hunter, Dad, but I don't want you talking badly about him." Stephanie said as she grabbed a glass of orange juice her father had been sipping earlier that night and took a long drink.
"What do you care if I--oh Stephanie. Stephanie, you can't be serious!" Vince bellowed.
"Dad, be quiet! What on earth are you rambling about now?"
"You're still in love with that--that--that--my God!" Vince sputtered.
"Actually Dad, he's my god, but..." Stephanie joked, trying to lighten the mood.
"Stephanie, I know you...this whole pregnancy thing is not remotely your style. Besides that, you're hardly stupid enough to try the whole thing twice in a row! So I've come to the conclusion that you're actually pregnant--"
"Gee, Dad, thanks for the faith." Stephanie muttered.
"Stephanie, you tell me exactly what you are doing and I mean now!"
"No, Dad! Look, you and I, we have a deal that is entirely separate from this. I'll fulfill my part of our bargain and that is all, I don't owe you any explanations about--" Stephanie gasped and grabbed her side. "Oh, God! What the--" She yelled as she slumped to the floor.
"Stephanie? Stephanie? What's wrong--"
And that's when Vince noted the e-mail notice flashing on his computer. Dialing for security to get the paramedics with one hand, he used the other to open the e-mail. It was that sick, twisted...shakily, Vince opened the e- mail. It flashed a bloody skull and crossbones and at the bottom it read:
"Vince, Vince, Vince...didn't anyone tell you never to leave any of your drinks unattended? Time to learn that lesson the hard way, the way I learned all my lessons from you."
Horrified, Vince looked back over to his daughter, crumpled on the floor. "Stephanie?" he whispered.
Suddenly the door flung open, and Vince cringed. But it was only his son-in- law. "Get in here, shut the door! That son-of a bitch is here somewhere!" Vince rasped to Hunter.
"Vince, we're going to have a talk and we are going to have it right--What is wrong with her!?" Hunter yelled as he saw Stephanie on the ground. He knelt down on the floor next to a dazed Stephanie, whose eyes were fluttering and breathing was shallow.
Stephanie piped up to Hunter: "Wow, this hurts a lot. Like someone's stabbing me in the stomach. I've never been stabbed before, so I don't know for sure that's what it feels like but if I had to guess I think it would feel something like this and--" Stephanie broke off her ramble and giggled. Hunter looked into her eyes and could see that there was nobody home. He held her limp hand in his, massaging her wrist.
"What happened to her?" he demanded again, looking at Vince.
Vince opened his mouth to answer but there was a pounding at the door. "Paramedics!" The guy outside called.
Vince went over and wrenched open the door. "My daughter...she's been poisoned."
"With what?" one of the paramedics asked, hurrying over to Stephanie.
"I don't know! Don't you think that if I knew, I'd tell you?! But it was the orange juice, had to have been." Vince replied angrily.
"Someone test the orange juice." The paramedic directed curtly. "Sir, you're going to have to move aside." he told Hunter. But Stephanie tightened her grip on Hunter's hand, muttered something that she wanted him to stay with her, so instead of leaving, he just moved back, but was still rubbing his thumb over her wrist reassuringly. "Ma'am? Can you please follow this light with your eyes?" he asked, pulling out a penlight. Stephanie did so. She seemed to be snapping out of whatever state she had been in, Hunter thought. She was starting to sit up straight so he said softly, "Hey...take it easy. Let the guy do his job, okay?"
"Okay." Stephanie replied weakly.
"What happened, my head side hurts...my...oh my God! My baby? Is my baby okay!? What happened, somebody tell me my baby's okay. Hunter? Is the baby okay?!" Stephanie begged him.
Thrown aback by Stephanie's overwhelming panic, Hunter felt a curious need to reassure her. "Shhh...everything's fine....right?" Hunter asked the EMT, who was now taking Stephanie's pulse.
"Well, her color's coming back...pulse is getting back up there and your breathing is less shallow. Let's get you sitting up, hmm? I'll help you up." the EMT said.
"No, that's okay, I've got it." Hunter told him as he slung his arm around Stephanie's back and pulled her weight onto him. He led her over to Vince's huge desk chair and he himself perched on the armrest. Stephanie's head half-slumped onto Hunter's shoulder and he moved his arm around her neck to make her more comfortable. Stephanie was now completely aware of her surroundings again and was studying her father quizzically.
"Well, everything seems to be allright." The EMT said. "You definitely should come by the hospital though, especially since you're pregnant. Right?" Stephanie nodded. "But I don't think you need an ambulance, let's just drive you over."
"Can it wait for a couple minutes?" Vince asked the EMT quietly. "It's important...I need to tell my daughter something. It won't take long, I want her to go to the hospital, obviously, and I want that juice tested. But I need to tell her something."
"Well...I suppose it should be fine. We'll be right out the door, if she's having any problems, yell." And with that the EMTs exited. Vince looked over at Stephanie and Hunter in the chair. Hunter's eyes had glazed over and he was looking at Vince hostilely.
"Yeah, Vince, I think you've got a lot of explaining to do. Start now." Hunter said casually, but Vince could hear the subtle threat in Hunter's tone.
"You can leave. I want to talk to Stephanie now. Alone."
"Um, let me think on that for a moment...no." Hunter said.
"Now, listen, this doesn't concern you--"
"Dad, just get on with it! He's not leaving, and I don't even want him to! So start explaining, and I mean now!" Stephanie told her father, finally starting to be able to breathe again.
Vince knew it was a losing battle, so he just went over to his computer. To his surprise there was another e-mail. A new one. He opened it up--
"Oh--What the hell?" Hunter breathed, peering at the computer screen. He felt Stephanie stiffen beside him. He pulled her closer, so that the right side of his body was matched against her left. Absently, he threaded his fingers through her hair.
"What--but--that's me." Stephanie breathed. It was pictures of her,in New Orleans. Trying on clothes at the boutique with Claudine--two of them were actually pictures of her in mid-dress, she was only in her underwear. Her stomach turned. Who could have done this? Wordlessly, Vince scrolled down, and the pictures shifted from her in the boutique to her running wildly from her hotel--it must have been after seeing--seeing--seeing what she had seen in the hotel, she thought. And then, pictures of her sobbing on a park bench, the lights of the park giving her an ethereal glow. Stephanie looked at her father.
"What is this?" she asked, trying to remain calm.
"This...this is some sick freak's idea of playtime, sweetheart...I'm sorry, I didn't want to tell you, I didn't want to worry you. I didn't realize he had gotten close enough to you to get those kinds of pictures. I should have told you weeks ago, I--"
"Weeks ago? Weeks ago? How long have you been getting pictures of me from this creep? How long?" Stephanie screamed.
"Only a little while, usually they're pictures of me, your mother, your brother and his girlfriends....the pictures of you only started a week ago."
"And you didn't think to tell me? To tell me some whacked out nut job might be stalking me? Maybe just a phone call, because it's not like you've even called me in months! Something along the lines of "Hey, darling, just calling to say hi, and oh, by the way, watch out, there might be some guy watching you and can get close enough to you to take pictures of you half- naked! Maybe just a little subtle warning?"
What kind of a father would do that? I can't--I can't even believe you wouldn't tell me this!
Stephanie stopped for a moment, studying her father's guilty expression. "Wait a minute...there's more, isn't there?" she said slowly. "Why is this happening? Who's doing this?" Stephanie asked her father.
"Steph, you have to believe me, I have no idea...all the messages say are that I'm going to pay, I'm going to be sorry, I'm going to lose everything. I don't know who this is, what this is about, I don't know anything! But you have to believe me, I have the best people working on this, we will nail this s.o.b. to the wall, I promise you. I promise you, Stephanie!"
"Your promises never did mean much to me, Dad. But you know what? I don't even have the energy to deal with any of this! You put me in danger by not telling me, I could have hired somebody, some security, or something, but you didn't even let me know." Stephanie said disgustingly.
Vince opened his mouth to speak but Stephanie held up a hand and rose unsteadily from the chair. Hunter immediately stood behind her in case she fell over.
"I'm going to the hospital. I want to make sure that your grandchild is okay, no thanks to his grandfather! Um, Hunter? Could you maybe help me out the door? Room's kind of spinning a little."
"What? Yeah....sure. Let's go." Hunter replied, still glaring at Vince. "This isn't over. After Steph gets checked out, we're going to have a conversation." he told Vince. His tone immediately softened when he started talking again to Stephanie, walking her out the door, telling her he was sure everything would be fine.
Vince stared at the door, not really seeing it. It would appear he had gravely underestimated the danger here, he thought. He contemplated sending Tom with Stephanie, but he knew Hunter wouldn't leave her, so he decided against it. She'd be safe enough with Hunter, and he was one of the few people Vince had ruled out as having no connection with the stalker. But what would this maniac do next? He had to be stopped, no matter the cost. No one did this to a McMahon. No one.
"Thank you for helping me out in there...but I understand if you want to go, you know--Stacy, and everything. Kurt can come with me." Stephanie said, she knew Hunter wouldn't let that happen but wanted to look good in his eyes at least in making the offer.
Her gamble was right. "Yeah, well, sorry Princess, you're stuck with me. Angle's still seeing birdies, I'm afraid. And I don't want you going anywhere alone, with how did you put it--that 'whacked out nut job' on the loose? he teased.
"It's not funny."
He immediately sobered. "I know, believe me. I just wanted to get your mind off--well, you know."
"My supposedly non-existent baby?" she queried.
"Yeah...about that...I saw how concerned you were in there about your kid. I think I actually believe you're actually pregnant."
"Wow, all this overwhelming faith and trust from the men that I lo---" Stephanie stopped herself from saying 'love', she knew he'd panic, and said instead "boy, it all just makes a girl feel good."
The EMTs were following the two slowly, as Hunter didn't want Stephanie to be moving too fast. His chauffeur, Chad saw his employer coming and quickly opened the door. "One of you guys, come with us?" Hunter invited. "I don't want to take any chances on the way to the hospital." The man who had examined Stephanie nodded and got in with Stephanie and Hunter.
"Lay down." Hunter directed Stephanie, rummaging in the back for his jacket. "Here." he said, as he placed it over her shoulders. But to his surprise, Stephanie crossed seats in the limo and came and sat next to him. She put her head on his lap and covered herself with the jacket, pulling her long legs onto the rest of the seat and curling into a ball. Hunter didn't feel like telling her to get back over to the other side of the limo, she was probably still freaked out and he couldn't blame her. So he settled into his seat and returned the gaze of the EMT who had been watching the two curiously.
The EMT coughed and looked away discreetly as the limo pulled out of the lot and headed for the hospital.