Ben stood up immediately and told Maria to go after the man and find out who he was. Ben and Selene waited until she came back but Maria said she couldn't find him.
"It's alright. Don't worry about it. What are the chances it was him right?," Selene said, trying to convince herself.
Ben didn't like coincidences. He made a mental note to have his people look into the whereabouts of man who had hurt Selene in the worst possible way as soon as he got home.
The ride back to the penthouse was spent in silence. When they arrived, Selene said she was tired and wanted to lay down. Ben gave her a kiss and let her do as she wished, feeling sorry that he couldn't do more.
A couple hours later, she woke up in a sweat. Her eyes were open wide but she couldn't see much as she had closed the curtains when she first entered the room. With a heart beating faster by the second, Selene was too frightened to move. She had just had a nightmare, but all she remembered of it was feeling as if she was a child and hands were reaching for her body as she just kept running. Even though she knew it was just a dream, she couldn't help looking around with her eyes only to see if there was anyone in the room. She was absolutely still except for her heavy breathing.
Once she realized that Ben was asleep next to her, she felt relief wash over her like a cooling shower after a hot day. She snuggled up next to him and he instinctively embraced her to his chest. It only took a few moments for him to wake up after hearing Selene unsuccessfully trying to not make any noises from crying.
"It's okay," he assured her. "You're safe."
That just made her cry more though because she was filled with so much love for this man who knew exactly what she needed to hear.
Ben held her for a while as she cried, stroking her hair, then her back. He told her everything would be alright until she calmed down and told him about what she remembered from the dream.
"I've put my people on it, so we'll know where he is. Don't worry," he told her. She nodded and he continued, "He won't hurt you ever again, I promise."
Eventually, they had dinner and spent the rest of the night cuddling on the couch, watching TV to take their minds off recent events.
The next morning, both went to work after Selene checked on Peter and learned he was recovering as well as could be expected. As soon as she checked her email, there was one from an account called "daddy0419@hmail.com" with the subject line reading "Can't wait."
Selene froze. April 19 was her birthday. She knew she shouldn't do it but she clicked on it anyway. All that the body of the email had written was "Can't wait to celebrate your birthday with you like we used to sweetheart." It was signed "Daddy."
She stood up and started breathing fast. She fumbled for her phone and dropped it so she called out, "Maria!"
Maria came into her office almost instantaneously. Seeing her charge in such a state of fear, she walked over quickly to her and tried to calm her down by rubbing her arm. "What happened?," she asked.
Selene shook her head and said in a trembling voice, "Please call Ben."
Maria did so without question and Ben came down immediately. Selene pointed to the email and after Ben read it, he turned to Maria and said in an angry voice, "Contact Sheila and tell her to report to my office with Robin asap." He pulled Selene into his arms.
As soon as Maria left to make the call, Ben led her to the little couch in her office and had them sit down.
"How is this possible," Selene asked in a haze. She was still in shock.
"I don't know, but we'll get to the bottom of it. I promise," Ben reassured her. "Do you want to come with me to the meeting with Sheila and Robin?"
Selene nodded, "Yes. I want to know what's going on."
About 20 minutes later, everyone was gathered in Ben's office. Robin had her laptop out and passed around folders with what she had found out so far. Selene's foster "father," Hugh Brown, had been released from prison only two and a half years after being convicted of child sexual molestation. His wife had divorced him while he was in jail and had moved to San Diego to be closer to her parents. She was now remarried and didn't seem to be in contact with her ex-husband.
Brown never remarried and lived in a small apartment in Long Beach until a few weeks ago, when he moved to Reseda, which was about a half hour's drive away from Ben's penthouse. His bank account records showed that he'd deposited $25,000 around that time.
They could not confirm if it was him at the hospital, but they were currently tracing the email that was sent to Selene.
"It's him. I know it is," Selene murmured.
"I think so too," Ben agreed. "But he's not acting alone." He turned to Maria, "Which is why it's important for everyone to be on high alert from now on. Report to me the slightest deviation or the faintest thought about something being suspicious. We can't put anything passed him."
All the bodyguards nodded, but Selene looked confused. Then her face became steel as she said, "You're talking about Victor."
"That's my guess, but I'm pretty sure he's behind it. How else would he get that kind of money?" Ben explained.
"So he's doing this to terrorize me," Selene frowned and let out a long breath.
Sheila said, "That's why it's important not to let him get to you so he doesn't win."
"That's right," Ben nodded. "Trust that nothing will happen to you with us around."
Selene smiled and looked around at those around her as she said, "Thank you everyone. I really appreciate all that you all are doing to help me."
"Of course," Sheila replied.
"That scum won't succeed with us around," Robin said vehemently.
"The noose is definitely tightening," Sheila nodded. "Between this, Evans's death, Cam Duy's testimony, and what Max found out…oh! Speaking of which. You'll never believe what Max found out."