by Celeste Raye
“So, I take it this is about Fran?”
“Yes, she called me in a panic earlier and left a message. I would have gotten the phone call if you wouldn't have made me turn off my so phone when we got into the meeting.”
“That was because it was the right thing to do. You need to show investors that they are the only person that you were worried about. They spent their time to come meet with us; it’s the least that we can do.”
“Well, I did it your way, and now I have no idea what's going on. She won't answer her phone, and I can't even get Maria to answer the house phone. Something has happened, and I need to get home and find out what’s going on.”
His father was acting weird, and it made him wonder what was going on. What was his father hiding?
“Do you know something about what happened?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Just what I said. Did you know that something happened at my house?”
“Of course, I didn't. I have no idea what you're talking about. I just want you to stay so that we can go to this meeting and do what needs to be done. I thought you felt the same way.”
Chris had been working hard lately to prove to his father that he was everything that he needed him to be. It had not been an easy task, because his father didn't believe him, and it was even harder to gain his trust.
Chris had a lot on this plate and bringing Fran into the mix was only making it more complicated. While she had complicated things, Chris also figured out that Fran was right about a lot of things. One thing, in particular, was how she felt about his dad. Something was off.
“I have worked for years at this company, trying to prove myself to you, Father, and I have learned that it is most likely never going to happen. I just killed myself day in and day out for you to look down on me. I am done with us, and I think I am done with the company.”
“No, you are not, son. This is to be your company, and you are going to do what is necessary to run it. You're going to do what I had to do to run it. That means sometimes you have to give up the pretty faces.”
“You have no idea what you're talking about, old man. I am going to go check on my family because that matters far more than this job does.”
Chris stalked off, and it had been almost ten minutes that he was talking to his father. A part of him felt like he was being stalled. None of it made sense, but at least it kept his mind occupied as he made his way back to the house. There was a knot in his stomach that told him something was wrong. Something was very wrong. What had happened there?
When Chris got to the house, he immediately knew that his fears were real. The door was wide open when he pulled in and two steps in, he saw Maria on the floor. She had a gunshot wound to her chest and one in her head. It looked like a professional and his heart started to race a little bit more. There was no way that this was a coincidence. Whoever had done it was there for Fran.
Chris had always been close to Maria. The woman had worked for him for over ten years, and he had spent more time with her than almost anybody else in his life. There was a soul-crushing moment where he felt her loss, but Chris also knew that he had to keep going. Something was going to happen to Fran if he didn't figure out how to make it all better. But how was he supposed to make it all better when he had no idea what had happened? He did know who had done it, and he was still not sure how he was going to get to them yet. Now all he knew was that he had to.
He stepped over the body of the woman that he had known for years and tried not to let it get to him too much. There was nothing else that he could for Maria at the moment. She was gone, and she wasn’t coming back.
Chris had to find Fran. That became his only mission in life, and he raced up the stairs to see if she was there.
She wasn't, and he started to get nervous. Really nervous, and he checked the rest of the house rather quickly. Chris would find out who had done this to Maria. He was going to get revenge for her death and for the fear that they put into Fran.
Chris could not even think of the idea that something had happened to her, so he kept pushing it back from his mind.
He looked everywhere on the first two floors and realized that she wasn't there. He also found that nobody else was shot and there were no cars missing. That told Chris that Fran was there somewhere. she had been shot, there would have been blood, a body, something. She wouldn’t have gone willingly; Chris was sure of that.
Then a thought occurred to him. Maybe he couldn't find Fran because she was in the basement. She wasn’t supposed to go there, but anything had to be better than thinking that he had lost her forever.
Chris made his way down, but he wasn't moving as fast as before. It was the only place left; that meant that all of his hope was pinned on it.
When he got down there, he called out her name loudly. He hadn't said anything when he was going through the house because he was convinced that the gunmen were still there. Chris had been in a dangerous situation before, and he knew that the worst thing to do was to let them know where he was.
The phone in his pocket was constantly going off, and he pushed the button on the side of it to turn it off. He was still struggling to hold his emotions together. He had to find her, and though he was convinced she was down there, Fran had not made herself known.
Chris hollered out her name one more time and then felt a wave of relief like nothing else he’d ever felt in his whole life. Chris felt every single one of his muscles and his anxiety calm down immediately. He was finally able to breathe again.
From the direction of her voice, he was able to see that she was in the cage. He didn’t know why she had picked that as her place to hide, but he was glad that she did. Fran most likely saved herself from ending up like Maria
“Thank God you’re here. Please tell me that you have the key, Chris.”
“I do.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Fran rushed into Chris’ arms as soon as he opened the door for her. She didn't know how long it had been; it could have been hours. By the end of it all, Fran had wondered if anyone was ever going to find her. She worried that she would have to wait until Chris went down there on the next full moon.
The two gunmen had followed her to the basement, but they didn’t find her. Eventually, they had checked in on the phone, then agreed that they would come back because Fran must have gotten away. She had heard the two of them talking about how they weren’t going to stop until Fran and the rest of her family was dead.
Her father had screwed with the wrong person and taken some money. What Fran didn’t understand was why her father would do it. Why would he put them in danger like that?
Fran was able to finally take a moment to breathe, and the man that she had fallen for was holding her tight. Fran felt like it was all because of Chris, that she was even alive. She didn’t know what he was to her, but today, he was her savior.
There was certainly something going on between them and Fran was convinced that it was all going as planned. It wasn't her plan. She did not know his plan. It was what Fran liked to believe as faith. What else would explain how he just seemed to come around exactly when she needed him?
“I can't believe that you are here. I'm glad you came down here though. That was smart. They wouldn’t have been able to get in. The glass is bulletproof.”
“They never even found the place. They looked around through some of the cars. I heard them opening and closing some of the doors, but then they gave up. They are going to come back here.”
“I won’t let them hurt you.”
“I am not worried about me anymore. This is my family’s mess. I don’t want you and your children to get pulled into it. I am going to go see their boss and end this once and for all. That is the only way that I am going to be able to keep everyone safe.”
He didn’t like the sound of that at all. As soon as she was halfway through her decision, his head was shaking back and forth and he told her that it wasn’t going to happen.
“There is no way that I am letting you sacrifice yourself for me. I don’t know what you think is going to happen, but there is no way that it’s going to be that. You can’t just run in and not think about it. I can’t lose you.”
Fran pushed him away because she didn’t want to hear it. He didn’t understand, and that was because she hadn’t told him. Fran had to tell him the truth of who she really was. Then, she was certain that Chris would understand the risk to him and his family and do the right thing: letting her handle it in the best way she knew.
It was all she could do, not to lose it all. Before she knew what was happening, Fran had convinced herself that she could be happy. She should have known better.
“No, this is not your fight. This is my fight, and if you knew who I was up against, you would see. I didn’t want to tell you Chris, but…”
He put his hand up to stop her, moving closer, and pulled her into his arms.
“I know, so you don’t even have to say anything. I know exactly who did this. Who killed Maria and tried to hurt you? They are going to wish that they had never started this. I promise that I will keep you safe from them.”
“You can’t, Chris, that’s the problem. I know that you want to help me, and I am ever so grateful for it, but at the same time, I don’t think you know what kind of people they are.”
He chuckled. “I’ve lived for over two centuries. My father is one of those people. He just deals in houses, stocks, and commodities. It’s all the same in the end and the means, justifies the end. I have seen it all and I will not be intimidated by these people. I know exactly who I am dealing with and I have no problem doing so. I am walking into this with wide-open eyes.”
She wanted to believe what he said was true, but there was another part of her that needed proof more than anything else. Fran was convinced that there was no getting away from it, but she wanted to hope that there was. Fran was young, had barely lived her life. She didn’t want to spend the rest of it hiding or have it cut short like her father’s.
“I just can’t have anything happen to you or Jasmine or Dante. It would be my fault, and I wouldn’t be able to live with myself.”
“They will stay at my aunt’s house and that will be fine. This will blow over, and we will be just fine.”
Fran didn’t have the same faith.
“They are going to come back here.”
“Yes, they will. Let’s get you out of here and we will figure out another place to go. Our family has a cabin, and I know that it will be the best place for us. We won’t have to worry about anyone finding us. Only a couple of people in my family know that it even exists. I am really not that worried, and you shouldn’t be either. I am going to take you there, and then I have to get back here to call the police. I can’t let Maria just lay there like that.”
Fran said that she understood. She was still worried about what was going to happen next and if the cartel was going to find her or not. They were the type of people that always got their man, and Fran knew that she wasn’t special. It was hard to believe that she was ever going to get away from that. Not when the main guy was still alive.
She had no other choice though. They both packed a few things into a bag and Fran got to experience him as his wolf. Everything that had been going on was so overwhelming and it took so much of her brain capacity, that she had almost completely forgotten that he could shift into an animal. A very large animal, that was big enough to give her a ride.
He moved far faster than she would have been able to manage, and further. It was almost magical. Everything about Chris had been magical and Fran was trying to fight off the admiration and other feelings that she had for him. Fran didn’t think that she could feel any better.
But then she got on the back of Chris in his wolf form, and he gave her the ride of her life. Fran was bright-eyed when they got to the cabin, and even though there was a lot going on between the two of them, it was nothing that was worth worrying about at the minute. The only thing that was worth their thoughts was being together.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
He wasn’t sure what came over him, but all Chris could feel, was a sensation going right through him. It was a feeling that took over him, and Chris was practically shaking with it. That was how bad he needed her.
Fran was pliant in his arms, and she quickly was giving him exactly what he wanted. He wanted her willing and needy. It felt like forever since they had been together, even though had it only been hours.
She tried to put him off his plans, but there was no way that she was going to be able to. Chris had only one thing on his mind, and he wasn't satisfied until Fran was screaming his name. Chris wanted to be reminded that she was his.
When they were done, Chris knew that he had to go, even though he didn't want to. Maria lying dead on his floor wasn’t something that he could just leave unattended. If nobody had stopped by and found her yet, he was certainly going to have to call the police. And her family needed to be notified by someone without a badge, someone that knew them.
Statements needed to be taken. He was at least going to be there in a couple of hours. Fran was safe, or relatively safe. Chris figured the worst thing that could happen to Fran at the cabin was she could fall or something. No one was going to find her way out there in the woods. He left knowing that he would be back soon. His worry shifted to finding Maria’s killers and taking care of her body. That was all he could do at that point.
When he got back to his house, the place was crawling with police. One of the people that worked in the house must have found her and he was regretful that he hadn’t been able to call it in sooner. No one needed to see her like that.
Maria would have wanted him to get Fran to safety; he was sure of that. She was an empathetic and practical woman. He hadn’t been able to save her, but he was able to save Fran. That was the only thing that helped him to justify leaving her there.
Chris knew that he had a lot of explaining to do. But all he did for the time being was pretend like he had no idea what was going on. He had just come home and found everything like that. There was no proof otherwise, so they took his word at face value.
He tried not to think about Fran waiting for him because this was going to take a while. A couple of hours had already passed, and he was still waiting down at the station to talk to the police. They had a lot of questions because she had died in his house. A lot of those questions where aimed at him.
“So, you're telling me that you didn't go home at all this afternoon?”
“I was going to stop by and check on the babysitter, but I never went into the house. I went the back way and found that she wasn't there.”
“The babysitter that I keep hearing about her. Where is she?”
He shrugged like he had no idea. “I can't say that I know. My kids are at their aunt’s house for the next couple of days, so I figure she took off on a little vacation. She had worked for a month straight, so she certainly deserved it.”
“Have you tried to get ahold of her?”
“No. I guess I don't need to. My kids are taken care of, and she's the babysitter, so if I don't have them, there's no need to speak with Fran.”
The police officer seemed to finally understand what he was trying to say. They had asked him the same questions multiple times, and he had stuck to the same answers. Finally, the cops seemed to be satisfied and had a few follow-up questions. It was more about Maria and her family.
“Maria has been working with us for a very long time.”
“How long?”
“At least ten years.”
“Do you know anyone that would want to hurt her?”
Chris shook his head.
“No. Not at all. If you had known Maria, you would know what I'm talking about. You couldn't help but love her. I don't think that she had an enemy on the planet.”
“Then how do you explain the fact that she was killed in your home?”
“I don’t think that she w
as the target. The men who did this are the kind of guys that shoot first and ask questions last. This had nothing to do with Maria; she was just unfortunate to be the one that answered the door.”
“They wanted you?”
“It very well could have been a plethora of reasons. Most likely, I was the target because of the family company. That's the only thing that makes sense to me.”
The investigator seemed to be interested in that angle and wanted to know more. He sent him towards his father. Chris wasn’t sure why he did it, but he needed some space and wanted the cops to look another way while he took care of things his way.
He wanted the investigator to get off of Fran as well. He didn't want anybody even to know that she had anything to do with it. Chris just wanted to keep her safe. That was his main goal then and now.
He was frustrated by the end of it, because it had taken far too long. He had been gone too long and now he had that bad feeling back in his gut. It was connected to Fran; he was sure of it. That meant that he had to get back to her. When he was finally released from the interrogation, it was almost dark. Chris raced like a madman, sure that the only way that he was going to be able to save her was if he got there fast enough.
The heavy feeling was compounding, and by the time he got to the cabin, he knew that he was too late. Something had happened to her and it was all his fault.
He parked the car and then moved towards the cabin. The door wasn’t open this time, not all the way. But it was open just a crack, and he had an idea of why that was. This wasn’t his first time walking into something like this, but not Fran. He couldn’t lose her. Not when he’d just found her.
There was no body when he got in front of the door, and that was a huge relief. He wanted to believe that it meant he was wrong about all of it. It was a good theory, but one that he knew was false.
He called out her name, knowing that she wasn’t going to answer. But he kept calling out her name, hoping upon hope that he was wrong about it. He just had to be. There was no way that he was going to be able to forgive himself if something had happened to her.
