by Jane Blythe
“I can manage her.” Xavier moved to pick her up.
“You can't carry her.” The doctor nodded at his shoulder. “You’ll pull your stitches out. I’ll go grab a wheelchair.”
While he waited, Xavier perched on the edge of the bed and pulled Annabelle back into his arms. They were close to catching Ricky Preston. He could feel it. Ricky teaming up with Isabella Everette was going to be his downfall. He was distracted, he had other priorities, someone else to focus on. Sooner or later he’d slip up, and then they’d get him.
* * * * *
12:12 A.M.
“Maybe we should go and see Paige,” Sofia said to Ryan.
“No, Elias was taking her home and putting her to bed; she needs rest right now, you can call her in the morning,” Ryan replied, rinsing out their mugs and setting them in the dishwasher.
“Are you sure she’s okay?” she asked anxiously.
He crouched in front of her. “Paige is going to be fine. She has a bump on the head and a few stitches but no concussion, and her wrist is bruised and swollen but not broken. Her doctors want her to take it easy for a few days, but if I know Paige, she’ll be at work in the morning.”
“What about her stalker situation? Have Jack and Rose made any progress?” Ryan had told her about the guy who Paige had arrested whose friends were now harassing Paige.
“Not yet, but we’ll find who’s stalking Paige just like we’ll find who’s stalking you,” Ryan assured her.
“I'm worried about her.” Sofia reached for Ryan’s hands and clutched them tightly. “What she went through as a kid and now having to go through it again.”
“It’s going to be okay, honey; it really is.” Ryan kissed her forehead. “You and Paige are tough; we’ll get you both through this. Now up to bed, you’re wiped out; you shouldn’t have waited up for me to get home.”
“Yeah, okay,” she agreed, she was wiped out. Jack had come by and hung out with her, or babysat her, she supposed might be a more accurate description. He had told her several times to go get some rest, that he’d stay until Ryan got home, but after Ryan’s call explaining his evening, she had needed to see for herself that he was okay before she’d be able to close her eyes and go to sleep.
“Honey?” Ryan squeezed her hands.
Realizing that she’d zoned out, she focused her gaze on him, and suddenly it hit her that she could have lost him tonight. With her parents, grandfather, and brothers all gone, Ryan was the only family she had now. What would she do if something happened to him? Tugging her hands free from his, she threw her arms around his neck and let herself fall against him—trying to convince herself that he was okay.
“Sofia, I'm fine; I really am.” Ryan seemingly read her mind. “Now you, off to bed.” He picked her up, carried her through to the hall and set her on her feet at the bottom of the stairs. “I'm just going to check down here and then I’ll be up.”
Leaving Ryan to check and re-check every lock on every door and every window, Sofia started the long trek up the stairs. Her leg was aching, but a little less than it had the day before. Bit by bit it was getting better. Using the wall for support, since her cane was still downstairs, she made her way to the bedroom. Too tired to change into her pajamas, she dropped onto the bed on top of the covers.
Ryan appeared in the doorway. “I’ll be glad once that security system’s installed.”
“Yeah, me too.” Sofia was glad she’d let Jack stay with her tonight, she didn’t want a repeat of last night’s events, but she didn’t want to have to have someone here to babysit her every night. “I wish I knew who he was.” It would make things so much easier if she knew who was stalking her so Ryan could simply go and arrest him.
“Me too.” Ryan sat beside her on the bed, her pajamas in hand.
“I'm too tired to change,” she told him, letting her eyes fall closed.
“Then just rest.” He hooked an arm around her shoulders and sat her up, her eyes opened as he tugged her arms through the sleeves of her sweatshirt and pulled it over her head, replacing it with her fuzzy pink pajama top.
“You don’t have to dress me.” She reached for her pajama bottoms.
“Shh,” he admonished, giving her a quick kiss. “I want to.”
Laying her back down, he tugged off her sweatpants and put on the fuzzy pink ones that matched the top. Then he removed his own clothes, threw on the sweatpants he slept in and climbed into bed beside her, pulling the blankets up to cover them both.
She snuggled against Ryan’s side, resting her head on his shoulder. “Night,” she murmured.
“Night,” he whispered back, kissing the top of her head, and switching off the lamp on the table beside the bed.
Closing her eyes, Sofia tried to turn her mind off and let sleep trickle in. But exhausted as she was she couldn’t seem to clear the jumbled thoughts that clambered through her head. Ryan could have been killed today. And if he had, she would have been completely without a family. Sure Ryan’s family loved her, but without him to tether her to them, soon they too would slip from her life.
Of course, she knew that Ryan had a dangerous job, but this was the first time that it had been thrown so blatantly in her face. It was a genuine possibility that he could be killed, any day at any time. If they were going to spend the rest of their lives together, then she was going to have to get used to that. Could she? Could she handle the uncertainty that went with his job?
Determinedly, she attempted to push all such thoughts away. All she wanted was to shut down for a few hours and forget about all their troubles. Try as she might, though, sleep remained tantalizingly out of reach.
After what felt like hours, she opened her eyes. The room was dark, and thin moonlight shone through the window. Ryan was quiet and still beside her, his chest rising and falling evenly beneath her hand which rested on it.
Not wanting to disturb him and glad he was getting some much-needed sleep, Sofia gave up on sleep for herself and moved to climb out from under the covers to head downstairs and make herself a hot drink, when a hand clamped around her wrist. She stifled a scream when she realized it was only Ryan—apparently he wasn’t asleep after all.
“Where are you going?” he asked, his voice tinted with sleep. Maybe he had been asleep and her moving had woken him.
“Downstairs to get a drink; you stay here,” she told him. He needed his rest, and she wanted him sharp and on his game so that the chances of anything happening to him at work were as low as possible. If he were tired and distracted with worry about her, then he was opening himself up to all sorts of dangers.
“Can’t sleep?” He reached over and switched the light back on, both of them blinked at the sudden brightness.
She shook her head. “You should, though; you need to sleep.”
“So do you.” He tugged on her so she would lay back down at his side, then wrapped his arm around her shoulders. “What's bothering you?”
She shook her head again. Sofia could feel tears welling up in her eyes and she didn’t want to cry in front of Ryan. Even though pretty much every guy on the planet felt uncomfortable around a crying woman, she had cried all over Ryan so much the last few months that she didn’t want to upset him by doing it again. Especially after the night he’d had.
“Baby, are you crying?” he asked gently, stroking her hair back from her face so he could see her better.
“No,” she whispered, trying in vain to control her tears even as she could feel them spilling out onto Ryan’s bare chest.
“Yes, you are. What’s up, honey? Talk to me. Please.”
“You could have died tonight,” she cried.
“No, baby, that’s not true.” Ryan was rubbing small circles on her back, attempting to console her.
“Paige had a gun pointed at her head, and that other guy, Detective Montague, got shot,” she countered.
“I told you that Paige is okay,” Ryan reminded her.
“I know, but what if that man had shot her?
What if Isabella hadn't been there?”
“Ahh,” Ryan said as though he’d just solved his own mystery. “You’re upset about Isabella.”
Ryan had told her about Isabella when he’d gotten home, but Sofia had been refusing to think about her sister. To know that Ryan had been close enough to Isabella to see her and talk to her, to know that he had almost managed to convince her to turn herself in, only for Isabella to disappear again was too much right now.
“We’re going to get her, soon,” Ryan assured her. “We’re close now. She loves you and doesn’t want to hurt you; she might turn herself in all on her own.”
“You really think so?” Sofia looked up imploringly at Ryan through tear-filled eyes.
“Yes, I really think so. I know you're worried about her…”
“She’s with a murderer,” she interrupted. “I know that sounds like a stupid thing to worry about given that Isabella is one, too, but I'm worried about her. What if he hurts her?”
“I don’t think she's in any danger.” Ryan sounded confident.
“Did she say anything about the baby?” Sofia was extremely concerned about her baby aunt who had been abducted by Isabella. Her sister was in no state to be raising a child. What if she hurt the baby? Maybe even unintentionally in one of her fits of rage.
“No, she didn’t, but her neighbor at her old house used to babysit sometimes and said that the baby was doing great and is a real sweetie. And some of her colleagues said she was a devoted mother. She named the baby Sophie,” he told her.
“She named her after me?” Sofia was touched.
“She really loves you.” Ryan hugged her tighter. “I know she shows it in an odd way sometimes, but she loves you more than she loves anyone else on the planet.”
She choked on a sob. Hearing about her sister was worse than not knowing where she was and what she was doing. This was making her miss Isabella more and more. And yet, still she wanted to know everything that Ryan had seen and heard. “Did she look okay?”
“She looked fine.” Ryan was brushing away tears from her cheeks even as more were falling.
“And what did you say to her?”
“I told her that you missed her and that you were worried about her. I said you wanted to see her and I told her about your stalker and that seeing her would really help you right now,” Ryan explained.
“And…and what did she say?” Sofia asked hesitantly.
“I asked her if she wanted to see you and she said she did. I really think she’d have turned herself in if Ricky Preston hadn't grabbed her.”
“What if he hurts her, Ryan?” she whimpered. Sofia didn’t think she could cope if another member of her family was killed.
“I don’t think he will, baby.” Ryan tightened his grip on her. “I still think there’s a good chance that once she thinks about it she’ll realize that she can't run forever and that it’ll be better for her, and for you, to just end it now. Even if she doesn’t turn herself in, her changing her MO and working with this Ricky Preston changes things. Her focus is divided now. She’ll start making mistakes. And that means we’ll catch her. I know this has been hell for you, but you just need to hang in there a little longer and it’ll all be over.”
She laid her head back down on Ryan’s shoulder, trying to convince herself that what Ryan said was true.
* * * * *
12:22 A.M.
Could what Ryan said be true?
Isabella hardly dared to hope that it was.
He had said that Sofia missed her and that her sister was worried about her. Isabella had been sure that Sofia was so angry with her for what she’d done to their family that she would never want to see her again. She also thought that Sofia was still scared of her. The last time they’d been together, it had been a disaster. Sofia could have died in that fall. Isabella had had to convince herself that her sister wanted nothing to do with her so that she could accept that the only relationship they would have in the future was for Isabella to watch Sofia from afar.
But Ryan said that Sofia wanted to see her.
Maybe despite her sister’s anger and fear, she still wanted the two of them to be sisters. Maybe Sofia wanted things to go back to the way they’d been before. Isabella wasn’t sure that it ever could, but more than anything, she wanted to try.
She was lonely on her own with only baby Sophie for company. Of course, she loved her baby sister, and wanted to raise the child as her own, but what kind of role model was she for a little girl? Obviously not a good one considering the murders she had committed in the past and the fact that she had no intention of stopping killing any time soon. Sofia would be a much better mother to Sophie than Isabella could ever hope to be.
Isabella was wondering whether she should do as Ryan told her. Maybe she should just end it all and turn herself in. She didn’t want Sofia to be sad. She didn’t want to cause her sister stress and worry, especially considering that Sofia’s stalker had apparently returned. Isabella remembered how terrified her sister had been over her stalker. Her sister needed her family right now. Maybe she should do it. She could right now. She could go and get Sophie from the sitter’s and go straight to Sofia’s. She could see her sister again, face to face, after five months of missing her, in just a couple of hours.
“I take it you know that guy,” Ricky spoke, breaking the oppressive silence in the car.
They had been driving in circles ever since he had dragged her into the car. When he’d flung her in and then jumped in after her, he had been concerned that someone would follow them so had told her that they were going to drive for a while before heading for his place. Then they had lapsed into silence, and neither had spoken a word until now.
“He’s my sister’s boyfriend,” she replied.
“He’s a cop,” Ricky added.
“Mmm hmm,” she nodded. “He and my sister met last August; he and his partner were the ones who worked the murders. My sister and Ryan decided they liked each other and now they’re dating.”
“He has a vested interest in catching you, then,” Ricky observed.
“I guess he does,” Isabella agreed. She knew that Ryan would stop at nothing to arrest her. Even though neither she nor Sofia liked any member of their family, Sofia was upset that they were all dead. And if Sofia was upset, then Ryan was upset. Isabella was under no illusion that her sister wanted her to go free. She knew that even though Sofia might miss her and want to see her again, she still believed that Isabella deserved to be punished for her crimes.
“He also has a vested interest in not killing you,” Ricky mused.
She turned to study Ricky’s profile. “So next time, you plan to use me as a human shield like you used Paige?”
It had been a shock to see Paige standing by the car out in front of her home. Of course, it had been a shock when someone came knocking on her door and Ricky had flown into a panic when he realized who it was. Apparently Detective Montague and Ricky had history. After Ricky had shot the man, he had dragged her toward the door. But then they’d spied a car pulling to a stop on the street in front of the house. So, they had hidden in the hall closet as two people came barging inside. While the others had been preoccupied in the kitchen, she and Ricky had slipped unnoticed from the house.
They had been about to climb into the car when Paige came outside, cradling one hand. At the sight of her sister’s boyfriend’s partner, Isabella had gasped and been frozen in place. Ricky had demanded she tell him who the woman was, and once he realized that she was a cop, he had freaked. He’d put his gun to Paige’s head and told her he’d kill her in a heartbeat if she didn’t do exactly what he told her.
Isabella hadn't liked seeing a gun pointed at Paige, and she didn’t like the idea that Ricky would do the same to her to save himself.
“Your sister’s friend is fine,” Ricky told her. “At worst, I gave her a mild concussion. You asked me not to shoot her and I didn’t. You should be grateful. If you hadn't asked, she’d be dead right n
ow. Your Detective Xander may not want you dead, but let me assure you that Xavier Montague wants me dead more than he wants to breathe.”
Ricky obviously loved killing, and for him to have spared Paige simply because she asked him to was oddly moving.
He took his eyes off the road to glance at her. “You were going to turn yourself in,” he stated. “What your sister’s boyfriend said was getting to you. If I hadn't stepped in, then you would have let him arrest you.”
“I thought my sister didn’t want anything to do with me anymore,” she explained. “I hurt her. Not just by what I did, but Ryan was on to me, and he told Sofia, she came looking for proof that I was innocent and I had to stop her. I knocked her out, but she was already sick before that. It was a mistake, I scared her, and then she fell down some stairs. I thought she hated me. When Ryan said she missed me, that she wanted to see me, it made me want to do whatever I had to just to see her again. I love her.”
“So are you going to do it?” Ricky demanded, a hint of anger and reproach tinting his voice and making it hard.
“I don’t know,” she answered honestly. “I love Sofia, but I have to think of Sophie. If I turn myself in, I’ve got to give her up. Even though I know Sofia would be a better mother to her, I love her, too, and I'm not sure I could stand not being a part of her life.”
“You have a kid?” Ricky sounded shocked.
“No, she’s my sister—and my aunt. But I killed our mother and her father—my grandfather. And my father and her brothers, she only has me and Sofia left.”
“You have one messed up family,” Ricky chuckled.
“Who’s Annabelle? You said that you miss her and that you think about her a lot. Is she a relative? Is she your ex?” The stab of jealousy surprised her.
That sent Ricky into peals of laughter. “Annabelle was my neighbor,” he replied once he’d calmed down. “She thought we were friends—she didn’t have any others—so I was the one stuck listening to her whining. Day after day she’d sit in my living room and I would pretend to care about what she was saying. Have you ever hated someone so much that everything they do annoys the hell out of you? Well, that’s how I felt about Annabelle. She was so stuck up that all I could think about whenever I was around her was how much fun it would be to knock her down a peg.”
