Last Chance

by Natalie Ann

  “I’m sure we’re going to get on each other’s nerves from time to time. But it isn’t about that. It’s about finding out what is happening, who is doing this, and stopping it.”

  “What’s the first step?” she asked. “Tell me what I need to do.”

  “You need to come home with me tonight, so pack a few days of clothing. I’m going to start to do some research and reach out to a few friends of mine. What I really need you to do is trust me. Trust me to take care of this. To take care of you.”

  “I do. I trust you with every fiber of my being.”

  ***

  Until days later when he said he’d told his father about her situation. And that his parents were coming for a visit in a few days. That Trevor would have to stay at her house, unless she wanted to stay with his parents.

  “What I want is for you to tell me who you’re talking to about my situation,” she said, crossing her arms.

  “I told you I was going to reach out to people,” he said back.

  “You didn’t tell me one of them was your father.”

  “My father has more years in law enforcement than I do. I also talked to some army buddies of mine that are now on the force. One is an NYPD detective. Do you want their names and ranks?” he asked.

  “Don’t get snippy with me,” she said back. “That’s different than telling your father. I haven’t even met them yet and now they probably think I’m some whack job. Great first impression for meeting the parents.” Talk about starting off on the wrong foot.

  He ran his hands through his hair. “You aren’t some whack job, and you’re only going to piss me off if you keep talking like that. I told my father to get his opinion on a professional level, not a personal one.”

  “But it is personal and you know it.” Why the heck couldn’t he see that?

  “That’s the difference between you and me, Riley. I can separate the two. I can love you and still have a level-enough head to figure out how to protect you.”

  She stopped and narrowed her eyes at him. It was similar to what Max said to her once. That she couldn’t get emotion out of the equation and often took the easy way out. “You have no idea what you’re talking about. I’ve always had a level head.”

  “Fine. You have a level head. But that isn’t what I meant. I meant that I can still love you, and look at things rationally enough to figure them out, without letting emotions cloud my judgment.”

  There was no getting through to him, so she wasn’t going to even try. She walked into the kitchen and just started opening and closing cabinets at random, looking for food and making a lot of noise. “What do you want for dinner?”

  “I want to talk to you. I want you to look at me when I tell you what’s going on and not get in a snit because you don’t like something.”

  “I’m not in a snit.”

  “Could have fooled me.”

  She turned and looked at him, crossed her arms and said, “Talk.”

  “You need to tell Max and your parents what’s going on.”

  “No.”

  “Yes,” he said, then held his hand up when she opened her mouth. “The more people that know, the more that can help us. Maybe there is something we’re missing.”

  “I’m not telling them. I’m not worrying them. There is nothing they can tell you that you think you’re missing, because they haven’t known anything all along. I can’t believe you didn’t realize that. I thought this was your field of expertise.”

  He snarled at her. “You’re afraid they’re going to think you don’t have it all together. That you have weaknesses. That you can’t excel at everything you want to.”

  “That’s low. This has nothing to do with excelling. I didn’t ask for this,” she shouted.

  “You’re damn right you didn’t. Which is why you can’t hide from it. It’s why you can’t shield everyone who cares about you from it. Running here didn’t stop it from happening. Running again won’t either.”

  She felt her blood start to boil. “I’m not telling them and if you go behind my back and do it, then you won’t like the results.”

  He grabbed his keys off the counter, took a few steps out of the kitchen, then turned. “You say you want someone to fight for you. To stand up to you. To give it back. But you don’t. You’re still the little spoiled princess that you’re trying to convince yourself that you aren’t. Look in the mirror, Riley. Grow up.”

  She watched as he slammed out the door.

  How dare he say that to her? How dare he get mad at her because she didn’t want her family to worry? Because she didn’t want them to think she couldn’t handle this.

  Shit. He was right—that was exactly why she didn’t want to tell them.

  ***

  Trevor drove around for an hour and cooled off. He couldn’t remember the last time he was that mad. The last time he’d said something he wished he hadn’t.

  Sure, Riley deserved to hear what he told her. She needed to stop acting like a brat and accept help for this. It wasn’t going to go away, not without other people being involved.

  She was going to have to learn to swallow her pride and reach out to others for support. Problems like this didn’t get solved alone. He knew that firsthand. Teamwork got it done.

  He pulled into her driveway and didn’t see her SUV. He went to open the door but found it locked, so he used the key she gave him and opened it, heard the alarm beeping and assumed she’d left, so he shut the alarm off.

  He couldn’t believe she’d leave and not tell him. It didn’t matter she was mad at him; she still had to take her safety seriously until they had a better idea of what was going on.

  After grabbing a beer from the fridge, he reached for the door leading to the garage and checked to see if it was locked. It wasn’t, so he opened it and saw her SUV inside. After listening for a few minutes, he realized there was a noise coming from the basement and recognized it as the treadmill.

  He took a sip from the bottle and walked down the stairs. Riley was running with her back to him, watching TV. Some talk show.

  “Riley,” he said, but she didn’t look at him. Great, he was going to get the cold shoulder now, too.

  He took a few more steps closer to her and she ended up screaming, tripping over her own feet and grabbing the sides to stop from falling. He dropped his beer, reached forward, and hit the button on the treadmill to stop it.

  “What the hell is wrong with you?!” Her hand was at her chest and her eyes were filling with tears. That’s when he realized she had earbuds in.

  He picked her up off the stopped treadmill and cradled her in his arms, then sat on the stairs and held her as she sobbed into his chest.

  If she was trying to make him feel like shit for the past hour, she was succeeding.

  He pulled the earbuds out of her ears and could hear the loud music playing. “I called your name,” he said softly, pushing a strand of hair away from her face. “I didn’t know you had earbuds in. I thought you were watching TV.”

  “I was watching it, but not listening,” she said, hiccupping.

  He closed his eyes for a second. She was shaking like crazy in his arms. “What’s going on, Riley? You’re a mess.”

  “Thanks,” she said sarcastically. “I’m scared. You know it. I wouldn’t have told you about everything if I weren’t. And then our fight and you scaring me just now. I’m lucky I didn’t wet myself.”

  He smiled. He shouldn’t have, but he couldn’t help it. “Let’s go upstairs and talk.”

  “Are we going to talk or are you going to insult me again?”

  “Probably both before we’re done.”

  “At least you’re honest. You don’t have to carry me. I can walk just fine.”

  He took the steps two at a time. “You can, but I want to carry you. I like how you feel in my arms.”

  She sighed and lay her head on his shoulder. Proof she wasn’t nearly as steady as she was trying to get him to believe.

  Once s
he was seated at the table, a bottle of water in front of her, she asked, “What do you want to talk about?”

  “I want to finish the conversation we were having earlier.”

  “The one you walked out on?” she said, lifting her chin. “Talk about growing up.”

  She was right, but he wouldn’t admit it. He left to cool off so he didn’t say anything else to make it worse.

  “We aren’t going to get anywhere if we keep doing this. I’ll apologize for what I said. I know you’re upset. I know this is hard for you. But we’ve got to put our heads together and tackle it as a team.”

  “Are you really sorry you said it? Or just sorry it slipped out of your mouth?” she asked.

  He felt his lips twitch. “Both. At that moment, I was feeling and thinking exactly what I said. I shouldn’t have, but I was ticked that you were acting the way you were.”

  “How am I supposed to act?” she asked.

  “You can be scared. I want you to be scared. If you’re scared, your reactions are heightened. You’re more aware and you should be. You can even question me on what I’m doing and why I’m doing it. Ask me anything. But don’t get nasty or pissed off without getting answers to those questions. Don’t jump the gun, and don’t get mad because it’s not going the way you want it to or think it should.”

  Her eyes were searching his. She was processing what he said, he knew, but she was also weighing her words. “I didn’t appreciate what you said. I’m not saying you were wrong, but I still didn’t appreciate it.”

  “What part didn’t you appreciate?”

  “The spoiled princess part.”

  “I figured as much,” he said. “What about the rest?”

  “I still don’t want to tell my parents and Max, but I understand that I should. That I need to. And maybe you pushed my buttons when you made the comment about worrying that my family might think I have a weakness. I’ve always felt I’ve had to fight to get where I am. I told you that.”

  “You did. But you didn’t need to be that way with your parents, or your brother, so there is no reason to be now.”

  “I don’t like being wrong,” she grumbled.

  “I would have never guessed that,” he said.

  She took a deep breath. “I just want this over with.”

  “Explain that,” he said, not guessing and not jumping the gun. Was she talking about whoever was doing this to her, the fight they were having, or their relationship? He was pretty sure it wasn’t the latter.

  “Everything. Whoever is doing this, I want them to stop. Us being pissed at each other. Me feeling like crap because I have to admit you might be right and I’m wrong. Me wanting to smack you for telling me to grow up.”

  He laughed now. “We’ll work on stopping whoever this is. I’m not mad at you, Riley. I was frustrated and annoyed, but not mad. I’m not any of those things now. I can’t help that you feel like crap because you’re wrong. You have to learn to deal with that yourself. And I’ll let you punch my arm if it’ll make you feel better.” He walked over and flexed his bicep for her. “There you go, take a whack at it.”

  She smiled. “I’d rather not hurt my hand. I need to make a living with these things.”

  He leaned down and kissed her, then wiped a few tears from her cheeks. “We’ll get there, Riley. You said you trust me, just keep doing that.”

  “I will.”

  He turned to walk away and her hand ended up smacking his ass with more sting than he expected. He wanted to yelp, but didn’t. He probably had that coming considering he’d done it to her a few times.

  Besides, that was nothing more than a love tap.

  Here We Go Again

  “Riley Ann Hamilton. What is wrong with you?”

  “That seems to be the question of the day, Maxwell Steven Hamilton,” she said back, grinning widely.

  It didn’t work. Max just scowled harder. “You told me it wasn’t anything serious. You said you had it covered. I thought you were ticked at Jason. I thought he was a prick. I didn’t know you were being stalked.”

  She laughed to prevent herself from shouting back. Or crying. Crying seemed to be the thing she was doing a lot of lately. In the shower, when no one was around. No need for anyone to think she was weak.

  “I didn’t think it was anything serious at first. I thought I had it covered. I don’t even know if ‘stalked’ is the correct word, though. Yes, Jason is a prick, so right again.”

  “Don’t be a wise ass.” Max turned to Trevor. “What are you doing about this?”

  “Don’t go getting all in Trevor’s face. I’ve seen him take a man down faster than you can blink.”

  Max and Trevor both snorted at once.

  “I’ve been talking to a few of my army buddies and one detective for the NYPD. My parents will be here tomorrow, and my father will help me look into a few things.”

  “Trevor’s father was the previous police chief here,” she told Max.

  “I know who his father is,” Max said, not looking really happy at the moment.

  Quinn was calmly sitting next to Max on the couch and reached her hand over to place it on his. “Relax, Max. I’m sure Trevor knows what he’s doing.”

  Max turned to his wife. “You’d do the same thing as Riley, wouldn’t you? Admit it.”

  “I probably would. I wouldn’t want anyone to worry,” Quinn said.

  “Just what I need. Two women in my life like that.”

  “You wouldn’t want us any other way and you know it,” Riley said, to the accompaniment of two more snorts from Trevor and Max.

  “What I want you to do is move back in here with us so you aren’t alone,” Max said.

  “Absolutely not. I’m not bringing this into your house or around the kids. Out of the question,” she said, losing the good mood she was trying to maintain.

  Trevor turned to Max. “Sorry, Max, but I agree with Riley on this. I’ll be with her. We’re rotating houses. I’ll give you my personal cell to call me at any time if you think of anything, hear of anything, or can’t reach Riley.”

  Max looked at her, then at Trevor. “It seems I don’t have much of a choice in this.”

  “Relax, Max. I’m sure it’s not that big of a deal. It’s probably just an infatuation. It happens,” she said, grinning. “Once they realize who I’m sleeping with, they’ll stop. Jason was nothing more than a wuss, so most likely they weren’t nervous back then.”

  “It’s not funny, Riley,” Max said.

  “I’m not laughing. No one in this room is laughing. I’m scared. Are you happy to hear me admit that? Whoever this guy is, he hasn’t done anything more than hang up on phone calls and send me empty envelopes or flowers.”

  “You got a letter that said he was sorry,” Max said.

  “That was Jason,” Trevor said.

  “What? It looked like his handwriting, but do you know for sure?” Riley asked him.

  “Yeah. I found out on my way here, or I would have told you sooner.”

  She wanted to be annoyed that she was hearing this for the first time just now. “How did you find out?”

  ***

  Trevor sighed, wishing he didn’t just say that right now. But he wanted to relieve Max’s mind. He understood where the guy was coming from. He also understood that Max was probably frustrated, knowing his wife would handle this the same way Riley was. Quinn had gone out on her own trying to fix a problem, and got herself in one heck of a legal mix-up in the process.

  He adjusted himself against the wall where he’d been leaning. “The army buddy of mine, the detective for the NYPD? Logan gave me a call about twenty minutes ago. He went and had a little chat with your ex.”

  “Oh really?” Riley said. “How’d that go over?”

  “Not well.” Trevor wasn’t going to say that Logan told him Jason just about shit his pants when he’d showed up after school was out and met Jason in the parking lot. Jason had been nervous and jerky, but answered all the questions asked of him.
Said he’d honestly thought Riley was making the whole thing up to get attention. That she’d always been a drama queen.

  “Was he really sorry? I mean, what was he sorry about?” Riley asked.

  “Said he wanted you back.” Trevor tried not to let that bother him, especially since Jason insulted Riley during the conversation with Logan. “He realized that your work had to come first and he didn’t think you’d actually leave.”

  “I don’t believe it. He just wanted a sugar momma. Sorry, he can find another one.”

  “What?” Max asked, looking outraged. “Did you give him money? Loan him money? You paid his way?”

  “Never mind, Max,” Riley said, then she turned to Trevor. “Why didn’t he sign his name? I don’t get that.”

  Trevor wanted to address all those questions that Max asked, but decided it was best not to. He didn’t think Riley would be someone to be taken advantage of to that extent. At least he hoped not.

  “He thought he was being cute just saying those two words. That you always got mad at him when he tried to explain why he was sorry when you two fought before.”

  “He’s right. I hated that he would talk in circles and never tell me what was really going on. That doesn’t mean he should have done what he did.”

  “Agreed,” Trevor said. He wasn’t telling Riley that Jason wanted her number and wanted to call her. To check and see if she was okay. When Logan told him that was out of the question, Jason made noises about coming to Lake Placid. It was a good thing Logan knew him so well and shot that chance down. He didn’t ask Logan what he said to Jason, but he could only imagine.

  “So now what?” Riley asked.

  “Logan is looking into a few more things. The state police have the envelopes and they’re checking for prints.”

  “You involved the state police?” Riley asked, her voice starting to rise. Here we go again.

  “I did. I told you what I was doing with the envelopes and you were fine with it,” he argued.

  “You didn’t tell me who was going to get them,” she said, crossing her arms.