She got it.
“Did mom hate me because I was a brat?”
He stared at her. “Oh, baby girl, you weren’t a brat. You were her baby. I hope one day you see what I mean. You’ll get it if you have children. You are, and always will be, the apple of both of our eyes.”
“And Georgie?” she asked.
“He’s special because he’s my son, but he’s a lot like his mother. I married Abigayle because I was alone. I learned a lesson in that. I’d rather be alone than with someone who makes me miserable. Catherine…she made me happy.”
Elizabeth’s eyes filled with tears. “I miss her.”
“I miss her too, baby. I miss her every damn day. I tried to fill my life with something to forget her, and it was wrong. I love my son, but Catherine was the woman I was meant to be with, and had she not risked it, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.”
“Would she be proud of me?” she asked. “This last year I really screwed up.”
“What did you do?” he asked.
She weighed her options. “You won’t turn me in, will you?”
He stared at her. “I wouldn’t turn you in unless you really crossed that line—like if you killed someone.”
“Wow, it’s getting late. I should go to bed.”
“Elizabeth Renee LaRue, what in tarnation did you do?”
She told him everything. It was great getting it off her chest. Charlie listened and didn’t judge her.
“Are you arresting me?”
“Hell no! Good for you,” he finally said. “I don’t advocate killing in cold blood, but that rapist bastard deserved it.”
“I lost my family.”
“You have me.”
“I mean the FBI. Livy won’t even see me. Gabe is so busy trying to keep it hidden, and now Chris is off with…a date.”
“Life usually comes full circle, Lyzee, baby. It’ll round out. You wait and see.”
She had to believe him.
“Anyway, I have to solve this case.”
“You will. I’ll help you.”
She was grateful.
Before she could go back to work, her cell rang.
“It’s Chris.”
“Answer it. If you called him, he’d take the call no matter what. Don’t be cold and bitter like Abigayle. Don’t be like your step-momma. Please. Be like Catherine.”
Hell no!
She didn’t want that. She was her mother’s child, and she’d hold to that. She’d love like her, live like her, and be badass like her mother wanted.
“Yo, Chris, shouldn’t you be on your date?”
“God! Elizabeth! I need you. Get to my place. Please hurry. I’m freaked out. You gotta get here!”
“Chris!”
“I’m scared. Please hurry!”
“Okay, I’m coming.”
She hung up. “Something bad happened. He’s freaked out and in a panic.”
“Let’s go,” he said. “Give me a gun.”
“Are you insane?” she said, pulling on her sneakers. “I can’t just give you a sidearm for shits and giggles. You can’t carry in DC.”
Charlie lived for this kind of stuff. While he loved Salem, nothing ever happened there. He had been a cop here, and he missed the adrenaline rush.
“Fine! I’ll go without one.”
Shit.
Elizabeth handed over her Glock and took her clutch piece out of the spare holster. “Don’t shoot anyone or I’m dead. My boss will kick my ass.”
Elizabeth raced out the door, her father right behind her. She was glad it was dark out because they had to look crazy running up the street with weapons in hand.
It didn’t take long to get to his brownstone.
“Be careful,” Charlie warned as they raced up Chris’s steps.
“Stay behind me,” she said, pulling out her keys. Slowly, she opened the door.
The place was silent.
“Christopher?” she called.
“Elizabeth! Up here! Hurry!”
Elizabeth glanced over at her dad. “Can you clear the downstairs? I don’t know what’s going on up there, but it has to be bad if he’s not coming down.”
“Can do.”
Elizabeth raced up the stairs, her gun out, and her heart pounding. She was assuming the worst-case scenario. She pictured a dead body, Chris standing over it, and lots of blood. She couldn’t help but think something bad had happened on his date.
Did it get rough?
Was the woman dead?
When she went through his door, she slid to a stop.
That wasn’t even close to what she’d pictured happening on his date.
Holy shit.
This was…yeah, bad.
Chris was naked, handcuffed to his headboard, and flushed red. Immediately, she had to help him. Grabbing the comforter from the floor, she threw it over his naked body.
“What the hell happened?” she asked, touching his face with her palm. He was ice cold, and looked like hell.
He began weeping. “She robbed me. I don’t know what to do,” he whispered over and over again. “She took my father’s watch, and I ruined my relationship with you for this.”
She wanted to soothe him. “We’re okay, darlin’. I promise.”
Her heart ached for him.
“Oh, Christopher. Tell me what happened,” she said, pulling out her handcuff keys. She hoped his were the official FBI ones, or she was going to have to find a different way to get him free.
When the key opened the lock, Elizabeth set Chris free and he slid down into the comforter to hide.
Hide from her.
Hide from the world.
And to hide from the sad reality that was his life.
“You can go. Thank you. I’m fine now. I’ll be fine,” he whispered, pulling the comforter around his body in humiliation.”
“I’m not leaving.”
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Christopher,” she said, moving closer. “What happened? Tell me so I can help you.”
Charlie came to the door. “Is he okay?”
“I have this, Dad. Can you head home? I’ll talk to you later. Don’t wait up.”
She knew this was going to be a long night.
Charlie could only imagine what the hell had happened there. In this case, to save the man’s dignity, he was more than glad to escape. He was pretty sure the doctor didn’t want him privy to any of this.
“Go away, Elizabeth. I’m fine. I’ll be fine.”
She didn’t listen. Instead, she dropped her gun onto the nightstand and she kicked off her shoes.
“Talk to me.”
He was angry—not at her, but himself.
He was an idiot.
Chris didn’t say anything.
“Are you hurt? Do you need an ambulance?” she asked, slipping beneath the comforter to be near him. Immediately, she began running her fingers over his naked body to see if there was any injuries.
“Please don’t,” he whispered. “I don’t deserve your kindness. Go home, Elizabeth. I need to be alone.”
She hesitated.
She’d said the same things to him when the shit had hit the fan, and he’d never left. In fact, she’d tried to hide like this too.
Yeah, she was sticking.
“I have you, Christopher. I’ll never let you fall,” she promised, handing back the same words he’d given her so many times. “I’ll stay here as long as it takes.”
He knew she would. Maybe if he told her, she’d leave. Then he could be humiliated alone.
“I brought my date here after our drinks. She seduced me, and then she robbed me. That’s all there is to say.”
Elizabeth pressed her body to the back of his.
“Don’t touch me, okay?” he hissed. Chris couldn’t bear it. He felt so low, that he wanted to disappear. He wished he could close his eyes and hide. He’d never been more humiliated in all of his life.
She backed off. “Okay. S
orry. I won’t touch you if that’s what you want.”
“She took my keys, my gun, my badge, and my dad’s watch. God! Why did she have to take that? It was all I had left of him. It was my last tie to him.”
Elizabeth knew how important that watch was to him. Chris’s father died young, and that was all Harrison Leonard had left behind.
“I’ll get it back for you, Christopher. I know a lot of cops. I’ll have them look for it. I promise I’ll find it.”
He sniffled.
It seemed to calm him.
“We have to call the police,” she stated. “If she didn’t take your FBI gear, it would be different. Gabe will need the police report.”
“I know.”
“Want me to do it?” she asked.
“Sure.”
Elizabeth slid out of the bed and headed toward his closet. She pulled out some sweats and a t-shirt. “Whatever I did to make you angry, I’m sorry,” she said. “I feel like it’s my fault. I feel like this all happened because of me.”
He was an idiot.
Chris should have known better.
No one would like him. He was a nerd and played in the dead. “Just call the police. I’ll get dressed.”
Elizabeth placed his clothes on the bed, and then she did something she never thought she’d do. She switched handcuffs. Oh, she could let the cops handle this, or she could get the woman’s print, and go from there. While she told Chris her cop friends would find his watch, she was going to find the bitch that did this, and when she did…
Yeah, this wasn’t over.
Not by a long shot.
* * * E l i z a b e t h L a R u e * * *
Hospital
Gabe was a nervous wreck.
Livy was progressing slowly. She was barely dilating, and the doctor was talking C-Section.
He was pretty freaked out. All he kept asking was if the baby and his wife were going to be okay.
That’s all he wanted.
It’s all he needed.
If they survived this, he’d never ever look at that little girl like she was anything but one hell of a miracle.
She was his.
“Hang in there, Livy.”
She opened her eyes. “I’m sorry.”
He didn’t get it. “For what?” he asked. “What do you have to be sorry about?”
“I know I’ve been hard to deal with the last nine months. I know I made you choose between me and Elizabeth, and I’m so sorry, Gabriel. I was so scared. I am so scared.”
He shushed her. “It’s okay. We’ll all be okay. You just give me my daughter, and I’ll handle the rest. I promise.”
“If anything happens to me...”
“Stop, Olivia. You’ll be fine. You just focus on birthing our child. I’ll worry about the rest.”
It wasn’t as if he wasn’t already thinking it.
He was.
And he was scared too, but one of them had to be the strong one. Livy had survived the rape. This...it was on him.
“Okay, Gabriel. I love you.”
“I love you too. Give me my Amelia. I want to spoil my girls,” he said, kissing her damp forehead.
Livy closed her eyes and silently thought about her friend. She thought about how she’d hurt her by pushing her away.
If she got through this and the baby was healthy, she’d call her.
She swore she would.
Livy did what her husband said.
She focused and she worried about her child—for a change.
* * * E l i z a b e t h L a R u e * * *
Early Sunday
Morning
One A.M.
It took a while for the police to be finished taking Chris’s statement. They swept for prints, asked a ton of questions, and then they headed out.
Meanwhile, Elizabeth called a locksmith, had his locks changed, and then moved Chris’s Mercedes to her house. The woman who violated his privacy wouldn’t look for it there. The last thing they need was to add insult to injury by allowing his ride to be stolen too.
The whore bag who hurt her friend obviously wasn’t a pro. Chris’s ride would catch a lot of money in a chop shop. This person was penny ante. She went for the easy shit to unload like a Rolex.
Yeah, she’d catch her.
That was for damn sure.
When she had finished those tasks, she started calling all the credit card companies to cancel his plastic. As she was working in his office, next to his bedroom, she heard the cops leave. They were being assholes, as they told him he should be more careful and should know better.
This whole thing sucked.
Had the bitch not taken his badge and gun, Chris would have been able to keep this on the DL. Now Gabe was going to find out. All she could hope was he was tied up with Livy and having a baby.
That possibly might save Chris’s ass. Even with that being a possibility, Elizabeth had stepped in and leveled the playing field by pulling a favor.
Still, this was a mess.
The one thing the FBI frowned upon was losing your badge and your gun. Now there was someone out there with Chris’s identification, and that could be sold on the black market.
This was one hell of a potential mess in the making.
She needed to run interference.
There was no wiggle room on this. Elizabeth knew Gabe wasn’t one of Chris’s biggest fans. They tended to repel each other like oil and water.
Gabe thought he was a nerd.
Chris thought Gabe was a douche for what he did to her. Yeah, they needed to stay apart.
Elizabeth was going to have to get that shit back, and fast or Chris’s ass was grass.
When the cops were gone, she headed into his room. He was sitting on his bed, and he looked miserable. Since he wasn’t talking to her, she opted to get him up to speed.
“Your locks are changed. I also called the credit card companies and pretended to be you. I’m not sure they bought it with my girly voice, but I tried to sound like a man when I gave them your social security number. So, they’re cancelled. You’ll have new ones in a couple of days.”
“Thanks.”
“Monday we can take your ride to the dealership and get the locks changed on your car.”
“Awesome.”
“I’m sorry she violated your space, Christopher.”
“Well, you should be. This is your fault.”
She didn’t say anything.
Honestly, she didn’t know how to respond to that. She was guilty of a lot of shit in the last year, but she wasn’t sure how she’d caused him to be robbed by some dick-rubbing hussy he brought home to screw.
That was a new one.
“I only went out with her because…” He changed his mind. “Never mind. You should go home. I’d offer to walk you there, but you’re probably safer without me. I’m not even safe in my own home.”
Elizabeth moved closer. “No, please finish. You’re angry with me, and I don’t have a fucking clue why. You’re the one who went out with her. You and I had a date last night, and tonight, you were with someone else. Clearly, you intended to make the most of it, since you brought her back to your place to get naked.”
Yes, she was mad too.
It stung.
She didn’t get it.
Elizabeth had put on a dress for him, she tried to get him to understand, and there were a lot of things that she was guilty of but this wasn’t her fault.
“I brought her back here because of you.”
She stared at him. “Well, that makes perfect sense. I can see how I made you have sex with another woman. Shame on me. I should stop doing that. I’m a flagrant whore.”
He lifted his head. “I had to do it.”
He was angry.
“Why, Christopher? I don’t get why you had to do anything.”
“I did it to forget about you.”
She still didn’t get it.
This was the oddest conversation she’d ever had with him. Generally, C
hris was logical and sane. Now he was bordering on loopy.
“Why did you have to forget about me?”
It was time he owned it.
“I wanted to be with you. I’ve wanted to have sex with you for the last two months, but I’ve been afraid to lose you as my friend. I only went online to find a woman to forget how much I needed you. I know you said it would be a mistake, but I wanted to know. I needed to know if it was a mistake. When you tell a man something, or deny us anything, we want it that much more.”
“So you picked up another woman to stop thinking about sex with me?”
“Yes, because you aren’t interested in me that way. It’s getting harder to pretend, Elizabeth. I’m falling apart inside.”
She hurt for him.
“You could have come to me. You could have told me the truth and skipped this mess. We had a date last night, Christopher, had you told me…?”
“I did all of this before our date. I went online and found the dating site before you asked me to your place last night. I never expected you to kiss me, or to want me. On our date, I got the impression something was changing. Then when I tried to be honest and tell you about what I did, you walked away.”
She had.
In her defense, she had perfectly good reason to do it too.
“It hurt. I put it out there, only to find out you’d already moved on, Christopher. It stung.”
“Then you had that damn detective in Autopsy One. You were fawning all over him, and it made me jealous. It was clear you had something with him I’d never see or experience.”
“Chris, he was someone I dated before you even started at the FBI. It was the month before I ever met you. We’re just friends, and that fawning…he worked with Cathy McCall. He was mourning his friend. I was trying to be caring and sympathetic. I know that’s not something I normally do, but fawning? Yeah, that’s not even close.”
She was aware because he was the one she was fawning over the last couple days. Only he didn’t see it. She was curious too. She wanted to know if she’d made a mistake.
“I tried…” She tried to communicate her feelings, and it wasn’t easy.
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