by Mandy Bee
The elevator dings and the doors open. Erick leads us down the hall and into a large conference room. The TV on the wall is on, the blue screen shows a pause symbol in the middle, meaning all they have to do is hit play and Bradley’s message for me will start. One button and my nightmare will appear on the screen. I start to feel dizzy, so I grab on to the closest chair.
“Are you ok?” Riker asks from behind me. His hands go to my hips and holds on like I’m going to fall to the floor. Which I might.
“I’m fine, just a little dizzy.” I tell him.
“Remember what I said, you don’t have to do this.” He steps in closer to me, wrapping his arms around my waist.
“He’s right,” Erick says from across the room. “You don’t have to do this. Two of the other victims chose not to watch their messages. We can’t force you to watch it.”
“How many videos did he make?” I have no clue why I asked that. It’s not like it really mattered.
“He left us eight but two of the families of the victims that died has reported finding their own videos in their mail. We have officers checking in with all the others right now. We don’t know what this sick fucker is up too, but we are working day and night to find him.” Erick’s voice is hard and angry.
“Eight? That doesn’t add up.” Greg says. He’s right. There were six of us who survived our attacks, and one who was able to get away. That’s only seven women.
“Who was the eighth video for?” Riker asks before I could.
“Us,” Erick grunts. “Bradley made a memory video about his case and all who worked on it. The original detective died last year, Taylor Banks, but all the original officers are still here. None took too kindly to Bradley taunting them. He claims he’s the one who got away, but what he doesn’t know is with every second of his videos he’s leaving us clues on how to find him.”
Bradley really was a sick, twisted man. He wasn’t the one who got away. He ran away like a coward.
“Did any of the others remember anything after watching their videos?” I ask Erick.
“Are you sure you want to know?” Greg asks me before Erick can answer me. Do I really want to know?
“Yes, I need to know.” I stress to him.
“Amy said that it was like seeing small flash backs. Like she had dreamed it, but couldn’t remember all of it. One of the others said it didn’t help her remember anything. Another one had a break down and couldn’t finish hers. Other than you the only one who hasn’t seen their video is Miss April. She moved away last year but has agreed to fly in tomorrow to meet with us.” Erick explains.
April was the one who Bradley probably hated the most. She was the only one who he didn’t get to hurt. Why she was carrying a stun gun no one knew, and no one really cared. It’s because of her that Bradley was caught it the first place.
“Let’s get this over with.” I mutter as I take a seat at the table. Riker stands behind me with one of his hands on my shoulder. Greg and Erick take a seat across from us. Erick picks up a remote off the table and hits play.
Bradley’s face appears on the screen. I immediately feel sick to my stomach. There is a lot of trees and a small creek behind him, but the color of the trees was wrong. They were red, yellow, and orange. All fall colors. Problem was it was still summer time. The tree hadn’t changed colors yet.
“He recorded this last year.” I mumble.
Erick stops the video. I hadn’t heard a word Bradley had said. I had zoomed in on the trees and tried to stay focused on them.
“We thought that too until one of our officers said his father had just come back from a fishing trip up north and said the trees had already started changing. He showed us some pictures and it matches the same type and color of trees that are in Bradley’s video. The state police and the FBI have a crew up there now seeing if that could be where he’s been hiding all this time.” I nod but don’t answer. “You didn’t listen to anything he said, did you?” Erick asks me.
“No.”
Greg takes the remote from Erick and turns the TV off. “This is pointless.” Greg growls. “All he wants to do is make these women relive their nightmare. Darcy doesn’t need to do that. You have the FBI involved, make them review the tapes and figure out why he sent them. Hell, make them figure out why he is back in the first place.”
Greg storms out of the room and Erick was quick to follow him. What Greg said was stuck on replay in my head. Why was Bradley back? Why? Why now? What happened to make him come back now?
Riker had been silent this whole time. I turn to look up at him and find him starring down at me. I give him a weak smile, but he just shakes his head. He leans down and give me a soft, sweet kiss before walking out of the room.
I didn’t listen to what Bradley said but I know Riker did. I wonder how much of the story he had heard before Erick stopped it. I can hear the guys shouting at each other in the hallway. It sounds like Riker is trying to calm his brother down but isn’t having much success. Spying the remote on the table I do the dumbest thing I’ve even done in my life. I turn the TV back on and hit play. I force myself to listen to the monster on the screen.
Chapter Twelve
Someone is screaming. I can hear someone screaming but I can’t move. Playing Bradley’s tape was stupid, but I did it anyways. After hitting play, I made sure to back up to the beginning. How a sick, twisted, monster like Bradley was ever created I don’t know but I do know he needs to be found and killed. Jail would be too good of a place for someone like him. Hell is where he needs to go.
Bradley sat there happily retelling the story of my time with him. He called it our special vacation. Can you believe that? A vacation? He sounded almost joyful as he told me all about the evil things he did to me. After he was done with his recap, he said that our time together was his favorite because I fought him more than any of the others.
“Shit!” I hear someone roar.
“Darcy? Look at me baby.” Riker says but I can’t see him. My eyes are closed, and I just figured out who was screaming. It was me. I was screaming. I couldn’t stop either.
“Do we need to call a bus?” Erick asks Riker.
“No, she’s doesn’t need an ambulance. Just give him a minute with her.” I hear Greg tell him.
I’m still screaming but my throat is begging me to stop. Hot tears roll down my face. I go from screaming to sobbing. I’m a freaking mess right now.
Strong arms go around me, and I’m lifted out of my chair only to end up in the flood on Riker’s lap. He holds me as I fall apart. I couldn’t tell you how long we stayed like this, but it felt like hours.
When I finally stop crying Riker wastes no time at getting us off the floor and out of the police station. Erick tried to ask me a few questions as he followed us downstairs but Riker and Greg both told him to back off.
Once Riker got me settled in his truck he took a minute to talk to his brother. I couldn’t hear what they were saying but at this moment I really didn’t care. I was drained. Everything part of me was hurting. All I wanted to do was go to bed and wake up when all this was over.
***
I wake up screaming. Reaching over to turn on the lamp by my bed I realize I’m not in my own room. Panic sets in and I look around the dark room trying to figure out where I am. Then the events of the day come back to me.
My apartment.
The alarms.
My office.
The police station.
Bradley’s video.
Riker…….
Riker had brought me back to his place after we left the police station. He tried to get me to eat but I just wanted to sleep. He helped me change into one of his shirts then tucked me into bed. Him taking care of me made me smile. The gentle way he touched me, like I was made of glass and could break at any second.
The door to the room flies opens. Riker flips the light on as he walks over to me.
“Are you ok?” He asks. His voice deep with worry.
“Yeah,�
� I sigh. It’s my fault. If I hadn’t watched that video I wouldn’t have broken down like I did. “I’m sorry I freaked out on you. I should have never watched that video.”
“Don’t you dare apologize.” He lightly snarls at me.
“Riker…” I start but he stops me by climbing into the bed beside me and pulling me to him.
“I don’t want to hear it. You had every right to watch that video. I just wish you would have waited for me, so you didn’t have to watch it alone.” He kisses the top of me head then chuckles. “You may want to call and apologize to Erick for breaking the TV though.”
“What? I broke the TV?” I ask in shock.
“You threw the remote at it and it shattered the screen.”
“Oh my God.” I mumble. We lay there for a few minutes just holding each other. It’s nice. Really nice.
Maybe I should give Riker a chance. He would have to be understanding about my work hours, and not push me too much about working less. But if he can listen to even the small part of Bradley said and is still here with me then maybe there is a chance for us.
“There is defiantly a chance for us.” Riker laughs, and I realize I just said all that out loud.
“I didn’t mean to say that out loud.” I bury my face in my hands, trying to hide my blood red cheeks.
Hearing him lightly chuckle has me groaning. God, I’m so embarrassed. “Darcy,” Riker whispers in my ear. “I think it’s time we talked about what’s going on with us. I know what I want but I need to know what you want.”
Riker eases my hands away from my face and lifts my chin until we are eye to eye. I decided to let him know what I really think and feel about all this.
“We don’t really know each other. I think that’s my biggest problem. I know we have a connection, there’s no denying that. But even though we have known of each other for years, we really don’t know each other. What if we start dating and then see we are totally wrong for each other. The sparks between us can’t be everything in a relationship. Plus, with everything going on with Bradley and now James, I don’t really know how to feel about starting something like this with all that going on.” A smile was not what I had expected from him. But that’s what I got. A huge, sexy, sinful smile.
“So, you admit to feeling this connection between us? Even seeing sparks.” He teases me.
“Lying about it would be a waste of time. Especially since every time we kiss it’s like we set each other on fire.” His eyes go dark and his nose flares. He starts to lower his head, knowing he’s about to kiss me I pull back to stop him. “That’s not going to help anything right now.”
Riker smirks at me, then leans back against the head board. I rest my head on his chest. How safe this man makes me feel is unreal. Never in my life have I ever felt so totally and completely safe with just one person.
“How would you propose we get to know each other better? It’s not like we can do things like a normal couple, with all that is happening. So, tell me how you want to do it and I do whatever you want.”
Hmm, he’s right about not being able to do things normally. It really wouldn’t be safe to do the whole public dating thing right now. Even though I’ve only been on three dates in my whole life, I do know that it usually takes three to five dates to even start to get to really know another person. Then an idea hits me.
“We could do the question game.”
“What’s that?” He asks, and I swear I can hear him smiling but I don’t look up to check.
“Well, it’s something my friends and I used to play at sleepovers. Usually only if it had been awhile since we had all been able to hang out together. What you do is ask someone a question, and they have to answer it or do a dare. We can skip the dare part, but the answers have to be a hundred percent truthful, and no skipping questions.” I remember sometimes the girls and I wouldn’t even sleep we’d just stay up all night playing this game. The dares were hilarious to us, but I doubt I’ll be asking Riker to write the name of his crush on the inside of his bra. Wow, we really were stupid teenagers.
“I think we should keep the dare part.” He says as he lets his hand roam down my side and cups my hip.
“Yeah, I think we’ll skip the dares this time.” I giggle and push his hand off my hip.
“Fine, but next time we do the dares.” He growls playfully.
“Whatever.” I mumble.
“Who goes first?” He asks.
“I’ll go first. What made you want to go into real-estate?”
“A safe question.” He mutters. “At first I just wanted to buy and flip houses. The first house I bought I ended up losing money on. I would have made a couple grand on it had it not been for the agent’s fee. I thought if I got my license then I could handle the sale and wouldn’t lose out on the money. However, I found I had more of a skill for selling houses than I did for fixing them up. So, I got a job with the local national chain, but it just wasn’t for me. Working with Brice and Dean is great. Also getting to help owners with their properties is nice too. They pay us a fee to look out for their tenants when they aren’t able too. It’s a win-win for everyone. Plus, we try our best to take really good care of all the properties.”
You can really hear his passion for his work in his voice. I remember him sounding the same way back at the cabin when he first told me about what he did for a living. It’s always wonderful when you do something you love. I know because it’s how I feel about making my jewelry.
“Mine turn. How did the idea for you company start?”
Now this is something I could talk about all day long. I tell him about how everything started in college and how people started asking to buy things for gifts. It didn’t take long before I had told him the whole story and even some little funny things that had happened after we moved into the office space. I rambled and rambled, but I loved talking about my work.
“That’s amazing Darcy. To take a small idea and turn it into a successful business is not easy to do. But you did it, and your work is really beautiful.” His praise fills my heart with so much pride.
“Thanks.” I give him a small hug. Even laying here together we still have our arms wrapped tightly around each other. “My main goal with my jewelry was to make pieces that everyone could wear on a daily basis. We don’t use high cost metals or gems. We use materials that will hold up to heavy wearing, but that also is low in cost. Growing up when I would shop for jewelry, because I’ve always been a lover of fun and funky pieces, I would hate that most of what I liked was so expensive even when it wasn’t made with higher priced materials. So, when we started the company I wanted to make sure that anyone who shopped with us, no matter what their budget was, could find something that would work for them. We also try to have sales every few months because everyone knows women will buy more if it’s on sale.” I giggle just thinking about some of the feedback emails we have gotten from customers. Some women clearly telling us they over spent but would tell their husbands that everything was on sale and they just couldn’t pass it up. Then we’d get emails from women who had been waiting for the sale, so they could afford some new jewelry without hurting their budgets.
“I’m so very proud of you Darcy.” He says, leaning down to kiss the top of head. “You’re turn.”
“Where do you go to de-stress?”
“The roof top of my office building.” Wow, wouldn’t have thought there. “It’s a peaceful place for me. I sometimes take a bottle of good whiskey up with me and just unwind after a stressful day.” I can picture him there. Standing on the roof top, tie long gone his white dress shirt undone at the collar, maybe even partly untucked.
“Sounds like a nice place.” I tell him.
“I’ll take you up there with me one day soon.” He kisses the top of my head again. “Now, it’s my turn. Favorite TV show?”
“I’ll only tell you if you don’t laugh at me.” He nods but I can see he’s lying. “I love shows like Kitchen Nightmares, Hell’s Kitchen, and Bar Res
cue. I love when they scream at the idiot owners or when Gordon Ramsey screams at the chefs.” Riker doesn’t even try to hold back his laugher.
“My sweet little Darcy loves to watch people get screamed at?” He says through his laughter.
“Oh, shut up!” I shove him a little but can’t help but giggle.
“Ok, you’re turn.”
“Tell me more about your bothers. How did Greg get into the security business? What does Paul do?”
“That’s two questions.” He teases me. “Greg started out working for a guy named Ryan Marks. He did body guard work for him all over the country. But traveling got old. When Ryan passed away, Greg decided to come home and start his own company. Ryan’s sister tried to get Greg to stay. From what I was told Ryan had left his company to his family and two of his friends, but some bad stuff went down between the father and everyone else. I don’t know the whole story, but it was one big mess. Greg just didn’t want to be in all that. Plus, our father was sick at the time and his coming home was good for our whole family.”
“That’s so sad.”
“It was, but it brought Greg back home. Our dad passed away a few months after Greg moved back and I know he was happy to have that time with him.”
Oh wow, I didn’t know Riker’s dad had died. I wonder how he died. I’m glad Greg got to come home before that happened. I couldn’t imagine not being here if something happened to my parents. My sis and I are very blessed, our parents are in great health and are move active than we are. They go hiking, camping, and even water skiing when the weather is right.
“Your parents sound like very happy people.” Riker laughs, knowing I didn’t mean to say all that out loud. Damn it, I’ve got to be more careful about that. “And my dad passed away from a heart attack. He hated doctors and would only go if mom forced him. But he’s in a better place now.”
I reach up and kiss Riker softly and sweetly. “I’m sorry you lost your dad.”
