I Need You Here

by Cynthia P. O'Neill

  My throat felt a little dry so I grabbed a bottle of water and sipped before continuing, “I’d completed one interview, but the person said they really didn’t have any positions open at the time. I’d thought about accepting Ashley’s father’s job offer, but I didn’t like the idea of having to ask for a favor. My entire life had been built on favors from government agents.

  “When I decided I wanted to attend the University of Central Florida, everything was arranged to make it happen. Marissa and Ashley had been thoroughly screened before I was allowed to share a house with them.” My hand caressed the side of his face. “It turned out to be one of the best things to happen to me because I not only made friends, but I met you.”

  A shiver ran through me as it dawned on me, Liam had been talking to that recruiter prior to my interview and had handed her an envelope with something in it. I pounded my fist against the counter. “That bastard!”

  “What’s wrong, Dawn?” Rafe’s eyes were wide and looking around, expecting something bad at any moment.

  “Liam paid off the recruiter I had an interview with. He’d walked up to me a short while later and asked about my major, then offered to me an interview. He called a few days later offering me a position, where he urged me to meet with him to set up the move, and sign the new-hire paperwork. Marissa had already moved in with Dane the day before, so he never met her, but he saw where I lived, he met Ashley, and I’ll bet he put a tracking device on my car.”

  I turned to him with sudden clarity about everything. “Is it possible that he already knew who I was? If so, then I don’t understand why he lavished me with all those dresses, took me to all those company dinners, and gave me all those gifts?”

  “I bet he fell for you as hard as I did. You’re beautiful, Dawn, but where I use control to guide and elicit pleasure, he uses control as a weapon, a deadly one.”

  I tried to remember all the information about the case, wondering if our assumptions were right, and wished Rafe hadn’t been so diligent in destroying the evidence. “I need to use one of the burner phones to call my father.”

  Rafe shook his head. “We don’t have a signal down here. The walls are too thick.”

  “Then how do you communicate with your father?”

  “There’s a direct line that only goes to his phone, but it’s only to be used in emergencies.”

  “We may have one, so be prepared!”

  I found my tablet and powered it up. I knew the chip my parents had placed in it would transmit at a frequency that would extend beyond this structure. I took the phone and a used a USB cable to connect it to the tablet and punched key codes into a couple of apps that boosted the signal of the phone.

  Rafe watched in amazement, “How did you do that?”

  “I’ll teach you everything I know when we have the time.”

  I looked for anything I could use to destroy the phone once I’d used it, and found a hammer in a side cabinet on the wall. I pulled up an app on the tablet that gave me the current number to call my parents.

  No sooner than I’d pressed send, my father picked up. “Mon bébé., my baby. I see you have moved, are you in a secure area?”

  “Oui, mousier. L'anglais s'il vous plaît. English please. I’m a-okay and raring to go. I have Rafe here with me. He helped to secure us in a safe room that no one knows about.” My heart began to race. I had no idea how to go about asking if my hunch was correct.

  “What is it you need, my child?” My father tried hard to lose his Russian accent, but it reemerged when he was stressed, and his words sounded too formal.

  “Quick question. Do you remember Ronan McCavan?”

  He tsked through the phone. “But of course. He’s the reason we have to put on all these false pretenses and have to live like criminals. Why did you want to know?”

  “What was his wife’s maiden name? For the life of me I can’t remember.”

  He took a few moments, but he finally answered. “His wife’s maiden name was McLeigh. Why?’

  Rafe and I stared at each other in astonishment.

  “I need you to listen carefully dad. I think I know who Liam Cavanaugh really is. He’s Ronan William McCavan, III. Liam didn’t exist until seven years ago, shortly after our current identities were created. Why the hell he wants to torment me I don’t know, but I suspect it’s to lure you out of hiding so he can finish what his father started.”

  “Stay put little one. I don’t want you involved in this.”

  The line went dead. I couldn’t call again with that phone for fear of it being traced. With a heavy heart, I took the phone, placed it on the massive wooden cutting board, and proceeded to smash it into bits.

  Rafe came up behind me, rubbing my shoulders. “I’m sure your parents have everything under control. Do you think they’ll call in all their former cohorts and ask them to help smoke Liam out?”

  IT TOOK A WHILE to calm Dawn down, but I’d finally managed to get her to sleep, so I could place a phone call to my father. He ranted about me using the line so quickly, but when I elaborated on what we’d discovered, he offered to have Derrick and Rick see if they could locate Dawn’s parents and coordinate a group effort to get this bastard out of all of our hair.

  I had to admit I was scared. I’d finally found my other half, only to realize I might lose her if anything went wrong. As a result, I kept our pending nuptials and pregnancy announcement to myself for the time being. I wasn’t much of a superstitious man but at this point, even the slightest risk was too great.

  Dad had warned me that Marissa was furious at Dane and me for kidnapping Dawn. She was worried about her friend, but I knew, given all the details, she’d come around to our way of thinking.

  I was exhausted by everything that had happened today. I had anticipated getting Dawn settled and maybe getting her to talk to me a little, but I figured it would take days to get all that I’d gotten out of her. My mind was still trying to wrap around all the information we’d managed to uncover.

  I’d reached for a glass and a bottle of scotch, hoping to take the edge off of things, when I heard Dawn heading to the bathroom, worshipping the porcelain god. I looked through the cabinets to see if we had any saltines, club soda, or some ginger tea, remembering how bad Marissa’s nausea had been during her pregnancy. Score! Tea and crackers. My mother was a tea fanatic, and had, every kind of tea imaginable at her disposal.

  I had a cup of ginger tea waiting by the bed when she walked out of the bathroom. She looked a little worse for wear, but I still found her sexy in just a t-shirt.

  “I found some saltine crackers and ginger tea. If you’d prefer, my mom has a whole collection of tea bags to choose from. Marissa swore this tea helped her with her morning sickness. By the way, how long have you been throwing up? Is that what tipped Liam off?”

  She nodded. “This is fine. Thank you.”

  She nibbled at a cracker and sipped her tea. “I’d suspected the pregnancy when I missed a period. By the time I missed the second month, my nipples got sensitive, I was pretty sure I was pregnant.”

  She took another bite of the saltine, shrugging her shoulders. “The morning sickness didn’t hit in my first trimester. I did some research, and discovered some people don’t get it at all, while others get it a little later in the pregnancy.

  “I’d already sensed I was being watched and hung a shower curtain to cover the sliding glass shower door, for extra privacy. I tried to only barf during showers, so the running water would mask the sound. I’d been successful up until a couple of weeks ago. But one morning, I only made it as far as the toilet. Liam began asking about my health the moment I arrived at the office. I was able to dismiss it as the stomach flu or a touch of food poisoning.”

  I watched as she took a few more crackers, scarfing them down ravenously, wishing I knew something to help handle her nausea.

  “Anyhow, several days later I threw up at work and was driven home to rest. I threw up again, and he was immediately at my door.”
Her face scrunched up, like she was remembering something.

  “What is it, love?”

  She shook her head. “I’m not sure. But it seemed like he was genuinely concerned for me, despite how severely he’d abused me. I was in the kitchen, getting some water, when he arrived. He’d felt my forehead, asked me if I was okay, and even brought me dinner. Normally, a nice medium rare steak would appeal to me, but when I saw all the bloody juice oozing out of it, I ended up throwing up in the sink.

  “He ordered his bodyguard out into the hallway and helped me clean up. He seemed concerned and tender, until he backed me against the wall and twisted one of the nipples. I screamed out in pain. He backhanded me, giving me the black eyes you saw on the video. Then he wrapped his hands around my neck and said that I wasn’t worth much to him now. I’d just proved to be was nothing more than the filthy whore he’d marked me as. He tossed me around a bit and left, demanding that I get an abortion, or else.”

  A violent shudder racked her body and she began to weep. She turned to me, “I’d already set my escape plan in motion. He’d already stripped me of so much, forcing me to lose weight, limiting my food intake, pretty much cutting me off from my family, friends, and you. I’d rather die then let him have this little one, it represents us.”

  I climbed into bed and pulled her into my lap. “I know, baby. You don’t know how thankful I am that you were able to save our little one. Maybe if Dane had insisted you take the job so you could stay here, or if I’d followed you to Atlanta and fought harder for you, you wouldn’t have had to go through all this. I feel like it’s somehow my fault.”

  She laid her head against my shoulder, and sighed. “I love listening to your heartbeat, it makes me feel safe.” She looked up to me. “We can both wonder about what might have been all we want, but will never know if anything would’ve changed. He’d fooled me into believing I had landed the perfect job. No one could have known I was playing right into his hands.”

  Before long, I could tell Dawn had drifted off to sleep. I laid her down and covered us both with the duvet cover. I tried to shift us both, so we’d be more comfortable, but her arms latched onto my waist and her head nestled further into the crook of my neck, where she was meant to be. I finally fell asleep, to dream of my future with Dawn.

  Several days later…

  “There’s no fucking way. I’m not allowing this! It could get all of us killed.” I slammed my fist down on the dining table, which now doubled as a conference table. Seated were Derrick, Rick, my father, mother, Dawn and myself. We were arguing with Ian and Taylor Jamieson (a.k.a Ivan and Sophia Evonovich, Dawn’s parents) on one of the burner phones.

  Dawn spoke up. “I agree. There’s no way that I want to endanger any of my friends. It would be best if I didn’t attend Nate and Gianna’s wedding. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if something happened to any of them. And what about Marissa? She’s very pregnant and can’t run for cover if something should happen.”

  My father placed his hand on my shoulder and gave it a squeeze. “Normally, I’d agree with you son, but Liam has been seen in the area. Dane’s home has already been broken into, so he’s moved Marissa to a hotel while he upgrades his security system.

  “Ethan’s place has been ransacked again, and so has yours––even Nate and Gianna’s was searched. I think the only reason we’ve been exempt is because of the extra guards Derrick and Rick hired. We have the place on lockdown while the backyard is being transformed for Nate and Gianna’s wedding.”

  He looked me square in the eyes. “It’s only a matter of time before he hits our entire family in his search for her. Each break-in leaves a more violent trail of destruction. He’s becoming irrational and desperate. I’d rather take care of him now, than be faced with a wild man hell-bent on destruction.”

  Both Derrick and Rick nodded in agreement. Ian’s disembodied voice sounded tiny on the speaker, “This is true, Rafe. If Liam is anything like his father, he will become more violent each time he’s denied what he wants. He’s on the verge of a breakdown because all of his plans are falling apart. I don’t like using my daughter as bait, but we may be able to finally take him out, once and for all, giving everyone peace of mind. He’s been meeting with his father’s former henchmen, who have now all been incarcerated. His uncle has washed his hand of the whole business and is living a legitimate life working hard in a manufacturing plant. He lives under an assumed name so he can be free of his past. Liam is our final obstacle. Defeating him is the only way we will be able to come out of hiding and really live again.”

  Even though his words made sense, I still couldn’t commit, until he said, “If we don’t take care of Liam now, then Dawn will be taken immediately into her own protective custody. She will be given a new identity and moved to a location you will never be allowed to know. You will loose her, son. Is that what you want? Do you really want my daughter to live that way, always looking over one shoulder?”

  I looked across the table at Dawn, our eyes connecting, both of us knowing we could never live without the other.

  “I’ll think about it.” It was all I could promise right now. The meeting continued, but I tuned everyone out to let my mind review the entire discussion.

  We’d learned early in the meeting that Liam’s wealth management consortium was somewhat legit, but not entirely. The company was making their investors happy by doubling their money, but the profits came from the stock market and gambling. In reward for their efforts, the major players - one of whom was Liam - was skimming a hefty percentage off the top before passing the investor’s money back to them.

  Liam arrived in Orlando the day after Dawn went under the radar. During that time, Ian’s contacts had managed to raid McLeigh International Wealth and frozen all the corporate assets, along with the CEO’s and all the Vice Presidents’ bank accounts, leaving Liam unable to fund any rewards he’d originally offered to find Dawn. He’d resorted to using only the men most loyal to him, but we made sure her trail had several false leads.

  Liam had never been married and had no children. The woman he’d presented as his wife was an actress he’d hired. It had been confirmed that he initially wanted to use Dawn to draw out her parents. When he saw how lovely she was he wanted her for himself. Fortunately, his father had driven the ideas of perfection and revenge into his mind, to such an extent he wouldn’t touch Dawn until she was the epitome of what his idea of perfection represented.

  The pompous ass had been so arrogant when he’d established the company. We’d all been too blind to see that he’d used his mother’s maiden name, McLeigh. The initials for the company McLeigh International Wealth (MLIW), combined with his name, Liam, spelled out William, his father’s middle name, which he often used as an alias. Then he’d chosen Cavanaugh as his last name, because it closely resembled McCavan. We’d all been oblivious to what was in front of us.

  If he were able to hide in plain sight so effectively, how were we going to catch him and put an end to all of this? Granted, Liam had become a loose cannon. Having his assets frozen meant he was losing the power to influence those around him. He was becoming irrational and out of control; and a man who was out of control was more likely to make mistakes.

  I finally conceded. “I don’t like this one bit, but I can’t see any other way around it. I can’t believe everyone is willing to put his or her life in danger, but I agree––he needs to be caught at all costs, so this can end. I can’t live a day without Dawn in my life, that’s for damn sure, but I also don’t want to risk losing her. If we do this, I want snipers covering every member of my family. If someone dares to draw a weapon, I want them disarmed first, and asked questions later.”

  The meeting ended with Derrick and Rick promising to iron out all the details, while Ian and Taylor made their way toward Orlando. They opted to keep Dawn’s sister, Erica, out of the loop since she was attending college in another state. They’d sent an operative to keep watch over her in case anyone from Liam
’s past made a move to harm her. From what we understood, only Liam remained standing and once he fell, the entire McCavan clan was no more.

  The wedding was in four days, so our lives were in their hands. We all prayed they could lay a trap that would lead Liam straight to us.

  DAWN’S NAUSEA CONTINUED TO grow worse, instead of better. She existed on Saltines, ginger tea, and anything else she felt she might be able to hold down. I didn’t like how emaciated she’d become.

  I finally broke the news to dad and asked him to sneak a doctor into the house. To say he and my mother were overjoyed, was an understatement. They were overwhelmed by the prospect of not one, but two, more grandchildren in the very near future

  My mom was already in planning mode, wanting us to have our dream wedding. The only problem? I hadn’t a clue what that would be; and I had no desire to even think about it until we survived Nate and Gianna’s nuptials.

  I was surprised when my dad unlocked the door and Derrick escorted in a blindfolded man. Derrick assured me the doctor had been swept for tracking devices and had left his phone upstairs.

  Derrick and my father both sat in the living area while the doctor removed his blindfold and followed me back to the bedroom. We’d explained our suspicions and expressed our concerns on her being unable to hold down anything.

  I watched as the doctor went to work. He took all of her vitals, felt her stomach and took some blood. “I can tell you, without a test, that she is pregnant. I’ve brought a small hand-held ultrasound device so we can hear the baby’s heart beat and check to see if he or she is doing okay. I can feel movement from the outside, so I’m pretty sure everything’s progressing well. My only concern is her inability to keep anything down.”

  I glanced over at Dawn and found her sleeping again, which concerned me. “Is all this sleeping normal, doc?”