Dave moved past the hospital security guards and stepped into the
doctor’s lounge where April sat beside Deidra who nursed a cup of tea.
He moved nearer to her and knelt beside her, “Dee?”
“Dave…I’m sorry about this. They shouldn’t have called you. I really
just…overreacted,” Deidra tried to dismiss the entire situation with a
flick of her wrist.
Dave looked to April, “Could you give us a few minutes alone?”
“Of course,” April nodded, “If you need anything…just ask.”
“Thanks,” Dave flashed her a soft smile before she left the room. He
took the seat vacated by April and allowed a moment of silence to pass
between them. He reached out to her and lightly touched her arm, “Dee,
talk to me.”
“It’s just so stupid, Dave,” Deidra stood and walked across the room.
She fidgeted as she turned back towards him, “These flowers arrived,
and I just thought they were another bouquet from you. I took the card
and read it and…well, here it is,” She passed the card to him, “And
then there was this,” She gave him the picture. She gave him a moment
to look over both before she spoke, “He’s coming after me, Dave,” She
nibbled her lip, “He’s coming after me, and he’s going to kill me.”
“He’s not going to kill you,” He quickly stood and reached out to her.
He placed his hands upon her shoulders, “He’s not going to get the
chance.”
“Dave…you can’t be around to protect me all the time,” She warned.
“No, I can’t, but I know someone who can,” He paused, “There’s an FBI
agent, Shannon Price. She can be with you here at the hospital. She can
appear to be a nurse or an orderly or just a patient. Either way, she
can be here, and she can look out for you.”
“An FBI agent? Are you crazy? Like the FBI is going to spare an agent
to watch after me?”
“She’s been kicked off the Mathis case because she doesn’t mind busting
some balls to get the job done. She’s upset some people in doing her
job, but she doesn’t mind pushing hard to get to the point. More than
that, she wants to nail Mathis to the wall. I think she’ll be able to
keep you safe, and she’ll be keeping an eagle eye out for any sign of
Mathis.”
“Someone watching me day in and day out? I’m not so sure I’m okay with
that…especially someone I don’t know,” She began.
“You’ll be better with that than with Mathis surprising you. Besides,
she won’t be with you at night,” He paused, “I will. I’ll stay with you
at night, and that way you won’t have to worry about a stranger being
at your house.”
“Dave, I can’t ask you…”
“You didn’t,” Dave took her hand, “Dee, your safety means everything to
me, and I’ll do whatever it takes to make sure that Mathis doesn’t even
get close. Come on, Dee. Let me help you with this.”
Deidra looked away as she considered his offer, “Okay, but Dave…I never
wanted to upset your life like this.”
“I know that,” He touched her cheek gently, “Believe me, I do know.”
“What is going on around here?” Russell asked as he stepped into the
lounge with Avery at his side, “What’s with all the security?”
“We had a little problem,” Dave spoke as he looked towards the couple.
“His name is Bruce Mathis,” Deidra blurted out as she looked towards
Avery, “I’m a target too.”
“What? Why?” Avery asked as she wrapped her arms tightly around her and
leaned into Russ, “Why would he…”
“It’s a long story, but why don’t we deal with why you’re here?” Deidra
spoke as she studied Avery for a moment, “You look kind of pale. What’s
the matter?”
“Bruce Mathis,” Russ answered her question as he gently hugged Avery to
him, “Avery’s been under a lot of stress in the last twenty-four hours,
and we just want to be sure that the baby is okay.”
Deidra nodded as she reached out to Avery, “Come on. We’ll go to an
exam room,” She offered a sympathetic smile as she took Avery’s hand
and led her from the room.
“Dave, what’s going on?” Russell asked as he stepped towards the chief.
“Mathis doesn’t know when to quit, but I’m damn sure going to teach
him,” Dave warned as he thought of everything that had happened to
Avery and to Deidra. The chaos had to end, and he was going to make
sure it happened sooner rather than later.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Escape! Run away…that’s what she had to do Blake reasoned as she
ran through the hospital corridor feeling like a fool for having put
her faith, hopes and trust into a relationship that would never
be. How could she have been so stupid? How could she have
believed that what she and Zack had with one another would be forever
and more so how could she have even entertained the notion that there
would be some way to make those dreams she’d had of her and Zack become
a reality? How could she have hoped so desperately that things
could be repaired between them and why was she shedding so many tears
over someone who’d never been meant to be her destiny? Johanna
was pregnant and Zack had a commitment to Johanna--a tie that would
bind them to one another forever and Blake knew better than to think
differently. She shouldn’t have thought about holding onto that
hope that she’d had for a future with Zack, but now…
“Oh God, what are you doing to yourself,” Blake questioned aloud
rounding a corner only to come crashing into the first person who’d
been unfortunate enough to come her way. Now as she fell backward
toppling over on shaky limbs, she felt the cold, hard slap of the
linoleum flooring beneath her as she looked up only to discovered a
very frazzled looking Ken standing over her.
“Blake,” he questioned his features a mask of confusion and concern as
he reached out to take her hand urging her up with his help, “honey
what’s wrong?”
“Everything,” Blake confessed in a heaving sob using her brother’s
guidance to pull her up off of the ground before she tumbled into his
arms breaking down completely as he held her with obvious confusion not
knowing where to start.
“Blake, what happened,” Ken questioned once again trying to keep his
voice calm and collected despite the obvious signs of emotion raging
from within where his sister was concerned.
“A disaster--no, it’s worse than that Kenny as it’s the waking
nightmare that haunts my life each and every waking moment. I
don’t know why I even try anymore…” she sniffled breaking into tiny
whimpering sounds as she squeezed Ken desperately as if she was holding
onto him for dear life in this moment in time.
“Blake, now come on. You don’t mean that,” Ken tried to reason
with her.
“Like hell I don’t. I’m telling you it can’t get any worse,” she
bellowed out in misery as her tears continued to penetrate her
brother’s otherwise calm demeanor.
“Blake, sweetheart, you’re not making any sense,” he began urging her
to meet his eyes as he saw the misery burning behind the sad, blue
pools of salty tears before him, “What happened? What’s going on
that has you this worked up?”
“My life is ending. That’s what’s happened and what keeps on
happening,” she continued in obvious agony as her tears continued, “I
mean just when I think things are going my way…well then fate comes to
give me a swift kick in the gut and then…”
“I’m sure it can’t be that bad Blake,” Ken reached out to touch her
face gently, trying to alleviate some of his sister’s tears as she
continued to break down before him, “Certainly there has to be some way
to fix what’s happening for you, right?”
“Gee, only if we can hop in a time machine and make a pregnancy go away
I suppose,” Blake shot back sarcastically a shuddering moment of
disgust driving her deeper into the sorrow she’d lost herself in.
“A pregnancy?” he repeated with wide eyes, a moment of panic rushing
over him at the thought of his sister being in such a tentative
position, “Blake, you’re pregnant?”
“What?” she blinked back at him shaking her head adamantly as her
brother wasn’t getting what she was saying, “No, no of course I’m not
because heaven knows that would be the last thing I’d need right about
now considering that Zack and I and Seth and I were…” she dismissed the
thought, “No, it’s not about me…at least not the pregnancy part as it’s
Johanna that’s pregnant.”
“Who is Johanna?” Ken questioned in confusion, “and why is her
pregnancy such a disaster for you?”
“Because Zack’s the father of her baby,” Blake blurted out with obvious
displeasure, “He’s gone and found himself in the position to be a
father and now he’s got this commitment to honor to her even after he
promised me that we’d be together for…”
“Zack’s what?” Ken questioned feeling a twinge of rage pass over him at
the thought of Caitlin’s brother finding a way to make Blake this
miserable.
“He’s having a baby with this horrible, wretched woman that came to
Coral Valley to be with him. She showed up after Zack and I had a
falling out and now she’s claiming to be having his child and the two
of them are…” she broke down unable to take anymore as her feelings got
the best of her.
“Oh Blake,” Ken embraced her securely, “I’m so sorry that this
happened…”
“I just don’t understand. He told me he loved me--that we had
something special and when we were together, I felt like I had the
world Kenny. I felt like I’d found the man I was going to share
my forever with, but now that he’s with her…now that he’s going to be a
father…”
“Blake, I know this hurts, but…” he began trying to think up some words
to alleviate some of her misery.
“You have no idea how much this hurts Ken. You have no idea what
it’s like to love someone so deeply--with every fiber of your being
only to realize that you’ll never be with them--that you’ll never share
that part of your life with them that was what you’d always
wanted. I wanted a life with Zack and now, well now Johanna has
that dream that I wanted--that should’ve been mine!” her voice squealed
with emotion.
“Blake, honey I know that you feel that way now, but I thought that you
and Seth were…” Ken started thinking about what Annie had told him
about his sister’s latest romantic involvement.
“That’s irrelevant right now,” Blake snapped back at him, “My
relationship with Seth has nothing to do with Zack.”
“Well, I just thought that since you and Seth were…” Kenneth paused
thinking about what was happening in front of him, “Blake, were you
seeing Seth again only because of what’s going on with Zack?
Because of him and Johanna?”
“Of course I’m not,” she huffed shaking her head in disgust, “That has
nothing to do with Zack as Seth and I…oh hell, I knew that you wouldn’t
understand. You still don’t and now…”
“Blake, you need to calm down,” Kenneth tried to reason with her
wondering how to keep his sister from going off the deep end as he
reached out to her touching her arm gently.
“No, I will not calm down, nor will I stand here and listen to another
moment of this when all I want to do is get out of here and find a way
to move on--to find a way not to hurt so damned much,” she huffed
shrugging out of his hold as she raced over to the hospital’s exit in a
frenzy, leaving Kenneth bewildered as he tried to make sense of what
his sister was going through. Still as he thought to Blake and
Zack’s time with one another, he began to wonder just what kind of
number Zack had worked over Blake to have her this heartbroken.
Sure having gotten another woman pregnant was reason enough for Ken to
want to plummet Zack into a bloody pulp even with Blake’s other
romantic entanglements, but still in seeing the hurt behind her eyes
Ken was determined to find out why Zack had sunk to such a new low
after making Blake believe in something that clearly wasn’t there and
as that thought passed over Ken, he realized that suddenly his life had
taken on a whole new level of complication that he was entirely
unprepared for.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Zack sat down on the sofa in the waiting area as he stared at the
picture of the baby growing within Johanna. Up until now, it had just
been an obstacle…something keeping him from Blake. Now…well, now, here
was his child with teeny tiny fists balled before its little face.
“Isn’t he beautiful?” Johanna smiled as she sat down beside him.
“He? It’s too early to determine the sex,” He spoke quickly before he
began studying the picture more closely to see if perhaps there was a
sign that his child was actually a boy.
“I know that. It’s just a feeling I have. Our baby is going to be a
boy, and he’s going to be absolutely beautiful,” She leaned against him
and looked at the picture along with him, “Just look at him…he’s
just…he’s an absolute miracle.”
“A miracle…” He whispered as he swept his thumb gently over the
picture. A few moments ago, he’d been thrilled to be speaking with
Blake again, but now, as he looked at his child, being with Blake
suddenly seemed like the most selfish desire in all the world. At the
same time, however, he found himself wondering how this moment would be
different if he were sharing it with Blake.
“Earth to Zack…hey, are you still with me?” Johanna asked as she
studied his face as he continued to look at the picture of their child.
She gently brushed the back of her fingers against his cheek, “Zack,
sweetie…”
“Yeah I’m here,” Zack spoke up as he took a deep breath and sat back
into the cushions of the sofa. He slowly turned to look at Johanna,
“Wow.”
She smiled as she leaned onto the cushions along side him and continued
to watch him, “Wow is right.”
“So…the doctor…what did he say?”
“She,” She corrected, “Dr. Byrne said that all my blood work was
perfect, and that the baby is growing at just the rate he should. She
said that this is a perfectly healthy pregnancy.”
“Good,” He said with a relieved smile as he looked back to the picture
of the baby, “I can’t believe this is really happening.”
“To be quite honest, neither can I,” She admitted as she lay her head
upon his shoulder to look at the picture with him, “To know that I have
a little person growing inside me…I can’t even describe the feeling.”
“We’re going to be parents,” He said as if it had only just occurred to
him.
“Yes we are,” She smiled slightly, “I always told you that we’re good
together. Our baby just goes to prove that.”
He looked away from her for a moment before she sighed.
“You’re having doubts again, aren’t you?”
“I wouldn’t call them doubts,” He began as he gently turned to look at
her, “It’s just…this was never how I imagined starting a family. I
always envisioned marriage, a house, a real family. This…it’s just not
what I had in mind.”
“It’s not what I had in mind either, but now that it’s happening, I
don’t think that it’s such a bad thing. I mean yeah things could be
better, and we could be more stable as parents, but I still think that
our baby is going to have the best of everything,” She met his eyes
closely, “Don’t you, Zack? I mean, isn’t that what you want for our
child?”
“Of course I want our baby to have the best of everything, Jo. That’s
why all of this is just so difficult.”
“Why is this so difficult?” She asked as she met his eyes, “Haven’t we
worked out the details of this little arrangement you wanted? You
wanted me to stay in Coral Valley, and I thought that would make you
happy. You want to help support me and the baby, and I thought that
would make you happy. So what’s wrong with this situation now?”
“The problem is that our baby deserves a real family.”
“I told you that in the beginning. That’s why I thought about an
abortion.”
“That wouldn’t be the right thing for us either,” He reasoned before he
turned to completely face her and take her hands in his, “We’ve got to
fix this.”
“And how do you propose we do that?” She asked bluntly, “You’re not in
love with me anymore, and I don’t even understand that. I know that
some part of you still loves me, but if you’re not in love with me…”
“We can work on that,” He suggested as he caressed her cheek gently,
“But we have to do something here.”
“Like what? Move in together? You could come out to the house and..”
“More than that,” He held her heads firmly in his as he brushed his
thumbs over her soft skin, “Let’s get married.”
“Married?” She searched his eyes, “Zack…that’s a huge step…”
“But it’s one we need to take for our baby. Besides, you and I can find
a way to work things out. I’ll do whatever it takes for our baby,” He
lifted her hands to his lips to place a gentle kiss upon her fingers,
“We’ll find a way to work this out, and we’ll work things out for the
baby. We can do this. If only you’ll give me the chance,” He met her
eyes as he spoke seriously, “I know that I’ve made a lot of mistakes,
but I want to make them right. You’re the mother of my child, and I
can’t begin to explain what that means to me,” Zack admitted softly as
he met her eyes, “Marry me, Jo.”
Johanna felt her heart swell in an overwhelming sense of love and
success. She was going to actually get her man, and there was no way
that Blake Ashford would be able to take him away from him once they
were husband and wife. She would be Mrs. Zack Vaughn, and she would
never let him go.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Thea whistled a tune feeling a certain spring in her step as she headed
into her office thinking of all the ways she was going to enjoy
crushing Cameron’s new bride as it seemed that the dimwit model
wouldn’t even see it coming when Thea destroyed her completely.
That was always the part that offered up the most thrill, Thea decided
feeling a smirk catching over the corners of her mouth as a tiny spring
in her step kept her moving forward, ready to sink her teeth into her
next mission when she couldn’t help but feel an urge to gloat overtake
her. Spinning on her heel, she turned in the direction of
Cameron’s office ready to share another victorious moment as it seemed
her day was getting better and better.
Tapping on the door gently, Thea didn’t bother to wait for a response
from Cameron as she pushed her way into his office donning the
satisfied smirk that had carried over her from the moment that she’d
set Seth up to go have his encounter with Heather. Now as she
noticed Cameron looking out the window of his office, seemingly lost in
a daze, she cascaded across the room, making her way towards him before
teasing her fingers in over his shoulder in a tentative fashion.
“I already told you that I’d be more than happy to accommodate your…”
Cameron began his eyes traveling upwards as a crooked smile filled his
features, but as he saw Thea’s face beside him, his smile faded, “Thea,
what are you doing here?”
“The question should be rather who did you think was in here beside you
Cam,” her smirk disappeared as well as she took a step back folding her
arms in front of her chest as her frown deepened.
“That’s irrelevant,” he waved his hand dismissively spinning his chair
around to face her with firm, stubborn eyes as her latest act of
indiscretion was still fresh on his mind.
“I don’t think it is,” Thea shot back at him with a dryness in her
tone, “as that expression you were wearing says more about what
thoughts you were delving into before I walked in here…”
“Right now the only thoughts I’d like to discuss with you are the ones
where you’re making a mockery of what I have before me by spending time
with that man,” Cameron’s voice rose with anger as he stood upright
wrenching Thea toward him with a violent pull. He clasped her
wrist tightly slamming her into the wall of his office as his fingers
threaded through her hair tightly pulling just enough to get his point
across, “You know how I feel about loyalty and trust Thea and the more
time you spend with Doug, the more I’m starting to think that I’ve
misplaced my trust in you and that leaves a very unsettling feeling
inside of me.”
“You deserve it,” she seethed with anger, feeling him shove her once
again as she let out a tiny whimper drinking up every second of the
madness she’d provoked in Cameron as his fiery gaze pressed upon her.
“Don’t push me Thea as you know how I detest someone trying to play
games with me,” he warned with menace dripping in his tone.
“I thought that was your favorite game,” she countered with a bit of
resistance in her stance as Cameron attempted to push her harder into
the wall.
“Thea, I’m warning you…” he growled back at her, his lips dangerously
close to hers as he seemed ready to tear her apart limb for limb.
“You should be thanking me Cam because if it wasn’t for me, then you’d
have failed miserably in your mission to destroy Doug as you’ve been
going about things entirely the wrong way, but that seems to be the
name of the game for you lately especially after you married Ms. Model
there.”
“Is that what this is all about? Your jealousy over my marrying
Heather?” Cameron spat back with a tiny chuckle.
“Hardly,” Thea rolled her eyes indignantly, “as that is nothing
compared to the big picture we have had going on when you’re not
walking around with your head up your ass, which by the way seems to be
a new trend with you.”
“You’re coming dangerously close to crossing the wrong line Thea,” he
hissed in response feeling her finger tips fall freely upon the lapels
of his jacket in a tentative movement.
“Oh I’m certainly close to something,” she agreed with a playful
expression sliding her hands down the center of his chest down to his
belt buckle, “but it isn’t dangerous for anyone except maybe Doug in
his vulnerable state after having lost his child…”
“Which is something I have been enjoying ever so greatly now that I’ve
made sure he’ll never see Kipp again,” Cameron boasted proudly feeling
her enticing touch.
“Oh I wasn’t speaking about Kipp,” she ceased any motion over him
sliding out from beneath him as she walked away, “as that toad isn’t
worth the air he breathes or any real relevance in Doug’s life now that
his daughter is no longer speaking with him.”
“Daughter,” Cameron replied taking in her words with disbelief as he
certainly would have known about a daughter in Doug’s life, “No you’re
wrong on that.”
“Am I?” she arched a perfectly sculpted brow.
“You’re bluffing,” he challenged stepping in towards her.
“I am, huh,” she shrugged her shoulders as she turned towards his door
to leave the office, “well if you see it that way, then there’s no
point in my sharing what I know…”
“Don’t you even think about walking out that door,” he warned bridging
the distance between them as he pressed into her back pinning her once
again.
“But I thought you were in a state of disbelief,” Thea purred savoring
the warmth of his body flush against hers as she realized she’s baited
him once again.
“Convince me,” he urged sliding his fingers into her hair and leaning
down to nip at the back of her neck before spinning her around once
again.
“He has a daughter,” Thea explained simply, her dark eyes penetrating
Cameron’s as he held her, “one that not only wants nothing to do with
him, but more so one who lives right here in Coral Valley.”
“Come again,” Cameron blinked back in surprise before his curiosity got
the best of him. Sliding his hands around Thea’s waist he drew
her in closer to him urgent to hear more of her delicious tale of
Doug’s torrid past, “Tell me more.”
“Well, it seems that she’s the illegitimate daughter of an aspiring
starlet gone down the path of the straight and narrow that Doug bedded
once upon a time,” she rolled her eyes at the thought, “It turns out
that not only has Doug recently discovered his daughter’s presence in
his life, but her mother, Doug’s one time romance also has very close
connections as she works for Grady Denton it seems.
“Really,” Cameron brewed with enthusiasm at the thought, “that close to
home, huh?”
“That’s right and his daughter, well she’s someone that we’ve had a few
run ins with in the past--at least on a professional level when we’ve
dealt some less than savory disruptions to things we had going on…” she
squealed feeling his hunger for knowledge overtaking him as he held
her, “as she happens to be Coral Valley’s medical examiner.”
“You don’t say,” his eyes grew wide with the information, “that Jenna
Carpenter is his daughter?”
“That’s right,” she nodded eagerly, “and I think that’s really the road
you want to take in getting to Doug as she’s an old wound that’s fresh
on the mind right now. His having been without her for most of
her life is something that is truly bothering him more than he cares to
admit.”
“Well, I suppose I can see why it would bother a father to be alienated
from his daughter…that is if Doug was a normal parent, but for Jenna,
well perhaps she’s been far too fortunate than any spawn of Doug’s
should’ve been…” he thought aloud feeling Thea’s palms slide in over
his chest underneath his jacket.
“Perhaps it’s time we work on changing that,” she suggested wickedly
tipping up to her toes before him as Cameron’s dark eyes reconnected
with hers once again.
“Perhaps you’re right,” he decided claiming her mouth in a kiss as it
seemed that suddenly his fury with Thea for spending time with Douglas
was transformed into a moment of approval as he thought up ways to
thank her for her revelation and more so he found himself pondering the
many such routes he could take in using this information to his
distinct advantage in the future.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“I just don’t know how much more of this we can take,” Russell sighed
after having to rehash the details of his latest encounter with
Dave. While some of the men at the station had been there to take
his and Avery’s formal statements the previous evening when their home
had been vandalized, it was only in this moment as Russ and Dave stood
with one another thinking about the women that they cared about being
in such grave danger that the intensity of the moment seemed to take
control. “I mean what is this guy Dave? Some kind of escape
artist?”
“I don’t know what he is other than a lunatic, but I must admit that
I’m not liking any of this,” Dave sighed heavily, “as this isn’t going
nearly as well as it should’ve. He should be behind bars by now.”
“My sentiments exactly,” Russell agreed with a nod, “which is why I
think I should probably mention that my father told the FBI to go to
hell this morning. He thinks that they’re only allowing Bruce the
freedom to cause more destruction and the truth to the matter is that
I’m starting to believe that’s really how it is.”
“I’ve had my doubts about that for a while,” Dave confessed openly,
“though I probably shouldn’t be saying that, but when Mathis goes after
someone like Deidra, well I have to start to wonder…”
“Speaking of Deidra, why is he doing things to her,” Russ pondered
watching Dave’s features darken as a silence fell upon the two men, “I
mean is it because of what’s going on with Avery in any way?”
“Actually in a round about way it may have stemmed from that, but I’d
rather not get into it,” Dave confessed thinking of the shame and guilt
that Deidra carried around with her.
“Dave if this somehow ties into my wife I think I have a right to
know…” Russ began again seeing a darkness overshadow Dave’s features.
“Trust me it doesn’t involve Avery in the way that you’re
thinking. Bruce encountered Deidra on the island you were on for
your honeymoon ad we’ll just leave it at that,” Dave stated plainly
throwing out a warning look as Russell began to draw his own
conclusions from the chief of police’s statement.
“Okay, but even so there’s something more about Bruce that bothers me,”
Russ began hesitantly unable to get the video tape that Bruce had left
for him and Avery out of his head, “there’s something to this story
that seems to be doing anything, but fitting right. Bruce made a
point to leave that tape at our home--to let Avery know that he had
nothing to do with what happened to Brooke. He took a huge risk
showing up in Coral Valley again--especially when our home was being
watched before just to tell Avery that he didn’t take her mother.”
“And you think that means something more than his being a complete
lunatic,” Dave questioned in response.
“Wouldn’t you if you were in my position,” Russell blurted out with a
heavy frown.
“I already do from mine,” Dave confessed after a moment of silence, “as
you’re right. That doesn’t really fit the profile we have of him
and his history… Granted, he’s very narcissistic about his
crimes, but in this particular instance it was as if he was trying to
clear the slate with Avery…”
“Exactly,” Russ nodded eagerly, “and that in itself has me wondering if
perhaps Bruce had nothing to do with Brooke’s kidnapping. It has
me thinking that maybe just maybe…”
“That what?” Dave questioned.
“Well, Brooke keeps stating that Bruce had her, but when I saw that
tape--hell, when you see that tape, it’s as if he’s trying to set the
record straight about where his madness leads him and it’s got me
wondering if perhaps he’s telling the truth,” Russell stated bluntly
thinking about the madman who’d fixated upon his wife. “I mean he
was so determined to deliver that message to Avery that he wouldn’t
waste his time taking Brooke or even bringing her back home alive when
he’d had much more pressing engagements to attend to in killing that
poor woman…”
“You’re right about the kidnapping not fitting into what we know about
him,” Dave admitted pondering what Russ was saying, “Granted I haven’t
seen the tape yet, but…”
“But I’m thinking that when you do, you’re going to be thinking along
the same lines as me especially now that Bruce is somewhere close to
Coral Valley waiting to strike again,” Russ tapered off unable to shake
the thought of the man who’d been determined to steal his happiness
from his life, “and with my wife being a target, well I just don’t
think that this is the time to let a stranger take charge of the
situation…”
“Neither do I especially not now that Mathis has made two very bold
moves in both Avery and Deidra’s directions. Clearly he’s a time
bomb waiting to explode and this is a matter that isn’t best left in
the hands of the people who allowed him to just up and walk out of the
morgue,” Dave agreed wholeheartedly.
“Then you’ll see to it that the FBI doesn’t find a way to make things
worse now that we have three lives hanging in a balance,” Russ pleaded
with him, “as while I’m sure Mathis is out to get me out of Avery’s
life, I can’t risk him going after her or our child as he’s made it
clear he’s doing whatever it takes to get Avery back again.”
“It’s not going to happen Russ. You have my word on that,” Dave
promised him, “as I’ll do anything that I can to bring this monster to
justice. I’ll put my best men on this investigation and I’ll even
head it up myself as there’s far too much at stake to let someone like
Bruce take it away from us all. He’s not going to destroy another
woman again--especially now that I’m on to him after he’s made a point
of making this one personal. Sooner or later he’s going down and
when he does, I swear to you that I’m going to be the man to do it,”
Dave vowed thinking of his pledge to protect Deidra.
“I just hope it’s sooner rather than later,” Russell blurted out freely
thinking of all he and Avery stood to lose if Bruce had yet another
chance to throw himself into their lives and cause another uproar.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“So how about we get started on that exam,” Deidra suggested after
having stepped into the exam room once again upon having taken a moment
to collect herself after Russ and Avery’s arrival at the hospital,
“Perhaps we can see what’s going on and alleviate some of those
concerns you’re having.”
“Actually, before we do that,” Avery began clearing her throat uneasily
as she shifted a bit before Deidra sitting on the edge of the exam
table not having settled into the role of the patient just yet as she
had a few questions of her own, “I was hoping that maybe we could talk
for a few minutes…”
“Avery, I really think that we should take a look at the baby and if
you need a few minutes to prepare for this then…” Deidra answered
behind a shaky voice seeing that Avery hadn’t made any moves towards
her exam since Deidra had left her alone a few minutes earlier.
“Deidra, please, let’s not skirt around the issue,” Avery paused
attempting not to sound rude about the subject at hand that they were
avoiding with one another, “What’s going on with Bruce?”
“Avery, I’d really rather not…” Deidra started uneasily as Avery
cleared her throat once again a moment of epiphany overtaking her as
she looked to the frazzled woman before her.
“Let me take a guess here Deidra,” Avery suggested knowing that she was
clearly overstepping her boundaries as she and Deidra weren’t as close
as she thought they should be to share such a conversation with one
another, but in the same respect she was starting to believe that
perhaps they had more in common than Avery had ever imagined.
Watching as Deidra remained silent for a long moment, Avery took the
opportunity to test her unsettling theory, “When you were on the island
with Russ and I for our honeymoon, you said that you’d met
someone--someone who’d been hurting like you were--someone who said all
the right things and made you feel desired once again--someone that you
immediately regretted allowing into your life--someone that manipulated
you into doing something that wasn’t you. He said all the right
things, used your emotions against you and found a way to get to you in
the worst horrible way. He lied to you and hurt you deeper than
you’d ever imagined and now, well now you’re wondering how in the hell
you didn’t see it coming. You’re terrified for what that simple
mistake is going to cost you and you’re afraid that he’s going to come
back to finish what he started the moment that he weaseled his way into
your life. Am I right?”
“Avery, I…” Deidra found herself at a loss as she couldn’t help but
reveal the tears that burned behind her eyes at the horror of what
she’d done with Bruce. “I didn’t…I didn’t know at the time that
he was…I mean I wasn’t thinking and I was so hurt about Andy that…”
“That he sensed it and he took advantage of you in the worst possible
way,” Avery nodded in complete understanding unable to contain the
tears that overtook her as she stood up reaching out to Deidra in an
unspoken understanding before she continued, “Deidra, I know how he can
be. I know how he sucks someone in when he sees that they’re
hurting and how he uses their heart and emotions against him to get
what he’s seeking out. When he found me, well I’d just lost my
baby…he saw how upset the balance was in my life and he used that
against me. He took something so beautiful between Russ and I and
he put a wedge between us with his world of deceit.”
“I just…I should’ve been smarter than that. I should’ve seen it
because in reflection the warning signs were there all along,” Deidra
couldn’t help but break down as Avery reached for her hand squeezing it
supportively, “I just thought that maybe someone out there was feeling
as low as I felt in that moment and then after, well you saw what
happened…”
“You found a way to break free of him Deidra. You didn’t let him
destroy you or your life,” Avery spoke encouragingly, “You escaped
before he could hurt you any worse than he has the others.
Deidra, last night I saw what he did to a woman who crossed paths with
him. He brought her to my home and…” Avery choked up at the
memory, unable to contain the sickening feeling that pooled in her
center, “Deidra, as horrible as this feels, you and I are the lucky
ones. We escaped and we’re still here surviving all of this…”
“I know that and I should just get over this self pity because I know
that I haven’t endured nearly half of what you have…” Deidra began to
apologize for her tears.
“Thank heavens you haven’t because I wouldn’t wish that upon any other
woman, but in the same respect I wouldn’t wish what you’re going
through right now upon you. I can’t help but feel responsible for
the damage that Bruce has done because I’m the reason he stepped into
your life. He was stalking me and if you weren’t on that island
to see me, then you never would’ve been touched by this--you never
would’ve been subjected to him and his…”
“Avery, please don’t,” Deidra cut her off abruptly refusing to accept
the words that fell from Avery’s life, “You can’t think like that
especially now…”
“I know he’s hurting you still. I know that he had to do
something horrible to have this place looking like it did when Russ and
I arrived,” Avery started once again.
“It’s nothing in comparison to what you’ve been through,” Deidra
insisted firmly, “as you’re the one he’s targeted--the one he spent
years tormenting and…”
“Deidra, regardless of the time involved he played upon both of our
emotions and he’s clearly got a desire to settle the score with the
both of us as he’s obviously made an attempt to reach you again,” Avery
continued desperately, “that in itself is reason enough for you to be
just as terrified as I am right now. Truth be told I can’t even
go to sleep at night without fearing that he’s going to come in and
take my life away from me--that somehow he’s going to find a way to
break into my home and take what means the most from me…” she trailed
off overcome with emotion as she couldn’t fight the feelings that had
been troubling her for so very long.
“Oh Avery,” Deidra reached out to embrace her, the both of them in full
blown tears as they bonded over the horrors they’d been through at
Bruce’s hand. Suddenly the issue of guilt and the weight of the
burden they’d carried became secondary to the need to relate to one
another and find a way to pull through the situations that had plagued
them, “I’m so sorry…”
“So am I as I so wish you hadn’t been violated by him,” Avery sobbed
squeezing her arms around Deidra as she realized that they’d both
endured a great deal of misery at Bruce’s twisted nature.
“The worst is over--at least that’s what they keep trying to tell me,”
Deidra offered up encouragingly as she doubted the words upon speaking
them.
“I don’t buy that for a second and neither do you,” Avery called her
upon the sound in her voice, “Even now you’re terrified that he’s going
to find a way to strike…find a way to shake your life up even more than
he already has.”
“I’ll be okay,” Deidra confessed openly, “as Dave’s going to do
everything he can to keep me safe…”
“I hope that he does because I wouldn’t want anything to happen to
you,” Avery insisted wiping at her own tears, “You’re far too good of a
person to let Bruce take your life away from you. He’s irrelevant
Deidra and just like I said on the island, he’s not worth destroying
yourself over. He took a situation and used it against you, but
you can’t let him win--just like I won’t allow him to take my life away
from me.”
“I wish I had your confidence about this one,” Deidra offered up with a
weak smile.
“Believe me I wish I had it as well, but it’s not as easy as it
sounds,” Avery sighed heavily bringing her finger through her dark
hair, “I mean when I think of how much of a fool I’ve been…”
“No more than I have I’m sure,” Deidra confessed thinking about her
moment of weakness with Bruce.
“Oh believe me I’m worse,” Avery insisted firmly, “I mean you at least
knew to get the hell away from him after he’d manipulated you. I
let him talk me out of marrying the man of my dreams, out of believing
that I had a future of happiness with a family and everything that Russ
and I dreamt about with one another. Bruce told me the night I
lost my baby that I’d never be able to have a child again and I took
him at his word--even went so far to try out some ridiculous drug he’d
had me on because of my infertility which sounds like it might’ve
something that he used to keep me believing that I’d never be able to
have a child until he was ready to make me believe he’d brought about
my miracle in my life,” she paused placing her hand over her abdomen
protectively, “I should’ve seen it coming, but now, well now that it’s
after the fact I feel like a complete idiot.”
“Avery, what was he giving you,” Deidra questioned going into complete
doctor mode as she thought about what Avery was saying.
“I don’t know…I mean I have an empty bottle at my old apartment
somewhere, but he had a friend--a doctor friend who’d taken the time to
see me and get me running with the prescription,” Avery paused another
thought causing her to shudder, “Oh God, Bruce wasn’t really a doctor
which means that his friend might not have been…”
“Avery, I need to know something else. How long were you taking
those pills? When did you stop and how often were you taking
them?” Deidra inquired feeling a chill rush over her.
“A couple of years,” Avery shrugged as a panic collected in the pit of
her stomach, “Deidra, you don’t think that he’s done something to me
that could hurt my baby, do you?”
“I’d really hope not, but until I see what he was giving you, perhaps
it would be best if we run a few test there just to be sure. In
our last checkup everything seemed to be progressing well, but I‘d
really like to take a look at what you were taking and see if I can dig
up some information on what it was he was giving you and what he wanted
it to do other than keep you believing that you couldn‘t have a baby,”
Deidra decided honestly hating to bring about any sense of concern in
Avery, but as she thought of the evil Bruce was capable of a new fear
overtook her.
“He ordered me to stop taking it about four months before we broke up,”
Avery blurted out thinking back to her time with Bruce, “One weekend we
were away and he got all nasty and enraged at me for still having
them. He’d dumped the remaining pills I’d had on me down the
toilet at the hotel we were staying at and he urged me to never take
them again. I didn’t quite understand what he was getting all
worked up about, but then Russ and I were talking and Russ thinks that
Bruce had decided it was time for him to get me pregnant then only we
stopped having sex with one another…” Avery trailed off shuddering at
the thought of touching Bruce. “God what was I thinking?”
“You were just trying to find someone to hold onto when your heart was
breaking,” Deidra stated plainly seeing so much of her own emotions
reflected before her as Avery spoke of her relationship with Bruce and
in that moment another concern weighed upon her in regard to Avery’s
unborn child, “Avery, there’s something else I was going to speak with
you about before all this came upon us.”
“What’s that,” Avery’s dark eyes turned up towards Deidra, obvious fear
and concern weighing upon her.
“About your prior medical records. I tried to get my hands on
them, but they don’t seem to exist,” Deidra blurted out realizing that
her revelation now made sense after Bruce had been involved in Avery’s
life so intimately, “I tried to locate them, but everything after your
initial pregnancy test from the time you were pregnant before has been
erased--as if it didn’t exist and now I think I know why. It had
to be because Bruce knew that he wouldn’t be able to hide the truth
about your ability to conceive. He had to have been planting
false records in your file for the time being just long enough to use
it to his advantage…”
“You mean to keep me away from Russ,” Avery nodded as another shudder
passed over her, “I don’t doubt that at all as now I see that’s what he
was doing all along. Here I thought I’d found someone who was
able to help me--to be there for me when I needed someone to lean on,
but all he was turned out to be a monster who wants nothing more than
to take my life and happiness away from me.”
“We’re not about to let it happen,” Deidra promised her firmly,
“Regardless of what it takes, we’re going to make sure that he doesn’t
take your family away from you. Now I’d like to run a few tests
just to be sure and then maybe we can get to that exam we’d talked
about as I know you’ve been under a lot of stress here.”
“Like you haven’t,” Avery threw back at her pointedly.
“Okay so we’re both long overdue for a vacation away from the horrors
of the world, but still…how about I take a few minutes to collect
myself, maybe go find Russell for you and have him come in here while
we take another look at the baby?” Deidra suggested hoping to help
alleviate some of Avery’s worries by having her husband present during
the examination.
“I think that would be a really good idea right about now,” Avery
nodded in agreement realizing that right now more than anything she
wanted to have her husband beside her, reminding her of all that she
had ahead of her with her family as she vowed not to allow Bruce the
chance to rip it all away from her again.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Cameron sat in his chair with his back turned towards his desk. He
stared out the windows of his office and considered the news Thea had
delivered. It wasn’t everyday he got the chance to upset Douglas even
further than he already had, but Coral Valley was really proving to be
a dream come true for his revenge against his step-father.
“Sir…sir, you can’t go in there. Sir!”
Cameron turned as he heard his secretary calling out from the hallway.
He watched as Grady Denton burst through the double doors to his office
with anger blazing in his eyes.
“No, that’s all right,” Cameron spoke as he stood up, “Leave us.”
The secretary eyed Grady wearily before she closed the doors to
Cameron’s office in her exit.
“Why are you here, Denton?” Cameron asked as he stood firm.
“To tell you that I quit. I won’t do your dirty work for you any more.
The chance to get at the Ashfords was appealing, and the money was very
tempting. But none of that matters as long as you keep harassing Jade.
I won’t have it, and I won’t let you use the lawsuit as an excuse to
drop by to upset her.”
“You can’t quit,” Cameron snorted as he moved around his desk, “I’m not
going to let you quit.”
“You don’t have a choice,” Grady declared adamantly, “I’m not about to
go to court in your name while you’re dead set on torturing Jade.”
“Torturing Jade? That’s the furthest thing from my mind,” Cameron spoke
as he stood before Grady, “I’m trying to be her friend, not her enemy.”
“When she asked you to back off, she meant it. If you’re not honoring
her wishes, then you’re being her enemy,” Grady eyed the man closely,
“And I won’t have you using me to get to her.”
“You can’t quit,” Cameron repeated.
“Watch me,” Grady declared as his anger seethed.
“If you quit, I’ll make Jade more miserable than you can possibly
imagine,” Cameron spoke as he met Grady’s eyes, “I know everything
about her…everything, but more than that…I have pictures,” He began as
he watched Grady’s stance change slightly, “I have photographs of the
night she shared with Nicholas Ashford.”
“You son of a bitch!” Grady’s rage got the better of him as he released
his fury by throwing punches at Cameron.
Cameron fell back upon against his desk before rolling to the floor.
His secretary heard the commotion and opened the door quickly.
“Oh…security! Security!” The secretary ran down the hallway.
“I’ll kill you!” Grady raged at Cameron as he launched his assault upon
him.
Cameron held up his arms, trying to defend himself from the blows of
Grady’s assault. Grady threw punch after punch, pummeling Cameron with
the range of his anger.
Two security officers ran into the room and hauled Grady away from his
prey. Grady struggled against them as they pulled him out of the
office, “I’ll kill you, you son of a bitch. I’ll kill you!”
Another of the officers ran to Cameron’s side while Cameron reached for
his bloody lip, “Sir…do you want to press charges?”
“Yes…you’re damned right I want to press charges,” Cameron growled in
anger as he sat up against his desk and took a hanker chief from his
pocket to dab at his bloody lip. This would get Grady out of the way
for a while and also give Cameron time to get closer to Jade.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Ken stood at the door to Caitlin’s room and thought about how he could
possibly talk to her after running into Blake. Seeing the pain in his
sister’s every little feature had torn his heart out, and now all he
could think about was wanting to rip Zack’s heart from his chest and
feed it to him. He knew that being this enraged at Caitlin’s brother
wouldn’t be good for his own relationship with her. He just didn’t know
how he was going to talk to her without his rage slipping through. And
then again, maybe it wasn’t the worst thing that could happen if she
did know that he was pissed.
He took a deep breath and opened the door. As he stepped inside, he
smiled at her as Caitlin’s face lit up at the sight of him. The
bandages on her head wounds had been removed, and she was brushing out
her beautiful blond hair.
“My god, you’re beautiful,” Ken spoke from the doorway.
“Oh please. I look horrible, but thank you for saying so anyway,” She
waved at him, “Get in here.”
He stepped inside and closed the door behind him, “You just look so
amazing. When did they take off the bandages?”
“Just a little while ago. The doctors say I’m healing pretty good
here,” She placed her brush upon the bedside table and held out her
hand to him, “Come sit down.”
He sat down on the bed beside her and placed his hand upon the mattress
on the opposite side of her, “You really are beautiful.”
“Would you please stop that?” She asked with a grin, “So how have you
been today?”
“My day started out okay, but things have gone down hill.”
“What happened?” She asked quickly.
“I ran into Blake,” Ken began with a sigh, “She’s pretty upset.”
“What?” She asked as she searched his eyes, “What happened?”
“She’s upset with Zack about the pregnancy.”
“Oh…” Caitlin frowned, “I knew she would be. I just…I wish they had
never found their way back to each other.”
“What do you mean back to each other?” Ken questioned.
“Well,” She began, “Back in college, Zack always took up with Blake and
took her out and about. When everyone else would hound her about being
an Ashford, Zack just blew that off and accepted her for who she was.
Blake developed a crush on him, and to an extent, I think he did the
same with her. Zack, however, did everything he could to distance
himself from her. He was always afraid he would hurt her, and so he
left for Seattle. Since he came to Coral Valley though, they just
gravitated towards one another. I warned them both that I didn’t think
it was a good idea.”
“Why?” He asked, wanting to know more about Caitlin’s misgivings.
“They both have issues that they’ll never be able to work out together.
Zack can’t get himself to pull it together with all his
responsibilities, and then, Blake can’t focus. I just hoped they
wouldn’t become attached to one another again, but it happened. Now,
there’s just disaster all around,” Caitlin sighed.
“So you know about the baby?” Ken questioned.
She nodded, “Yeah, I do, but I’d hoped that perhaps since Blake was
involved with Seth again that she’d moved on. Deep down though, I was
afraid that in the end she’d be devastated by this.”
“When did you find out?”
“Jo came by to see me a few days ago. She told me then, and that’s also
when Zack found out.”
“Wait, so Zack didn’t know about this?”
“No, he and Jo had broken up back in Seattle before Zack came to Coral
Valley. When she came down here, she surprised him with the news.”
“So this all happened back in Seattle?”
Caitlin nodded, “Yeah, and I don’t know what Zack’s going to do now.
He’s not in love with Jo, but I know that he cares about her. That
being said, my brother has never been big on following through on his
responsibilities.”
“Caitlin,” Johanna burst into the room as she pulled Zack into the room
behind her, “Your brother just asked me to marry him,” She turned back
to him and threw her arms around him, “And I accepted.”
Caitlin glanced to Ken and paused as she saw the anger raging over
Ken’s features. While it probably could have been a happy moment for
the couple, Caitlin had the distinct feeling that it was about to
become very ugly for everyone involved.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Dave stood in the waiting room, pacing back and forth as he listened to
an update about evidence found in the Mathis case. Nothing new had been
discovered, and he was beginning to feel an entirely new level of
frustration. Of all the humps he’d busted over the years, the one
person he couldn’t catch was the man who could potentially cause him
the most pain by hurting the one woman he’d found it in his heart to
love.
“Hey,” Shannon spoke as Dave leapt slightly at the shock, “Sorry…I
didn’t mean to surprise you.”
“It’s okay,” He sighed as he hung up his cell phone and tucked it into
his pocket, “It’s been one of those days.”
“What’s going on?” She asked as she watched his shoulders slump.
“Mathis contacted Deidra. He sent her flowers with a message along the
lines of until we meet again,” He frowned, “Obviously, I’m not going to
let that meeting happen.”
“Of course not,” She nodded, “Can we backtrack Mathis from the flower
delivery?”
He shook his head in the negative, “I already tried. He paid cash.”
“So where do you want to go from here?”
“Apparently Deidra wasn’t Mathis’ only target in the last twenty four
hours. Russell Denton told me that he paid them a visit as well.
There’s a video tape that I’m going to get a hold of, and when I do,
you’ll get to see it as well,” He paused, “In the meantime, I think we
need to change our surveillance on Deidra. It needs to be full time.”
“What do you suggest? That I just start stalking her?” Shannon frowned.
“No, actually I was thinking that you could watch her during the
day…here at the hospital. You could fit in as a nurse or an orderly or
a patient. The point is that you could blend in here, and keep an eye
out for her. You’ve seen enough of Mathis to be able to spot him. Just
look out for Deidra.”
“And at night?”
“I’ll be with her,” Dave assured her, “I know that this is asking a lot
of you, but I’ll find a way to make it up to you.”
“This really means a lot to you, doesn’t it?” She studied him for a
moment before she nodded, “I’ll do it, and Dave,” She paused as he
focused on her, “I won’t let anything happen to her.”
“Thank you, Shannon. I’ll owe you huge for this,” He smiled half
heartedly.
“You bet your ass you will,” Shannon teased in return, knowing that the
situation was far more serious than she could even begin to state. She
would do her best to protect Dave’s friend, and perhaps she’d be lucky
enough to bust Bruce Mathis in the process.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“I’ll have the lab put a rush on the blood work, but from what I’ve
seen everything looks great with the little one,” Deidra offered up
paying a quick last minute visit over to Russ and Avery after they’d
wrapped up Avery’s exam moments earlier, “though I really want you to
try to work on lowering the stress a bit as that’s something of a
concern for me. You really need to try taking it easy even with
everything that‘s going on. I know that‘ll seem like an
impossible task, but with your blood pressure being just a tad bit
elevated today, I think that maybe you should focus on taking some time
away for the sole purpose of relaxation and some rest.”
“I keep telling her that and hearing it from you, I promise she’s going
to get that Deidra,” Russ curled his arm around Avery squeezing her in
closer to him as he could still feel the tension that had carried over
her ever since Bruce had found a way to step back into their lives
again.
“But our baby’s going to be okay, right?” Avery questioned her concerns
surfacing once again as she needed just one more affirmation of the way
that things were for her and Russ where their family was concerned.
“Things are looking good,” Deidra smiled back at her hoping to
alleviate some of worries that had plagued Avery, “Now listen to me and
take some time to be alone with this handsome husband of yours for a
while since he’s willing to pamper you from the looks of things.
I’ll get a look at those other things that we discussed earlier and
we’ll get in touch with one another, okay?”
“Okay,” Avery nodded in response watching as Deidra began to step away
from them, “and Deidra?”
“Yes?” Deidra spun around to face her once again.
“Please don’t be a stranger as I’d really hate to see that happen as I
hope you know that you’re more than just my doctor. We both have
a lot in common and maybe it’s not something that we were hoping for
exactly, but between what’s going on with our parents and everything
else, well I just think that maybe we should talk again sometime.
I mean maybe we can schedule in a girl‘s night or something,” Avery
suggested straining to find the right words for the message she was
trying to convey where Deidra was concerned.
“I’ll like that Avery,” Deidra replied offering up a light smile before
leaving to meet up with her next appointment for the day.
“What was that all about,” Russell questioned curling his arms around
his wife as she sank back into his chest just savoring the moment
between them as the strength of him filled her with a strong sense of
security, “Bruce?”
“Yes and no,” Avery answered turning in his arms as she gazed up at
him, seeing a reflection of her own mixed emotions behind his
beautifully, vibrant green eyes, “I just think that right about now,
Deidra and I could both use some time to forget about everything else
that’s been troubling us. I mean hey she’s making sure that our
little one is safe and sound, so you know I can’t help it if I feel
like we have this connection between us.”
“I can’t say I blame you,” Russell decided leaning down to kiss the top
of her head gingerly, “as I happen to think she’s pretty wonderful as
well…though I was kind of hoping that maybe just maybe we’d be able to
see whether or not we’d be having to add a few more touches of pink or
blue to the nursery today.”
“Yeah well as much as we’d like to do just that and plan ahead, you
heard what Deidra said. We have to hold out a little bit longer
before our baby lets us know more about what’s going on inside here,”
Avery dropped her hand over her slightly swelled abdomen as Russell
mimicked the motion easing his fingers in over hers protectively.
“I already know that I love everything that’s happening with this
little piece of heaving growing inside of you,” he whispered lovingly
easing his fingers into her dark hair as he found himself unable to
contain the urge to drop a feathery light kiss upon her cherry colored
lips.
“Oh Russ,” Avery felt herself melting at the gesture before a deep
shuddering thought swept over her causing her to pull out of his
embrace.
“Avery, what is it,” he asked sensing something had robbed her of the
simple joy of the moment in knowing that their child was healthy and
growing according to schedule.
“I was thinking about the nursery,” she whispered, her voice tight with
an apprehensive tone as her dark eyes flickered with unease before him,
“Russ, after what Bruce did before, I don’t know if our going back home
is going to be a smart thing to do. I mean just thinking about
what he did to that woman in our bedroom…”
“Avery, she was dead before he brought her there,” Russ started
realizing that those words weren’t exactly the right ones as Avery’s
face drained of all color.
“Like that makes it any better,” Avery gasped feeling her insides twist
and turn with the very thought that her husband laid out on the table
for her.
“That wasn’t what I meant. What I’m saying is that he didn’t
murder someone in our home and while what he did was horrifying, it
isn’t what you…” he paused trying to take a different approach, “Avery,
if you’re not comfortable in being there, then we don’t have to go
back. We can pack up what we need to take with us right now--I’ll
do it and then we can get out of there. We’ll find somewhere else
that suits us and…”
“And we’ll leave our memories behind?” Avery questioned in horror
hating the thought of Bruce driving them from the life they’d settled
into with one another.
“We can make new memories somewhere else,” he suggested cupping her
face in his large, patient hands, “as all that matters to me is you and
our baby. I’d go anywhere that we needed to go in order to see to
it that you two were safe and protected. If that means our
finding somewhere else to live out the dreams that we have for the
future, then so be it…”
“Russ, when you found that house, you had so many plans for us--so many
thoughts about raising our children there and…” she started again.
“Avery, as much as I thought that was where we were meant to be, there
are other places that can offer so much more. I mean hey, back
when I first found it, the neighborhood was a bit different and we
weren’t where we are now in our careers. I have done really well
with the paper and with your career, well I think that we can afford to
find something that suits our needs even better than what we have now…”
“But had this situation not arisen with Bruce, then we wouldn’t even be
contemplating leaving our home behind,” she sighed heavily feeling her
heart sink as Bruce had already found yet another way to violate sense
of stability.
“Even so, maybe this was fate trying to tell us we needed to find a new
place for our new family and our new dreams we keep making with one
another,” he continued urging her to focus upon him once again as he
felt her thoughts dwindling in the moment, “Avery, I know that we can
find something that’s right for us…”
“And if I don’t want to just up and leave our home? I mean sure I
know that things are kind of uncomfortable, but maybe once this
situation cools down a bit…” she shifted on her feet restlessly unable
to keep the conflict from controlling what was happening inside of her
head.
“I’ll do whatever you want me to do baby as the only parts of this
equation between us that matters to me is you and our baby,” he
insisted curling his arm around her as he tentatively massaged the pads
of his fingers against her spine. “Though I do have a confession
to make…”
“What’s that?” she questioned, a sigh upon her lips as it seemed that
with each passing moment her worries compounded.
“I want to get you out of town starting tonight,” he suggested seeing
her eyes widen in surprise as he held her close to him.
“Russ, we can’t just leave town at a time like this,” she started to
argue with him thinking of all her obligations she’d had going on
around them.
“Avery, you heard what Deidra said. You need to relax and get
away from this chaos for a little while. Your mother is home and
she’s safe now,” he began trying to convince her to hear what he was
saying, “We can just leave for a little while and let things blow over
a bit…”
“Russ, are they ever going to do that for us,” she frowned reaching for
his hand as they made their way over to the elevators at the hospital
stepping inside to go out to the parking lot as her thoughts ran wild
yet again.
“I’d like to think that we could work on making them easier for us
sweetheart,” he turned to face her noticing all the shadows and
contours that the fluorescent lighting overhead added to her tired
features, “Wouldn’t you like to just get away again and spent this time
really enjoying it instead of being rushed home like we were before?”
“Russ, we both know we have commitments at home and…” she started to
reason with him as a pout curled upon her lips, “My mom just came home
and she’s been through hell. She needs me to be here for her and
if I walk away from my family at a time like this when…”
“Avery, your mother will understand,” he blurted out not really caring
one way or the other how Brooke felt about the time Avery spent out of
town for safety‘s sake, “as this is for our baby--her grandchild and
I’m sure that she’d want us to put the little one first.”
“You really think going back to the cabin will make this easier on us?”
she questioned still very doubtful of anything lightening the mood and
lifting her spirits.
“You tell me,” he urged nuzzling her neck as he stepped in behind her
curling his arms around her encouragingly, “because I can’t think of a
time we spent there that hasn’t been filled with good memories…well
except for when Brant called up back into town, but still…”
“He wasn’t aware of what he was interrupting,” Avery sighed in
reflection leaning back into his touch as his lips teased over her
shoulder in a seductive fashion, “but then again I don’t think that our
cabin to do that again is going to be considered rest and relaxation…”
“I’m sure that we can find a way to work this,” he squeezed her
tighter, “into the schedule as long as we have you well rested before
hand…”
“And you think you can keep your hands off of me long enough to make it
happen,” Avery tilted her head up to tease him with a pointed
expression.
“Baby, I didn’t say anything about my keeping my hands off of you, but
I’ll try to behave,” he winked at her eliciting a tiny chuckle from her
now blossoming grin as they exited the elevators making their way out
into the hospital parking lot.
“Russ, you’re absolutely incorrigible,” she shook her head at him
unable to keep from feeling that familiar feeling of butterflies in her
stomach at the nearness of him. While she’d tried to pretend that
she could be completely immersed in the disaster that had presented
itself before her where Bruce was concerned, there was no denying just
how wonderful Russ could make her feel with a sensual expression or a
few daring words. He was by far the only man who could send her
skyrocketing into the realm of deliciously wonderful possibilities at
the nearness of him which once again reminded her of just how right
they were together and just how important what they had together was.
“Oh admit it, you’re head over heels in love with me babe,” he urged on
again as he disarmed his car alarm opening the door for her.
“You’re right I am,” Avery replied brightly reaching out to ball up the
center of his shirt in her hand before tipping up on her toes to kiss
him quickly, “and maybe you’re right. Maybe our going away is
exactly what we both need right now.”
“I was hoping you’d see it my way,” he smiled feeling as if he and
Avery had made some progress with one another as he helped her into the
car. Now as he started mentally plotting out their time away from
Coral Valley again, he felt a newfound sense of optimism fill him up
inside as he circled his car only to hear the sounds of his phone
ringing in his front pocket. Reaching for it, he quickly pulled
it out immediately recognizing the number as his pal George Anderson
and he tensed up as he stood near the trunk of the car wondering what
George was calling for, “hello…”
“Russ, it’s George--George Anderson,” the man stated simple reaffirming
what Russ just realized as Russell nodded in response realizing that
his actions couldn’t be seen.
“Yeah, I noticed on the caller id,” Russ replied quickly, “what’s going
on?”
“That’s what I’d like to know,” George remarked with obvious confusion,
“What’s this I hear about your refusing help from the agents they have
working in Coral Valley especially after Mathis has made such a bold
move on his end in your home?”
“Let’s just say I’m working on a hunch here,” Russell replied watching
as Avery shifted inside the car, taking a moment to pull down the visor
to check out what was happening behind her as Russell spun around to
shield her from his conversation, “So tell me, what’s up?”
“Well other than I’m highly disappointed at your lack of faith in my
co-workers, the truth to the matter is that I had some information for
you on Mathis,” George continued with obvious dismay, “though you do
realize that I could get in big trouble for this one in sharing this
information with you considering that you refuse to cooperate with the
ongoing investigation.”
“Yeah well I could recall a few times in the past when you were less
than cooperative during the college years, so how about we skip over
that and you get to the point before my wife starts to wonder where
I’ve run off to,” Russ urged him on hating to bring Avery any further
into what was going on behind the scenes where Bruce was concerned
after the madman had taken the liberty to drop a corpse off in their
home.
“Speaking of Avery,” George ignored his request, “How is she holding
up?”
“Like any other pregnant woman who has more than she can handle going
on in her life,” Russ grumbled in response, “which is why I want to
take her away and not bother her with all the details of just how bad
this could be. She doesn’t need that right now with everything
else that‘s happened, so if we could just cut to the chase…”
“Right, well there isn’t much to tell except that Mathis is far too
well financed to be running out on his own like he’s been doing.
Granted he’d been working at the hospital and he’d taken on the Mathis
name there a while back, but when we checked into things the real Bruce
Mathis had stepped outside the realm of his family fortune and kind of
set out on his own almost penniless.”
“So what are you saying? That it’s entirely possible that Bruce
has had someone working with him all this time? That someone is
backing him up financially so that he can go off and slaughter innocent
women here and there?” Russ continued sharply.
“What I’m saying is that the man just kind of leapt into a fortune and
there’s no telling where it came from, but it has to be from a
continuous source as someone started feeding him cash a while ago for
him to have taken on the role of Bruce Mathis for this long…” George
continued to explain, “and we’re certain that the Mathis family wasn’t
behind that.”
“Well if they weren’t, then who was?” Russell demanded again.
“That’s the problem I’m having here. We’ve located a few accounts
that could be ones that he’s used, but given the situation that’s going
on with the Mathis family, well…it seems that there’s a lot of red tape
to cut through and there are some financial records that we can’t get
into because we don’t have enough probable cause…”
“The man is a serial murderer…how can there not be enough probable
cause?” Russell’s voice raised with anger at the audacity of a few
technicalities keeping the FBI from seeking out the truth about a man
driven by madness.
“Look Russ, I don’t make the rules and I really can’t get around
breaking them as what I’m doing right now could get me in over my
head. I’m doing you a favor because we have a history, but you do
realize that I’m going out on a limb here in keeping you in the loop,”
George shot back with heavy agitation.
“I know that,” Russ began apologetically, “I really do and I appreciate
that, but I hate to think that we’ve hit some kind of brick wall
especially if the answers we’re seeking out lie in the fact that
there’s someone supplying him with the funds he’s needed to make my
wife miserable…”
“As I said before there’s nothing more that I can do without getting in
some major trouble, but maybe you can have better luck,” George
suggested with obvious hesitation, “as while I wouldn’t ever suggest
you go out on your own and use your contacts to pick up the slack for
those of us who have to stay within the lines of the law, well, it
wouldn’t be hard for a man of your position to say make a few calls and
persuade a few people to open up those doors to you that they would
normally slam in the faces of law enforcement. I mean if someone
just happened to say something to you in a casual conversation or if
you happened to get a glimpse of something in an innocent exchange,
well there’s really nothing that could be done with that…”
“So you’re saying that while it wouldn’t be advisable for me to use my
journalistic connections to get an inside look at who has been
providing Bruce with his means of destruction, it wouldn’t be something
that the FBI would want to hunt me down for should I come up with
something that they’ve been missing for a while now…” Russell arched a
speculative brow as he held the phone tighter to his ear.
“Something along those lines as I’m sure while I’d highly disapprove of
your even thinking about doing something on the down low there, that it
wouldn’t be something that anyone would really be able to talk someone
like yourself out of if your family was on the line…” George hinted in
suggestion once again.
“In that case, I guess I’ll just have to take it where it can go from
here,” Russell began decidedly.
“Russ, I’m not hearing this,” George interrupted, “as I’m not taking
part in anything that isn’t on the up and up.”
“Fair enough,” Russell nodded in response, “and for what it’s worth
George, thank you for the head’s up.”
“Just don’t get yourself killed in the process of taking on a sociopath
Russ as Avery and the baby are both counting on your staying alive for
them,” George warned him once again.
“I’m not about to risk losing that which is why I can’t let this one
slide, but I’ll be safe about it,” Russell promised saying his quick
good-byes to his pal before turning to take another long look at Avery
as she sat inside the car. Suddenly the thought of what George
had confided in him had him on a new path of determination as Russell
vowed to find out who was the one keeping Bruce on the streets and
avoiding justice as it seemed that someone was working hard to sabotage
Russell’s marriage using Bruce as a tool to do it. Still stewing
over that very thought, Russell stepped around to the driver’s side of
his car, he vowed to find out who was behind feeding into Bruce’s
obsession with Avery, and when he did, he swore to himself that he’d
find a way to make sure that they didn’t get away with what they’d done
to make his wife miserable.
“Everything okay,” Avery questioned watching him slide into the car
beside her as her eyes flashed with immediate worry.
“Nothing for you to worry about,” he assured her reaching out to take
her hand in his for a brief moment, “It was just someone calling on an
assignment for the paper…”
“Something big?” Avery inquired eyeing him intently as he offered up a
quick nod.
“Something along those lines,” he divulged with a nod of his own, “but
as good as it is, I think I’m going to make a few calls and let someone
else help me with this one while we’re at the cabin so that I can get
the ball rolling on it before we go out of town.”
“If it’s really that important, then maybe we should put the trip off,”
Avery suggested shifting on the seat beside him as he squeezed her hand
once again offering up a sexy smile.
“Not a chance as nothing’s going to keep me from finding a way to
indulge in a little piece of happiness with you,” he replied earnestly
ready to do whatever it took to make sure that no one would steal that
happiness away from them ever again.