When Fates Collide

by Isabelle Richards

  “Why does that not surprise me? I’ll see what I can do to get your ladies back to you,” I say, returning his wink.

  McDreamy stays true to his word. No one but him and my nurse, Natalie, comes into my room for over eight hours. It gives me time to get my head together. My throat had felt like sandpaper, but after a few ice pops, I feel better. I can’t believe I’ve been out for so long. I don’t feel great, but I don’t feel that bad. I’m wondering how much of my unconsciousness was due to a coma versus my body demanding some much needed rest.

  I’m busy fiddling with the bed settings, trying to make it more comfortable, when I’m smothered by a big body that smells like Polo Sport.

  “Don’t ever fucking do that to me again!”

  “I love you too. How’d you get in here? I thought I was safe from the FBI for a while?”

  Max releases me from his hug and scoots onto the bed next to me. “I’m not the FBI. I’m your ever-loving roommate that’s been out of his mind thinking you were dead. I’m not included in the authority embargo.”

  “Then how did you get in here?”

  “I bribed your guard. Got him the phone number of a nurse he likes.”

  “Of course you did.” I roll my eyes. “So, Gavin’s here?”

  “Yeah. I’ll let him tell you about it. All I’ll say is that there were some big misunderstandings. Don’t be too hard on him. He’d be in here now if I hadn’t told him they were running tests and that no one could see you until tomorrow. Then I said there was cricket on TV, and now he’s clicking his way through the channels trying to find it.”

  “There is no cricket, is there?” I ask.

  “Nope. I wanted you all to myself. Once he comes up, I’ll never have the chance again,” he says after kissing my temple. “This’s all my fault, Slugger. This whole thing.”

  Oh, boy. Time to get my head in the game if we’re going to talk about my adventures. “Max, none of this is your fault.”

  “I told you to go with Steve. You kicked that guy’s ass to get away, and then I just handed you right over.”

  “He would have gotten me anyway, Max. He was obsessed with me. Like Fatal Attraction, going to boil my bunny obsessed. You can’t take that blame. Speaking of crazy Charlie, what has he been saying?”

  “He’s dead.”

  “Oh, shit. I killed him?” I didn’t think I’d killed him. I’d hated the guy, but I really don’t want his blood on my hands. The heart monitor starts beeping like something out of a video game.

  “No. Lil. You didn’t do it. We found him in his apartment two days ago. He’d hanged himself. Left a note. If he couldn’t have you, he didn’t want to live. Total psycho.”

  “Oh?” Clearly someone has been working behind the scenes because I know there’s no way anyone would ever have found his house, and if they had there wouldn’t have been anything there. Charlie, or whatever his name was, was too good for that. Looks like either Lorenzo or Carlos took my advice after all. I doubt I’ll ever know if he really hanged himself or if he had help. I’m not sure I want to know.

  “Someone had beaten the crap out of him though. Really worked him over. Busted out most of his teeth!”

  I blush. “That was me. That’s how I got away.”

  “Damn, Lily. I’m seriously in awe. I think you may be the strongest chick I’ve ever met.”

  I shrug. “I had a good teacher.”

  “Yeah, you did. Anyway, this guy clearly had it bad for you. He had thousands of photos of you. He had your underwear, and lots of it too. Which means he was in and out of our apartment as well. There were pictures of you that he’d clearly… um… made deposits onto.”

  “Ew, Max. That’s enough. Gross.” I don’t even want to know how they got my underwear or managed to manufacture that lovely detail.

  “The craziest part was what I call the Gavin Wall of Death.”

  “What?”

  “He had this wall of pictures of Gavin and all the ways he was going to kill him. Like he had a noose drawn on him or had him decapitated with his head on the counter and what we think was supposed to be his heart in a blender. Really crazy shit. The guy was totally loco.”

  Wow, I’ve got to hand it to them. They went all out with the psycho angle. It’s made my job way easier.

  Suddenly, Sully and Greene burst through the door.

  “Max, you bastard! You know you aren’t supposed to be in here. You’re not on this case.” Sully points to the door. “Out now.”

  Max kisses me on the forehead, and then withdraws, holding his hands up to show he won’t fight them on leaving. Sully gives him a smack upside the head as he exits.

  “You’re worse than Gavin!”

  Sully then takes out his wallet and gives Greene a five dollar bill.

  I raise my eyebrows.

  “The docs were supposed to keep everyone out until we talked to you. Standard protocol. My money was on Gavin being in here,” he says. Seriously, when did I become the popular game to bet on?

  He comes over to the bed and gives me a warm embrace. The man’s as tough as nails and has the exterior of a cactus, but when he lets down that wall, he’s pure sweetness. After the hug, I can almost feel his prickly wall go back up.

  “My turn,” Greene says. He sits next to me on the bed and leans in for a hug. I can tell he doesn’t want to let me go. But after a few minutes he does. He looks me in the eye, and I can see the worry that has been consuming him. “Let’s get business out of the way so that we can let Gavin in here,” he finally says, breaking the awkward tension. “He’s been out of his mind. I don’t think he’s left the hospital since he got to town. He’s a complete wreck. We’ve all been.”

  I feel awful hearing that, but I’m not sure what I’m supposed to say.

  Crap, show time. For the plan to work, I need to sell this story, which means it’s time to come up with some creative fiction real fast. I sure hope I can remember everything that Carlos and I agreed I should tell them.

  “All right, kid. Tell us what happened,” Sully says as he pulls out and starts his recorder.

  “I was with Steve, here at the hospital. Charlie was waiting for us. I don’t remember what happened next, but the next thing I knew, I woke up in a barn, tied up to a chair. It was so damn cold, and it smelled awful. He left me alone in the dark for a while. I’m not sure how long, but long enough that I was freaked out of my mind.

  “He came in and didn’t say anything for a bit. He just circled me. I could tell each time he walked around that he was getting more and more frustrated. I couldn’t really blame him. I had beaten the crap out of him. I’m sure he was really pissed.

  “He slapped me around a bit. Not really saying anything. Eventually, he started babbling about what a bitch I was. I figured he was talking about the fight. But as he went on, I could tell it was about more than that. He was mad about everything. He said I’d broken his heart. The more he talked, the more I started to see the bigger picture. He was hired by the cartel to follow me. Just like your informant said.

  “As it turns out, the whole mess with the cartel has been over for weeks now. You guys know about Crystal, right? He had her in that chair, all drugged up, and she’d told him where the money was. It was in the walls of her apartment. That’s why they sledgehammered everything. After that, the cartel was happy, and his job was done. But he wasn’t done with me.

  “He’d been trying for a while to connect with me, but I kept brushing him off. That day, he just couldn’t take it anymore. He saw me in the morning. He’d seen everything going on in the tabloids and thought it was his chance. He was sure Gavin and I would be through, and that if we weren’t, we should have been. He went on and on about how Gavin was cheating on me and I deserved better.

  “He couldn’t understand why I would choose Gavin over him. Or at least that’s how he saw what I was doing. Now that I had ‘made my choice,’ he was livid. It was unforgivable, and he wanted to make me pay.

  “He injected me
with something. I have no idea what it was. With the way it made me feel, I’d guess it was a date rape drug of sorts. He yelled at me over and over again about Gavin, and each time I didn’t answer the way he liked, he would zap me with the cattle prod, which hurt like hell, by the way.

  “It all got out of control after that. I was sobbing and telling him anything I thought he wanted to hear. He zapped me more for that. With every zap, he became more and more out of control. Eventually, he got so enraged that the zapping wasn’t enough. He came up and shook me really hard. I felt like a crash test dummy. He lost control and I ended up crashing to the floor. When I hit the ground, the chair cracked a little, enough that I was able to wiggle out of the ropes.

  “He didn’t notice that the chair had broken. He was too busy kicking me in the gut. Once I got out of the ropes, I used part of the chair to hit him over the head. It didn’t do much, but it caught him off guard. Enough for me to take him down. Well, I’m sure you saw how he was.

  “I had no idea where I was, so when I got out of the barn, I just started wandering. It was so dark out there. It was a total crap shoot of where to go. I followed the sound of traffic in the distance. It took just about all night for me to get to that McDonalds.

  “And that’s it. The whole sordid tale. I still can’t believe that this wasn’t some big conspiracy like we thought. Just a crazy stalker.”

  We sit in awkward silence. Greene and Sully seem to be speaking to each other through telepathy. I can tell from their facial expressions that there’s something going on between them.

  “Come on, guys. I know you have questions.”

  Sully breaks the ice. “So you’re telling me that this had nothing to do with the cartel?”

  “From his ranting, I think it started out that way, but once they found the money, they moved on. He also said something about how they were frustrated by all the press about me. I was too hot of a target. They wanted him to leave me alone, but he didn’t see it that way. He wasn’t going to let go just because the job was over.”

  “Well, we aren’t completely surprised,” Greene said. He tells me all of the same information Max had told earlier, and I pretend to hear it for the first time.

  They have me retell the story, and I’m fairly confident I match the first version well enough. They ask a lot of questions, but it’s nowhere near the sort of interrogation I’d been expecting.

  “So what happens now?” I ask when they seem to be done with their questions.

  “Well, since he’s dead, the case essentially is closed. We need to reevaluate if you’re still at risk with the cartel. From what you’ve told us, I don’t think you are. Between what you’ve said and what we found in his apartment, it really does sound like he was working for the cartel, but more like he went rogue,” Sully says.

  “It’s a bit early to say so, but this whole mess might really be over for you.” Greene takes my hand. “Lil,” he continues. “I… We’re just so sorry you had to go through all of this. We hear stories like the one you’ve just told us all the time, but they never get any less horrific. Especially when they’re from someone we’ve come to care about. I…” He trails off, looking lost, as though he wants to say more but can’t find the words.

  “It’s okay. Really. I’m alive. I made it through. I’m sure there’ll be nightmares. I’m sure I’m going to be jumpy and not want to be by myself for a while. I think my days of running alone, especially at night, are over for now. But I fought back. I saved myself. I got to kick out all of his teeth. There’s a lot of closure in that. I’m not a victim. I’m going to be okay.

  “It’s over,” I continue. “The hell Ash put me though is finally over. I feel like a curse has been lifted.”

  “You’ve always been good at finding the positive, kid,” Sully says.

  Just then, a doctor comes to the door and pokes his head in “Gentlemen, do you mind exiting for a moment? I need to check on Ms. Clark.”

  “Alright, kid. We’ll go find G. If he hasn’t spontaneously combusted yet.”

  “Thanks, guys.”

  They leave, and I let out a huge sigh of relief.

  As the doctor comes closer, I see he looks very familiar. “Doctor, huh? Doctor of what exactly?”

  “I actually do have a PhD in economics,” Carlos says.

  “You don’t say? Hmmm. Wonders never cease.”

  “I’m only here for a moment, to let you know we have this room closely monitored. I just heard your little presentation. You sold it better than I expected. It may just work.”

  “You all set the foundation for it. You made it easy. Down to the tiniest, most disgusting details.”

  “Some of the more crass things were not our fabrication. Your story has more truth to it than fiction.”

  “Oh, that is just so gross. So, do I pass? Can we go back to me never seeing you again?”

  “So eager to get rid of me? Well, I can’t say I blame you. Although, I think under different circumstances, we would have gotten along very well.”

  “That may be the case. But while the balance of power still lies in you just having to give the word to have me killed, I think our friendship is best to stay as is.”

  He smiles. “Yes, you’ve passed, as you say. Just keep it up.” He hands me a flash drive. “This is a recording of what you just told the FBI. Memorize it. Keep it consistent. Mistakes will draw suspicion. Suspicion will not be tolerated. Are we clear?”

  “Yeah, and it’ll also raise suspicion if you’re caught in here. Now scram.”

  “Did you really just tell me to scram?”

  “Are you still here?” I’m totally pushing my limits, but I know deep down he finds it hilarious. I hope.

  He wags a finger at me and says, “You, you’re funny.” With that, Carlos turns and walks out of my life, hopefully forever.

  Thirty-Five

  Gavin

  Sully and Greene find me outside. I can’t stand to be in the building for one second longer knowing that Lily is awake and I can’t see her. It’s like telling myself not to breathe or my heart to stop beating. I wanted so desperately to be there when she woke so she wouldn’t feel alone.

  “G,” Sully says. “You okay?”

  “Losing my bloody mind, Sul. How are you?” I snap. “When can I go see her?”

  “Now, man. What are you waiting here for?”

  I don’t respond. I just sprint. I’m fairly certain that I knock over a few people on my way to her room. I don’t see anyone though. My mind’s eye can only see her. When I make it to her floor, there’s no one blocking the way for once.

  When I reach the door, I freeze, paralyzed with anxiety. What will I say? It’s been so long. She’s been through so much... so much that I wasn’t here for, so much that I didn’t protect her from.

  “Gavin, are you going to look at the door or open it?” Max asks. I hadn’t noticed him until he spoke. “Don’t be a pussy. Get the hell in there. She’s asked for you.”

  “You saw her?”

  “Please, dude. Like there was really cricket on TV. We’re not in London, mate. Now stop thinking about how you want to punch me and get in there.”

  She lies on the bed, eyes closed. She looks positively angelic. The color’s returned to her cheeks. She looks so peaceful that I don’t want to disturb her, but I can’t not touch her. I sit down beside her. So many times over these past few days, I’ve battled my fears, my fledgling hope—my guilt over my fledgling hope. It‘s been such a dark time, and I pray she won’t be able to see just how dark when she looks at me. I sit down, unable to bring myself to wake her. I lean my head against the mattress and try to figure out what I’m going to say when she opens her eyes.

  I must have been so exhausted that I fall asleep, because I suddenly wake to someone running her fingers through my hair. A smile spreads across my face as I look up and see Lily’s beautiful eyes looking back at me.

  “Hi,” she says.

  “Hi.”

  “Nice o
f you to wake up.”

  “I could say the same to you.” I smirk.

  “Well, I needed my beauty sleep. I went a bit haggard wondering if I was ever going to hear from a certain British gentleman again.”

  “Lil, I…” I try to think of a clever response, but I just can’t make light of the pain she’s experienced. Some of which was directly inflicted by me.

  “Gavin, really, let’s not do this now. I don’t have it in me, okay? Just keep flirting with me and make me smile. We can get into all the ugly parts later. They’re not going anywhere. Please, for now, just pretend that we’re not in a hospital but some hotel room you’ve smuggled me into.”

  I can tell she’s fighting being swallowed up by all the torment in her life. It’s heartbreaking. I can’t take the pain from her, but at least I can save her from drowning in it.

  “Well, you don’t have any luggage, so we have that part right. Sadly, we can’t roll around naked in the sheets for days on end just now. We have too much of an audience for that. Unless you’re into that sort of thing,” I jest.

  “Oh, I’ve had quite enough of people watching me roll around in these sheets to last a lifetime. I haven’t even been conscious that long, and I’m already over it.”

  “I’m afraid you’re stuck with it for a little while longer. Until I can break you out of here, anyway.”

  “I look forward to that.”

  We banter back and forth for hours. It’s not as natural as it once was, but it isn’t forced either. I’m uncertain what this feeling of reserve means for us. The connection we have is still unquestionably strong, but we both have walls up. Even with the walls, I have no doubt that I care for her as deeply as I ever have. Quite possibly more.

  We chat casually about nothing in particular until she falls back asleep. We’ve mastered the art of avoiding the elephant in the room—something we have been doing since we met. I watch her, in complete awe of her strength and her resolve. She seems larger than life. I pray I haven’t lost her.