by Vakey, Jenn
Rilynne sighed as she shook her head.
“You did it all for Melissa,” she stated. “I’m assuming that once you faked her death, you didn’t feel that you could risk just getting a divorce to be with her because you thought that I might see the two of you together, and know that she was really alive. Is that about right?”
He rolled his eyes and leaned back in his chair. “Do you think that you have the right to delve into people’s private lives like that? People have the right to privacy.” She could hear the rage building inside of him, and she knew she needed to calm him down if her backup was going to arrive in time.
“Mifflin must have been so shocked when you told him,” she said in almost an amused tone. “When you told him what I could do. He thought you were crazy, didn’t he? How long did it take him to realize you were telling the truth?” He didn’t answer, but instead let out a loud laugh. “If it helps, he was more angry with me than you in that moment.”
“Been talking to your old friend, have you?” he said. She could see the look of interest in his eye. “How much did he tell you? By the shock on your face when I opened the door, he didn’t say enough for you to figure out what really happened.” Christopher leaned back and smirked. “He was furious; how could he not be. It’s the same way I felt when you finally told me about your visions. I’m guessing you haven’t told the new man you’re seeing yet; Ben was it? I’m almost sorry you won’t get the chance. I’d love to see that one blow up in your face again.”
“What happened to you, Chris?” she asked in a calming voice, trying to defuse the fury she could still see on his face. “This isn’t you. I know you, and you aren’t a killer. I get it, you were in love and love makes you do crazy things. That doesn’t mean you need to keep doing them. The sheriff’s station knows that Sarah bought this cabin, and the Addison Valley police are running the evidence from Mifflin’s body. It’s only a matter of time before they realize that it’s him, not you. Do you really want to add another murder to your sheet? It’ll be hours before anyone comes looking for me, so you have enough time to get far enough away that it’ll be impossible to find you. You can get out of the country, and no one will be able to go looking for you.”
He seemed to actually be considering her suggestion, but after a few seconds his body tensed up and he rose from his chair.
“I’m sorry, Rye,” he said as he reached for her gun sitting on the counter beside him. “But it’s too much of a risk. They may or may not discover that I’m alive, but there’s nothing that would lead them to Melissa. I can’t have you telling them that she’s alive. Her husband would come after her, and I won’t let that happen. I’m sorry that it had to end this way, but I don’t have any other choice.”
“No,” she pleaded as she watched her gun rise in his hand toward her head. Rilynne fought against the ropes, but couldn’t get her hands to budge. She let out a frightful scream just as a bang sounded through out the room. Her heart almost stopped as the scene in front of her seemed to be playing in slow motion. The bang she had heard was the front door flying open. Ben stood in the entryway with his gun pointing at Christopher. As panic passed over Christopher’s face, he turned the gun in his hand from Rilynne toward Ben.
“No!” she yelled as she kicked her feet toward him with all of her strength. The moment her foot connected with his right leg, two almost simultaneous shots sounded out.
Chapter Fifteen
Christopher fell to the ground in front of her. Before she could feel relieved, though, Ben dropped to his knees, hands grasped his right side. She opened her mouth to call out to him, but he toppled over, landing on his side.
As she struggled with all of her might to free her hands, a loud screech spread through the room as Sarah rushed down the stairs. “Christopher,” she cried out. “What have you done?”
“The sheriff will be here in a matter of minutes,” Rilynne stated, trying to keep the panic from ringing in her voice. “If you want any chance of getting out of this without a life sentence, untie me now.”
Sarah hesitated for a moment before reaching for the knife on the counter. Rilynne thought for a brief moment that Sarah was going to attack her, but she dropped down to her knees and cut the ropes restraining her. “Help him,” she pleaded as the ropes fell to the floor. Rilynne pulled the knife out of her hand before crawling toward Christopher.
After pulling the gun from his hand, she reached down to check for a pulse.
“He’s still alive,” she said, her eyes shifting to the oozing hole in the left side of his chest. “Get over here and put pressure on this.”
She grabbed Sarah by the hand and placed in firmly over the wound.
“You have to help him,” Sarah pleaded, but Rilynne rose to her feet and ran across the room to Ben.
“What did you do?” she gasped as she dropped down at his side and rolled him onto his back. “Let me see.” She placed her hand gently over his and pulled it off of the wound. As she lifted his shirt, blood spilled out of the hole, pooling on the ground beneath him. She let out a shocked gasp, fear sending a shutter through her body.
Rilynne closed her eyes quickly to gather herself, knowing she had to be strong, no matter how difficult it was. She pulled her over-shirt off with shaking hands and pressed it firmly down with both hands as tears started rolling down her cheeks.
“Hey,” he said softly. “There isn’t any need for that.” He reached up and gently brushed the tears away. Rilynne closed her eyes and let her cheek fall against his hand. As another tear rolled down her face, he pulled her gently down to him. When her lips pressed against his, it felt as though her insides were going to explode. Both a heat and a chill spread through her, making her entire body quiver. She felt like she was floating, even after their lips parted. “Just for luck,” he said softly.
“They’ll be here soon,” she said, her heart still racing. “Can you raise your knees?”
He nodded and pulled his knees slowly up. As he did, she could see the pain spread across his face, but he didn’t cry out.
“Are you all right?” he asked.
She let out an involuntary laugh, tears rolling down with it. “You’ve been shot, and you’re worried about me. It’s my turn to worry. Just hold on, please just hold on.”
“I’m sorry,” he said, looking past her to the body on the ground. “I didn’t know it was him. I’m so sorry, Rilynne. I didn’t know it was Christopher.”
“Shhh,” she said softly. “You saved my life, again. There’s nothing to be sorry about. Just hold on, because if you don’t, that I won’t forgive you for.” With her left hand still firmly pressed on this wound, she reached up with her right and ran her fingers through his soft, shaggy hair. “One of the first things I noticed about you was your hair,” she said, trying to distract him. “I always wondered if it was really as soft as it looks. Honestly, I think it’s even softer.”
He began to chuckle, but stopped abruptly when the pain seemed to have become too much for him to take.
“He stopped breathing,” she heard Sarah say frantically. “Rilynne, he isn’t breathing. You have to do something.”
Before Rilynne could even consider reacting, Detective Byman rushed through the door, followed by what appeared to be every member of the sheriff’s department. After directing the other men toward Christopher and Sarah, Byman dropped down next to Rilynne.
“What the hell happened here?” he asked angrily as he looked down at Ben. “I thought I said to wait for backup. I’m guessing that’s Lamar Mifflin?” he asked, motioning toward Christopher who was now receiving CPR by one of the deputies.
“No,” she said, not taking her eyes off of Ben. She could feel the anger trying to emerge, but her fear was too overpowering. “That’s Christopher Parker. He faked his death, then killed Mifflin when their paths crossed. The first suspected victim, Melissa Roberts, is in town somewhere right now. Her death was faked, as well.” Byman seemed to share the same confusion and shock that sh
e had when she saw Christopher step through the cabin door. “We need to get Ben to a hospital,” she added, which seemed to shake him back into reality.
“It’ll take too long to get a chopper sent out to take him to Denver,” he said before calling one of the deputies over. “He’ll be better off if we take him to the clinic. I assure you that they’re capable of handling his injuries. How is he?” he asked the deputy.
“Fletcher is still working on him, but he doesn’t have any vitals,” he replied. “We’ll continue CPR until the paramedics get here, and let them pronounce.”
“Find out an ETA for the ambulance, and call the clinic and let them know what’s coming,” Byman said. “After that, I want you and Harkins to go into town and look for this woman,” he said as he reached for a photograph sitting on the end table. “Take her to the station, but don’t inform her of what’s happened. Keep her in an interrogation room until I get there. I don’t want her to have any contact with that one.” He motioned to Sarah before turning his attention back to Ben.
Rilynne ignored everything else and concentrated on Ben, knowing that if she allowed herself to think about all of the information she had just been hit with, she would most certainly fall apart. “How are you feeling?” she asked him gently.
“I don’t want to sound dramatic, but I feel a little like I’ve been shot,” he said, followed by soft chuckle.
“I can’t imagine why you feel that way,” she replied as she returned his grin. It didn’t last, though, as she noticed the color slowly start to drain from his face. “This is all my fault,” she continued. “You told me to wait, but I didn’t listen. It was stupid; I should have just waited for backup to arrive.”
He reached up and brushed the hair gently out of her face. “You wouldn’t be you if you were overly cautious all the time. I should just learn how to dodge better when I go places with you. And for the record, we’re counting this as your second kidnapping.”
The fact that he still had his sense of humor helped to lighten the panic building within her, though only slightly. “There’s no chance of me ever living this down.”
He shook his head, then let his eyes wonder around the room. “Where’s the baby?” he finally asked.
“What baby?” Byman asked, following Ben’s gaze.
“Sarah has a little girl,” Rilynne explained. She couldn’t believe that in all the chaos, she had completely forgotten about the child. “She’s upstairs.”
Byman left her with Ben as he ran up the stairs and disappeared around the corner. As he did, two paramedics stepped through the door.
“He’s been shot in the abdomen,” she said as the first man knelt down next to her. She watched him carefully as he pulled the blood soaked shirt away from the wound and applied a pressure dressing. “He’s going to be okay, isn’t he?” she asked him.
“You slowed the bleeding, which is good,” he said after looking him over. “His vitals are stable. We need to get him to the clinic and let the doctors take care of him.” As he finished, the second paramedic joined him. “How’s the other one?” he asked. The second medic responded by shaking his head. “Okay, then we need to go. There will be enough room for you in the back,” he said to Rilynne as they rolled Ben onto the stretcher.
“You should stay here,” Ben said as they pushed him out the door. “I know you still have questions that need to be answered.”
She didn’t even slow to consider his statement before climbing into the back of the ambulance. “They can wait,” she said as she reached out and grabbed his hand. “I’m not going anywhere until I know you’re all right.”
If he wanted to argue, he decided against it. Instead, he pulled her hand up and gently kissed it. Rilynne felt a flutter overwhelm her as her heart jumped in her chest. She leaned over-resting her elbows to the bed next to him-and pulled his hand up against her cheek. “I’m sorry I got you shot,” she said softly.
“I’m sorry I killed your husband,” he replied.
Something about the statement seemed almost funny to her. She rolled her eyes and grinned down at him. “You aren’t the first one to do it.”
“I should check you out also, ma’am,” the paramedic said as he pulled on clean pair of gloves.
“I’m not hurt,” she insisted, not taking her eyes off of Ben.
The paramedic reached out and moved the hair off of her shoulder. “You’re bleeding,” he stated. “Did you hit your head?”
“Uh, yeah.” She had been so concerned with Ben that she had completely forgotten about the blow she had taken herself. “I was hit with a frying pan. Yeah, I know,” she added at the bemused look Ben shot her. “Who hits people with frying pans?”
“Did you lose consciousness?” the paramedic asked. She nodded. “Do you know how long you were out?”
“I have no idea,” she responded. “How long was I in the house before Sarah closed the door?” she asked Ben.
“A little over five minutes,” he responded. “As soon as it shut, I made my way up to the deck and watched everything through the window.”
Rilynne felt the color drain from her face. The thought of Ben sitting outside the window made her feel nervous more than anything else, but she knew that she couldn’t ask him if he had heard their conversation without raising questions.
“I was unconscious for just under five minutes then,” she turned to the paramedic, trying to keep her uneasiness from showing. “I didn’t even know I was bleeding. It can wait until Ben is taken care of, though. It doesn’t even really hurt anymore.”
“You really should allow him to look at it,” Ben insisted. “You don’t have to be stubborn one hundred percent of the time.”
“Come on,” she chortled. “You know me better than that. Is there anyone you want me to call?”
“Yeah, actually. Call Summers and ask him to contact the director of the convention in Denver. The information is sitting on my desk. It doesn’t look like I’ll be making it, so they’ll need to make other arrangements.”
Rilynne laughed aloud. “You’ve been shot, and you’re concerned about canceling your speaking arrangements? I was talking more about loved ones that you want me to contact so they know what’s going on.”
He shook his head, his eyes firmly on her. “My parents and brother are gone. That just leaves you, and you’re already here.”
Rilynne squeezed his hand, not releasing it until they pulled in front of the clinic and the back doors to the ambulance swung open. They pulled Ben out first and had him to the door before she jumped out. The waiting room was empty when they walked in, aside for the woman sitting behind the admissions desk. She wasn’t the same one they had seen earlier in the week. This one was older, close to sixty. Her short hair was gray other than a few wisps of black streaking through it.
“What do we have?” Dr. Raab asked, walking in the door just behind them. Judging by the slinky red dress and black heels, Rilynne guessed she had been pulled away from a romantic evening out.
“He has a through and through gsw to the lower right abdomen,” the paramedic at the head of the stretcher said as he directed it toward the first room. “Blood pressure was 86/54 with a heart rate of one-twelve when we arrived at the scene. After administering an IV, they’ve stabilized.”
Dr. Raab pulled the dressing off of Ben’s abdomen and started examining the oozing wound. “What about the detective?”
“She has a laceration on the back of the head,” he replied.
“I’m fine,” Rilynne interjected. “It’s just a little bump.”
Dr. Raab stuck her head out of the door and called for a nurse. “Get Mr. Davis ready for surgery.”
The paramedics helped the nurse roll Ben out of the room. Rilynne started to follow them, but was stopped before making it to the door.
“Have a seat so I can take a look at your head,” she said as she pulled off the blood-covered gloves.
“No,” Rilynne replied abruptly, her worry not subsiding even with the
confidence in Dr. Raab’s voice. “I’m fine. Just make sure that Ben gets taken care of.”
The doctor look as if she was going to argue, but as her eyes swept over Rilynne’s determined face, she took a resigned breath and opened a drawer that her right.
“All right,” she replied with a note of annoyance. “Keep this ice pack on it for twenty to thirty minutes, and repeat in two hours.” She squeezed the pack until it popped, then handed it to Rilynne. “I can’t give you anything for pain without doing an exam, though.”
Rilynne took the pack from her and shook it before placing it carefully on the back of her head.
“That’s fine,” she replied. “I’m really all right. Please, just take care of Ben.”
Dr. Raab nodded and walked Rilynne back out to the waiting room. “You’ll have to wait out here,” she replied, more soothingly than before. “I’ll let you know as soon as we’re done.”
Rilynne watched her walk through the giant doors at the end of the room. It wasn’t until the doors had completely closed that she turned and took a seat.
The ice pack provided the mixed sensation of comfort and pain as she held it firmly against the knot that had formed.
As an officer, she had been in this situation too many times before. While it was never easy awaiting news about an injured comrade, this time was different. Her insides hurt. With every breath she took, she could feel the panic building inside of her. Usually the waiting room was filled with officers and family members who offered some distraction, but now she was alone.
Her mind raced, picturing everything that could go wrong. She knew she needed something to keep her preoccupied or she was at risk of completely falling apart. Using her free hand, she reached into her pocket for her phone, which the paramedics had returned to her. Her hands were still shaking so badly that she nearly dropping it when she pulled it out. Though her thoughts were drifting back away from the task at hand, her fingers seemed to be working on autopilot as they dialed.