Falling in Love Again: A Valentine's Day Proposal

by Mia Ford

  “We will sort this, Carter. You don’t need to worry. It will be okay.”

  But I can’t focus on those words. All that I can really think about is him saying “If this is going the way it seems like it might be, you need all the help that you can get!” That doesn’t sound good. It makes the bloody image of her injured face come flooding back to me. I don’t know how I’m going to survive.

  “Okay, Lee. Thank you. I will speak to you soon.”

  I hang up and take off again, this time heading back to the car. I need to drive right back to where I was only moments before. Hopefully, Officer Brady will still be there so I can save a whole lot of time.

  I drive rapidly at the speed of light and am soon there. I burst back into the reception area, and demand to speak to Officer Brady. Who unfortunately isn’t there. And everyone I speak to isn’t really interested in me and my story. I keep hearing that I need to wait for forty-eight hours before I can report a missing person.

  “I’m not reporting a missing person!” I yell loudly. “I’m reporting a crime here.”

  “Sir, I’m going to have to ask you to calm down,” says the woman in a suit in front of me. “I understand what you’re saying to me, but we don’t have any evidence right now that this is a crime.”

  “That’s what I need you to find out!” I throw my hands in the air in frustration. “And what’s this?”

  I slide the cell phone towards her. She doesn’t look at it with the shock I was expecting her to. Instead she takes it from me and nods. “Okay, thank you. I will get this examined. See if we can find out who it belongs to.”

  “It belongs to Raelyn!”

  “That’s what we’re going to find out, yes.” She smiles thinly at me.

  “It is; I’m telling you this belongs to her. I know it. And she’s in danger.”

  “Right. Sir.” She rises to her feet. “I’m going to have to ask you to leave. I have taken a record of your report and as I have promised I will look in to it. I need you to wait until further contact from us.”

  “I can’t just wait. Not when I’m not sure that you’re going to do anything.”

  She doesn’t say anything; she just gives me a look which makes me shrink in on myself. I can’t keep arguing, I might end up pushing her away and putting Raelyn deeper in to danger.

  “Okay, I’m going, I’m going. Please, just help her. I’m so worried.”

  “I will do. You can trust the police, you know that, right?”

  “Mmm, yeah.” I really do need to learn that. “Okay, thank you.”

  I leave. I don’t know what else to do, I head back to my car and go back home, deflated. Everyone keeps telling me that I need to just go home and wait but that’s going to kill me. I’m not the most patient man in the world, that’s always been a bit of an issue for me, but this is going to crush me.

  Just do it, I warn myself as I drive. Just do what everyone has told you.

  Lee said it, I promised that I would listen to him, and the officer did as well.

  I end up inside, pacing my living room, jumping every time I hear a noise that might well be the phone. It isn’t, it never is, but I’m so desperate for it to be that I leap foolishly. I’m like a character in the middle of a horror movie, falling apart every time the old house creaks just the littlest bit.

  “Fuck.” I rake my fingers through my hair, anger and stress getting the better of me. “Fucking hell.”

  I don’t think I just like Raelyn either, that’s what all of this is making me realize. I think that I might be doing the one thing that I swore wouldn’t happen again, and I may be falling in love with her. A different love to what I felt with Anna, something more real and intense. If I look back on it now, I never felt like myself with her, I was never one hundred percent real. I was just a character, the version of me that she wanted.

  I pretended to be the man that she wanted me to be, and it still wasn’t enough.

  But with Raelyn, in the short time that we’ve been together, I have shown more of myself to her than I ever have anyone else. I let my walls fall down so hard that she actually saw me. I liked it, I loved her seeing me, it felt good. The way that she looked at me with love, even knowing who I really am.

  I love her. I love her and I think she might love me too. She seems to love me as much as I do her.

  Fucking hell. I am in love. In love with a woman who isn’t here. Who I can’t hold right now. Because she’s in freaking danger. That asshole, that stupid little prick, the murderous fucker who will be on the other end of that blade if I ever get my hands on him, has her. I don’t know what he’s doing with her, and that’s horrific.

  I try to call Lee. I can’t help it. I need to speak to him, but he doesn’t answer. Probably because he’s busy. So, then I call the police station but they unsurprisingly tell me that they can’t give me anything yet. I’m getting restless, I can’t sit still, so I make the choice to head out to find her. I should be at home, in case any of them come to tell me what’s going on, but I need to move.

  “What the fuck?” As I reach the front door, my eyes spot something that I’m pretty sure wasn’t there before. Although, I did come inside in a hurry, I wasn’t exactly looking.

  I lean down, nerves zig zagging through me as I curl my fingers around the square of paper which could hold the answers to absolutely everything. I just don’t think it’s going to be good news.

  “Fucking hell. What now?”

  32

  Raelyn

  My head throbs. It’s like there’s a building site inside of me, hammering and drilling away. Is this a hangover? Was I out drinking last night? I kinda have vague memories of dancing in a night club, but that could be from ages ago. It doesn’t feel quite right for now. It seems like there’s something else going on here.

  Why can’t I remember? I demand, angry with myself. What the hell is going on here?

  I need to open my eyes; I think that will help me. There must be some clue in my room as to what happened. If I see heels or a nice dress strewn across the floor, then I’ll know for sure that it was a night out and the mystery will be solved. If not… well, I can work it out somehow. But for some reason, opening up my eyes isn’t the easiest thing in the world. It’s almost as if they are super glued shut. They just don’t want to see.

  Is it too bright? Or do I actually need to be worried about this?

  I gasp a couple of times before I try to prized my eyes open once more. The whiteness fills my vision. It’s almost too much, tears stream down my cheeks, but I keep on going. I force myself to look.

  Where the hell is this? I’m immediately struck by how little I know this room. This certainly isn’t my bedroom, nor is it Abbi’s. It isn’t Carter’s either. Where the hell am I? This is pretty weird…

  “What the fuck?” I can’t move. I shake my wrists but they are stuck behind my back. Almost as if they’re tied there. It must just be the pain though, it’s… it’s sticking me in place. But just for a moment. “What the fuck?”

  The more the room around me becomes clear, the more I panic. This isn’t just pain and a strange night that’s left me with a hangover, this is something dangerous. But what? Why don’t I know?

  Oh my God. I suddenly remember why this is bad. The man, the killer! He came after me, he attacked me, he smashed my cell phone to pieces and then he chased me. He chased me until I fell. I have vague memories of hitting the ground hard and falling apart. Blacking out almost immediately.

  And now he has me. He has me locked away somewhere, in what appears to be a disgusting old warehouse, tied to a metal pole like I’m a dog. This is a freaking kidnapping, I’ve been kidnapped. Not only have I witnessed a crime, a murder, I’ve also been threatened and kidnapped. This is bad. Really bad. I might end up dead.

  I cry and struggle, struggle and cry, but nothing makes any difference. I really am trapped here. I don’t know how I can get out. I would have preferred to die when he strangled me, that was easier than being h
ere. God knows what will happen to me here. I’m at the mercy of this sick man.

  “What the fuck, dude,” a voice calls out from the other side of the door, making my heart stop dead. I freeze, no longer struggling as if I’m trying to hide. It’s pointless because they obviously know that I’m here.

  “What? It’s going to be fine. I don’t know what you’re worried about. I have it under control.”

  “The boys from the Parcell gang are on our backs after we bumped off Barry. We don’t need this too.”

  “The Parcell’s are fucked, we don’t need to worry about them anymore. They know where they stand now, they know that we’re tougher than they could ever imagine. They know not to fuck with us and our territory.”

  “I know, I know, I feel ya. I just… I dunno. I don’t think this can end well…”

  It isn’t just the killer. There are more of the gang members here, I could be fucked up by any of them. This is even more dangerous than before. I really need to get out. I’m far too freaking scared.

  “Shut the fuck up, mate. I don’t know what ya going on about.”

  “You don’t know what I’m on about? Are you for real? Fucking hell…”

  I dart my eyes around the room, searching for an escape route, a window or anything. Not that I can get off this fucking pole, but if I do find a way, I need an out. Unfortunately, there’s nothing.

  “This isn’t what you planned to do, is it, mate? I thought it was just going to be…”

  “It doesn’t matter, why are you trying to make it complicated? It’s just fucking happened, hasn’t it? That’s what this life is, a bunch of surprises. We need to work out what the fuck we’re going to do. We need to prove that we can do this shit. If we fall apart at the seams already then what the fuck are we going to do?”

  There’s a silence. And the silence makes me suck in a panicked breath. The silence isn’t good, there’s only one way that it can end and that’s me dying. Any minute now, this guy is going to come in here and kill me. I guess the only reason that he hasn’t killed me already is because he wants me to really feel it.

  There’s no calm this time. It’s all just panic and sadness. I think about my mom, about how she will move on if I go. She has her friends around her, but no other family. I’m all that she has. If I die, that will leave a big empty hold in her heart. It will destroy her. I hate that, I don’t want it to destroy her.

  Then there’s Abbi. I know that she has a new man in her life, but friendship is important too. It will kill her too. And that’s before I even think about Carter. How can I think about him right now? I love him, and I never got to tell him. I love him and I’m going to leave him. He will blame himself for this too.

  I’m sorry, Carter, I call out in my mind. Don’t blame yourself for this.

  The door swings open, completely shocking me. I wasn’t expecting that to happen. Not yet anyway. I blanche, expecting the worst. I suppose it’s lucky that it’s just him. The killer. Not so great, but his friend isn’t with him. I don’t know how I can fight just this one person off, but I can’t fight two.

  “Well, well, well,” he says in a teasing tone. “Look who it is.”

  I want to ask him what he’s doing, I do, but I’m far too scared to form even one word. I’m actually trembling. My whole body is shaking violently, so hard it’s making the chains rattle. He likes this, he laughs at it.

  “We meet again, don’t we? We always seem to meet in these terrible situations.”

  I can look at him better now, for the very first time. He’s actually quite young looking, and he has wild green eyes. His hair is cropped tight to his head and I can see a scar down the back of his head. I don’t know if that’s real, or if he wants to look dangerous. It does work. I am really scared as shit.

  “It shouldn’t be this way, should it?” He shakes his head hard. “We could be mates.”

  “What the fuck are you talking about?” I spit out, finally finding my voice. “We would never be friends.”

  “Ooh, you’re spicy. I think I might like that in you. It’s fun. It makes this more fun.”

  I narrow my eyes at him. He’s angering me, which makes me act out. That’s probably what he wants and I’m just playing right into his hands, but I can’t seem to stop myself.

  “I don’t know what you think you’re coming across like, but I know that you’re scared. I heard you outside.”

  He bristles, but only for a second. “You are chained to a post, bitch. You aren’t in a position to take the piss.”

  “Why don’t you just tell me what you’re going to do to me?”

  “Oh, you want to know, huh?” He wiggles his eyebrows suggestively. “I bet you do. I’m sure you’re the sort of woman who would just love me to take advantage of you. You slut.”

  Why the hell does everyone have that assumption about me? What impression am I giving out? I don’t dress provocatively and I don’t think I act that way as well. Yet Thomas and now this guy say it… what the fuck?

  “I might have my wicked way with you, I haven’t decided yet.” He pulls out his knife and he runs his finger along the blade in a way to wind me up. It works, I’m afraid I might pee myself. “But more importantly, I just want to talk to you. That’s what I was trying to do outside.”

  “That’s why you smashed my phone? That’s why you smacked me?”

  “Alright, it got a bit out of hand. I will be honest with you.”

  “Out of hand? Seriously, that’s how you describe it? Out of hand?”

  He tosses his head back and laughs loudly. “Alright, alright. Fine. More than out of hand. But it doesn’t have to get any worse. We can come to some sort of agreement here. It doesn’t have to be stupid.”

  “What do you mean? Doesn’t have to be stupid.”

  “I mean no one has to get hurt here. This blade doesn’t have to see any action. Seriously. Not at all. I didn’t bring you here to harm you, I just want to have a conversation with you. To tell you that the guy I killed was a bad dude. He was a scum of the earth and didn’t deserve to be alive. He pushed drugs to kids, he had children as young as twelve working for him, he’s done all sorts of terrible things.”

  “You aren’t exactly clean yourself.”

  “No, I know. But I wouldn’t ever involve children.”

  “I don’t know what you’re trying to do here, but I’m not ever going to see your side.”

  “I don’t expect a woman like you who has everything ever would,” he shoots back coldly. “I don’t think you have ever had to struggle like me. I know that we won’t be on the same side, I just want you to understand.”

  “Why don’t you just tell me what we’re doing here? That would help us both more.”

  “Well, originally, I just wanted to talk to you about going to the police, just like I have done, which I do still need to do…”

  “And if I agree not to go to the cops, all of this will be over? Because I don’t want to go to the police…”

  “No, I know. Otherwise you would have gone already, but I got a phone call when I was talking to you before…” I remember that as he says it. “And it seems like your boyfriend has gone to the police anyway.”

  Oh right, of course! I forgot about that. Shit, so what is he going to do?

  “So, now I need you here as a threat to Carter. I need him to know that we’re serious.”

  “If he’s already gone to the police then what can he do?”

  “He can take back his statement. Maybe give us some cash too. Guys like us, we always need money.”

  “And… what if he doesn’t do that?” I need to ask. I have to know.

  The blade comes in to view again; the threat is back. “Then I will have to sort you out because you know too much. A threat will only keep someone quiet for so long. Death silences them forever.”

  Holy shit this is bad, really bad. I can see just by looking into his eyes how serious about this he is.

  33

  Carter


  Take back your statement and you will see her again. Money will help keep her alive…

  The words are chilling, making me feel sick. These guys definitely have Raelyn, there can be no doubt now, and their intentions with her cannot be good. God knows what they’ve already done to her.

  “Take back your statement.” This has to be about the murder, of course. Lee warned me about going to the police, he told me to sit tight and think about it, and I didn’t listen. I was an idiot. “Money will help…”

  Of course it will. Money helps everyone, I’ve been used for it before. But this time, it won’t feel so dreadful to part with it. Not for these psychopath criminals, I don’t give a shit about them, nor do I want to help them on their journey on the wrong side of the law, but to get Raelyn back. To have her away from them.

  “But where? What do I do? Maybe I take the statement back first. I don’t know.”

  Fucking hell, I’m shaking. I’m so scared of making the wrong move with Raelyn’s life on the line.

  “You idiot,” I scold myself. “You should have just said nothing. Why did you have to speak?”

  I thought that I was so clever, taking the name to the police, thinking that they would have him arrested. I was a fool to trust the police. They wonder why I don’t have faith in them… well, this is why! Because I told them that this was bad, I warned them and they ignored me. They didn’t trust me, and now… well now this has happened. Now Raelyn is in trouble and I don’t know what to do.

  “Fuck, what the hell do I do now?” I pat the note against my hand hard. “This is messed up.”

  Now, the need to get out is even more desperate. But I don’t know where to go and I can’t go to the wrong place. Whatever I do next, it has to be the right thing. I have to keep Raelyn safe.

  I race up the stairs to my safe and I grab a briefcase. I don’t know how many notes I stuff in there but I fill it up. When I do find fucking Connor Blair, I want to offer him as much as I can. I don’t want to keep going back and forth, leaving Raelyn in that same, very dangerous place with those disgusting men. A place where any terrible things can happen to her and there isn’t anything I can do to control the situation.