“So, someone knocked on your door twice, and you’ve received three phone calls. Is that right?” the man asked Blaire.
He was a big man, with a wide girth and sleepy eyes. I wasn’t sure how someone like this would be able to stop a criminal. Trinity would beat him in a footrace.
Blaire nodded. “Yes, that’s right. We just got a call right now, actually. I know I should’ve come earlier, but I wasn’t sure if it was anything serious. But I’m getting really frightened now.”
“Are you sure that the two things are related?” the man asked.
“Well, yes,” Blaire said. “I mean, I think so. They must be.”
“Of course it is,” I interrupted. “All these things have been happening at the same time.”
“And you don’t think it’s just some kids playing pranks? Trust me, the amount of times that it ends up being kids doing this sort of thing is more than you can imagine. I mean, it’s only been a knock on the door and a few calls. It’s not exactly life-threatening.”
“Not life threatening? What? So we’re supposed to just sit around and wait until it does become life threatening? Is that really what you’re telling me?” I asked.
I could feel myself getting angry, but the man in front of me barely blinked. He was either used to people getting upset at him or else he truly didn’t care. I had a strong suspicion that it was more the latter.
“Look, we get a million requests a day. You have to understand where we are coming from. What exactly are we supposed to do with something like this? Especially something that I’m almost certain is not a threatening situation. It’s probably just a prank. They’ll forget about it in no time.”
“Oh yeah? And if it’s not? Aren’t you part of the police force for a reason? Aren’t you supposed to be protecting us? I don’t understand why you are even here then. Surely prevention is better than cure. Can’t you trace the numbers? Can’t you get someone to watch over her?”
“I’m terribly sorry, sir, but that’s not possible. Imagine how short staffed we would be if we used all our resources on things like this. You have to understand where we are coming from.”
I shook my head.
“It’s okay,” Blaire said to me.
“No, it’s not okay. It’s really not okay,” I said. “This is ridiculous. This is absolute bullshit. I came here today because I thought that you could help her, but all you’re doing is sitting behind your desk and doing nothing. We’re nothing to you. You’re not here to save people. You’re just here to get paid. Ridiculous. Come on, Blaire; let’s go. There’s no point in us even being here!”
I took her and stormed out. I thought that perhaps the man would call us back and apologize. But he said nothing.
“This is so crazy,” I mumbled to myself as the two of us walked out.
“Oh, hey, you’re the married couple,” a police officer said as Blaire and I walked out. I had no idea what he was talking about, and at that moment the only thing I wanted to do was to get out of the station. I ignored him and kept on walking.
We got into the car and I turned toward Blaire.
“I’m so sorry about all of that. I was really hoping that they would be able to help you. I honestly thought that they would care. Stupid me.”
“Not stupid you!” Blaire said. “Stupid them. Anyway, thanks for trying, Ryan. I appreciate it.”
I shook my head. I wanted to do more than try. I wanted to help. “Well, it looks like you’re going to have to stay with me then. I’m not letting you stay here with some maniac around.”
“Oh, well . . .”
“Blaire, you don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do. But I’d rather know that you are safe while we figure this out.”
“Are you sure you don’t mind?” she asked.
“Are you kidding me? Of course, I don’t mind. I just spent a full week with you and I’m looking forward to spending more time with you. And you’ll really make me feel a whole lot better if you’re with me then if you’re in that big house all alone.”
She nodded and smiled. “Thanks, Ryan. I’d actually really appreciate that. Hey, what did they police guy mean when he called us a married couple?”
I shook my head. “Honestly? I have no idea. I was wondering the same thing. Maybe it’s because we look so good together?”
Blaire chuckled. “That must be it.”
“Good to see you smile, Blaire. Don’t worry. We’ll get to the bottom of this. I promise you.”
She nodded. “Thanks, Ryan.”
I started the car, showed my middle finger to the police building, and we made our way back to Blaire’s house. I parked the car and got out the car with trepidation. A part of me was worried that somebody was waiting to pounce on us, even though so far the person had proven to be cowardly in their dealings with Blaire. Still, just in case, I proceeded with caution. I took her bag out the car, and we made our way toward the front door.
“Oh wow, you’re popular,” I said as I saw a bunch of letters, magazines, and newspapers lying on the front of her door.
Blaire shook her head. “I wouldn’t be surprised if half of this is absolute garbage. I don’t know why they insist on putting it at my front door rather than in my mailbox.”
She gathered everything up, and we made our way into her house.
“Wait right here,” I said to her as she locked the door. “I’m going to just do a quick run through to make sure all the windows are still locked, and nothing is out of the ordinary.”
“Thanks, Ryan,” she said.
I walked around the house, checking to see if there was anything usual, but thankfully everything seemed fine. There was still a big possibility that the person behind the phone calls and the door knockings was just a silly kid playing a prank. But still, I wanted to make sure. I walked back downstairs.
“Everything seems fine,” I called out. But when Blaire didn’t answer, I knew something was up. I saw her standing there, a magazine in her hand, just staring at the front cover.
“What’s wrong?” I asked her and quickly rushed toward her. “Did something happen? Don’t tell me someone knocked again while I was upstairs?”
She shook her head and handed the magazine straight to me. I frowned as I took it from her. There, right on the front page, was a picture of myself and Blaire. I couldn’t quite figure out where the picture was from.
“What’s this?” I asked.
“Look at the headline.”
“RYAN FIGHTS FOR BLAIRE. HOT NEW COUPLE AND THEIR SECRET MARRIAGE,” I read. Then I looked at Blaire in confusion. “Marriage? Well, that’s new.”
“And look at the picture. It’s from that time we watched the fight together. When Nick was there. I remember wearing that outfit. I see that they conveniently cut Nick out of the picture altogether.”
“The first time I saw you after Wyoming?” I said. “Oh, you’re right. Hey, wait a second. Look at your hand. They’ve put a ring on your wedding finger. You weren’t wearing that on the night, were you?”
Blaire shook her head. “Definitely not. They put that on me. That’s the problem with the media these days. It’s so easy to create something false and have the whole world believe it to be true. And there’s a whole article inside about this secret marriage that you and I apparently have. I cannot believe someone sat down and wrote an entire article that they made up about us.”
I groaned. “What’s wrong with people? Do they not care at all about the truth anymore? Wow, there must be very little news out there in the world if this is what they are focusing on. I swear, people have nothing better to do with their time.”
“Tell me about it,” she said and sighed. “This is the last thing I need right now.”
“Do you think that the person that’s been harassing you and the person that wrote this article is the same person?” I asked suddenly as the idea came into my head. Maybe all it had been was the media trying to get into her head. I wouldn’t put it past them. They had, after al
l, just made up the entire thing.
Blaire shrugged. “I have no idea. Well, they’re certainly going to have a field day when they find out that I’m living with you for a few days.”
I chuckled. “Oh well, let them wonder. I actually don’t care right now.”
“Neither do I.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
Blaire
Ryan and I sat in the living room, looking at the magazine. We tried to keep it light hearted and joked about the fact that we had no idea that we were married, but it wasn’t easy. There was a strangeness to everything that had been going on lately. Perhaps nothing was even related to one another, but it all just piled up on top of one another to make it seem so. Between the phone calls, the knocking, Ryan’s diagnosis, and now this magazine headline, life just seemed all too much.
“Wasn’t life much simpler when we were in Seattle eating hot dogs?” I said.
Ryan sighed. “Much simpler. Maybe that’s what we should do. Retire somewhere far away and open up a little hot dog stand.”
“Yeah. We can eat hot dogs all day and get so fat that people stop recognizing us. You know, it’s not a bad idea.”
Ryan laughed. “Think we’d get sick of the hot dogs?”
“Not if we hired those same chefs from the Seattle branch. I think there’s some sort of drug in that food that makes it addictive. Man, this whole thing is so weird. So, what’s the plan now?”
“I definitely want you to come back with me still.”
“Are you sure?” I asked. I didn’t want to put him in an awkward position with the media now. “I mean, all eyes are going to be on us because of this magazine article. If you’d prefer me not to come and stay with you, I totally understand.”
He shook his head. “I honestly don’t care. If there’s one thing I’ve never worried about its what the media thought of me. I’ve had a lot of bad things being said about me in the past, and I’ve just ignored it. This is just another one of those things. Right now the only thing I worry about is you. So, why don’t you pack some things? I need to go and see Nick and tell him what’s been going on, so is there any chance you think Katie might come around?”
I nodded. “I’m glad you’re going to talk to Nick. And yeah, I don’t see why not. Let me call her quickly.”
I called Katie and asked her if she wouldn’t mind coming over. She seemed delighted and wanted to know all about what had happened in Seattle. She said she would be over within the next half hour.
“She’s a good friend,” Ryan said.
I grinned. “She sure is.”
We waited until she arrived, and then Ryan headed out to see Nick. I felt so bad that he had to deal with my issues on top of the issues he was dealing with himself. I figured that at least it gave him something else to think about, but I couldn’t imagine how stressed out he must be. He’d been dreading this conversation with Nick ever since he’d come back from his appointment with Reed.
“Thanks so much for coming over, Katie. And it’s good to see you again,” Ryan said to Katie when she arrived.
“Oh, I don’t mind at all. I couldn’t wait to see Blaire again, anyway. Is everything okay?” she asked suddenly as she looked between Ryan and me.
“I’ll explain,” I said to her. Then I looked at Ryan. “Good luck with today. See you soon.”
“Thanks, Blaire. I won’t be long.”
I closed the door and locked it behind me. Then I looked at Katie and shook my head. “So much to tell you.”
“I can tell. Everything okay?”
“Yeah, I need to pack though, so should we go to my room?”
“Pack? Why? You going away again?”
“Sort of. I’ll explain in the room.”
“Okay, well, do you want some coffee first? I’ll make quickly and bring some up for us.”
“Ah, Katie, that would be amazing. Thank you.”
I went upstairs and pulled a large suitcase out from the top of my closet. Katie came in several minutes later holding a cup of coffee, and I sat on the bed to enjoy it.
“This is great; thank you.”
“So what’s going on? How was Seattle? Are you going back?”
I shook my head. “No, we’re not going back. And Seattle was amazing. Ryan’s brother is awesome, and his niece is just the sweetest girl I’ve ever met. Oh, by the way, before I forget, it turns out I’m really good with kids. So you have yourself a babysitter!”
She laughed. “That’s good to know. So, where are you going?”
“To Ryan’s place.”
I told her all about the phone calls and the knocks on the door. She knew about most of them, but she didn’t know about the more recent stuff.
“What about the police? Did you go and see them?”
“We went straight to see them from the airport. I’d just gotten another weird call, and Ryan wanted us to go and find out what the police could do to help us. Turns out, they can’t do anything. They weren’t interested. Not at all.”
“Seriously? Nothing at all?”
“Nothing. They said it sounds too much like a prank, and that they can’t put all their resources into something that might turn out to be nothing.”
“So much for the support,” she said.
“Exactly. Ryan was really angry. Anyway, he doesn’t want me staying here by myself so he’s asked me to come and stay with him for a while. Just until we get to the bottom of what’s going on.”
“That’s very nice of him,” Katie said. “But, are you sure you don’t want to come and stay with Chris and me? We wouldn’t mind at all. You wouldn’t be putting us out.”
“Thanks, Katie. I appreciate that. I think I’m better off staying with Ryan. He’s home all the time so I won’t really be alone, and he said his house has great security. Look, this whole thing might just be a prank. There’s still a huge chance that we are all overreacting. But there’s also a small chance that it’s something more serious. And if it is, then we don’t want to take the chance of something happening. The last thing I want to do is to put you and Chris in any danger. Especially when the two of you are planning on having a baby. I don’t want some weirdo creeping around. And I know how busy the two of you are too.”
“Okay, I do understand you feeling safer with Ryan. But if you’re not okay with putting us in danger, then are you okay with putting him in danger?”
I hadn’t thought about that before. I actually didn’t realize that perhaps I would be putting Ryan in a situation that he didn’t deserve to be in. I shook my head and sighed.
“Of course I don’t want to put him in danger. I don’t want to put anyone in danger. But Ryan won’t hear of it. He really wants to be there for me. I already told him that he didn’t have to. Anyway, I’m still hoping that it’s nothing more than just a prank. Maybe some creepy fan who does this to all the actors that live nearby. I don’t know. I’m just going to have to be super careful.”
“Where did Ryan go now?”
“Katie, just keep this between us . . .” I started.
“You’re my best friend,” she said. “Of course I will keep this between us. What’s going on?”
I sighed. It was good to finally have someone to talk to about everything. “Ryan has been getting a lot of headaches, and he decided to go and visit his brother in Seattle. Reed is a neurosurgeon and brilliant at what he does. Anyway, Ryan went for a checkup. Reed did a CAT scan just to make sure that everything was okay. I think Ryan was downplaying the headaches all this time. Turns out he has head trauma.”
Katie’s eyes widened. “What? Head trauma? That’s awful. What does that mean for his fighting career?”
“That’s the thing; I don’t know. Reed said that fighting could put him in very serious danger. I’m worried that he’s going to fight regardless. You know what these guys are like. Fighting is their life. But I don’t know. We haven’t talked about it much. I think he’s still trying to process what’s going on. It’s a lot to take in. He’s on his wa
y to have a chat with Nick now. At least the two of them can discuss what to do going forward. I think he was really nervous for the talk.”
“Flip, Blaire, I’m so sorry. I had no idea all of this was going on. He seems like such a nice guy. The fact that he cares for you so much is great. Ah, I feel so bad for him. I don’t know him all that well, but even I can see how much fighting means to him. I wonder what Nick is going to say?”
I sighed. “I have no idea. Anyway, I better start packing.”
“How long are you going to stay with him?”
“I have no idea. Hopefully we can sort things out quickly. Have you seen the headlines by the way?” I asked. I stood up and started putting things into my suitcase. I had no idea what to pack, and my mind wasn’t even completely with it, so I just threw anything in and hoped for the best.
“Headlines? No. I haven’t really looked at any magazines lately, to be honest. Why? What’s going on?”
“Apparently,” I said, “Ryan and I got married in secret.”
“What? Why would anyone even make that up?”
I shrugged. “Someone clearly had no other news that day. They even wrote an article all about it. They used a photo from that night we went out for dinner at the local fighting arena. And they even doctored a ring on my finger. It’s so ridiculous.”
Katie groaned. “That’s crazy. Goes to show, you can never trust what you read. What did Ryan say about it all?”
I was just about to say something when I heard a knock on the door. I looked at Katie.
“Stay right here,” she said. “I’ll go.”
I wasn’t sure what Katie thought she could do better me, but in a way, I was grateful not to go myself. I nodded and held my breath until she got back. She came running up the stairs minutes later looking a little spooked.
“There was nobody there,” she said. “But this letter was lying on the floor.”
Dirty Roomie_A Maxwell Family Romance Page 58