Five

by Blythe, Jane

He couldn’t handle anther Ariyel.

  Her teenage years had had her defying him at every turn. Constructing fanciful delusions. Attempting at every turn to leave the safety of their home and live in the outside world.

  Still, if Alice turned out to be like Ariyel, then she would receive the same treatment that her big sister had.

  But Alice was the least of his concerns.

  How would he deal with Abby without Ariyel?

  The five-year-old was such an emotional little girl, and she clung to Ariyel, who was the only one who could calm her down most of the time.

  Then he would be stuck having to deal with an infant without her help, too.

  No. He simply wouldn’t allow anything to be wrong with Ariyel.

  Once the doctors stabilized her, he would whisk her and the little girls back home.

  She would get better, and their lives would go back to the way it had been before.

  He wasn't losing his daughters.

  He quite simply wouldn’t.

  Nothing was going to get in the way this time.

  Nothing.

  * * * * *

  10:28 P.M.

  While Maegan went to the bathroom, Laura went to find Jack. She found him at the nurses’ station, chatting away with one of the nurses.

  For a moment, she just stood and watched him. His blue eyes were twinkling, his dimples were showing, and he was waving his hands about as he spoke. He needed a haircut. His blond hair had grown too long and fell down into his eyes. Sure, Jack was hot, but she couldn’t have cared less about his looks. His heart was why she loved him. He was so dedicated to her and had been so patient with her, helping her carry her baggage as though it were his own. And she had a lot of baggage.

  Laura knew how lucky she was to have Jack in her life, and she wished so much that she could get better so he didn’t have to keep dealing with her problems.

  Jack caught sight of her and immediately finished off his conversation and hurried to her side. Once he reached her, he gave her an appraising glance and obviously didn’t like what he saw. Immediately, he grabbed her elbow and eased her down into a chair. “You need to sit,” he informed her.

  “I'm all right, Jack,” Laura murmured tiredly. Her head was still pounding, and now that Maegan was gone, she didn’t seem to have the strength to lock away the pain.

  “Mark is working tonight. I asked him to come down and check you out.” Jack was crouching in front of her, his face a picture of earnest concern.

  “I don’t need a doctor,” she protested. “And, even if I did, we’re in the emergency room; there are doctors everywhere. Your brother doesn’t have to stop what he’s doing to come down here and see me.” Jack’s youngest brother worked as a trauma surgeon in this hospital, and Laura was sure he had much more important things to do than seeing her.

  He tucked her hair behind her ear. “Yeah, but if we get one of the ER doctors to look at you, then you have to get admitted and wait your turn. This way, Mark can look you over right away and give you something for that headache,” Jack explained.

  “I don’t know, Jack.”

  “Laura, it’s not a request. Mark is coming down to check you out,” Jack stated firmly.

  “Okay,” she agreed, mainly because arguing about it took up more energy than she had right now.

  “You know it doesn’t make me feel better when you let me boss you around,” Jack informed her.

  “Sorry.” Laura took her husband’s hand and tugged him toward her. He stood and took the chair beside her and she leaned against him, resting her head on his shoulder and closing her eyes.

  “How did it go with that girl?” Jack asked, his fingers tracing absently up and down her arm. “Did she tell you what was going on with her?”

  “Yes, and she needs help, Jack. Serious help. Your kind of help,” she added.

  “What’s wrong with her?”

  “She says she was kidnapped five years ago, along with three other girls. She says the man who took her calls them his daughters and gave them new names. She said her real name is Maegan, but she wouldn’t tell me her last name or the real names of the other girls because she’s scared we won't be able to help her before this man, Malachi, takes them home,” Laura summarized.

  Jack blew a low whistle. “Well that’s quite a story. You believe her?”

  Laura didn’t even need to consider this. “Yes. She’s scared. She says this Malachi is crazy, but that he can be very convincing. She’s scared he’ll convince us she’s unbalanced.”

  “Is there a chance she is?” Jack asked.

  “No, I don’t think she’s delusional.”

  “I’ll call Xavier and ask him to come over so we can interview Maegan.”

  “Thanks, Jack.” Laura snuggled closer.

  “Just doing my job.”

  “I know, but you always go well beyond what’s required with your job. I really love you.” Her headache and stress were making her emotional, and Laura could feel herself getting teary.

  He pressed his lips to the top of her head. “I love you, too, angel. There’s Mark.”

  “Hi, guys,” Jack’s brother greeted them a moment later.

  “Thanks for coming down here,” Jack told him.

  “No problem.”

  “All right, I'm going to go and call Xavier and ask him to come down here so we can talk to the girl.” Carefully, Jack eased her off his chest, keeping an arm around her until he was convinced that she wasn't going to keel over. “Love you and I’ll be right back.” Jack gave her a quick kiss on the lips.

  “Hey, Laura,” Mark dropped into the seat beside her.

  “Hi, Mark.” She attempted to muster a smile. “Sorry Jack made you come down here; I'm fine.”

  “Let’s look you over and make sure of that.” Mark lifted her wrist and focused his gaze on his watch. “Everything going okay with your pregnancy?”

  “Fine.” Laura wanted to find a quiet, dark place and curl up in a bed and sleep for about a week.

  “Jack said you’ve been suffering from headaches,” Mark stated as he shined a light in her eyes.

  “Yep.”

  “When you get them, do you ever get nauseous?” Mark strapped a blood pressure cuff on her arm. Her brother-in-law didn’t bother asking her to pull up her sleeve because he knew she always wore long clothing to cover her scars. Laura didn’t even like Jack to see her naked. Scratch that, she didn’t even like to see herself naked. Her scars were a constant, inescapable reminder of what she’d been through.

  “Sometimes.”

  “Any sensitivity to light or sound?”

  Mark was starting to worry her with his questions. Was he suggesting something was wrong with her? Something other than a simple headache? “Sometimes the light bothers me.”

  “How long do they usually last?”

  She shrugged. “Several hours, sometimes a day or two. Why?”

  “Deep breath,” he instructed as he positioned a stethoscope on her back, ignoring her question. “Do you usually know when you’re going to get a headache?”

  “Most of the time I can feel it coming on.”

  “I think you're getting migraines,” he told her as he put the stethoscope around his neck and turned to study her.

  “I don’t get migraines,” she protested. “I never had them as a kid.”

  “I know.” Mark smiled at her. “We grew up together, remember? Migraines can be associated with post-traumatic stress disorder and can be brought on by psychological stress. Do you find you tend to get headaches when you're stressed and fatigued?”

  “Yeah, I do.”

  “Then I think we can probably give you a diagnosis of migraines. How bad is the pain right now? Do you think you need to take something for it?”

  She shook her head. “I don’t want to take anything that might harm the baby.”

  Mark shook his head. “You're in pain, that’s not good for the baby. I’ll get you some paracetamol; that’s perfectly safe. A lot
of women experience a decrease in migraines during pregnancy. It seems you're one of the unlucky ones. Once the baby’s born, there are preventative medications that you can take when you feel a migraine coming on. But there are other things you can do, like you can try to get yourself on a schedule of eating and sleeping regularly.” He shot her a pointed stare. “I know you struggle with that, but it’ll be good for you. Are you still seeing your therapist?”

  “No,” she answered in a small voice. Laura knew that she probably still needed counseling, but she wanted to believe that she had moved beyond that stage.

  “Maybe you should consider going back,” Mark said gently. “You still don’t sleep much, do you? How are the nightmares, are you still having them?”

  “Not so much anymore.”

  “More when you're stressed?”

  “Yeah, Jack usually tries to make me stick to a routine and go to bed the same time each night, but I don’t usually sleep more than four or five hours a night.” That was probably the hardest thing. The lack of sleep made everything else so much more difficult.

  “You don’t eat much, either.” Mark’s blond brows narrowed. “You need to work on that. And you shouldn’t have come tonight, should you? This is too much for you right now. Why do you keep putting yourself in situations you know are going to stress you out?”

  Laura shrugged. “Because I want to get better,” she replied.

  “Do you really think pushing yourself to the point where you make yourself physically ill is the way to do that? You just have to give yourself time.”

  “How much time?” She wished someone could give her a definitive answer to that. How long would it take her to get better? It would make it so much easier to struggle through each day if she knew exactly when it was going to end.

  “I'm sorry, honey, I can't answer that for you. No one can. Why are you in such a hurry? What you went through was horrific—you have to know that you're not going to get over it in a minute.”

  “It’s been way more than a minute; it’s been fifteen years.”

  “There’s no time frame for this kind of thing.” Mark took her hand and squeezed it. “It takes your mind longer than your body to heal. Laura, I wish I could snap my fingers and make everything better for you, but I can't. If you want the headaches to ease, though, you can try and avoid your triggers, which I'm guessing are stress. Why don’t you let Jack take you home, and you can try and get some sleep?”

  Rubbing at her eyes, sleep sounded fantastic right about now, but she couldn’t leave yet. Maegan needed her. “I can't. There was this girl and—”

  He cut her off with a sigh. “Yeah, yeah, Jack filled me in. If you won't go home, then I'm going to get you something for your headache, and then I'm going to see if they can set you up with a bed in Sofia’s room. You need rest, Laura,” Mark told her seriously. “You can't keep running on fumes indefinitely. So, consider yourself out for the night. If that girl needs to talk, she comes and sees you in your room.”

  Laura knew arguing with Mark was pointless; he’d already made up his mind. So, she merely nodded her assent, and Mark waved Jack back over.

  Her husband jogged to them and immediately sat beside her, tugging her into his lap. “So?” he looked to his brother.

  “I think she’s getting migraines.”

  “There’re things she can take for that, right? That can prevent her from getting them?”

  “There are preventative medications,” Mark agreed. “But some aren’t suitable to take while she’s pregnant. Still, she’s at thirty-five weeks so she doesn’t have much longer to go, and then she can see a doctor who will hopefully prescribe something that helps.”

  “Okay, we’ll set something up as soon as the baby’s born. Is there anything she can do to ease the headaches right now?”

  “She can try to avoid her triggers, which I'd guess are stress. And, Jack, she needs to rest. I'm serious.” Mark looked deadly serious. “She’s pushing herself too hard, and she’s going to make herself really sick if she doesn’t start easing up. I'm going to try and get a bed for her in Sofia’s room and you need to make sure she stays in it. Seriously, she’s done for the night. If that girl wants her, she goes and sees her there.”

  “Stop talking about me like I'm not here.” Laura hated when people did that.

  They ignored her. “I’ll make sure she stays in bed,” Jack said. “Xavier’s coming over because we need to interview this Maegan girl, but I’ll get Ryan to keep an eye on her.”

  “No one needs to keep an eye on me,” Laura objected.

  Again, the brothers paid her no mind. “And you're going to have to make sure she starts getting more rest,” Mark continued. “I know you're about to have a toddler and a newborn, but you're going to have to make it a priority. Jack, you're going to have to be firm with her. I know she’s stubborn, but it’s really important to her health.”

  “I’ll talk to Sofia about making sure her schedule at the women’s shelter gives her time during the day to take a nap.”

  “I'm not taking naps during the day; I have work to do. And when I'm at home, we have a toddler and housework and cooking.” Laura knew she was fighting a losing battle. If Jack wanted her to spend more time sleeping, he was going to be on her about it until she complied.

  “Okay, I have to go back to work, but if she gets any worse, then get someone to admit her; otherwise, keep her in bed, make her sleep, and then take her home in the morning. And maybe see if Mom and Dad can keep Zach another day or two so she can take it easy. I’ll come back down to check on her in a couple of hours,” Mark informed them.

  Laura groaned and gave up trying to include herself in the conversation. She was really tired. And Sofia’s hospital room would be quieter than the waiting area, which was a bonus.

  Maybe after she took the painkillers, her headache would go away, and she’d actually be able to grab a little sleep.

  Now that Jack and Xavier were going to take over helping Maegan, she could take a step back and leave the teenager in their capable hands. She’d still talk to the girl if Maegan needed her, but she’d probably be busy with the cops for a while.

  She was so tired.

  She just needed a little sleep.

  To recharge her batteries so she could help Maegan and her sisters.

  Closing her eyes, Laura was asleep before she even realized it.

  * * * * *

  10:39 P.M.

  Dr. Bruce Daniels watched as a tall, blond man carried a black-haired lady into Sofia’s hospital room.

  Bruce knew that the man was Sofia’s brother-in-law, Jack, and the woman was his wife, Laura. He knew every member of Sofia’s family, including the children and all her friends.

  He also knew their history.

  He knew about Laura’s assault when she was just twenty-years-old. And he knew that she suffered from agoraphobia. He was surprised to see her here tonight.

  Bruce liked Sofia’s sister-in-law; he felt sorry for her. If the men who hurt her weren’t already dead or in jail, he’d be tempted to take care of them himself.

  He wondered what was wrong with Laura. Was she simply asleep? Apparently, she didn’t sleep much; she suffered from insomnia and nightmares. Or maybe she was unconscious. Perhaps there was something wrong with her baby. Bruce sincerely hoped there wasn't. She deserved some happiness.

  He should go and check in with her.

  If nothing else, it would give him an excuse to go and see Sofia again.

  Sofia was his life.

  The center of his universe.

  It killed him that he couldn’t be around her all the time.

  But he knew he couldn’t.

  If he wasn't careful, they’d figure things out.

  And then he’d never get to see her again.

  It was a pure fluke that he’d gotten to see her tonight. He had been surprised—and thrilled—when he’d seen Ryan carrying her into the emergency room. Bruce had quickly claimed her as a patient.


  It had been a couple of years since they’d been in the same room, but he still got that wonderful feeling of peace and tranquility when he was around her.

  There had been a time when he had been so consumed by his feelings for her that he couldn’t resist making attempts to be around her all the time. He had visited her house regularly and left her gifts and letters so she would know how much she meant to him. But he’d realized he couldn’t do that all the time.

  And besides, he was so pleased that Sofia’s life was going so well these days that he felt like he could safely take a step back. She deserved some happiness after the despicable family she’d had to endure for most of her life. He was glad they had all been killed. Now, with her family out of the way, she was free to be happy. And happy, she was. She had a husband who adored her, two beautiful children, extended family who were infinitely better for her than her biological one, and wonderful friends.

  Well, except for that one friend.

  Detective Paige Hood.

  Sofia’s husband’s partner.

  She was one that needed watching.

  A few years ago, she and Ryan had had an affair. She had denied it, but he knew it was true. Fueled by fury that Sofia’s husband and friend would betray her, he’d unleashed his anger on Paige and attacked her. In fact, he had intended to kill her, but he’d been interrupted by Ryan, and Paige had survived. Still, his assault had served as a warning for the woman, and she had since kept her hands on her own husband and stayed away from Sofia’s.

  He still kept a close eye on the woman, ready to swoop in once again if she in any way threatened Sofia’s happiness.

  In fact, he kept tabs on all Sofia’s family and friends.

  It wasn't hard.

  He’d bought a house across the street from Sofia and Ryan’s so he could watch over her.

  He needed to watch over her.

  After all, she was all he had in the entire world.

  Without her, he would be completely alone.

  He often ached with the need to be close to her again. To be able to touch her and talk to her. But he kept his distance.

  The last few times he had visited her, he had scared her—unintentionally, of course. Bruce would never intentionally do anything to hurt or scare Sofia. However, his timing had been a little off. She had even shot at him. She missed, but it had been a wake-up call that she wasn't ready to know him yet. So, he had assured her that he meant her no harm, told her that he loved her, and then kept his distance.