by Blythe, Jane
However, that wasn't going to help them find him quickly. Those things would take time to find out and then investigate. By then, Malachi could have disappeared, be gone forever. He was clearly clever enough to interact with others without arousing suspicions.
With the bank statements, they could monitor his accounts, then they’d know if he withdrew anything and possibly locate him that way. Although if he was smart, Malachi would have other accounts that he had access to, perhaps even cash hidden in his house in case he needed to make a quick getaway.
So, while their search of his files had produced evidence that might eventually lead them to Malachi, there was nothing that would get them there quickly. And they needed something quickly. Of course, the house would be searched more thoroughly, and more evidence may turn up that would help, but for now, they may as well head back to the hospital. Their most useful resources were still Maegan and Eliza.
“I agree,” his brother nodded then yawned. “We may as well head back to the hospital, check on Laura and Sofia, then we can work Maegan and Eliza and see if they can tell us something that would indicate where he’d go.”
Ryan stood. “That way we can keep an eye on Paige, too.” He was so concerned about his partner, it was hard not to let his fears dominate his thoughts. Not only was he scared that the stalker would get to her and kill her, but he was also worried about what would happen to Sofia if her stalker killed Paige. He didn’t want to lose his partner and best friend and he didn’t want to see his wife consumed with unwarranted guilt. The stalker needed to be stopped.
“I'm going to run upstairs and grab the laptop. We can go through it at the hospital with Paige. That way we can watch over her without making her feel like we’re babysitting her,” Jack announced.
“Okay, I’ll stack up what we have here and meet you at the car.”
Ryan had gathered all the paperwork from the office and was halfway to the front door when the house suddenly exploded.
The ground shook.
Bits of the ceiling came crashing down.
Fires started up in several locations.
Knocked to his knees by the force of the explosion, he clambered to his feet. “Jack!” he yelled, heading for the stairs.
His brother didn’t answer.
Fighting a stab of fear, Ryan took the stairs two at a time, heading for Malachi’s bedroom.
There he found his brother lying on his stomach on the floor by the window.
He wasn't moving.
In the explosion, a tree had come crashing through the window, seemingly hitting Jack and knocking him out.
His brother better not be dead. No way did Ryan want to face Laura and tell her that her husband had died.
Hurrying to his brother’s side, Ryan knelt, pressing his fingers to Jack’s neck. He detected a pulse, but his brother still wasn’t stirring. Carefully rolling him over, he noticed a bloody head wound, but other than that, he couldn’t see anything of immediate concern.
Around them, Ryan could hear the crackling of the fire as it quickly spread throughout the house.
They had to get out now.
Only, getting his brother out wasn't going to be easy.
Jack was only eighteen months older than him and they had been pretty much the same size since they were teenagers.
And right now, Jack was unconscious—a dead weight.
If it had been his partner here with him, he simply would have picked Paige up and carried her out of here, but that wasn't going to work with Jack.
He needed his brother to wake up.
Like right now would be good.
He slapped at Jack’s cheek. “Jack. Wake up.”
No response.
The floor beneath them felt like it was starting to weaken. There wasn't time to wait any longer. The fire was eating away at the house. Ryan was sure that help would already be on the way, but he didn’t have time to wait.
Hooking an arm around Jack’s shoulders, he managed to haul him up to his feet. Hoisting his brother over his shoulders in a fireman’s carry, he hurried to the door and out into the hall.
Flames were dancing in both bedrooms on the other side of the hallway and Ryan noticed a huge hole in the floor.
Had that hole been there when he’d come up looking for Jack or had the house disintegrated that quickly?
He wasn't sure. When he’d come up, his sole focus had been finding his brother.
Carrying Jack, he maneuvered around the hole in the floor and somehow managed to get both of them down the stairs.
The first floor was full of smoke. Thick smoke. Making visibility extremely low.
The fire was raging down here, making Ryan think that Malachi had used some sort of accelerant.
He must have doused the house when he was here earlier collecting his things. He must have figured that now that they had the girls, they’d find the house and wanted to make sure any evidence he’d left behind was destroyed.
Ryan was figuring that Malachi had to have set a bomb on a timer. Given himself enough time to flee then wiping away any traces the house held of the girls he’d kidnapped.
He was also wondering whether Malachi had hoped to take out a few police officers along the way.
Needing to pause to catch his breath, Ryan lowered his brother to the floor, then fell to his knees beside him. Dropping onto all fours, he attempted to drag what oxygen the fire hadn’t devoured into his burning lungs. The smoke along with the strain of dragging his brother through the house was wearing him out.
Heat from the fire was debilitating. Sweat poured down his back and dripped down his forehead into his eyes, making them sting.
Jack still wasn't moving, and Ryan was weakening, but leaving his brother behind was not an option. Not only would it devastate him and his entire family to lose Jack, but there was no way Ryan could ever face Laura again if he didn’t get her husband out alive.
“Come on, Jack,” he begged.
Again, there was no response.
Fear was niggling relentlessly at him. How serious were Jack’s head injuries? Did he have other injuries? It would have been preferable to leave Jack for the paramedics to move, but that was not an option. Getting out of the burning building was their number one priority.
Eyes stinging, Ryan straightened, grabbed Jack under the arms and began to drag him toward the door.
It wasn't too far.
And there was no more time to rest.
They had to get out before the whole building collapsed.
Already as they moved, Ryan could feel the house around them weakening.
The flames were everywhere.
Eating at the building relentlessly.
Destroying everything in their path.
Dodging several patches of burning floor, Ryan got both himself and his brother to the front door.
Out in the cold night, Ryan choked as his aching lungs attempted to suck in as much fresh air as they could hold.
He paused only for a moment. It wasn't safe to remain close to the house. It was a raging inferno by this point. He had to get his brother as far away as possible.
Taking hold of Jack’s shoulders once more, he pulled him down the driveway and out onto the street where he was met with the sound of sirens.
Help was coming. Although it would have been too late to save them if they’d waited inside.
Behind them, with an almighty crash, Malachi’s house imploded.
Sinking down to rest against the side of his car, Ryan focused on calming his ragged breathing.
Beside him, Jack moaned.
Ryan kneeled over his brother. “Jack?”
“Ryan?” Jack sounded groggy and disoriented.
“I'm here,” he assured him, his voice a hoarse croak, throat raw from all the smoke he’d inhaled.
“What happened?” Jack’s eyes struggled open, and he tried to sit up.
He held his brother down. “Don’t move,” he instructed. “The house exploded, and you were
knocked out.”
“I smell smoke.”
“House is on fire.”
Jack nodded and sank back down against the asphalt.
Ryan relaxed a little. Despite the lump on his brother’s head and the gash that would no doubt need stitches, Jack appeared lucid and coherent. He’d most likely avoided a concussion.
The house along with any secrets it held were gone.
Malachi probably thought he had won. Outsmarted them.
But he was wrong.
He and Jack hadn’t been killed in the fire, and they still had their most valuable tool of all. Eliza Donnan. Ryan was positive that her drug overdose had been intentional. And not administered by either Malachi or Maegan.
Eliza was the key to finding Malachi.
Now, they just had to convince her that she was safe so she would tell them what she knew.
* * * * *
1:33 A.M.
“Paige?”
“Yeah, honey?” Paige looked down at the little girl in her lap. Hayley had refused to leave her since she’d found the children in the play therapy room.
She had carried Hayley and Arianna as they'd made their way back to the ER. Tired, overwhelmed, and as she reluctantly admitted to herself, scared, Paige had trusted Xavier to watch out for the stalker. In the emergency room, he had put them all in the office, forbidden her to leave the room unless he was with her, and put an officer on the door.
Someone had brought them a baby carrier and some formula, and Paige had fed, changed, and put Arianna to sleep all while balancing Hayley on one knee.
“Can I go and see Eliza?” Hayley asked.
“Not right now, sweetie.” Xavier was still in with Eliza. Hopefully, he was making progress with her.
“Are you sure it’s okay to use our real names?” Hayley continued, her big blue eyes more serious than a little girl of five should ever be.
“I'm positive.”
“But it will make Malachi mad,” the child protested.
Paige squeezed Hayley tightly. “You don’t have to worry about Malachi ever again,” she promised.
Before Hayley could respond, the door opened, and Paige instantly tensed, part of her thinking it was going to be the stalker. But it wasn't. Laura and Maegan entered the room.
“Maegan,” Bethany smiled and bounded to her feet, throwing herself at the older girl.
“Laura told me you guys were here. Are you okay?” Maegan hugged Bethany.
“We’re fine,” Bethany assured her.
In her lap, Hayley was looking conflicted, not quite wanting to leave Paige’s arms just yet but also wanting to go to Maegan. Paige made the decision for her. “Go say hi.” Paige set the little girl down and watched as Maegan picked her up and Hayley wrapped her thin little arms around her neck. Tears pricked at her eyes. She was getting attached to Hayley already and that was a mistake.
“You okay?” Laura asked quietly as she sat down.
She nodded because her throat was too tight to squeeze out any words.
“No, you're not,” Laura contradicted. “I'm so sorry, Paige. Jack told me how the adoption fell through.”
She was way too transparent these days. She hadn’t told anyone other than Ryan, yet everyone seemed to know. “Did he also tell you I'm not going through that again?”
“Yeah, he did, but you're not thinking straight right now. Give it some time; something will work out.”
“No, it won't. I have to accept that, or I’ll never be able to move on.” Paige couldn’t take her eyes off the girls. Hayley had no family who could care for her, and Paige felt a connection to the child. She wanted to entertain the notion of becoming a foster parent so Hayley could live with them. She and Elias had talked about fostering before. But she just didn’t think she could cope with any more disappointment. It was better not to get her hopes up. Besides, someone wanted to kill her, that was hardly the environment for anyone to place a child into.
Laura followed her gaze. “Jack told me about Hayley,” Laura said. “Her parents are dead, and she only has a grandmother who can't care for her. You and Elias could take her. She seems to really like you, and Maegan said that she’s usually very clingy to Eliza.”
“She wouldn’t be safe with me,” Paige murmured. The stalker was ruining her life. Again. She couldn’t take any more of it.
“Paige, look at me.” Laura’s voice had lost its soothing gentleness and gone deadly serious.
Complying, she found Laura’s violet eyes full of fearful concern.
“Are you thinking of making yourself bait?” Laura asked.
Surprised that Laura had figured that out, although she shouldn’t be, Laura was extremely intuitive. She shrugged. “I can't live like this anymore.”
“Paige, I get it, I really do. I know how I felt when someone was hurting and killing people to get to me. The fear of knowing he would come after me at some point was like a weight crushing down on me. But it’s too dangerous. Something could go wrong. He could get to you. When you guys tried to use me as bait, Rose was killed.”
She winced at the reminder of her friend. She was already struggling to keep control of her emotions, and thinking of Rose again was making it harder.
“I'm sorry, Paige. I know how much you miss her. Jack does, too. But it’s too risky, no one wants to lose you. You just have to keep faith. We’ll find him, don’t do anything rash. Promise me, Paige.”
She wanted to. She didn’t want Laura or anyone else worrying about her, but she just couldn’t go on this way. “I’m sorry, Laura. I can't promise that.”
“The boys aren’t going to let you do it,” Laura contested desperately.
“I'm not going to tell them. And even if I did they can't stop me.”
“Paige, they’ll keep you safe until they find him.”
Paige shook her head. “I can't live with them hovering at my side like bodyguards until we get him.”
“Paige,” Laura protested.
“Please don’t tell Jack. He and Ryan and Xavier are likely to try to forcibly lock me away somewhere if they know that I want to try and trap him.”
Before Laura could agree or disagree to keep her secret, there was a knock at the door. Again, Paige tensed, wondering whether she would ever relax again.
An officer appeared as the door opened. “I have Bethany Christian’s parents out here,” he announced.
Bethany froze, her face a mixture of excitement and apprehension. “They’re here?” she repeated.
“It’s okay, Bethie,” Maegan assured her. “I'm a little scared about seeing my family again, too.”
Hayley came back over and climbed into Paige’s lap, resting her little head on her shoulder. “Everything okay, honey?” Paige asked her. The little girl nodded, but she sensed that wasn't true.
“I’ll go with Bethany,” Laura volunteered, standing and gesturing to the two older girls.
“What’s wrong, Hayley?” Paige asked when they were alone.
“Bethany’s going home with her mommy and daddy?”
“Yes, she is.”
“And Maegan and Eliza, too?”
“That’s right.” Paige wondered where this was heading.
“Am I going home, too?”
“I’m sorry, baby … but your mommy and daddy died,” she told the child gently.
“What’s going to happen to me?” Hayley asked solemnly.
“Well, you have a grandmother.”
“Am I going to live with her?”
“I don’t think so, honey. Your grandmother is old and sick, but we’ll find a wonderful home for you.”
The little girl tilted her head up to look at her. “Can't I live with you?”
Fighting back tears, Paige so desperately wanted to say yes to that. “I don’t think so, sweetheart.”
“But what if the home I go to is scary, like my last home?”
“It won't be, I promise. We will find you a fabulous home with the best mommy and daddy.” Paige hoped t
hat was true. This little girl was unlike any other child she had ever dealt with. She deserved the best. “Why don’t you close your eyes and try to get some sleep; it’s very late.”
Obediently, the little girl rested her head on Paige’s shoulder again and closed her eyes. Hayley must have been exhausted. Within a couple of minutes, her little body relaxed in sleep. Stroking the child’s hair, Paige studied her. For the first time since she’d found the girls, Hayley's face had lost its worry lines. The little girl was so serious. Paige wanted to pick her up and take her home and make her feel safe and loved and teach her how to be a happy, carefree, normal five-year-old, to give her the kind of childhood Paige and her brothers and sister had had.
“Everything okay in here?” Laura asked as she and Maegan returned.
Too overwhelmed to talk, Paige just looked at her friend. Why was life so cruel sometimes? It felt like the universe was deliberately torturing her.
Apparently, Laura read that in her face. “Maegan, can you go get some blankets for Hayley?”
Sensing something was up, Maegan nodded. “Sure.”
“Make sure an officer stays with you at all times,” Laura added.
“I will,” Maegan assured her with only a small eye roll, despite everything she had been through the girl was still a teenager.
“Aren't you supposed to be in bed?” Paige asked wearily as Laura sat beside her.
“Shh, don’t tell Jack.” Laura gave her a small smile.
“That depends,” Paige began warily, “on whether you're going to tell him what I want to do.”
She sighed. “Honestly, I don’t know, Paige. I'm your friend, and I don’t want you to feel like you can't talk to me with the expectation of privacy. And I don’t want you to not talk to me in the future because you don’t trust me. But, on the other hand, I am extremely concerned about you. And not just your physical safety. And I don’t want to say nothing and then something happens to you.”
“It’s my choice,” Paige protested.
“Did you tell Elias what you're thinking of doing?”
No, she hadn’t. And she didn’t intend to. Her husband would be totally in sync with the guys in attempting to forbid her to do it. “I'm a big girl; I can make my own decisions.”