Sighing deeply, Ridge stepped away from the counter and approached River, placing his hand on her upper arm. “I’m really sorry about all of this. Let’s just add this to the long list of reasons that I’m bad for you.”
“Oh hush, this isn’t your fault, though I do wish you had told me about it sooner. I knew that your mood changed every time you received one of the letters, but now that I know why I can understand. You want to keep Delilah safe and this is all out of your hands. It’s that superhero complex you have.”
“Some superhero I am. Glad I didn’t go that route with my costume.”
“I don’t know, I would have liked to see you in spandex, but the leather will do. . .for now.”
Delilah chose that moment to reach over and smack Ridge in the face with her makeshift balloon and he laughed as he tenderly took the glove from her hand and placed it on the counter.
He couldn’t anything more except gather the letters as River took his keys and situated herself and his daughter in the truck.
Placing the letters into a gallon-sized bag, Ridge closed up the house and made his way to his truck. He hoped that they were able to locate Penny soon or at least get some answers because his daughter deserved better than that. He didn’t want her to live her life in fear and there was only so much he could do about it.
***
The town sparkled in the dark night sky with the streetlights casting a warm glow on the sidewalks and the string lights draped over the main road created a dreamlike tunnel for the residents to walk through. To keep it family-friendly, the streets were lined with pumpkins and lanterns. River was in awe of its beauty as they began their trek in front of Angie’s diner and made their way up the four blocks. River had a hard time believing that it had been almost three months since she and her grandmother had stopped for lunch at the local eatery. Sue would have loved the decorations. Fall was her favorite holiday, but the facility she resided in didn’t think traveling for the night would be suitable for her. River understood, but she was still saddened knowing that Sue was sitting alone in her room while River traipsed around the town with her sexy neighbor and his daughter.
River recognized a few of the townsfolk as they passed by, many offering a small wave to Delilah, who would giggle and show off her pink teddy bear. River assumed that it was a gift from her mother and that was why she was so attached to the toy. While she spot cleaned it the other day after a mishap with some macaroni and cheese, Delilah had been inconsolable until the bear was returned to her.
“I see Preston up ahead. I want to talk to him about the notes.”
“Sure. Do you want me to take Delilah around?”
“That’s alright. I don’t think we’ll be long. It’s not like she’s getting candy anyway.”
That was true. Ridge had been side-stepping any candy offerings since his daughter was so young. River may have grabbed a few pieces as tribute. She couldn’t deny her sweet tooth, something she inherited from her grandmother.
“Sheriff, good to see you. Did you get my message?” Ridge asked the tall man that looked more like a model than a cop. He stood with a beautiful woman dressed as a pink Power Ranger and a little boy who wore the same in blue.
“I did. You said there were paper cut outs this time?”
“Yes, each of these seven envelopes contained a cut out letter from a magazine. There was a T, E, D, H, S, Y, and C. I put everything in this bag,” Ridge explained as he reached into the diaper bag under the stroller and pulled free a clear sealed bag.
“Hopefully, this will get things moving in the right direction.”
“Let’s hope because I honestly don’t know what else to except stake out my mailbox or move.”
“We don’t want it to come to that, but we can start reviewing your security footage more frequently. We’re lucky that things haven’t escalated much farther than the letters.”
“For now,” Ridge mumbled and River felt an uncontrollable urge to hug him. Instead, she settled for reaching forward and grabbing his hand in hers. He immediately squeezed her fingers in reassurance.
Preston nodded in understanding, then waved over someone in the distance.
“This is my deputy, Alexis. You may have seen her around a few times. I’m going to hand this off to her since she’s on duty.”
River and Ridge shook hands with the petite woman that had a fierce look in her eye. Behind her, a beagle patient sat and waited with a red leash tethering him to Alexis.
“It’s nice to meet you all. Preston has kept me up to speed on everything, so after my rotation tonight, I’ll take these in for evidence.”
“Dog!” Delilah shouted as she rocked back and forth in excitement at seeing the animal.
“Yes, this is our new detection training dog Brody. We just started working with him about a week ago.”
At the snap of Alexis’ fingers, Brody jumped up and wiggled toward Delilah, placing his front paws on her stroller to get a better look at Ridge’s daughter. Alexis reprimanded him with the command to get down and the dog dutifully complied. Brody sat on his bottom, his tail sliding back and forth against the sidewalk as he stared at Delilah.
“I’m trying to get him used to crowds. Obviously, we have a lot of work to do, but he’s been doing great so far in his training. He’ll be a good addition to the team.”
“No doubt. Well, thank you both and please let me know if you find anything at all. Preston, we can go over the security footage whenever you have the time. We probably want to get a camera on River’s house as well. Some of the letters have been found in her mailbox.”
The more River thought about it, the more she wondered if whoever was dropping off the letters wasn’t quite sure which house was his. Some of the other neighbors may have received letters as well.
She voiced her theory to the sheriff and he agreed to ask around their neighborhood the next day.
The group parted and continued to make their way around the town. Delilah had fallen asleep before Ridge’s cousin and his band went on stage. Though she was a bit excited to watch her favorite band's surprise performance, she would much rather spend her evening with the firefighter turned pirate.
Maybe she could convince him to stay in character just a while longer.
Chapter Eleven
Since the letters' arrival on Halloween, Ridge had been on edge – more so than usual. Anytime he left his house, he had been on high alert. He couldn’t even take Delilah to the park without continuously looking over his shoulder.
Just that afternoon, he had been pushing his daughter in one of the swings at the local park with a few other parents with non-school aged children when a woman with dark, almost black hair caught his eye. She was standing on the outskirts of the gated, just far enough away that Ridge couldn’t make out her features, but she reminded him of Penny. Penny’s hair had always had a light brown hue, similar to that of his daughter’s, but he couldn’t rule out that she may have colored it.
The woman must have sensed Ridge’s stare because she quickly turned away from the park and began walking toward the tree line. With his daughter close by he couldn’t risk going after the woman, even if just to confirm if it was his ex, so he grabbed his phone from his back pocket and sent a message to Preston. The Sheriff said that he would send one of his deputies out to search the area.
The woman had disappeared into the forest, but Ridge couldn’t shake her from his mind. The more he thought about it, the less he felt like it had been Penny. Her height was about right, but her gait had been all wrong. Penny used to walk with serene elegance, the kind that made people stop and pay attention. She had an air about her that always drew someone’s eye. This woman had seemed fragile and weak, and most of all, she seemed harried. It reminded him of a cornered stray animal ready to fight for its life.
“Dada!” Delilah called out, bringing his attention back to her. With his eyes trained on the unfamiliar woman, he had stopped pushing the swing, which had sense stopped moving.
“I’m sorry, sweet pea.” Ridge apologized and pushed the swing a few more times. It was late in the afternoon and he was killing time until he needed to head home and make dinner for his girls.
His girls. That’s how he thought of River and Delilah. She was no longer just his neighbor or Delilah’s daycare provider; she was an essential part of his life. And his daughter’s. Ridge had even noticed a few times Delilah tried to call River, "Mama.” He wasn’t sure how River would react to that, when, or if it happened.
“Let’s get home and make dinner. You can even help me tonight.”
His daughter smiled up at him as he tugged her free of the swing and carried her back to their truck.
The meatloaf dinner, a recipe he got from his Aunt Amy, had been a hit with both River and Delilah. After the meal, they worked together to give his daughter a bath.
“It seems you all had a big afternoon; she’s been yawning since I got here.”
“We had a big day of swinging and playing in the sandbox.”
“I bet you’re a bit tuckered out, too,” she claimed as she carried a drowsy Delilah over to the couch where an animated movie was playing.
He thought back to the woman he had seen earlier and remembering how that sense of fear drained all of his energy. He was sure that it was showing on his face. It was something River would have picked up on.
“I’ll be fine. Nothing a short nap won’t solve.”
He didn’t have much time to get ready for work, just long enough to take a shower and get changed. Ridge wished that he could spend more time with River, but they were used to this routine by now.
By the time he emerged from his room freshly cleansed and changed, Delilah was almost asleep in River’s lap. She tried to get up without disturbing his daughter, but Ridge gestured for her to stay where she was. He went to them and kissed Delilah on the head, then brought his lips to River’s. He didn’t know what possessed him, but he deepened their kiss, driving his hand into the dark strands of her hair.
“Damn, I love you like this.”
With a dazed look on her face, River stared up at him with a small grin. “And how is that exactly?”
“Relaxed on my couch with my daughter and freshly puckered lips from yours truly.”
“Yes, I can see why that would be appealing to you.”
“Smart mouth,” he joked as he kissed her again, quickly this time, then stood back. “I’ll see you in the morning.”
“Bye, Ridge. Be careful.”
“Always.”
The night was dragging on at the station. Despite a couple of hours of sleep, Ridge had spent most of the midnight hour playing a solitaire game while the rest of his crew slept.
Just when Ridge had resigned himself to catching a few more hours of sleep, the alarm sounded in the fire station. Carefully he listened to the dispatch: multi-car accident, potential ejection from the vehicle, possible fire on the scene, police en route to highway 417 requesting fire and EMS.
It took only a matter of minutes for Ridge and the rest of his team to don their equipment and prepare the truck and ambulance. Living in such a small town, their team was required to handle both fire and EMS. Thankfully they had all been trained and recently certified as paramedics.
On the way to the accident, Ridge reached out to his uncle, who was aware and setting up the volunteer call tree.
When they arrived on the scene, Ridge was amazed at the destruction before him. Six cars were involved in the accident, which looked like someone was driving the wrong way down the highway.
Together with the police, his crew went to work assessing the vehicles and searching the cars for any occupants.
As if the damage from the accident causing a pile-up on the only highway in the area, Ridge noticed an empty car seat dangling from the back of a crushed sedan that was missing its door. He approached the vehicle and assessed if there was an ejection but noticed the smell of gasoline tickle his nose. Within a split second, the car exploded before him, a fire that had him running back to the truck.
It took his team three hours to get the fire under control and establish the paperwork to determine what had happened. The young woman that had been driving the car causing the accident had been over the legal blood alcohol level, as was her partner. Both were in handcuffs being escorted into the back of a police vehicle.
Paramedics from the neighboring towns had joined their efforts and had been busy working on the other twenty people injured in the crash. While he had been busy fighting the fire, the medical team had been hard at work trying to save lives.
Muscles and bones ached as he drove the fire engine back to the department, his uncle following behind in his personal vehicle. The man may be close to retirement, but he was the first to show up whenever he was needed. The last time he had felt this tired was when he had sheltered beneath the fire blanket in San Rios.
“Why don’t you all head home? I’ll man the calls until the next shift,” the chief said as a command.
“Yeah, okay.” Ridge wasn’t going to argue. And as he drove his truck home, he knew without a doubt that there was only one woman he wanted to see.
***
River was having the best kind of dream. It involved her and Ridge on a private island where they made love under the moonlight and soaked in the sunshine while servers catered to their every whim. She snuggled deeper into his bed, the sheets smelling like him and offering her a sense of comfort in his absence.
She had long given up fighting him to sleep in his bed on the nights she stayed at his house to watch his daughter. River didn’t dare tell him that she preferred his bed over hers anyway. But she did make it a point to spend a few nights at her place, just to make sure they were keeping things as casual as possible.
Like the slight touch of a feather, River felt a caress on her cheek. The contact pulled her away from her dream and into the state of semi-sleep, that transition between consciousness and REM.
“River.”
Her name was said on the barest of whispers, a gentle longing that caused her to open her eyes to the darkness of the room.
“Ridge?” she questioned, knowing that it was long before he was due home.
It took her a moment to come fully awake. Then she noticed in the moonlight the forlorn appearance on his face. He was kneeling on the floor beside the bed, his chin resting on the mattress just a few inches from hers. Lovingly she reached over and stroked her fingers through his hair, his head following her touch.
“What’s the matter? Is everything okay?” she whispered to him.
“Yeah,” he said, reaching for the hand that had been in his hair and bringing the tips of her fingers to his lips. “It was a rough night and I needed to see you.”
“Why don’t you get in bed and tell me what happened?” River pulled aside the sheets and Ridge quickly removed his shirt and pants, slipping under the covers clad in only his boxers.
She waited patiently for him to settle into bed, moving her body closer to his and resting her head on his chest. His steady breathing was enough to lull her back to sleep, but the rapid pounding of his heart was like a bass drum beneath her ear.
“We got called to a horrible accident on the highway tonight, six cars involved. A drunk driver going down the highway in the wrong direction.
“We’re trained on what to anticipate when we arrive at the scene to a crash like that, but I don’t think any of us were prepared. There were a few minor injuries and one of the men had to be transported to the hospital for care, but the worst. . .” he said, unable to finish his sentence as he became choked up. River didn’t look up, but she could tell that he had reached up to wipe away tears.
“The worst was that two children died at the scene. The family was on their way to Florida for a vacation and the older child had been thrown from the van during the crash. His mother explained he had laid down in the back seat to sleep, undoing his seat belt. And the baby. . .the baby wasn’t latched into the car seat p
roperly.
“Their van had taken the brunt force of the crash, flipping a few times which caused the expulsion. It actually burst into flames when I arrived. But I can’t get over the mother’s cries. It’s one of the worst things I’ve ever experienced and all I could think about was rushing back home to Delilah. And to you.”
River was speechless. He had witnessed something truly horrific, something she wouldn’t wish on anyone, and he had thought of her. All she wanted to do was comfort him and this agony he had just been through, but she couldn’t stop her heart from soaring at the same time. She was stuck feeling elated and guilty at the same time.
“I didn’t mean to unload that on you. We usually have a therapist come in after a scenario like that to talk over things, but I couldn’t keep it bottled up until tomorrow.”
River moved her body until she was resting on her elbows on his chest and able to look him in the eye. Though the room was blanketed in shadows, she could see that his eyes were tormented, something that she wanted to help relieve him of.
“I’m glad you told me, Ridge. You shouldn’t keep something like that bottled up. Did you have a chance to see Delilah yet?”
“Yeah, I stopped in her room first when I got home and watched her sleep for a while. At first, I thought I had woken her, but she was reaching for her teddy.”
“Can I do anything for you?” River asked as she leaned down and pressed a kiss to his chest that smelled like a mix of sweat and smoke.
“Just be with me, like this.”
Snaking her hand down to the powerful muscle resting between his legs, River asks as she wraps her fingers around his girth, “What about like this?”
Ridge moved his hand into her hair and tugged it firmly to align her lips with his. “I certainly wouldn’t complain.”
Returning his kiss, River stroked her hand up and down his shaft, reveling in her ability to harden his cock until it stood proudly against her thigh. A bead of moisture leaked from the tip of the head and she smeared it along the velvety skin.
Behind the Flame: An Everyday Heroes World Book (The Everyday Heroes World) Page 11