by Mia Taylor
Since she’d been released from the hospital, she hadn’t been able to get a moment of peace no matter where she went. The media was determined to get her take on what had happened that afternoon, no matter how many times she told them she didn’t remember.
Why won’t they leave me alone?
“God, they are so annoying!” Sasha moaned. “Why don’t you just talk to them? If you give them something, they’ll get off your case.”
Lily eyed her friend with a modicum of contempt.
We know you have no problem talking to the press at any opportunity, she thought with some bitterness. In the aftermath of what had happened, Lily had hoped that Sasha would respect her need for privacy, but instead, she had been true to form and sat down with any reporter who would listen to her.
“I wish you’d tell me something,” Sasha moaned as they made their way into the elevator. “You can talk to me, you know? I was out of my mind with worry when you were held captive. I thought you were dead. I cried the entire time!”
Leave it to Sasha to make it about her.
“Sorry for all your troubles,” Lily muttered, stepping off on her floor. “Have you talked to your therapist about all your trauma?”
Sasha either intentionally or obliviously missed her sarcasm.
“I don’t have an appointment until Friday,” she sighed. “I am so stressed out! Between the wedding and you being hounded after that horrible robbery… Dr. Wilkes will probably have to up my Xanax script.”
Lily was regretting agreeing to meet with Sasha already. They hadn’t been together an hour and Lily’s nerves were fraying.
She didn’t comment as she unlocked her apartment door, allowing herself inside first, Sasha at her heels.
Sasha wrinkled her nose.
“This place is a mess!” she whined. “Don’t you have someone to keep it for you?”
Lily ground her teeth together to keep from screaming.
“No, Sash. I teach kids online. I’m home most of the time,” she reminded her.
And I don’t have a rich fiancé to supplement my income.
“You can tell someone is here all the time,” she retorted. “It stinks. Open a window.”
Lily glared at her. Her unit was messy at worst. Sasha was acting like it was the inside of a slaughterhouse.
“Maybe we should reschedule our girl time,” Lily muttered, wondering why she had envisioned the day going any other way. The truth was, she had only agreed to meet with Sasha because she didn’t want to be alone.
“What?” Sasha cried. “You need me! I’m not going anywhere. Anyway, I never did get those samples you were supposed to bring over on the day of the robbery. Where are they?”
Ah. There’s the real reason she’s here.
“I left them at LoveDove’s—with the cupcakes.”
Oh. My red velvet.
Sasha gaped at her.
“You just left my samples with Charles? That man is the biggest slob in the world! They have to be ruined by now!”
You will not scream at her, even if your nerves are ready to snap.
“What were you thinking?” Sasha continued, sighing like Lily was a child who needed to be reprimanded. “Is this robbery thing going to make things worse? I mean, you weren’t the most organized person to begin with, but now…”
“I left them there before the robbery,” Lily told her, knowing that wasn’t helping her cause.
“Jesus, Lily.” Sasha’s face took on a look of faux concern and she leaned across the couch to tap the cushion.
“Why don’t you come and relax. I’ll call my masseur for an appointment.”
Lily arched an eyebrow, wondering what the opportunist was up to.
“Why?” she asked before she could think of a more tactful way to present the question.
“Why what?”
“Why a massage?”
Sasha shrugged.
“I just thought it would be nice.”
Lily continued to stare at her with a deadpan expression.
“What?” Sasha demanded. “I’m trying to help you regain your memories. The doctors say it’s psychosomatic, that there’s no real reason for you to have blocked out your memories. The trauma of what happened must have caused the mental block.”
Lily’s jaw twitched with anger.
She just wants to sell my story to the papers first, she realized, her shoulders tensing.
“Sasha, you should go.”
The bride-to-be stared at her with a stunned expression.
“Why?”
“Because if you don’t, I’m going to slap you,” Lily muttered and Sasha’s eyes bugged out of her head.
“Pardon me!” she gasped, a hand flying to her chest in dramatic offense. “How dare you!”
“Get out, Sasha,” Lily said coldly, pointing toward the door. “And find another maid of honor.”
Sasha’s face was translucent as fury lit her eyes.
“You know what? You’re ungrateful,” she spat. “You’re lucky I asked you to be in my wedding at all, but you’re a brat.”
“Then I’m doing you a favor,” Lily replied evenly. “Please go.”
Sasha stomped toward the door, her cheeks regaining their color plus an additional flush of red.
“I think the doctors are wrong,” she hissed. “I think you do have brain damage.”
She slammed the door behind her, leaving Lily to lock it in her wake. Knowing Sasha, she would try to storm back in with, “And another thing…!”
The silence which filled the apartment was both eerie and welcome. For four days, she had expected to hear from the CPD about the robbery, but after giving her initial statement, there had been no word.
Still, she couldn’t believe that was the end of it.
There will be court, maybe a lineup?
Lily didn’t know enough about the legal system to guess, but she’d seen enough crime dramas to get an idea about what was coming.
Slowly, she made her way back into the unit and toward the kitchen for a stale cup of coffee.
Her eyes fell on the front page of the newspaper from two days earlier, the one where her scared face peered out from between two uniformed officers.
Happy Ending for Hostage, the headline read. The article was a recount of her amnesia and how she had escaped unscathed from a hostage situation under the care of a brave officer named Luke Ressling.
Happy ending? Hardly.
If anything, it was the beginning of a whole new nightmare, one she feared she might never wake from. It was true that she’d managed to convince the rest of the world that she had forgotten everything that had happened, but of course that wasn’t true. How could she have?
Not that Lily understood anything about what had happened. When the darts had begun to fly, she had wondered if she had been drugged, seeing the lumbering beasts around her.
Luke is an animal? A bear?
Her conscious mind couldn’t even begin to reconcile what was happening even as it unfolded before her eyes.
But from some primitive part of her brain, she knew what she had to do—play dead.
Isn’t that what you do when you confront a bear? Close your eyes and play dead.
It proved to be the smartest thing she could have done, even though she was terrified it would backfire on her.
What would they do if they found out she remembered everything?
And for days, she had been waiting for them to realize their mistake and come back for her.
She sank into the wrought iron chair and stared blankly at the paper before her, apprehension building at the base of her neck.
Where is Luke? Has he forgotten about me like I have him?
There was so much to process from that day, so many emotions she didn’t know what to do with.
On one hand, she worried about the creature who had shielded and protected her more than once. On the other, she was terrified of who and what he was.
Afraid and yet so intrigued.
Her cell rang from her handbag in the living room and she rose to answer it.
She bit on her lower lip when she saw who it was, debating whether or not to answer it.
Inhaling, she picked up the phone.
“Hi, Mom,” she muttered. “How’s it going?”
“Oh, honey! I just heard about what happened! Are you okay?”
Lily chewed on the insides of her cheeks.
You just heard that I’d been held hostage? Four days after the fact?
“I’m fine, Mom,” she replied, trying to keep the upset from her voice. “I wasn’t hurt.”
“Why didn’t you call me?” Jillian whined, and for the first time, Lily realized how much Sasha reminded her of her mother.
“There was no reason to alarm you,” Lily replied evenly. “I don’t even remember what happened.”
“Well, thank goodness for that!” Jillian laughed. There was a long pause and Lily knew what was coming next.
“You know, sometimes when something like this happens, the public rallies to raise funds for the victims.”
Really Mom? You’re asking for money now?
“It didn’t happen in this instance, Mom.”
“Are you sure? There might be a GoFundMe that you don’t even know about.”
“Trust me. There isn’t. I have to go, Mom. I have a call coming in on the other line.”
“Wait!”
Lily’s mouth became a firm line.
“What is it, Mom?”
“Things have gotten a little tight since I lost my job and—”
“I’ll transfer some funds into your account, Mom. I really have to go.”
She disconnected the call before her mother could hear the sob in her voice, the feeling of loneliness overwhelming her as she tossed her phone onto the couch beside her.
You should be used to it by now, she thought, willing herself not to cry despite the overwhelming despair in her heart, but the struggle to keep her composure was futile.
No one cared that she could be in terrible danger. Not Sasha, not her own mother.
And clearly not Luke Ressling.
Chapter Seven
Finding Lily Brenner
The first stop he made when he was released from the bear hospital was to his apartment. To his annoyance, his father was waiting for him inside.
“What are you doing here, Dad?” Luke demanded.
“I wanted to make sure you’re okay,” Stephan replied, unfazed by Luke’s irritation. “I heard you got hit with a silver dart.”
“A phone call would have sufficed,” Luke retorted, heading into his bedroom. He needed to shower and change before going to find Lily, the only matter that had been on his mind since he had woken two days earlier.
“Nasty business, bears robbing banks,” Stephan drawled, following his son into the bedroom. Luke snorted, pulling his uniform from his body. It was all he’d had to wear home from the hospital. Cortez had brought him all the electronics he’d requested but didn’t have the presence of mind to bring him a change of clothes.
“I guess you don’t know anything about that,” Luke scoffed. “I’m having a shower. You can see yourself out.”
“Bank robberies?” Stephan demanded, his eyebrows raising in surprise. “Hardly. That’s not my scene.”
“That’s wonderful news, Dad. Can you go before someone sees you here?”
“I came to offer my assistance in this matter,” Stephan replied and Luke found himself pausing to look at his father dubiously.
“Help with what?” he snapped. “We have the suspects in custody.”
“You have the bears responsible for that particular heist,” Stephan agreed. “But you don’t have the puppet masters.”
“Dad, I don’t have time for your riddles right now,” Luke grumbled. “Say what you have to say and get out. I have somewhere to be.”
“So ungrateful,” Stephan sighed. “You would think that you’d want to leave the force like a hero.”
Luke was getting increasingly tired of hearing that word. He knew it was only a matter of time before the media was all over him, demanding the full story, and while he had been briefed by Rand Simon on what to say about what had happened, Luke wasn’t looking forward to the circus it had created.
He’d scoured all the outlets for interviews done by Lily but she had managed to stay out of the public eye over the past few days. Luke wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.
“Dad, I have no idea what you’re talking about. This case isn’t mine to investigate.”
“Oh, you can’t tell me you’re not the least bit curious about who’s behind this operation,” Stephan insisted.
“Let me guess,” Luke growled. “Whoever it is, is infringing on your criminal profits somehow.”
“I can’t say I’m happy to have these scoundrels poking around,” Stephan agreed. “But learning who they are could benefit you as much as it could me.”
Luke had heard enough.
“I’m not helping you, Dad. Please leave.”
“Even if it effects your entire precinct?”
Luke gritted his teeth, wishing he could just slam the door in Stephan’s face.
“Dad, if you have something to say, just spit it out.”
“Not unless I know you’re on board,” Stephan replied and Luke grimaced.
“In which case, you can see yourself out.”
“Suit yourself.”
Stephan turned for the door and Luke stared after him, knowing that Stephan was going to deliver a parting shot.
“You know, there’s an uprising coming inside the 22. If I didn’t know better, I’d say you had insider information about it, which is why you’re sneaking out.”
The words sent a fizzle of alarm through Luke.
“What the hell does that mean?”
“I guess you’ll see if you don’t already know.”
Stephan left then, leaving Luke to consider his words.
He’s talking out of his ass. Whoever J, K and D work for, it has nothing to do with the 22.
But even as he thought it, Luke recalled all the tension which had befallen the 22 after Rand Simon had taken over.
It doesn’t matter. None of it matters. Dad’s right about one thing—whatever happens, it’ll be after I’m already gone.
A twinge of guilt touched him as he made his way into the en suite bathroom and turned on the shower.
You still have friends in the 22. If something’s going to happen and you could have done something to stop it…
But how many times had he been sucked into Stephan’s treachery? His father didn’t care about the cops. His only concern was finding out who was infringing on his business.
You can’t get sucked into this. It’s bad enough that you were brought into this robbery to begin with.
Or was it? After all, if he hadn’t been a part of the robbery, he probably never would have met Lily.
Or would I have?
There was too much confusion surrounding everything and all that Luke knew for certain was that he had to confront Lily about what she remembered.
If he was right and she did remember more than she was letting on, Luke wasn’t sure what he was going to do.
Sure you do, he chided himself. You’ll do whatever necessary to protect her.
~ ~ ~
She wasn’t at her apartment when he went knocking an hour later, but there was a flock of reporters there, each one just as eager to discuss the story with him as he had thought.
It’s been almost a week. Isn’t there anything else happening in Chicago to warrant their attention? Luke mused in disbelief. It wasn’t until he made his way back into his Altima that he realized that was half the appeal—the fact that neither of them was talking.
We should give them something before this escalates.
As he sat in his vehicle, debating where else to look for Lily, he saw her ambling down the sidewalk, her face partially hidden by a grey hoodie.
No one else seemed to take notice of her, but Luke was instantly drawn to the slight figure shuffling along, determined not to call attention to herself.
But he was like a moth to the flame, his eyes automatically fixed on her as she ducked around the side of her apartment building and into the entrance in the alleyway.
Braving the reporters again, he made his way back through the building.
“Officer Ressling! Do you have any more information on the robberies?”
“Officer Ressling, are you even on this case?”
“Officer Ressling—”
The glass doors closed behind him and he reached the intercom, jabbing the button to Lily’s apartment. She didn’t respond but Luke was persistent. He knew she was there and he wasn’t leaving until he at least saw her face-to-face.
It took almost five minutes of consistent buzzing before she answered.
“You can ring all day long,” she growled. “I am not answering any questions.”
“Lily, it’s Luke.”
The silence was heavy. Loaded.
“Can I come up and talk to you for a few minutes?”
There was no response and for a moment, Luke thought he had lost her all together.
She does remember. That’s why she’s hesitating.
“Lily…”
“Luke?” she finally said. “I don’t know a Luke.”
Ah. She’s going to keep this up.
“Officer Ressling,” he sighed. “I was with you during the robbery.”
“Oh! Oh, yes, of course. Silly me. Let me buzz you in. Apartment 304.”
He heard the click of the door as she allowed him entry. Ignoring the elevator, Luke ran up to the third floor where he found Lily waiting for him, her body half in the hallway.
“Sorry about that,” she muttered quickly, darting her eyes away from him. “I-I had no idea who you were and the reporters have been everywhere. I can’t be too careful.”
She’s rambling. Nervous. Beautiful.
His attraction toward her had not diminished in the least and he found his eyes trailing over her pale face in wonderment.
“Can I come in?” he asked gently. She raised her head, her lower lip twitching, and he thought that she might refuse.
“I promise not to take up too much of your time,” he added softly. “But I think we have some matters to discuss, don’t you?”