made a small squeak, which he ignored. “Take one step towards that door, and it’ll be the last thing you do.”
“Ryan, my boy is here. Let him go upstairs to my neighbor, and you and Sarah and I can talk as long as you want. Just please, don’t hurt my boy.”
Tears were shimmering on Sarah’s cheeks, and her eyes were far, far away, flat and dead, none of the life they’d held just a few minutes before.
Ryan shook his head. “This is what happens when you let a liar and a slut stay with you. Your son should see what happens. So he can grow up better.” He smiled, cold and dead. “I always wanted a kid.”
In her head, she leaped at him like a tiger, clawing his face and his eyes, hurting him enough that he couldn’t hurt them. Sarah would run for the police, and Ryan would be taken away, and put somewhere where he couldn’t ever hurt anyone again.
That was how it would happen in a movie. But this was real life. Even if she did manage to get to him before he put a bullet in her -- possibly -- and she managed to get the gun away from him, who were the police going to believe? A couple of waitresses who’d sent a biker to threaten the guy, or the upstanding lawyer who was having his name dragged through the mud? And in the more likely event that she couldn’t get the gun away, he would kill her, and Sarah, and Cole. Or worse, take Cole. The cops would catch up with him eventually, sure, but what would be the point by then? Everything special about him would be shattered and broken, and she wouldn’t be there to help him heal anymore.
“Okay,” she said, sure she was doing the wrong thing, even though she couldn’t think of anything better. “Okay. What do we need to talk about?”
“You need to shut up,” he said. “Sarah and I are going to have a conversation. You’re here to make sure she’s listening. Very carefully.”
Danni stared at her friend, silently pleading with her to say something, anything. To say she’d only talk if he let Cole go. Hell, to show some backbone and tell him to get out. If they rushed him together...but Sarah was totally shut down, lost inside herself, and staring through Ryan. Danni felt something inside of her start to crush down into a tight, compact core. She didn’t have to survive this. Sarah -- it would break her heart for her best friend to get hurt, but the only person who mattered right now was Cole.
“Sit down,” he told Sarah. “The boy, too. On the couch, next to your friend. So I can keep an eye on all three of you.”
CHAPTER TWELVE
In the bakery, Derek was completely stymied. He wasn’t sure the last time he’d been inside a store entirely devoted to baked goods. He’d envisioned picking between cinnamon rolls and some sort of fruity thing, but the case was full of confections with French names he didn’t know how to pronounce. Everything seemed to have fruit and glaze and cheese, and he had no idea what Danni would like. Was she allergic to something? Everyone was allergic to something these days, wheat or strawberries or peanuts. Was he bringing her something that would say “I want you to die,” instead of “I might be thinking of falling for you”? How could he be thinking of sticking in town for a woman when he’d never even seen her eat a meal?
“Little overwhelmed?” The girl behind the counter was thin and pretty and blonde, with teeth whiter than God had ever made.
“Just a little bit,” Derek said, smiling. Some corner of his mind noticed the difference in his reaction. A week ago, he’d have been thinking about how to find out when this girl got off her shift so he could take her for a ride on his bike and then a different sort of ride. Now, he found himself smiling at her sincerely, with no ulterior motive. She was nice enough to look at, but she didn’t have a lightly upholstered body, or a determination in her eyes that promised to put him in his place if he
“Ryan, my boy is here. Let him go upstairs to my neighbor, and you and Sarah and I can talk as long as you want. Just please, don’t hurt my boy.”
Tears were shimmering on Sarah’s cheeks, and her eyes were far, far away, flat and dead, none of the life they’d held just a few minutes before.
Ryan shook his head. “This is what happens when you let a liar and a slut stay with you. Your son should see what happens. So he can grow up better.” He smiled, cold and dead. “I always wanted a kid.”
In her head, she leaped at him like a tiger, clawing his face and his eyes, hurting him enough that he couldn’t hurt them. Sarah would run for the police, and Ryan would be taken away, and put somewhere where he couldn’t ever hurt anyone again.
That was how it would happen in a movie. But this was real life. Even if she did manage to get to him before he put a bullet in her -- possibly -- and she managed to get the gun away from him, who were the police going to believe? A couple of waitresses who’d sent a biker to threaten the guy, or the upstanding lawyer who was having his name dragged through the mud? And in the more likely event that she couldn’t get the gun away, he would kill her, and Sarah, and Cole. Or worse, take Cole. The cops would catch up with him eventually, sure, but what would be the point by then? Everything special about him would be shattered and broken, and she wouldn’t be there to help him heal anymore.
“Okay,” she said, sure she was doing the wrong thing, even though she couldn’t think of anything better. “Okay. What do we need to talk about?”
“You need to shut up,” he said. “Sarah and I are going to have a conversation. You’re here to make sure she’s listening. Very carefully.”
Danni stared at her friend, silently pleading with her to say something, anything. To say she’d only talk if he let Cole go. Hell, to show some backbone and tell him to get out. If they rushed him together...but Sarah was totally shut down, lost inside herself, and staring through Ryan. Danni felt something inside of her start to crush down into a tight, compact core. She didn’t have to survive this. Sarah -- it would break her heart for her best friend to get hurt, but the only person who mattered right now was Cole.
“Sit down,” he told Sarah. “The boy, too. On the couch, next to your friend. So I can keep an eye on all three of you.”
CHAPTER TWELVE
In the bakery, Derek was completely stymied. He wasn’t sure the last time he’d been inside a store entirely devoted to baked goods. He’d envisioned picking between cinnamon rolls and some sort of fruity thing, but the case was full of confections with French names he didn’t know how to pronounce. Everything seemed to have fruit and glaze and cheese, and he had no idea what Danni would like. Was she allergic to something? Everyone was allergic to something these days, wheat or strawberries or peanuts. Was he bringing her something that would say “I want you to die,” instead of “I might be thinking of falling for you”? How could he be thinking of sticking in town for a woman when he’d never even seen her eat a meal?
“Little overwhelmed?” The girl behind the counter was thin and pretty and blonde, with teeth whiter than God had ever made.
“Just a little bit,” Derek said, smiling. Some corner of his mind noticed the difference in his reaction. A week ago, he’d have been thinking about how to find out when this girl got off her shift so he could take her for a ride on his bike and then a different sort of ride. Now, he found himself smiling at her sincerely, with no ulterior motive. She was nice enough to look at, but she didn’t have a lightly upholstered body, or a determination in her eyes that promised to put him in his place if he
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