No More Running (11 page)

“Well, I guess Stefan isn’t that ba…”   I was cut off when his lips crushed mine in a devastating kiss.  When we finally broke apart, a couple of minutes later, we were both panting.  He set his forehead on mine, looking deep into my eyes.  “Don’t let whoever it is get to you.  I’ll be here with you.  We all will, and he won’t be able to hurt you again.”

“It’s not me he’s going after.”  I said softly.  “You saw the picture.”

“You don’t need to worry about it, Honey.”  He brushed my hair behind my ear with such a tender touch.  “I have every man available on this.  We will to get him before he does anything else.”

I nodded and made to get up, but Garret stopped me with a gentle hand on my shoulder.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

“Well, Mr. Starr, I do have a job to do.”  I smirked at him.  I had to get busy or I would drive myself insane thinking about this.

“Yeah that’s right.  I’m moving you into my adjoining office.  The door will be open at all times.”  He said as he pecked my astonished face.  “But you are to relax for the rest of today.”

“Come on, I can’t just sit around.  I’m not made that way.”

“I know, but I figured I could keep you busy in other ways.” 

He kissed me again sending waves of sensations all through my body.  He started unbuttoning my blouse, and I had to stop him; as much as I really didn’t want to.

“We can’t do this here Garret.”  I looked back to the door.  “I can’t have my co-workers thinking things about me sleeping with the boss.”

“This room is sound proof, and I informed Stefan to take care of everything today.  No one will think anything.  They all saw you collapse.”

“Yes and then what happens?  You bring me in here and ask not to be disturbed.  What do you
think that’s going to look like?”

“It’s going to look like a friend taking care of another, but you’re going to have to get used to it, Di.  I’m not going to hide my relationship with you.  I’m proud to finally be able to call you mine.”

I immediately felt bad.  I didn’t mean that I wanted to hide anything.  “I didn’t mean it that way, Garret, I’m so sorry.  I just didn’t think it was appropriate behavior for work.”

He nodded.  “Alright.  I see your point, though I’d love to be with you right here on this couch.  Why don’t we take the day off, and go back to Stefan’s to relax.”

“That sounds perfect, but I want to come back to work tomorrow.”  I told him.  I relished the thought of spending the day just me and him, but he still had contracts to fill.  “What about the picture?”  I suddenly remembered, and couldn’t believe I had forgotten it even for a moment, but Garret just distracted me so much.

“I already handed it over to Stefan to give the police.  I have a contact at the Department, and I did a report over the phone.  He’s going to check for prints, and check with the messenger service to see if he can catch us a lead.”

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We drove on a comfortable silence; Garret holding my hand, rubbing the back of it with his thumb.  They listened to some soft rock and just enjoyed each other’s company.

When he pulled into Stefan’s garage and I noticed Doc’s car there, it reminded me of the fact that he’d been ignoring me and had avoided talking with me.

“I’ll head to my room and give you a chance to corner Doc and talk to him.”  Garret said, obviously thinking the same thing as I was.  “I think it would be better if you both talked out whatever issues there are.”

I nodded and got out.  I figured I’d find him in his room, but was surprised to find him in the game room playing the Pac-Man machine.  I never knew he enjoyed games like that and said so, informing him of my presence.

He jerked away from the game looking embarrassed until he thought about me standing there.   Then a concerned look crossed his face and he walked up to me.  “What are doing here?  Has something happened?”  He grabbed my hand and led me to the sofa in front of the TV.

“Yeah, but it was nothing major.”  My worried tone at thinking about the picture of me and Garret at the store did nothing to convince him.

“Come on, you tell me anything.  You used to tell me everything.”  He said in a sad tone.

“I still do, Doc.  It’s just that Garret told me he had people working on it and not to worry about it.”

“What is it then?”

I took a deep breath and let it out trying to release the tension in my body.  “When I was getting Garret’s mail ready for him this morning, I opened an envelope that had a picture of us at the grocery store.  Whoever took the picture drew a bullet hole in Garret’s head, threatening that he would get him next time.”

“You mean he followed us to the store?”

I nodded, but then squeezed his hand.  “You weren’t in the picture, so hopefully either he didn’t see you, or he’s not going to concentrate on you right now, so please don’t worry.”

“I am going to worry, but about you, not me.  I just wish we could get that bastard to leave you alone.”

“I know, and thanks for that.”  I looked at his face so I would be able to see his expression.  “Are you still mad at me?”

He sighed and just looked sad.  “I was never mad at you.  It’s more that I am mad at myself for not talking to you earlier about how I felt.  It’s my own fault.”

“Doc, for all of these years you have never said anything.  Back then, when we talked, you didn’t want a relationship because being a doctor was too demanding.”

“It was never about my occupation, it was more that the person I had fallen for wasn’t available.  Then I figured when we helped you get away, that I would be able to move wherever you settled and I could work on making you feel the same way, but then he kept following you, and the chance never came.  When you liked it here, and made some friends again, I knew I could talk you into staying and figured we could finally be together.  I don’t really know why I didn’t talk to you about it when I got here.”  He thought for a second.  “I guess I was a little intimidated by your friends.  I saw how close your group was, and that I wasn’t a part of it.  I knew that Garret loved you, anyone could see that, but I didn’t know that you reciprocated until the other night.  Don’t worry about me, though.  I’ll be alright.”

I just looked at him, knowing he was lying to me.

He laughed a little, and reiterated.  “I will.  I promise.”

I nodded.  “It’s better if it’s the truth.  You might not be a part of our little group right now, but if you tried a little harder instead of being so quiet all the time, I know they’d love you as much as I do.  You will always be special to me, Doc.  No matter who I get to know in the future, you’ll always hold a special place in my heart.  I do love you.  I’m sorry it’s not the way you want or need, but its genuine love none the less.  You’re my best friend.”

“I know, and I appreciate it.  I will try harder with them.  I do want us to always be friends.”  He slapped his knees and jumped up.  “Now, how about an Air Hockey tournament?  And you’re welcome to join us Garret.”  He added as he headed to the game table.

I turned and saw Garret in the doorway leaning against the frame with his arms crossed, and was reminded of the other night when I went to his room.  He must have known what I was thinking because he smirked at me and then looked back at Doc with a smile.  “Sounds good, but I should warn you two that I’m the champion.”

Doc laughed.  “Game on, little boy.  I’ll have you know that I played all these games in my spare time in Chicago.  Do you remember that massive arcade on Ligure St back home?”  He asked me.

We all got up and played and bantered back and forth for a couple of hours before eating lunch in the media room while we watched Shrek the Third.  It was funny watching those two grown men laughing at a kid’s movie.  I thought that maybe things would actually start looking up.

That only lasted until Garret received a phone call from Stefan.

Chapter 13

Garret had left out of the room when he’d gotten the call from Stefan, so I was getting worried.  The only reason he would have left was to talk about something he didn’t want me to hear.  I had several scenarios running through my mind, but I was determined to stay calm and wait.  I was so tired of being the weak victim all the time.  I was twenty six years old, and I needed to start acting like it.

“It’s going to be okay, Diana.”  Doc said, bringing me out of my thoughts. “Whatever happens, you are not alone this time; you have a good support system here, and of course I’ll always be wherever you need me to be.”

I nodded and swallowed the lump in my throat.  “I know.  Thanks Doc.”  He had been sitting beside me, so I just put my head on his shoulder, and held onto his hand.  He had always leant me his strength when I needed it.

I hadn’t even heard Garret come back in the room.  He came and sat beside me, grabbing my other hand, but looked at Doc.

“You told Dina that Chuck had taken a leave of absence from work recently?”  He asked.

“Yes.  My contact faxed the papers over two days before I was finally able to get her on the phone to tell her.”

“Who is your contact?”  Garret asked him, well it was more like he demanded, but I didn’t understand what was going on.

“Why are you asking Garret?”  I asked, wanting to know what was going on.

“Stefan got a call from the investigators we have on this, and it seems like Detective Chuck Sanders quit his job and disappeared four years ago.”  He told me.  Looking back at Doc he said, “There are no bank records, credit records, driving records, or anything else that we can find since about three months after he quit, which was when the fires happened and then a couple of months after.  The last thing we can find is from a hotel that he had stayed at, but his stuff was put in storage because he never picked it up or even checked out for that matter.”

“I gave you the file I had.  Everything I ever received is in it, please go look.”  Doc said defensively.  I knew he had to be tired of people questioning him.  I knew I was.  It wasn’t fair to him when all he had ever done was try to help me.

“I’m sorry to be asking you, but can you understand where I’m coming from?  What would you have thought if it was you that had received that info?”  Garret told him calmly, and I could see his point, but I was still going to talk to him about it later when we were alone.

“So what does this mean?”  I asked, trying to diffuse the situation.

“It means several things.”  Doc said, I guess realizing the implications, but I was slow at that moment because I still didn’t understand.

“One, someone has been planting false information for your ex.  Two, either he has changed his name, or something has happened to him.  I’m thinking the latter.”

“Why?”

“Because he still has a good amount of money in the bank that has gone untouched for four years.”  Garret said solemnly.

“But that would mean…”  Oh.  My.  God.

“Someone else is doing this to you, and has been for years.”  He finished for me.

“Well it’s not Doc, so you can get your mind off of that right now.”  I told him.

Doc squeezed my hand in gratitude, but surprised me by what he said.  “Diana, if Chuck is dead somehow, the evidence would point towards me in an investigation as far as who is still stalking you.  Hell, if I didn’t know I had nothing to do with it, I would be accusing myself; as stupid as that sounds.  I don’t blame him for questioning me, but I keep impeccable records, it’s kind of an obsession with me, so I can show him everything I have.”

“Why don’t we get everything I have so far, and everything you have, and maybe get in contact with your sources, and we will try to figure out what is going on.”  Garret said.  “Stefan is meeting with the investigator and making some calls, so it will be dinner time before he comes back with what we need, but I’ll tell him to bring the file from the office.”

“Where is Claire going to be?”  I asked, concerned for her.  None of us needed to be by ourselves at the moment.

“She’s with Stefan right now and will go wherever he goes.”  He answered.  “They know to stick together.”

“So!”  Doc said suddenly, catching me off guard as he had done earlier.  “Why don’t you fix us an awesome snack, and we can find something to do until dinner time.”

I knew Doc would try to distract me to get my mind off everything, so I agreed.  My mind was reeling.  I just couldn’t fathom someone else being out there as twisted as Chuck is, was, or whatever. 

It had to be him and he just changed his identity like I did or something.  The only thing about that was that if he was still out there, there was no way he wouldn’t be using what money he had in the bank.  He would have at least drained his account first like he did when my mom died. 

I snorted to myself at that thought.  For some reason I still referred to it as her dying, but I knew in my heart he murdered her.  He never denied it when I yelled the accusation, but he had been too smart to come out and admit it.  Again I could only think of him as to who would do this, but I decided to try not to think on it anymore or at least not that aspect of it anyway; I would drive myself crazy.

I ended up baking some muffins.  I knew that was not what he meant, but baking had always been a way to relieve stress for me.  Actually, cooking of any kind did that.  Eventually Doc and Garret made their way to the kitchen ‘to see if the refrigerator ate me’ or not.  Doc’s words, not mine.  He was hilarious sometimes. Yeah.

We chatted about different things.  Doc told us about some of the weird cases that came through the ER.  My favorite was a mother that had to bring her little girl in because the brother had stuck a rock up her nose.  It was one of those stories that were awful, but kind of funny at the same time.  The rock had been in there for three days because the little boy was scared he would get in trouble, and the little girl didn’t tell.  She did anything the brother said because she idolized him, and he had told her not to tell anyone.  When the poor girl had gotten in trouble for picking her nose, big brother finally fessed up.

Garret had told about how in the first week of boot camp he had gotten stuck at the top of a wall they were supposed to scale as part of an obstacle course.  He had been afraid of heights, but had not disclosed that info to his superiors prior to basic training.  He said that he had been a clumsy nerdy type before he enlisted.  I didn’t believe him until he pulled an old school photo out of his wallet.  He said he kept it to remind him of his ‘awkward years’.  I thought he’d been cute with his clunky glasses and said as much. He just rolled his eyes, not believing me.