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“I don’t know. Maybe because she knew that if I found out she had family I wouldn’t have used her. I’m notorious for not using CIs with close family. But Janet came to me. She hated Darryl and didn’t see a way out. He had gotten her addicted to drugs and was selling them to kids. Janet didn’t want what he did to her happen to anybody else. She wanted to help.”
“She could have come to me!” His voice reverberates around the empty house and behind him I can see the outline of Rafe slowly closing in. I just have to keep him distracted for a little longer and maybe he can disable him before the situation devolves into flying bullets.
I raise my hands up in the air, pointing my gun at the ceiling, trying to show him I’m non-confrontational but also knowing that Rafe is slowly edging up behind him. “I don’t know why she didn’t come to you or why she told me she didn’t have a father. What I can tell you is that she helped so many people. All the information she fed me about Darryl’s operations, about the drops, the money exchanging hands, they all helped us put some really bad people away. I wish I could have done more to help her Mr. Howard, I really really do. When she was murdered it broke my heart. It was one of the reasons I had to leave Los Angeles.
“But look around you. Do you think Janet would be happy with what you’re doing right now? You’re hurting another woman who’s just as old and innocent as she was.”
Howard glances around the room and for the first time seems to notice the death grip he has on Bianca’s hair. Even though she’s doing her very best to be silent and inconspicuous, I can see the big intake of air she draws in when he lets go of her.
“You know I’m right, Mr. Howard. Janet wouldn’t want you to hurt anyone, she wanted to help people. Even when she was hurting and didn’t know what to do for herself, she still wanted to help people she didn’t even know. She wouldn’t want things to end like this.”
The gun falls out of his hands and he drops down to his knees as he begins to cry out “My little girl! They killed my little girl!”
As soon as the gun hits the floor Rafe leaps out from the shadows and tackles Mr. Howard to the floor, though he doesn’t seem to be struggling. I’m in front of Bianca within two seconds and reach behind her, working to untie the binds that have her to the chair. She’s sucking in air in big gulps like she can’t seem to get enough of it.
“I’ve got you, baby. I’m here. Nothing bad is going to happen to you, I swear.”
The second she’s untied she launches herself at me and has me down on my butt on the dirty kitchen floor, her body wrapped tightly around mine. I’m whispering how sorry I am and any other nonsensical thing that comes out of my mouth when I finally hear the sirens in the distance approaching. I’m smoothing down Bianca’s hair and watching Rafe kick away the revolver before cuffing Daniel Howard’s hands behind his back.
I hold her tightly against me and breathe her in. Hell, this feels like the first time I’ve been able to breathe in a week let alone the past few hours.
Suddenly, she pulls away from me and starts frantically looking around. “Where’s Oliver? Is he okay? Oh God, I didn’t want to leave him Carson, I swear but I didn’t know what was going to happen if he got into that van. I had to leave him there. I’m so so sorry.”
She continues on while I try to shush her. “Oliver is fine, baby. He’s more worried about you than anything. You did theright thing. Well, I’d have preferred if neither of you got into the van but you did good by getting him to let Oliver go.”
“You promise he’s fine?” She asks looking up at me with concern painted all over her face.
“I promise. And thank God you took his tracker. That was really smart. I don’t know how I would have found you without it.”
“I wasn’t even thinking. I just knew that when he smashed my phone there would be no way for you to find me. I hugged Oliver and I felt it and I pulled it off him. I hope I didn’t hurt him but I didn’t have time to undo the band.”
“He’s fine, Bianca, I swear. He’s going to be so happy to see you.”
“Hey, I don’t mean to interrupt this happy reunion but we’ve got officers incoming,” Rafe calls out to us from the doorway.
I pull myself up off the floor and help Bianca up with me but keep my arm firmly wrapped around her, not ready to let go yet. I swear to God, I’ve lost a good ten years off my life today.
“Who is he?” She asks while warily eying Daniel Howard face down on the dirty ground.
“He’s someone from my past with the LAPD that apparently followed me up here to Seattle. It’s a long story but basically he’s been stalking and harassing me for months.”
She looks up at me with confusion written all over her face. “Months? Why didn’t you say anything? I had no idea.”
“I didn’t want you to know. I didn’t want to scare you.” I grab her chin and bring her face close to mine so she can’t look anywhere but directly into my eyes. “Last week he sent me a package of photos. They were all of you and Oliver.”
I can feel a shiver run through her body. “Me?” She almost squeaks out.
“He’s been following you and threatened the both of you. I didn’t know what to do to keep you safe.”
She’s quiet, her eyes searching my face while I can practically see the wheels of her brain turning. “That’s why Oliver has been staying with Gloria and why you broke up with me out of the blue.”
“Yes, exactly. I didn’t know how else I could keep you safe.”
“It wasn’t because I can’t have kids?” She asks quietly while diverting her eyes.
“Hey,” I say softly until her deep brown eyes are locked with mine again. “Of course not. I told you I don’t care, and I don’t. I just want you Bianca. I knew if I told you this crazy guy was following me and making threats that you wouldn’t have cared. You’re fierce and you’re brave. While I love those things about you, they also scare the shit out of me. I know you wouldn’t let some psycho scare you off. You understand, right?”
“Yeah, I understand,” she says with a small smile. Something still doesn’t feel quite right with her but that could be any number of things. Hell, she just got fucking kidnapped and had a gun held at her head, of course she’s not acting like her usual self. Now there’s about a dozen officers streaming through the house and we’re being pulled in different directions to give our statements. I’ll feel much better when I have her out of here and home with me, where she belongs.
