Falling in Love Again: A Valentine's Day Proposal

Fucking hell, I’m shaking. I’m so scared of making the wrong move with Raelyn’s life on the line.

“You idiot,” I scold myself. “You should have just said nothing. Why did you have to speak?”

I thought that I was so clever, taking the name to the police, thinking that they would have him arrested. I was a fool to trust the police. They wonder why I don’t have faith in them… well, this is why! Because I told them that this was bad, I warned them and they ignored me. They didn’t trust me, and now… well now this has happened. Now Raelyn is in trouble and I don’t know what to do.

“Fuck, what the hell do I do now?” I pat the note against my hand hard. “This is messed up.”

Now, the need to get out is even more desperate. But I don’t know where to go and I can’t go to the wrong place. Whatever I do next, it has to be the right thing. I have to keep Raelyn safe.

I race up the stairs to my safe and I grab a briefcase. I don’t know how many notes I stuff in there but I fill it up. When I do find fucking Connor Blair, I want to offer him as much as I can. I don’t want to keep going back and forth, leaving Raelyn in that same, very dangerous place with those disgusting men. A place where any terrible things can happen to her and there isn’t anything I can do to control the situation.

As I pack up my money without any hesitation, I try to call Lee again. He doesn’t answer the first few times, but I persist. I really need to speak to him now, to know what he thinks about this situation. I cannot make any choices alone. His wise words are the only thing that will be able to keep me going.

“Carter, what is going on? Why have you called me so many times?”

“Lee, Raelyn has been kidnapped. For sure this time. She’s been taken by the men. The gang. And they have sent me a note threatening me. They want money, but they don’t say where they are, and they also want me to take back the statement that I made to the police. What the fuck do I do?”

“Okay, well the fact that they didn’t give you an address to drop of the money suggests to me what they really want is for you to take back what you said to the police. The cops have no leads on the murder, that much I’m sure of. Well, they have their suspicions, I’m sure, but nothing concrete. Your statement is the cincher.”

“Okay, so they are pissed off at me so they went after Raelyn. How do I make it stop?”

“For now, I would do what they ask. Take back your statement.”

“But the police…”

“Will still know that what you’ve said is the truth and they can chase it up, but nothing official will be on the records anymore. The only time this will be problematic is when it gets to court. By then, you can resubmit it.”

“That won’t piss the police off?”

“Oh, I’m sure it will,” Lee declares. “But they will understand in the end. You need to do this, to save Raelyn. You want her to remain alive? Then sort it out. While you’re taking back your statement, I will try and find out where Raelyn is being held. Once we find the address, we can move in and sort this out.”

“Yes, that’s good.” My briefcase of money will come in handy eventually. “Thank you, Lee.”

I am going to owe him a fortune, but I don’t care. My money honestly isn’t anything when it comes to Raelyn. I just want her to be happy and safe. I will throw anything at the situation.

“You do your job and I’ll do mine. I’ll be in touch soon. Look after yourself, Carter.”

I hang up the phone and grab the note. For some reason, I just know that I need to bring this with me. Whether it’s just for support or what I don’t know, but it’s a sensation I’m going to go with because it keeps me going. Whatever I need to get me through this is necessary.

“Right, Carter,” I whisper to myself, to give me a pep talk. “Time to do this. This might be the most important conversation that you ever have in your life. To save a freaking life here.”

I nod at my wild eyed crazy reflection in the mirror, wishing I could appear normal for this. There’s no way any of the officers are going to believe this crazy guy who keeps coming in looking more and more mental by the moment. My reputation is really sinking with this one, so is my sanity.

The journey to the police station is a stressful one. This time, I feel endless amounts of pressure which isn’t helped by the buildup of traffic. I have the brief case of money in the car beside me as well, which I’m very uncomfortable about, but I just don’t know what today is going to bring. If Lee rings me with an address right now, then I will be gone. Screw taking back my statement. I’ll be flying along like a nutter to see her, because if there’s one thing that this has shown me, it’s that Raelyn is the most important thing.

Come on, Lee, I think anxiously to myself. Call me, tell me what’s going on.

But I don’t get a call. I don’t get anything. I pull up at the police station with a very silent cell phone which leaves me with no choice. All I can do is head in there and do what needs to be done. I need to convince the police that I didn’t mean what I said when I talked about the murder, while secretly somehow showing them that I mean everything I said. This is going to be a whole lot of fun…

“You want to take back your statement?” Officer Brady, who is now magically fucking here, gives me a look. “On the same day, just a few hours later. That really doesn’t seem right…”

“I… I didn’t mean what I said. It was all just a… I don’t know, a dream.”

I fling my arms in the air, trying to pretend that I’m far more blasé about this than I really am. In reality, I’m a shaking, sweaty, anxious mess. A total state.

“A dream? So, you have a dream about a crime that we haven’t released any details about yet? A dream with information that no one could possibly know about? A dream with an actual name.”

A bite down on my bottom lip feeling horrible about it. “Yeah, it was a dream. I need to retract my statement.”