Kiss Me (You & Me 3)

“Hey, I’m going to ask, even though I already know the answer,” Rachel said, walking in with his morning cup of coffee.

He nodded his head. “You would be right. No word. Not a peep.”

“I’m sorry. Do you think we should call the police? Maybe we need to file a missing person’s report,” she suggested.

“Definitely not. She’s running. I don’t want the police to find her and lead Tim right to her.”

Rachel took her usual seat across from him. “Ben, I hate to say this, but maybe she isn’t running. Maybe Tim set it up to look like she was when in reality he did something.”

The thought had crossed Ben’s mind, but he was sure Tim would have revealed his hand during the meeting. He’d been close to coming unglued. He would have taken a great deal of pleasure in hinting at something like that, of that Ben was sure.

“I think she’s running. I think Tim threatened her or threatened me and she ran, hoping to make him leave me alone. I know her and that’s how she thinks.”

Rachel nodded. “Okay, then we stick with the theory she’s running. Do you have any idea where she would go?”

“Not a clue. She never told me much about the places she’s already been.”

“Does she have the money to run? I mean, traveling isn’t cheap. Would she fly?”

Ben shrugged. “I doubt it. My guess would be bus or train. She had money, of that I’m certain. I have Meredith’s PIs running every possible lead. I don’t know if she’s using her real name or using a fake one. She was always very secretive and never talked about her past beyond the fact Tim was a bad guy and she’d been bouncing around from city to city trying to get away from him. He always found her. That tells me he’s either got someone watching her or a seriously good detective.”

“If his people find her, how come your guys can’t?” Rachel asked.

He shook his head. “I don’t know. It’s like Tim has some magical powers that he uses to hunt her. I have no idea how he does it, but he does. He’s connected, I know that.”

“I really don’t like this guy,” Rachel grumbled.

“You and me both. I have to get through to her,” Ben said, his voice strained.

Rachel was silent for a moment. He could practically see the wheels spinning in her brain.

“Why don’t we take out ads in every single newspaper across the country. It could be like a secret code or something,” she said, excitedly.

Ben chuckled. “I’m not sure she’d read the paper. That’s casting a pretty wide net. I’ve been emailing her daily. That seems a little more direct.”

“And how’s that working for you?” Rachel snapped.

“Good point. I don’t want her to come back if she doesn’t want to and I don’t want to draw her out and have Tim spring before I get the chance to make arrangements to keep her safe. I feel like I’m damned if I do and damned if I don’t,” he groaned, rubbing his hands down his face.

“I’m so sorry all of this is happening. It is so unfair. She is such a kind woman. It isn’t right this guy gets to destroy her life for his own sick satisfaction,” Rachel said, a sad look on her face.

“I know. I want her back, but I have to remind myself that pulling her back into the open could be dangerous. I don’t know what the man is capable of, but what if he gets to her because I fought so hard to bring her back? I mean, what if she comes back, I vow to protect her, and, in a flash, he shoots her or has someone else do it? I could never live with myself if something happened to her because I begged her to come back for my own selfish needs.”

Rachel was silent again as she processed what he had said. It was a war he’d been fighting with himself since he first saw she was gone. The best thing for her might be to stay far away from him. Tim saw him as a threat, as an insult to his own manhood. He would want to make Katherine pay for leaving him and moving on with Ben.

“I really, really hate this guy,” Rachel seethed, slapping her open hands against the arms of the chair.

Ben smirked. “I have a feeling Tim tends to bring out that same sentiment with most of the people he meets. I didn’t get the feeling his own lawyers liked him all that much.”

“I want to make him pay. He deserves to rot in prison and lose everything. He keeps taking from Katherine. He deserves to be uprooted from his comfy little life and tossed into a dark hole,” Rachel said, jumping up from the chair and pacing the room.

“I agree, but I can’t do anything until I know for sure Katherine is safe. Meredith is already putting together a countersuit. That might take some of the wind out of his sails, but it doesn’t do shit for Katherine. All it does is piss the guy off more.”

Rachel stopped walking and put both hands on her hips, staring him down. “She’s going to come back. I know it. She’ll fight back, you’ll see.”

“I hope so, Rach. I really hope so,” he muttered, wanting to believe Rachel’s declaration, but not entirely convinced.

Chapter Seventeen