Chapter 37

Oliver

When I woke up and Becka was gone, I panicked. I went to the bedroom and, when she wasn’t there, I went downstairs to the entry to see if her purse and phone were there. When they weren’t, I went to the garage.

Raymond was there, working on the car.

“Where is she?” I asked. I wasn’t angry at Raymond; I had given him permission to take Becka anywhere she wanted to go at any time.

“I took her first to her apartment, Sir,” he said. “Her apartment was swarming with media, so I took her to a hotel near there, the Holiday Inn.” He was already wiping his hands. “I’ll take you there now.”

“I’ll go get my phone and wallet,” I said, and I ran into the house. When I got my phone, my message light was blinking. I smiled, assuming it was from Becka. When I slid my phone to unlock, though, it was from a number I didn’t recognize.

Oliver, this is Lisa. Meet Becka and me at the Holiday Inn by our house. Room 342. Becka needs you.

“Raymond!” I yelled. “Call the police—tell them to meet us at the Holiday Inn, room 342. Becka is in trouble.”

I don’t know exactly how I knew that Becka was in trouble, but I did. I jumped in the car with Raymond and we sped to town. The entire way I imagined the worst, and the drive seemed to take forever. When we arrived, I ran past the front desk and, without waiting for the elevator, bounded up the stairs to room 342. I knocked on the door, and, when I didn’t hear anything, I kicked the door open.

It took me a moment to completely take in the entire scene before me. I saw Ethan first, and I almost didn’t recognize him for a moment. Lisa wasn’t anywhere in sight. Becka was… I scanned the room, then my heart jumped into my throat as I saw a crumpled-up figure on the floor.

“Becka!” I rushed over to her. She was unconscious, but still breathing. I looked at Ethan, who was standing still, staring down at us. “What the fuck did you do, you lunatic?” I jumped up and attacked Ethan, my fists connecting with his face, his jaw, his chest. He didn’t fight back right away, but, when my fist met his jaw for the second time, he snapped out of whatever trance he was in, and he began to punch me back.

“I’ll kill you!” he shouted. “I’ll fucking kill you!”

“Not if I kill you first,” I screamed back. “You’ve messed with my life for the last time. This ends here, Ethan, one way or another.”

Ethan grabbed my shoulders and we began to wrestle around the room. He shoved me into the television, which, rather than falling, pushed me into Ethan because it was bolted to the table. I used the momentum to try to head-butt Ethan, but he dodged me.

“Nice try, sissy,” he said.

Rage filled me, blinded me, and I pushed him as hard as I could. He fell to the floor and I dropped down on top of him, punching him in the face again. I heard the sound of his nose break beneath my fist, and I smiled. That distraction cost me, though; he sat up and flipped me over, pinning me underneath him. He reached his fist back to punch me, but, before he could, I heard loud footsteps in the hallway.

“Break it up!” a cop yelled as he ran into the room. He pulled Ethan off me and kept us apart with one swift motion, sending Ethan onto the bed and me against the wall. “Get your hands up, both of you!” His gun was drawn and he was angling it at both of us.

“Officer,” I said, “you need to arrest this animal; he tried to kill my girlfriend!”

Another officer had run in and was tending to Becka, who was still lying on the floor, not moving. I heard the cop radio to call an ambulance.

“Everyone calm down,” the officer said. “You, shut up.” That was to me. To Ethan, he said, “Put your hands behind your back; you’re under arrest for assault, at least, and whatever else we can find went wrong in this room.”

“I need to go with you to the hospital,” I said to the female officer.

“We’ll decide that when the ambulance gets here,” she said.

Raymond came into the room with a third officer and Lisa. Lisa looked terrified, and there was blood on her cheek.

“James,” the new officer said to the one handcuffing Ethan, “we found this woman tied up in the back of an Escalade registered to Ethan Hernandez. That’s him.” The officer pointed to Ethan.

“Great, buddy, we’ll go ahead and add a second assault charge and a kidnapping charge to your Christmas list tonight. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you…”

While the officer read Ethan his rights, the paramedics arrived and I convinced the other officers to allow me to travel to the hospital with Becka. The officers agreed, as long as I agreed to go in handcuffs. “Whatever,” I said. “Whatever gets me there with her.”

Raymond drove Lisa, who also needed to get checked out. The entire way in the ambulance, I held Becka’s hand with my cuffed hands, and I talked to her, even though she was unconscious. I asked the paramedics tons of questions, but each question was met with the same answer: they wouldn’t know anything until she was fully examined, and a doctor would talk to me when we got to the hospital.

When the ambulance arrived, they sent me to the waiting room while they took Becka to be examined. I paced the room, waiting impatiently. Raymond walked into the room.

“How is Lisa?” I asked.

“They won’t tell me anything because I’m not family,” he said in his eternally calm voice. “But, she’s awake and talking, and the cut on her face seemed pretty superficial, so my guess is she’s okay. Physically, that is. She has to be completely traumatized by what happened.”

“What did happen?” I asked.

“Apparently Ethan was at Becka’s apartment when Becka called Lisa. He flirted with Lisa to get Becka’s location, then basically forced Lisa to take him to the hotel. When she refused, he tied her up and went anyway. Becka opened the door because she was expecting Lisa, most likely, not that rat Ethan. After that, I don’t know; Lisa was tied up in the car for at least two hours, she said.”

I shook my head. “He’s gone too far this time.”

“You got some good hits in, Sir,” Raymond said. “They brought Ethan here before bringing him to jail so he could get stitched up.” His lips twitched in the makings of a smile. I smiled too, in spite of the situation.

“Good,” I said. “He deserved every one.”

The doctor walked in. “Which of you gentlemen is Oliver Weeks?”

“That’s me,” I said, standing up and walking over to the doctor. He was in a lab coat and his name tag said Dr. Nguyen.

“I’ve been examining Becka, and she’s going to be just fine.” He smiled as I sighed with relief. “She took a pretty hard hit, and it’s never good when someone is unconscious for that long, so we’re going to keep her overnight for observation. But, she’s going to be just fine, and the baby is going to be fine too.”

“Baby!” I exclaimed. “What baby?”

The doctor shifted. “Becka is pregnant, Sir. Approximately nine weeks. It’s possible that she doesn’t yet know that she’s pregnant. Unlikely, but possible.”

I looked at Raymond, whose eyes shifted modestly to the floor.

“I need to see her right now. Is she awake?” I demanded.

“Sir, she’s awake, but she’s been through a lot. I would suggest that, if you do want to see her, you calm yourself down. Any further stress could cause damage to both Becka and the baby.”

I took a deep breath and sat back on the couch. The doctor excused himself and left the room. I looked over at Raymond.

“What fucking baby?” I asked.

“I don’t know, Sir,” Raymond said. “But, I do know that Becka is a good woman, and she’s been through a lot of hell lately.” He was polite about his opinion, and even I had to admit he was absolutely right.

I thought about how I had contributed to creating a world for Becka in which she couldn’t even go to her apartment when she wanted to, for fear of being bothered by press.

Her dissertation had been put on hold. She had been endlessly patient with me, I knew that. But, the thought of a baby, and that she knew about it and hadn’t told me?

“Why didn’t she tell me about the baby,” I asked. “I don’t understand.”

“I’m sure she had a good reason, Sir,” Raymond said.

The thought that was plaguing me became too big to keep in my head, and the words fell out of my mouth in a tumble. “What if the baby is Ethan’s?” I said. “What if it’s not even mine?”