Chapter Thirty-One
Ryan
Something wasn’t right. I had a feeling about Blaire being gone. I should’ve known that something was up. I could tell that she wasn’t herself that morning, or the night before. But I couldn’t understand why she wouldn’t have said anything to me. Or why she changed her mind so quickly. I didn’t like the thought of her being by herself. When the phone rang, I jumped up in fright. Then I couldn’t find the damn thing even though I could still hear it. I finally found it lying on the floor where it must’ve fallen from my jeans, and cursed when it stopped ringing. Was it Blaire?
I looked at the name and saw that it was Nick. I quickly called him back.
“Sorry,” I said. “I couldn’t find my phone and then it stopped when I got to it.”
“That’s okay,” he said. “Hey, is something wrong? You sound a bit strange.”
“Blaire’s gone.”
“What do you mean? I thought she was staying with you.”
“She is. She was. I . . . I came home after the conference and found a letter from her saying that she was leaving. I don’t know why. For some reason, she thinks that I’m going to get hurt if she stays with me.”
“Maybe she just feels bad that she’s putting you out when you’re going through your own stuff.”
“But she knows that I want her here. I don’t understand.”
“You know what Blaire’s like. You said it yourself. She always puts other people before herself. She probably thinks that she’s doing it to protect you.”
“She’s the one that needs protecting. Not me.”
“Sorry, Ryan.”
“I don’t know what’s going on, Nick. But I have a bad feeling about this. I think I need to go out and find her.”
“If that’s what you feel, then you should. It’s better than just sitting around and wondering. And if you do find her and she’s safe and sound, then at least you know where she is. Listen, do you want me to come with you?”
“No, it’s okay. But thanks, Nick. I appreciate it. I know I’m not your favorite person right now.”
Nick chuckled. “Of course you are. You’re just a pain in the ass. That’s all. Okay, well will you let me know if you need me to meet you anywhere? I’ll be on standby.”
“Thanks, Nick. Yeah, that would be great. I’ll keep you posted.”
I put the phone down and immediately got into my car. I didn’t think that Blaire would go home, so the first thing that I did was go to Katie’s place. Thankfully Blaire had shown me where she lived once when we were out for a drive. It wasn’t too far away. I didn’t see Blaire’s car, but I stopped regardless and quickly rushed out to knock on the door.
A tall man answered the door; I assumed he was Katie’s husband.
“Uh, hi, I’m so sorry to bother you. My name’s Ryan, and I’m looking for Blaire.”
“Oh, hi Ryan. Yeah, I’ve heard your name being thrown around. Blaire’s not here, though.”
“Oh, uh, what about Katie?”
“Katie went out to meet Blaire for an early dinner somewhere. She didn’t say where but she did say it was about a forty-minute drive away. I have no idea why Blaire decided to go somewhere so far on such short notice. Why, is everything okay?”
I sighed. “Yeah, everything is fine. I just . . . it’s a long story. Well, if you see her will you let her know I was here?”
“Of course,” he said. “I’m Chris, by the way.”
“Nice to meet you, Chris. I’m sorry I’m so flustered. So much going on. I’ll explain next time I see you.”
Chris seemed like a nice guy but now wasn’t the time for me to be making friends. I needed to go out and find Blaire. She was sitting in a restaurant forty minutes away from home. The thought cheered me a little. I was glad that she wasn’t in the area and glad that she wasn’t alone. But I was worried about what she was going to do when she got back. Also, two girls out on their own didn’t exactly screen safety to me. I could attempt to drive and find them, but I had no idea what direction they had gone in. I didn’t want to drive forty minutes in the wrong direction. So I decided to just drive around and keep looking.
I drove for about an hour and a half until I ended up back at Katie’s house. Katie’s car was now sitting in the driveway, and my heart lurched when I saw it. I quickly got out and knocked on the door again.
“Ryan? What’s going on?”
“Do you know where Blaire is? I’m so sorry. I came here earlier. Chris told me that the two of you were out for dinner. Where is she now?”
“Ryan, I don’t think she wants to see you,” Katie said uncomfortably.
“Why not? I don’t understand. Did I do something wrong?”
“Oh no,” Katie said with a bit more tenderness in her voice. “You did everything right. I’ve never seen Blaire talk about anyone the way that she speaks about you. She’s fallen for you big time. Which is why she doesn’t want you involved in all of this.”
“Did she get another threat?” I asked.
“She did. And she doesn’t want you to get hurt because of this idiot. She’s stubborn, Ryan. She wouldn’t come stay with me either.”
“Where is she?”
“I hate going against her word, but I’d rather know that she is safe so I’m just going to tell you. She’s going back home.”
“Why would she do that?”
“She said the guy won’t expect her to be there. And she’s going to get a bodyguard and a private investigator on the case.”
“That’s good. But I’m more worried about tonight. I’m going to go find her.”
Katie nodded. “I think you should too. Thanks, Ryan.”
I quickly made my way back to Blaire’s house and cursed myself for not hanging around there. I had assumed wrong about her not wanting to go back to the house. But perhaps that was the smartest thing that she could’ve done. I was sure that whoever it was that was following her would also not expect her to go back home. Regardless, I still wanted to be with her and keep her safe.
I got to her house in no time and breathed a sigh of relief when I saw that her car was parked outside. My only hope was that nobody else had seen that her car was there. I was just about to knock on the door when I noticed that it wasn’t locked. I knew from previous experiences that if you didn’t lock the door, it did not close, but always opened just a crack. I found it strange that Blaire hadn’t locked up behind her, and I immediately knew that something was not right. I opened the door with caution and wished that I had thought of bringing a weapon with me.
“Oh my god! Blaire!” I yelled when I saw her.
Blaire was tied to a chair. Her feet and arms were bound together by rope, and her mouth was closed with tape. The room seemed to spin around me at the sight of her, and I had to force myself to stay in control. I looked around and jumped when I saw a man walk into the room. I did not recognize him, but he clearly recognized me. He was holding a knife in his hand.
“Who the hell are you and what the fuck do you think you’re doing with my girlfriend?”
“Your girlfriend? Shouldn’t you be calling her your wife?”
“No! We’re not married. Someone made that up. Who cares anyway? What are you doing?”
The man seemed slightly taken aback by the news that Blaire and I were not married. He stared at me for a while without saying anything, and then he blinked himself back to reality.
“You shouldn’t be here,” the man said.
“And neither should you. Let her go!”
“Oh yeah? And what exactly are you going to do about it? Because as far as I can see, I’m the only one here with a weapon.”
“I don’t need a weapon.”
“Oh really? I don’t see how you are going to beat me. I may not be as big as you, but I have a feeling that my knife is going to do a lot more damage than your hand ever could.”
I looked over at Blaire. Her eyes were wide, and sweat was pouring down her face. It was the worst thing that I had ever seen in my life. She looked so helpless. What if I had arrived too late? How could I live without her?
“Listen here, you scumbag. I’m going to make you pay for this.”
I walked straight up the man without any fear. It was how I approached all my opponents in a fight. The moment you let your guard down and showed even a little bit of fear, that’s when they got you. I wouldn’t let that happen. I did not fear this man in front of me, and I didn’t care if he had a weapon and I didn’t. I tackled him to the ground and saw the look of shock in his eyes when he saw what was happening to him. He hadn’t expected me to take action, and it was the element of surprise that allowed me to take over the situation. Unfortunately, when I pinned him to the ground, it had given him just enough time to pull out his knife and stab me on the side. The knife didn’t go all the way through, but the cut was still deep enough for me to know I’d need a doctor soon. I heard the muffled sounds of Blaire behind me. I reached for the knife and threw it to the ground. Then, just as I was about to get up, the man took his opportunity and head butted me. I felt the room spin around me, but I managed to control myself just long enough to punch the guy in the face. I watched as his head flopped back onto the ground. I’d knocked him out.
I quickly got up and grabbed the knife. I cut Blaire loose and pulled the tape off her mouth as gently as I could.
“Ryan! Ryan! I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry,” she said over and over again.
“Don’t be sorry,” I murmured.
“Are you okay?”
I wasn’t okay. Every part of me hurt. But the only thing that I could think about was how happy I was to see her alive. I nodded.
“I’m fine. I’m going to hold him down in case he wakes up. Can you call the police?”
The police arrived fifteen minutes later. By then, the man on the floor had started to wake up. I’d asked Blaire who he was and she’d told me that he was some guy that had asked her for her autograph twice. But other than that, she had no idea who he was or what he wanted. He’d surprised her at her house and immediately tied her up before she could get any answers out of him. When the police arrived, I noticed that one of the guys was the same guy that we had talked to the first time that we had gone in asking for protection. The guy had the decency to look embarrassed, especially after I shot him a dirty look.
“You don’t look too good,” one of the men said. “Are you injured?”
I nodded. I showed him my wound on the side and told him that I was feeling lightheaded. However, it wasn’t just the stab wound that was bothering me. It was my head, which had not stopped throbbing since the man had head butted me. I’d never felt anything quite like it. It was like a migraine, only ten times as bad.
“Okay, we’re going to take Miss Kaplan in for questioning, and take this man in too. And we’re going to take you right to the hospital.”
I nodded, kissed Blaire, and told her that I’d see her soon, and then I climbed into the police car. I’d obviously been trying to be brave in front of Blaire the whole time because the moment I got into the cop car, my body started to tremble. The policeman got into the car and looked back at me.
“Are you okay? The hospital is close. Don’t worry.”
I barely heard what he said. One minute I was listening to him, the next the whole world went black.