Chapter Six
We lay in bed, my head against Garrick’s chest. It was nearly four. My leg was wrapped around his, and I could sense how tightly strung he still was. Through all this, he had been beyond supportive.
“Thank you for tonight. I don’t know if I could have made it through this situation without you.”
He pulled me closer. “I wish I could take away the pain you’re feeling.”
“Me, too.” I should go see my therapist. Brooke had always been able to help me sort through my thoughts. But how much could I really tell her? What would I want to tell her? I knew she was bound by doctor-patient privilege, but I felt uneasy about revealing everything. My parents raised a stolen baby and changed their identity, and I was related to the mob. There seemed to be a lot of gray areas. I would think about that tomorrow.
The events from tonight kept playing over in my head. “The Monroes seem nice. Is that how you remember them?”
“More or less. Of course, they’re softer with you, which is to be expected. They were kind to me, and I enjoyed going over there when I was young. When I left, I cut all ties. The first time Hastings and I reconnected was when he got on the board of directors of Energy Source. I was pissed and working through that when you came into my life. I thought Hastings was going to try to take you from me, as well, as retribution for leaving him. We had been like brothers.”
Garrick had missed Hastings through the years. I knew it.
Everything I witnessed firsthand tonight went against what I knew about the mob. Of course, my knowledge of the mob was based on movies, television, and the news. “But they are dangerous, aren’t they?”
“Yes. If you’re on the wrong side, they can be. And if they’re loyal to you, then the danger comes from their rivals.”
It was a lose-lose situation. People like Navarro would always use me. My insides twisted. Will I always have to be afraid?
He touched my face. “We’ll figure out how to balance their world with ours. They’re intertwined now, but we control how much.”
“There are so many more questions I want to ask.”
“And you’ll be able to.”
Garrick waited patiently while I reflected more on my thoughts. “Do you think it betrays my parents—wanting to get to know them?”
“No, I don’t. You have an infinite space to care for and love people.” Garrick rubbed his face and let out a small breath. For a brief second, I saw the tiredness reflected in his eyes. Then it quickly left.
But the crux of my problem was who they were at the end of the day. “I just don’t want to be tied to the dark world they’re a part of.”
“Then you won’t.”
I snuggled deeper into Garrick’s chest. My thumb played with my ring, and I caught the outline of one of the vases filled with white roses. “I hate that our evening was—”
“You said yes to becoming my wife. We have our entire future together. With this in our corner, nothing could ruin our evening. I’ll be by your side.” The pressure of his thumb under my chin brought my face up to meet his. “I mean it, Knoah. We have the rest of our lives. Tonight only proved how strong we truly are together.”
Pressing my lips against his, I murmured, “I love you.”
“Love you, too. Try to rest.”
The steady heartbeat in Garrick’s chest lulled me to sleep.
~ ~ ~
I sat in a chair, rocking my baby girl. I wasn’t in my body, but floating around it as I watched the scene unfold. But I was still attached emotionally. The mother-child bond I felt with my baby and myself took my breath away. The connection was unfathomable. I felt the pull of the indescribable love. I would die for this child.
As I watched, the door crept open, and a dark shadow appeared.
Oh no!
“Look up! Knoah, behind you!” I screamed as loud as I could from where I hovered over my body, but no one could hear me—not the baby or myself. I continued to rock, unaware of the danger behind us.
Why is this happening again? I need to wake up.
Two figures approached from behind. One grabbed me by the shoulders while the other snatched my baby. “Come here, Bridgette. Come to Mommy.”
The stranger in black held her arms out and took the baby. I screamed from the chair as I thrashed about. The figure holding me down put a gun to my head. I watched myself freeze.
Death wouldn’t get my Bridgette back. From above, my subconscious screamed, “Fight! Fight! Don’t let them take our baby! Bridgette!”
The baby cried.
“Knoah! Knoah!” I yelled to myself.
My body screamed more and thrashed.
“Nooo!”
I sat up, panting, as the door flew open. Garrick ran to my side. “What happened?”
“Ni-nightmare. I had…a nightmare.” The chill of the images stayed with me. I hated that dream. It opened a hole in my chest I wanted to stay closed.
It took a minute for my eyes to focus on the surroundings. I had expected to wake up in my apartment. We were in Garrick’s bedroom. Our bedroom.
“Slow, deep breaths, Knoah.”
I looked over at the door and jerked, not expecting anyone else to be there. Hastings, Evelyn, and Ricardo stood in the doorway, all wearing looks of concern. In an instant, the last twenty-four hours crashed into my head. I buried my face in Garrick’s chest as he rubbed my back.
My reality and dreams were nightmares at the moment with my world turned upside down.
“Is she okay?”
The distress in Evelyn’s voice tore through me, yet I stayed close to Garrick with my face buried in his chest. An ugly rawness leftover from the dream still enveloped me.
Ignoring Evelyn for a moment, Garrick murmured against my head, “Was it the same one?”
“Yes.” Then it hit me. I reared back and looked at the Monroes. “Was my name Bridgette?”
Evelyn’s eyes grew wide, and she grabbed the doorframe. Both men held on to Evelyn to steady her as the color drained from her face. My name had been Bridgette. I wasn’t able to fully comprehend what this meant.
“Ho-how did you know?”
I felt sick inside. All this time, I’d been dreaming about my own kidnapping. How was that possible? I was so young.
“Let’s resume this conversation in the living room,” Garrick said.
What? I cocked my head at Garrick, and his eyes shot down my body. I realized I was still in my strappy nightie. “Umm…yes. I’ll be out there in a few.”
Without a word, the Monroes left. “Why are they here? What time is it?”
“Almost noon. I got up around seven to work. Joe uncovered some additional information, and I called Hastings. They came over to talk.”
Only three hours of sleep—Garrick had to be exhausted.
They were speaking without me. A little irritation flared inside me. “Why didn’t you wake me?”
“You were exhausted. I’ll fill you in on everything. Also, I needed some time without you there to see if they would truly cooperate.”
“And?”
“They are. I do think they care for you a great deal. But I am still skeptical simply because of the situation.”
Silently, I added, and what they’re capable of.
Images of the dreams floated through my head. I wanted answers. “Anything I need to know before I go in there?”
“Joe found the concert footage. It was Navarro who spoke to Sawyer, asking if you were single.”
Why did the man want to know that information? Yet a few nights later, he killed Jessica.
“Anything else?”
Garrick handed me a pair of yoga pants and a T-shirt from the drawer. He was in slacks and a dress shirt himself. He looked fresh and alert. “Aren’t you tired? You only got a few hours of sleep.”
“I’ll be fine. Promise.”
As I dressed, Garrick sat on the edge of the bed. “Joe also uncovered that Mickey and Hastings were sleeping together. Every Friday, they met up at a hotel. I’m baiting Hastings to see if he comes clean on this. It’ll show if he truly is cooperating or not.”
My jaw fell. “Sawyer was right. Mickey was hooking up for some nookie on Friday at her secret rendezvous.”
When I worked for As You Wish, Mickey had left the office every Friday for an undisclosed meeting. We used to joke about it. Sawyer had been adamant it was for sex.
“Then how does Mickey tie in with Navarro? His employees were working with her at the gala.”
“I’m not sure yet. But I have a feeling Hastings knows. Other than that, we needed help determining if the SUVs we saw at the apartment complex belonged to the Monroes or Navarro.”
“And?”
“Hastings detailed every time he had you followed. It all matches up to Joe’s data. What’s left are the SUVs in the apartment complex the day Jessica died and a few times around the office. Navarro kept his distance.”
“Why?”
“To trap the Monroes. I was the unexpected card in all this.”
It was all a chess game. And I was the pawn, luring the pieces to the right spot.
In the living room, everyone stood when I entered. Evelyn’s eyes lit up, and I sensed a new protectiveness from Ricardo. It was odd, yet comforting at the same time.
Joe was standing right outside the room, giving an illusion of privacy.
Like last night, everyone waited for me to begin. “I have nightmares. Well, one nightmare, really. It started after I lost the baby.”
Evelyn’s eyes widened, and the shock was evident on the Monroe men, as well. This had been news to them, I was sure. I’d been in a Paris hospital, and Kurt had made sure the records were hidden from the public.
“Umm…that’s a long story, but years ago, I was married to my high school sweetheart. My husband, Dylan Reynolds, died on our honeymoon from an explosion in a pharmaceutical plant. I was pregnant—although we hadn’t known at the time—and lost the baby due to trauma to my abdomen.”
Without thinking, I placed my hand on the scar on my lower stomach. The room remained silent. This was an awkward conversation to have with almost strangers. “After I lost the baby, I had the nightmare for the first time. I’m sitting in a rocking chair, holding my baby. My subconscious floats through the air…yet I can feel what the rocking woman feels. It’s hard to describe. Then two strangers come in. One of them holds me down, and the other takes the baby. The emotional pain is unbearable. But I hear the baby crying and the woman in the rocking chair struggling to save her. In that instant, something rips through me. Then I wake up.”
Tears were streaming down Evelyn’s face. Her hands were shaking. For a few minutes, all was quiet as she worked to compose herself. Then she whispered, “I was home alone.” Her breathing increased. “It was before we had much security. You were only a week old, and I was rocking you to sleep.” She paused as anguish contorted her face. “Two masked strangers, a woman and a man, broke in, took you, and disappeared.” She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “Your nightmare sounds exactly like the night you were taken.”
How is that possible? I was a week old.
“Was there a teddy bear on the changing table?”
Her eyes grew wider, and she breathed out, “Yes.”
I needed to sit and found the nearest chair. In my dream, Evelyn’s pain had been tangible. Her sorrow was mine. The grief. The anguish. I felt it all.
She’d lived the nightmare and survived. It nearly crippled me each and every time. I moved to the couch and hugged her as she cried. I felt an indescribable connection to Evelyn. Tears ran down my face. I murmured, “I’m here now. We found each other again.”
“I’m so thankful.”
A week old. I’d been only a week old. Hastings had said I was there and then gone.
I wasn’t sure how much time had passed when she pulled back and cradled my face. “You have grown into a spectacular woman. Someday, I would like to thank Barb and Wyatt for taking such good care of you.”
“Someday.”
She dug through her purse and handed me a picture. “When Garrick called us this morning, I grabbed this on a whim. I’ve had it on my nightstand all these years. This was us in your nursery the day I brought you home.”
I took the picture, and my breath stopped for a second. The woman in the picture looked like me. Exactly like me except our eye color was different. A young boy had his hand on the baby version of me, his face lit up with the pride of a brother.
I glanced up at Hastings. “This is you?”
Hastings nodded. “Yes.”
It was conflicting to see this family, to know what they did, yet yearn to know them more. But at the same time, the thought of not having the parents I’d always known hurt too much to think about.
“If you’ll excuse me for a minute.” I needed to gather my thoughts and walked into the kitchen, Garrick closely behind.
“It’s okay to feel conflicted, Knoah.”
The lump in my throat grew. “I know. How do I remember being taken? I was so young. It’s impossible. And bottom line, they’re part of the mob. Yet I feel connected to Evelyn in a way I can’t even explain yet. I want to know her, Ricardo, and Hastings.”
With a gentle touch on my arm, Garrick brought me to him.
What would I do without him in my life?
“Taking this day by day is all we can do until you decide how you want to move forward. But Hastings has assured me that your mom and dad will be fine. Ricardo issued protection orders for your parents. Of course, I’m monitoring the situation, also.”
I decided I really needed to see my therapist to talk through some things. An unbiased outsider.
“Okay, I’m ready to go back out there.”
“If you need another break, take it. I’m worried about you.”
Reaching up, I kissed his lips. “I know. With you by my side, we’ll figure it out.”
And for the first time, I saw a very faint light at the end of the tunnel. Maybe there was hope…maybe my life could be fuller.
After a few minutes, I walked back into the living room. “Sorry, this is a lot for me to take in.”
Evelyn gave me a gentle smile, now more composed. “We understand. You’re doing an amazing job. What would you say to us all having lunch together? It would give us a more relaxed setting to talk. Please don’t feel pressured to say yes.”
Again, all eyes turned to me as the rest of the group waited for my response. If I said no, I believed they would respect my wishes and leave. I was curious about them, but the awkwardness of the situation made it hard to relax.
Evelyn’s soft smile brought an answering one from me in return, and I said, “I would like that.”
“I’ll make arrangements to have something delivered.” Garrick had his phone out before he finished his sentence.
It was still hard to reconcile that I had two other parents and a brother. A sibling. Something I’d always wanted. But they had a sordid past. Most likely a sordid future. Would I be able keep that piece of them I wanted no part of away, or would it end up tainting me?