Coming Home - Chapter 3

“Who wants to kill you, Ryan?” 

Mandy’s sudden change of direction caught Ryan off guard.  She couldn’t just drop a bomb like that and not explain.  “We’ll get to that,” he said simply.  “Tell me what happened.”

As she moved to clear the dishes, Ryan captured her wrist.  Slowly, she met his eyes, and she saw the compassion there.  God, she hoped Ryan was one of the good guys.  When she slowly lowered herself to her seat, Ryan feathered a couple of strokes along the inside of her wrist before letting go.  “Start from the beginning,” he said gently.

Mandy turned, gazing out the kitchen window before heaving a sigh.  “I met him in the ER, when I was a nursing student,” she whispered.  “He had a suspected broken wrist, and his buddies dropped him off. “  She turned to Ryan, her voice even.  “He’d been there for a couple of hours but because they couldn’t reach his parents, they couldn’t do anything, couldn’t even give him anything for the pain.  Apparently the Judge had threatened to sue them once before for treating his sons without permission.”  She took a breath.  “Anyways, I felt bad for him so I stayed with him and kept him company until someone finally gave them permission to set the bones.”

Ryan nodded, watching Mandy try to maintain her self control.  “How many hours are we talking?”

“At least three and a half.  We left messages but it took that long for the Judge to get back to us.  Even then, no one came to get Brandon, until his brother showed up.”  She paused, tamping down her anger at the callousness of the Judge.  Once she had herself composed, she continued.  “A couple of days later, Brandon showed up in the ER again, and gave me a white rose, to say thanks.  I thought it was sweet, but didn’t think anything more of it.  Then he showed up again, this time asking me out.”  She smiled slightly.  “He was only fifteen, so I tried to let him down gently.  I mean it was obvious that the kid had little attention from anyone at home, so I tried to be nice about it.  I told him if he needed to, he could always talk to me.”  She huffed out a breath.  “Big mistake.”

“The kid had no one else so he fixated on you.”

Mandy nodded.  “Yes.  He started coming the ER more often, started sending me those stupid white roses, started calling me all the time.  I tried to be nice but sometimes when it was busy, I had to more or less brush him off.”  She hesitated.  “I told him that he was a nice kid, but I didn’t have the time to be more than friends, that I had my schooling and also had to help on the farm.  I tried to be nice but as he persisted, I got a more forceful about it.  I tried, Ryan.”  She looked at him, pleading for understanding.

“I know,” Ryan soothed, more than familiar with the guilt that ate at her.  “What happened next?”

“I came home from work one day and found a vase of white roses on the table in my apartment.  He had broken in to my apartment and left them there.  ”  She got up and got a can of Diet Coke from the fridge, Ryan guessed not because she was thirsty, but because she needed to do something.  “I decided then and there that I needed a restraining order.  I went to the police and they told me straight out that it was an uphill battle.  The Judge would never let it go through.”

Ryan clenched his teeth.  He knew that justice was seldom fair, and those holding the power almost always got their way.  He was intimately familiar with that notion.  “So the Judge didn’t want anything to do with the kid, but he didn’t want anything to sully the family name.”

A bitter smile crossed Mandy’s lips.  “Got it in one.”    She took a drink before she continued.  “I got a call from the Judge the next day.  He told me if I pursued this it would be a mistake.  He guaranteed that he would talk to Brandon and there wouldn’t be any more problems.”

“But there was.”

Mandy returned to her seat, putting the can on the table.  “I thought it was over, but then more roses showed up in my apartment.  Rose petals on my bed.  He left a note on the night table telling me that nothing was going to keep us apart.  I freaked out.”  She clenched her hands into fists on the table, anger threatening to overcome her.

Reaching over, Ryan took one of her hands in his, forcing her fingers open, with his large flat palm.  The warmth and security of his touch was a simple gesture but it was almost her undoing.

“I called the police, filed another report and then I took off for home.  It was about a forty-five minute drive to the hospital, but I was willing to do the drive rather than stay at the apartment alone.  That was my mistake.”

“Mandy…” Ryan sighed, but she cut him off.

“No, Ryan, if I hadn’t gone back to the farm, he wouldn’t have followed me.  It was my fault.”  The pain in her voice was almost palpable.  Ryan held her hand tightly, letting her work through the emotions.  “I had a night shift,” Mandy whispered.  “It was just after 8 in the morning when I pulled into the driveway but I knew something was wrong instantly.  The cows were mooing, like they were in some distress and it was because my dad hadn’t been there to set up the milking machine.  He was always out there at 6 to start the milking, but I knew.  I got out of the car and headed to the house, but it was eerie.  Other than the cows, it was too quiet. “  She took a big gulp of air.  “I went into the house and there was Brandon sitting at the kitchen table.  He had a shotgun in front of him.  I looked around and saw them.”  Her voice caught.  She gripped Ryan’s hand tighter.  “My dad was lying in the hallway, my mom just past him in the living room.  I didn’t see her but I knew Jessie was gone too.  He looked up at me, as calm as can be and he said, ‘now no one will keep us apart’. 

Oh sweet Jesus, Ryan thought. Mandy had walked in to a blood bath, because no one had the balls to stand up to the Judge. 

“I turned to run, but he was quick.  He was big for fifteen, but he was quick, too.  He grabbed me by the hair and yanked me back.  He said he did it for me.”  Mandy’s eyes were unfocussed now, and Ryan knew she was seeing that kitchen again in her mind’s eye.  “He wanted to take me away, I don’t know where, but away he said, where we could be together.  I refused, said I wouldn’t go and he got mad.  He fired the shotgun in the air, said I had no choice.  He would make me go.  I thought he was going to kill me, too.”

“How did you get away?” Ryan asked gently, bringing her out of her trance.

“Robby had been at a friend’s house.  He came home and snuck into the house while his friend’s parents called the police.  They heard the shotgun.  Robby tackled Brandon from behind and between the two of us, we wrestled the gun away from him.  We tried to help Mom and Dad and Jessie but it was too late.  They were gone.”  Her words were soft, almost a whisper.  Shaking off the emotions, Mandy focused her gaze on Ryan, steeling herself.  “The Judge immediately denied knowing anything about the stalking and he had Brandon committed to an institution instead of facing criminal charges.  When Brandon was able to send me notes from the hospital, Robby and I knew we had to leave.  I talked to the Judge and had him agree to seal the records after we changed our names.  No one was supposed to have any record of who we became and where we went.”  She looked at her hand, as if noticing for the first time that Ryan’s hand held hers.  Quickly, she pulled it away, tucking her hands under her arms.  “I guess it would be very unlikely that he would have found us.”

Ryan left his hand on the table.  “Unlikely, yes but not impossible.  Sealed information sometimes has a way of getting into the wrong hands.”  And didn’t he know that first hand.  “I’ll get Dylan to check into this first thing tomorrow.  We’ll find out for sure that he’s still where he’s supposed to be.  What’s his full name?”

“Brandon Young,” Mandy said, getting up and taking the dishes to the sink.  She needed to move, to do something.  She felt raw, stripped, all her emotions so close to the surface.  Once again, she was caught off guard when she felt Ryan standing close once again.

He reached for her, putting his hands on her shoulders and turning her to face him.  Even as she tensed, he pulled her close, wrapping her in his arms.  “I’m sorry, Mandy, but you have to know it’s not your fault.”

“I…” she started but he cut her off, his tone definite.

“No, Mandy, it’s not.  It’s in your nature to help, to be kind.  That’s why you went into nursing.  This bastard took that and twisted it.  You did nothing wrong.”

She couldn’t help but sink into his embrace, let herself be held at least for that brief moment.  “Thanks,” she whispered, her hands resting on his chest.

After a few moments, Ryan looked down at her.  “Do you want help with the dishes?”

She smiled, glad he had made the move to a more comfortable subject.  “No, it’s okay.  I’ll wash them up.  You better go before my neighbours start to talk.”  She moved out of his arms, her shields once again going up.

“Are you sure?”  He was torn, wanting to stay with her, but wanting to talk to Dylan as well.  The sooner they found out about this guy, the sooner they could determine the source of the threat Mandy had felt.

“Yes, I’m sure,” she smiled even as she knew she really wanted him to stay.  She had no claim on Ryan Westbrook.

He looked at her, almost overpowered by the urge to take her into his arms and carry her off to any waiting bedroom he could find.  She looked so vulnerable, but he knew she had a backbone of steel to survive what she had.  Stepping towards her, he acted on instinct and took her mouth with his.

The kiss was not what Mandy expected.  She expected hard and dangerous, much like Ryan, but instead she got tender and only a little demanding.  She let herself lean into him, returning the kiss, mutually exploring each other with their tongues.  After what seemed like forever, Ryan came up for air.

“Wow,” was all Mandy could manage, noting he was breathing as heavily as she was. 

“You have my number Mandy,” he said, as he made his way to the door.  If he stayed, he would end up doing something they both might regret.  “Anything happens, you let me know, okay?”

She followed him, wanted desperately to tell him to stay, but knowing she wouldn’t.  She wasn’t sure that his reaction was due to the emotionally charged atmosphere or if there really was something between them.  She needed the space to figure out just what was happening, and if she wanted it to happen.  “I’ll call, but I’m sure everything will be fine.”

Ryan opened the door, turning to look at Mandy again.  He was about to turn and leave when a thought struck him.  “What’s your real name?” he asked.

Mandy looked at him, for a moment unsure if she would tell him. In the end, she did.  “Elizabeth.  They called me Ellie.”

Ryan nodded.  “Good night Ellie,” he whispered, before turning and heading down the walk. 

As she watched him walk away, Mandy realized that she still didn’t know the answer to her original question.  She still didn’t know who wanted Ryan Westbrook dead.

**