Cyrus
“How does a scumbag like that just disappear? Help me understand this, Caleb!”
I heard Caleb sigh through the phone. It had been several days since Megan, Sadie, and I had arrived at the country estate. I had expected a more optimistic report from Caleb by this point, but I was disappointed to find that he and his team hadn’t come any closer to finding Ralph than the night he’d shown up outside Megan’s window. It was frustrating as hell, and I simply didn’t understand how it was possible for the bastard to just disappear.
“We’ve been scouring the city, hitting up all his old haunts and acquaintances,” Caleb told me. “Nobody’s seen him.”
“Bullshit,” I spat. “His junkie friends are covering for him. Why would they give him up?”
“I don’t know why they’d bother hiding him,” Caleb countered. “No one we talked to is overly fond of Ralph, and we offered generous incentives to anyone who could point us in the right direction.”
“What kind of incentives?” I grumbled.
“Well, it depended on the situation,” Caleb answered. “For some, cash. For others…they got to keep their teeth.”
I had to appreciate just how thorough Caleb was with his work, but he still hadn’t found Ralph. The resulting anger triumphed over everything else.
“I’m not happy with this progress,” I told him bluntly. “We can’t stay out here forever, Caleb. Megan has to go back to school. I need to go back to the office at some point. I’m not bringing either Megan or Sadie back to the city, as long as Ralph is loose and running around.”
“I understand,” Caleb assured me. “Believe me, Cyrus, I want to catch that bastard almost as badly as you. We will get him, and we’ll get him soon. You have my word.”
“You’re the only person I trust to see this through,” I replied. “Just make it happen soon.”
“I will,” he promised me.
“Keep me posted on your progress,” I growled.
“Yes,” he replied.
With that, I hung up the phone. Dropping it onto my desk, I leaned back in my office chair, tenting my fingers and pressing them to my mouth. Frustration burned through me. I hated this. Hated the mere thought that Ralph, my sister’s killer, was running around free. He was an active threat to my family, and it infuriated me that I couldn’t seem to get a hold of him.
Truthfully, he’d always been a threat to my family. I just hadn’t fully understood how much of a threat he truly was until it was too late.
When Kate had first introduced me to Ralph, I’d immediately mistrusted him. I couldn’t say I hated him right away. I just thought he was one in a long line of losers she’d dated, but I hadn’t wanted to push her away by rejecting him outright.
When she’d eventually announced they were getting married, I’d realized too late my mistake in not running him off immediately. I’d talked to her and tried to convince her not to marry him, but she’d been stubborn and strong-willed, and her mind had been made up.
I should’ve tried harder. If I had, she might still be alive.
I hated Ralph at that point, but I still didn’t know just how much of a monster he really was. I didn’t know about the abuse. If I had, I would have killed him with my own two hands.
When Kate had finally told me what was really going on in her marriage, she’d had to talk me out of hunting him down and murdering him right then and there. Things had gotten bad. She’d shown up on my doorstep with a black eye and split lip. I’d never seen a bruise on her before. Ralph apparently had been careful. That day, though, he’d been high and enraged and lost all control.
“Pack a bag, get Megan, and come stay here,” I’d told her. “I’ll protect you two and deal with him.”
“You can’t hurt him,” Kate had replied with tears in her eyes. “Whatever he’s done to me, he’s been a good dad to Megan.”
I highly doubted that, but I didn’t argue the point. She had been on edge enough, and I didn’t want to be the one that made her go toppling over into hysterics.
That night, I waited for Kate and Megan to arrive. When they didn’t show up at the planned time, I immediately worried that Ralph had figured out our plan and stopped her from leaving.
I gave them an hour and then prepared to go over to Kate and Ralph’s house to drag the girls out of there myself.
That’s when my phone rang.
Chapter 45
“Hello?” I answered it, half-distracted as I made my way to the door.
“Cyrus Grave?” an unfamiliar voice replied.
“Yes,” I said. “Who is this?”
“This is Officer Wilson with the NYPD…”
My sister was dead, and Megan was in the ER.
I’d made my way to the ER immediately, and it was there that I’d been told how the accident had happened. How Ralph, high and angry, had chased Kate off the road. He’d been in custody, which had been lucky for him. My focus had turned to Megan, hurt, scared, and alone. The moment my eyes landed on her lying in that hospital bed, I knew I’d never let Ralph near her again. I’d called my lawyer and told him to immediately file for emergency custody, and a few days later, I was able to take Megan home as her legal guardian.
Taking care of my niece was the least I could do to make up for letting my sister die.
My stomach twisted with a pang of all-too-familiar guilt as I sat there thinking of Kate. I should have done more to protect her. I should have done more to keep her away from Ralph.
As much as I recognized that Ralph was the one who caused her death, I was not blameless. I failed to keep her safe, and I swore to myself that I wouldn’t fail Megan in the same way. I would do whatever I had to in order to keep her safe.
Her…and Sadie.
Thinking of Sadie eased some of the tension in my shoulders and softened the knot in my gut. That woman…what was she doing to me? I’d never considered building a life with any woman I’d been with before. With Sadie, however, I was having a hard time considering a future without her.
I wanted her in my life. Permanently.
Not as my employee. Not merely as a lover.
I wanted everything from her. Her body, her heart, and her mind. I wanted to be the man she woke up next to every morning and fell asleep besides every night. I wanted her to be a mother figure for Megan and for our broken, little family to be an official unit.
The future I wanted was suddenly so clear, but I knew I couldn’t have it so long as Ralph remained free and able to get to my girls.
I had failed Kate, but I wouldn’t fail Megan. And I most certainly wouldn’t fail Sadie.