Leave Me Love(37)

"Just the usual, son. You should come by the house more often. Your mother misses you." With that, Mr. Davenport left.

"He was asking about the book," I told Ash as we left the gym. "How would he even know about it?"

"I don't know," he said, opening the car door for me. "Someone is talking when they shouldn't be.”



***



When the day of my public statement arrived, I nearly backed out. My headaches came back with a vengeance and I spent the morning throwing up in our bathroom. Ash called through the door. "I'm canceling this, Catelyn. It's not worth it. Let me in."

"No and no," I said, taking deep breaths to calm myself. "I have to follow through with it. I'll be all right. Just, please, get me some water."

He came back with a glass of ice water and I drank greedily and took another shower, then put on a classy but conservative pantsuit and heels. I called Detective Gray on the way to the press conference which Maxwell had scheduled to be outside the police department for added security. "Are you ready?"

Gray coughed. "Yeah, we're ready."

"Just keep an eye out. The killer will be after me once I give my statement."

"I'll keep an eye out."

I wasn't sure if I could trust him, and I wasn't convinced he'd ruled me out as a suspect, but I had to hope he'd do his job, or at least someone in the police department would.

Ash parked and opened my door for me, then pulled me into a hug. "I'm so proud of you. You're amazing and brave and the most incredible woman I've ever met."

He got on his knees and I nearly choked when he pulled out a small black box. "I know this is shitty timing, but I need you to know, before you do this, how much I love you. Catelyn Travis—Cat—will you marry me?"

I choked back tears and dropped to my knees in front of him, kissing him, but I didn’t take the ring. "I want to say yes. I'm so happy I could cry, but I can't say yes until this is over."

He started to argue but I put a finger over his lips. "Just hear me out. I don't know what's going to happen next. I might go to jail. I might be killed. I can't let you tie yourself to me until we know what's going to happen."

"I love you, sweetheart, and through thick or thin I'll be here. I'm not going to let you die," his voice choked on the word, "and if you're arrested, I'll spend my life fighting to free you."

I kissed him again. "And if you still feel that way when this is over, then my answer is yes. But only once this is over."

He took the ring out and took my right hand. "I want you to wear this, if not on your engagement finger, then on your right hand. It can be a promise ring, until you're ready to say yes."

He slipped the princess cut diamond onto my finger, the sapphires on each side like teardrops. It was the most beautiful ring I'd ever seen. "I love you, Ash."

"I love you, too." He helped me up. "I'm going to go let them know you're ready. Take a deep breath. You'll do great."

A wave of nausea rose up in me as I watched Ash approach the podium, and I rushed behind the building to empty my stomach of what little remained in it. I pulled out a water bottle from my purse and rinsed my mouth, then turned to go meet Ash when I felt the cold steel of a gun in my side. "Don't move or I'll shoot."

I knew the voice. My heart broke.

"Time to get me that book, Catelyn."

I turned to face an icy smile and cold eyes. "Why are you doing this, Bridgette?"





Chapter Thirty


Footsteps





MY HEART HAMMERED in my chest as Bridgette held a gun on me and made me drive home to retrieve the book. Once at my house, I went to my side of the closet and pulled out a false panel in the wall I'd rigged after moving in. Inside was a box full of the letters I'd gotten from Maxwell. I handed it to her. "This is all the research."

My hands shook and Bridgette looked through the letters briefly, shoved them back into the box and prodded me downstairs and into the car. "Don't make a sound. Don't call for help. Don't try to be a hero, Catelyn. Just drive where I tell you."

We drove for over two hours and I recognized the route. I tried asking her questions. Why was she doing this? Was she working with someone else? But she didn't answer, just kept that gun muzzle pointed at my head. I had to shut down, had to close off my emotions and bury the panic building in me and just focus on the road, on the few feet of asphalt I could see in the dark night.

My cell phone rang and rang and beeped and beeped until she threw it out the window. Poor Ash would be worried sick.

Professor Cavin's cabin looked different at night, more sinister than when the sun shined brightly. The lake was a gaping black hole that could have hidden bodies in its depth. "Why are we here?"