Thank you for all the reviews, we didn't hit 35 but got close. I hope you guys enjoy this one, it was not easy to write for several reasons. Enjoy and R&R.

Chapter Six

DPOV

"You both look refreshed! How was your weekend?" Suzanne smiled as we made our way into the kitchen.

"Ah-May-Zing!" Rose emphasized each syllable. "How were the kids?"

"Angels as always, they are out back playing with Pavel and Melissa right now. Lunch will be ready soon, will you be staying?"

"Yes, thank you." I answered before turning to Rose, "I need to talk to Dad. Why don't you go let them know we're here."

She nodded and headed for the back door, while I went to Abe's office. Knocking lightly on the door, he called for me to enter.

"Welcome home, Son. How was your trip?"

"Great, thank you for watching the kids for us. Did anything happen while we were gone?"

"Not here. I had Pavel go by and check on your family and the house, nothing seemed out of place."

I nodded, thankful that everyone was still safe and sound. I brought myself to sit in the chair across from him, hands folded in front of me, elbows resting on my knees. I had a plan to get Rose and my family away from here, somewhere safe where this person wouldn't be able to find them. I would need help though. Lots of help.

"What is it, Dimitri?"

I took a deep breath, "I have an idea, but there are two problems. One, I need help with expenses, second, Rose is going to hate it."

"Let's hear it," he sat back in the plush leather chair, tenting his fingers.

I needed them away from here and had the perfect place to send them. Mama and the girls would be ecstatic, but Rose was going to be cross. For one, she has been wanting to go for some time, but she wants me with her. I, however, will not be going with them. I will stay here and work every angle I can to find the person threatening my family, eliminate it and bring them back home.

"My mother still owns our home in Baia, I want to send Rose, the kids, and my family over there until I can find the person stalking them."

"And you."

"Yeah, and me. I just need to make sure they are safe. I doubt he would follow them overseas, if I can get him focused on me, I will have a better chance of catching him."

"I don't think that is a good idea."

"Why?"

I have been thinking about this for the last three days, it's the only way I could see to keep everyone secure. It was pretty much the only idea I had.

"If you take her away, he will kill you," he paused to let his words sink in, "I have contacted a few of Janine's old colleagues, they were able to provide a profile." He took out a large manila folder, opening it, I could see several notes and reports. He shuffled through them and handed me a few pages.

I scanned through the details, White Male, between the age of twenty-five and thirty-five. Possibly working with someone younger, easily influenced, a relative or close friend…. A sexual sadist who receives a release from watching and creating fear…. Stalkers will eliminate anything that stands in the way of them and the item of their desire, family and friends should be alert of suspicious activity…. Based on the items sent, resides in the gulf coast area of Florida. Beach sand and shells are native to that region…

She didn't tell me about that, she said he sent letters and flowers, some jewelry, not sand and shells.

"Sand?" I questioned him.

"That was sent here for some reason, had her name on it, but I think his partner got something messed up. Honestly, I think it was intentional. I didn't tell her about it, but I had it sent in with everything you guys brought over."

White male, twenty-five to thirty-five, near Florida...Destin.

The realization hit me like a brick wall. I looked at Abe, eyes wide as the shock began to settle in, it's not possible, I mumbled to myself.

"Apparently it is," Abe whispered.

"You knew?!"

Quickly he raised his hand, "I only just figured it out myself. The sand tipped me off, but when the profile came back, I called my contact who was supposed to have handled him."

"You said you called the police and he died at the hospital! Why did you lie?"

"I did what I thought was best," he growled, "Look, I don't want to get into this right now, not with her here, when she finds out...well it's not going to be easy."

"You have let her believe for the last eight years that he was dead, that she killed him! How did that work out for you?"

"He was supposed to be dead, someone lied to me and didn't do their job. Trust me, I will handle that, but for now, we need to not let her know."

"You want me to lie to her, too? We are finally talking again and working out our issues and you want me to lie to her?"

"No. I just don't want you to tell her something she doesn't need to know yet." he reasoned.

"I can't believe this," I whispered more to myself than anything.

"Now that we know who it is though, we can find him easier and hopefully take care of him before this gets further out of hand."

I simply nodded, running the information I was just given through my mind. We all thought we would never have to deal with him again, he was gone and it was over. Now, he is back and all I can think about is the first day he entered our lives. Rose's life.

**Flashback**

"That's not what I meant and you know it, Rose. I was just simply saying it's going to mean more time apart," maybe I should have phrased that better, but she really did drop a bomb on me just then.

"No, you said it loud and clear. You questioned me about what I want, but I have never questioned your choices. I have pushed you to go after what you want, why can't you do that for me?" she was screaming, anger rolling off of her in waves.

"Come on, Roza. You know I will always support you."

"Well, you sure are showing it in a shitty way." she stood up and headed for the door. "I will see you later, don't wait up."

"Roza!" she kept going, slamming the door behind her.

I crossed the ten feet, as soon as I opened the door I heard her yell, "Don't Follow ME!"

I gave her a few minutes before heading down to check on her. I walked around the pools for about ten minutes before I spotted her. She was talking to some guy. I couldn't see much, his back was to me, but I could see her. The emotions running on her face spoke volumes. There was anger, sadness, love, and fear. I understood the anger and the love, but why sadness and fear. Well, maybe I could understand why she was sad, but fear, that I couldn't comprehend at all.

I watched them for several minutes, then she reached out to him, laying her hand on his. What was going on? She doesn't even know this guy and she is talking to him, in the middle of the night, in a secluded area, and she's touching him! My vision tinged with red. Calm down, calm down, it's probably not what you are thinking, Dimitri, I tried to reason myself.

**End Flashback**

But it had been what I was thinking, maybe not from her, but definitely from him. If I would have never fought with her that night, she would have never met him. Never been taken in Tennessee and wouldn't be going through what she is now. That damn night. Will it ever stop biting me in the ass?

RPOV

"MAMA!" Sasha screamed as I came into view.

"Hey beautiful, did you have a good weekend?"

"Yep! Dede and Nine let us stay up and watch movies and we played games and….," her smile was contagious, I couldn't help but grin back at her as she rambled on about their adventures.

I looked around the yard as she continued talking, Pavel was sitting with Misha by the ancient oak tree in the far corner, Melissa was picking up toys.

"Malyshka, why don't you head inside and clean up for lunch," I interrupted her, nodding she headed inside and I went to Misha and Pavel.

Pavel caught my eyes as I got closer, sadness clouded his features, he whispered something to Misha and stood up to meet me halfway. Misha stayed with his back to the trunk, I could see dark circles under his eyes, he didn't sleep last night.

"What's wrong?"

Pavel looked back to my boy, "He won't talk to anyone today. He has been fine all weekend, but when we came out to play, he went straight there and hasn't moved since. I have tried to talk to him a few times, but he won't say anything."

"Did he have any nightmares while we were gone?"

He only closes himself off when he dreams, the look on his little face told me he saw something heart-wrenching. I mean for a four-year-old, almost anything could be terrifying, but I have only seen him like this once, about a month ago.

"I'm not sure, he didn't wake up screaming or anything like normal, but something is scaring him."

"I will try to talk to him, can you go get Dimitri for me? If he won't talk to me, he will talk to his Papa."

Pavel nodded, patting my shoulder and went to get Dimitri. I walked over and sat down next to my littlest baby, my soul. It was just past noon, the sun was high, minimal clouds covered the blue sky. Mid-autumn wasn't unbearably hot, but it was still easily upper seventies to low eighties out, at least it wasn't humid today. The large oak provided a nice shade, the sun rays danced around the branches, forming different shapes on the grass ahead of us. I sat there for another moment, waiting to see if he would say something on his own, when he didn't I looked down at him. He stared straight ahead, not moving a muscle, eyes not blinking.

"What's wrong, Misha? Did you have a bad dream?" nothing, "Are you hungry, want to go get some lunch?" still nothing. He was like me when it came to food if that didn't get a reaction out of him, I didn't know what would. I dropped my arm around his shoulders, pulling him into my side and kissing his hair.

"You know you can talk to me, Mama is always here."

His eyes didn't move, he still didn't speak. I was growing more and more concerned with each passing second. I heard the back door open and looked to see Dimitri coming toward us. A silent conversation flowed between us, he could tell what was wrong with one look at our son. I kissed Misha one last time and stood for Dimitri to take my place. With a quick kiss, I went back inside, watching them from the kitchen window.

Almost immediately I could see Misha talking to him. I was no master at reading lips, but I was at reading Dimitri's body language and expressions. Whatever Misha was telling him baffled him, he looked like he didn't know what to say back. He pulled Misha into his lap, rocking him. I watched them for a few more minutes, Suzanne joining me to look out the window.

"Will he be okay?"

"I hope so, I don't know what to do to help him. He will only talk to Dimitri about his dreams."

"Maybe a child counselor? See if there is some way for them to get him to open up and maybe they will stop?"

"If anyone could figure it out it would be Yeva, he is too much like her," I was only half joking, he really was just like his great-grandmother, that scared me.

"That he is," she laughed.

I was still looking out the window, watching my two guys talk. Dimitri finally stood up with Misha still in his arms and came toward the house. The look on his face telling me that whatever Misha said to him struck a deep nerve. Catching my eye through the window, he told me we would talk about it later.

"What did he tell you?"

We had just put the kids to bed and were now sitting in the living room for our quiet time. I couldn't wait any longer to know what Misha had seen. All through lunch and coming home for dinner, he was silent, only nodding or whispering a single word when Dimitri would ask him something. Dimitri looked to have an internal battle going on, I really hoped he wouldn't hold back and keep something from me. We were making progress, I didn't want to go backward, especially, when it dealt with my son.

Taking a deep breath, "He saw Mason and me in a shootout.." my breath caught in my throat, stroking my hair, he continued, "There were three people, but he didn't know who they were or what they looked like. He couldn't tell me where only that the houses looked old and it was dark."

"Did he see how it ended?"

"No," his voice barely a whisper.

My breathing picked up, thoughts of both Dimitri and Mason being put in danger, unknowing if it would really happen and what the outcome would be. My thoughts took off like a Lamborghini, zero to sixty in two point five seconds.

"Do you think it has to do with the stalker?"

"I don't know, Roza."

He was still playing with the ends of my hair, twirling them around his fingers in a meditative way. I was about to say something when Dimitri stiffened beneath me, I turned my neck to look up at him. He was staring at something in the corner of the room, above the front door. I tried to see what he was looking at but found nothing that seemed out of place. He tapped my shoulder, I sat up to let him up from the couch. He studied the security camera in the corner, it has been there for the last twenty-something years, since Dad bought the house, I never paid any mind to it.

"Did you ever have the alarm reconnected when we moved back in?"

"No, but Dad may have, why?"

Putting his back to the camera, he mouthed something to me, I really suck at reading lips. He flicked his eyes upward toward the camera, and mouthed again, this time I caught it.

He's Watching.

Putting his finger to his lips, motioning for me to stay silent, he disappeared into the kitchen. I heard several drawers open and close, then plastic clasp being taken apart. I stayed on the couch, watching around the corner of the wall. He came back after a moment, looking again at the camera on the wall. Following his gaze, I noticed the little light that was on a moment ago was no longer there. Walking around the house, he checked all the doors, windows and cameras, making sure everything was secure. When he finally returned, I was still silent, waiting for him to let me know we could talk again.

"How did I miss that?" he mumbled to himself.

"Miss what?"

"Those never worked. If you didn't have the alarm reactivated, the lights wouldn't have been on. How long has he been watching?"

He was still talking more to himself than to me, but I had the same question. Exactly how long has he been seeing inside our home? Did he see everything that went on behind the closed doors, hear everything? Was he watching constantly or recording to playback later?

Dimitri was pacing the floor, hands constantly running through his chin-length hair, rapidly mumbling in Russian. All of a sudden he stopped, pulling his phone from his pocket and dialed a number. I couldn't hear the voice on the other end, but he was still speaking in Russian, it could only be a handful of people. Someone in his family, Ivan or Dad, my money was on Dad. I heard the word Baia a few times, where he lived in Russia before coming here. I was getting better at understanding his native tongue, but when he spoke so fast I couldn't keep up. Only catching every few words, I start to piece together what he was saying.

"I am not running away, Comrade!"

He stopped pacing to look at me, guess he didn't think I would catch on. Switching to English for my benefit, he spoke both to me and the person on the phone.

"It's the only way I can keep everyone safe," he pleaded, "Please, you have too."

"No, I am not a coward, and after what Misha saw, I can't leave you here by yourself. If something.." I couldn't finish.

The mere thought of losing him, be it from this psycho or some other criminal, my throat closed up, breathing becoming difficult as the multiple scenarios played out in my mind. I refused to be halfway around the world, unable to do something, anything to help us get through this. For the first time since this whole thing started, I broke down. Thinking about Dimitri dying pushing me over the edge, deep into a black abyss that I couldn't find my way out of. Wrapping my arms around my legs, I drew my knees to my chest and let out every ounce of fear I held.

The world around me faded away, nothing mattered anymore, my own fear and anxiety captivated every thought, every emotion I could feel and twisted it into vivid nightmares. Dimitri lying a pool of his own blood, eyes wide and glazed over. His skin pale, paperwhite as life left his body and only the shell remaining. The shell of my husband, my lover, my best friend, my hero. The vision changed and I stood in a room, a room full of people, yet no one spoke a word. The fluorescent lights dancing off the brass of many different badges. Over a thousand officers gathered in one place, all to say goodbye to someone they may or may not have known, but we're family too. A casket sat at the front, flanked by two officers in their dress blues, holding an at-ease stance. Flowers, lots of flowers, lined the stage. Some inelegant sprays, others designed into shapes, the state, the flag, a badge. Dimitri's badge number written across a ribbon on the front. It's a wonder my heart could beat any faster, but it continued to pick up its pace. Thudding widely in my chest, hurting more and more with each rhythmic beat.

I walked down a long aisle, Sasha on my right, Misha on my left. Everyone in the room stood to attention, saluting the fallen family as we made our way to the front row. People spoke of him, songs were sung, it was time to say goodbye. As they placed the folded flag from his casket into my hands, Eddie looked deep into my eyes, tears he so desperately tried to hold back fell free down his cheeks. "Don't ever forget what an amazing man he was. He is a hero, always remember that." I could only nod, kissing my head, then my children, Eddie returned to his post. The honor guard raised their flags and twenty-one shots rang out for the officer down. My officer. They called his number on the radio, but he didn't answer. He would never answer again. 2231 is End of Watch, Now and Forever More, Godspeed rang out through the airways. The entire fleet of officers was silent, the only sound was a strangled cry. That cry was coming from me.

I could feel the world shifting, threatening to crumble around me as I watched the only man I have ever loved be lowered into the cold earth. I could almost hear him calling out to me, his accent wrapping around me in a warm blanket.

"Roza, baby please, please wake up," the voice was pained, desperate for me to respond.

I wanted too, I wanted to talk to him one more time, but I couldn't get mouth to function. Everything around me was dark and empty, the voice echoing through the nothingness of my mind. I was cold, I didn't realize just how much until I felt the warmth of another body next to mine. I tried to see, tried to feel who it was, my body just wouldn't function. Eventually, I gave up, relaxing into the feel of a warm embrace, blackness swallowing me until I thought no more.

Third Person POV

"What do you mean he "messed up"? How hard can it be to send a package to the right address?"

I was livid, these fucking kids! I should have known better than to get involved with him and his petty obsession with her. I could care less about her, it was him I wanted. I wanted him to fall off that high horse he galloped around on. "Rookie of the Year", "Life-Saving Award", who gives a fuck. He is not the man all these people believe him to be, it's a facade, and I will expose him.

"I don't know what happened, but I will take care of it. I just wanted you to know to be extra careful."

"I have been taking care of my self longer than you have been alive, I will be fine. You need to worry about me getting my hands on your precious brother. If he blew this and I don't get what I came for, I will have both of your heads," bringing my tone to a low menacing level, staring him down.

I could see the fear he was trying to hide, the kid had no poker face. His ocean blue eyes refused to meet mine. Good. I want him terrified of me, then he will know better than to double cross me in the end. I had no intention of sticking with him once I received what I wanted. That was the deal, I get him, then he will get her. He said it worked better for him anyway, once she was broken, he could easily take her away. Once I got what I wanted, I would disappear again. There is no use of sticking around to watch the train wreck that will be left behind. I have no interest in that, only his demise.

"Take care of it, now."

I turned my back and headed toward my hotel. The pathetic room held only a bed and small chair, but it would work for now. This being the fourth hotel I have resided in the last month, I have had worse. I didn't want to stay in one place for too long, if there is one thing to say about Dimitri, he is observant. Being this close to him was already a gamble, if my face became known, he might just find me out. Honestly, I am surprised he hasn't yet. I walked by him a number of times at the baseball field. Watched him from the small park down from the house, not bothering to really conceal my identity. Maybe he isn't as observant as I remember.

Growing quite bored of the ridiculous things that pass for television nowadays, I decided a drive was in need. Weaving around the familiar streets, I noticed one thing different, another car parked outside of their house. A large SUV. Mazur. The name felt like acid on my tongue, leaving a foul taste in my mouth. Maybe I will make another stop after handling Dimitri. Lord knows I have plenty to repay Ibraham for.

A "ding" noise drew me out of my fantasies of destroying both of them, the fuel light illuminated on the dash. Damn it. Checking my wallet, it was indeed empty. Strictly living off cash was difficult in this day and age, but I wouldn't use my cards for fear of being traced. I have not spent the last decade off the grid to leave crumbs everywhere now. I drove down the street, carefully keeping my face hidden from his home. Heading into the prominent neighborhood, I quickly located a house that was unoccupied at the moment. Breaking in the back door, I made my way through, looking for anything I could quickly grab and sell on the street tomorrow. I found a few watches and necklaces in the bedroom, but the hall closet proved to be the most promising. A .45 caliber handgun laid on the top shelf, a full box of ammunition next to it. Picking it up, it was already loaded, perfect. I slipped it into the waistband of my trousers, grabbed the ammunition and made my way back out. As I went back through the kitchen, I noticed a dry erase board on the fridge. Quickly scribbling a message to the resident and the officer responding, I exited the house and went back to my ratty hotel.

Authors Note:

For those that hadn't figured it out before, you know who suspect number one is now, right? Now, who can tell me who suspect number two is? Anyone with the right answer will be sent an exclusive clip of an upcoming chapter. Thank you again for all the reviews and new fav/follows. Don't forget to check out my facebook for updates and snips, the link is in the intro and my bio!