Chapter 7: Ray Lifts Liz's spirits

Ray and Liz walked to Sam's room, Liz still a bit in shock about the camera Ray had just found. Ray knocked on Sam's bedroom door. "Sam, can we come in for a second?"

"Yes, come on in" Sam answered and Ray opened the door, still guiding Liz by her arm.

"I found this in Liz's room while catching a spider", Ray said holding out the camera he held in his hand.

"What the hell? Is that a camera?" Sam asked, studying the small object in Ray's hand.

"Yes it is. It was hidden in the fitting of Liz's light on the ceiling. I'm so glad that that spider was there; otherwise we probably would've never found it"

"Yes, that's some good fortune" Sam said and he looked at Liz who was still staring at the camera, "Are you okay sweetie?" Sam asked while putting his arms around his daughter.

When Liz didn't answer he turned to Ray again, while still having an arm around Liz "I'll need to take this to the police tomorrow. Hopefully it is of some help in finding whoever did this. I wonder when he placed it in her room though. Could it be someone from the party?"

"It could be. But it is also possible that it has been there much longer. There is no way of telling at this point" Ray answered with a heavy sigh, "I'll check her entire room tomorrow, just to make sure there aren't more"

"Okay, good idea. I think we all just need a good night's sleep right now" Sam said as he hugged Liz tight and gave her a quick kiss on her hair, "Try to get some sleep darling, it has been a long day"

Liz just nodded and hugged her dad back before turning around and walking back towards her room together with Ray. Just before entering her room she stopped. "I…I don't want to go in there…." Liz whispered as she looked at her hands, her fingers entwined. She was too shy to ask Ray if she could stay with him, but then he already proposed it himself.

"Look, I understand you don't want to stay in your room right now. I wouldn't even let you if you wanted to. You can sleep in my bed tonight if you want but I suggest we go to the guest bedroom"

When Liz didn't answer he took her arm again and led the way to the guest bedroom further down the hall. When they walked in, the first thing Ray did was look around and see if everything was in order. When he was satisfied, he lifted the comforter so Liz could get into the bed.

Just when Liz started to feel anxious about what Ray's next move would be, he walked over to the closet, grabbed some blankets and pillows and he started to make a bed on the floor, beside the bed Liz was in.

Liz felt teary eyed at the incredibly sweet gesture. He never even asked if it was okay for him to lay in bed with her, even though it was big enough to fit 3 persons in there. Yet Liz didn't have the courage to tell him that he could.

Ray left to tell Sam that they would be staying in the guestroom but was back in seconds. He didn't want to leave Liz alone for too long.

"Try to get some sleep, Liz. I know that's probably easier said than done but you are safe in this room, okay" Ray said before he switched off the light and got into his self-made bed.

It only took mere minutes before he heard Liz sniffing. The sniffing soon became sobbing and Ray felt he couldn't just ignore it.

He got up and switched on the small bedside light before sitting on the edge of the bed.

Liz lay with her back towards him, trying desperately to stifle her sobs but when she heard Ray get up, she knew he had heard her cry.

"Hey, it's okay" he said, unsure whether to touch her or not. When she didn't react to his words, he decided he did want to comfort her and he put his hand on her shoulder. "Liz, please, say something…"

At hearing the care and worry in his voice, Liz turned around, sat up and almost threw herself in his arms, looking for someone to hold her. Ray wrapped his strong arms around her "Shhh, it's okay…."

"I just…. it's all too much…" she cried, hot tears falling on his shoulder, "F-first the letters, then the p-picture and now this…." She muttered under her sobs. All the bottled up emotions and fear came to the surface.

Ray just held her, slightly rocking from side to side. "I know, Lizzie, I know…. We will find who did this, I promise you…. shhhhh" he whispered soothingly in her ear while stroking her hair.

They sat like that for minutes, Ray whispering comforting things in Liz's ear and Liz just holding onto Ray for dear life, crying softly.

After she had calmed down, Ray sat back a little, holding both of Liz's upper arms while looking at her intently. Her face was tear stained and Liz was trying hard to avoid looking into his eyes. She felt ashamed for crying in front of him like this, even though she knew he didn't care.

"Why don't you go and wash your face and then go back to bed, hmm?"

Liz nodded and got up to go to the adjoining bathroom. She looked in the mirror to see her red face and puffy eyes look back at her. Why did you have to cry in front of him, she asked herself.

After returning to bed she wanted to turn off the bedside light.

"Are you okay?" Ray asked, looking up at her from the floor.

"Yes, much better" Liz answered while giving him a smile before switching the light off.

"Thank you, Ray", she said as they lay there in the dark.

"You're welcome, Lizzie"

Hmmm, I like the sound of that, 'Lizzie', she thought as she tried hard not to think about what had happened. Nobody really calls me that, but I like it….

Even though Ray was tired, he stayed awake until he could hear Liz's breathing become slow and steady. When he was certain that she was asleep, he turned onto his side and drifted off himself.

The next morning Ray woke up to see that Liz was still asleep. Good, he thought before stretching his limbs and going to the bathroom. His back hurt a little cause sleeping on the floor wasn't the most comfortable of things, but he was glad he had done it to make Liz feel at ease.

When he returned from the bathroom, Liz was sitting upright in bed, rubbing her eyes.

"Good morning. Did you sleep well?" Ray asked her while picking up the blankets and pillows and starting to put them away.

"Yes, not too bad actually. I'm glad I even slept at all" Liz responded while getting out of bed. Just before walking into the bathroom she turned around. "Thanks again, for last night"

Before Ray even had the chance to say anything, she disappeared inside.

He decided to go downstairs for breakfast and saw that Sam had already left. He had left a note on the counter for them.

'I checked on you guys but you were both still asleep. I took the camera and will go to the police on my way to work. Will talk to you tonight. Hope you have a good day. Love, Sam'

Ray smiled at the note and peeked in the fridge to see what they could have for breakfast. He decided to make some bacon and eggs and he was almost finished making it when Liz appeared in the kitchen.

"Is my dad gone already?"

"Yes. We are later than usual. But look, he left us a note" Ray said, pointing at it.

They had breakfast together in silence. Both not sure what to talk about, both desperately avoiding the whole 'camera' incident.

"So, what do you want to do today?" Ray asked while finishing the last of his eggs.

"Oh, I don't know" Liz sighed, "Something fun maybe, to forget about it all of… this" she exclaimed waving her hands.

"How about if I call the airport and see if it's possible to give you your first flying lesson?" Ray suggested, hoping to lift her spirits a little.

Liz's face lit up, "Really? Yeah, that would be great!"

"Okay, let me just clean up in here and I'll make the call"

"No, no, let me do the cleaning, you can go make the call" Liz said to Ray's surprise. He had never seen Liz clean up anything.

He phoned the airport and they said it was fine to take the helicopter out in about two hours. That's good, Ray thought, that will leave me some time to get the decorations at the pool down.

He informed Liz that the lesson would be in two hours and what he was planning to do until then. Liz offered to help and he gladly took her up on that.

As Ray was on the ladder, untying the string of balloons, Liz was getting some lights down that were wrapped around the trunk of a palm tree.

Liz looked up at Ray as he was working and she felt so relieved that he was there. She felt much safer since her dad had hired him. Of course that was his job, but she never thought that she would actually feel this way about having him around.

Ray looked down at Liz and when he noticed her looking at him, he gave her a broad smile. He was glad that she wasn't as upset as last night anymore and he hoped that they would soon solve this case of Liz's mysterious stalker.

After getting all the decorations down, Liz took the big bag of stuff to the closet where they kept it. Now there was just some cleaning to do in and around the pool but that would be left for Martha.

They got ready and left for the airport an hour before the actual take off. It was about half an hour's drive, which left them some time to get Liz acquainted with the helicopter.

Sam had informed the airport about Liz's present and that he would hire a helicopter whenever she wanted to take a lesson.

When they got there it was already waiting for them. Ray opened the door for Liz and after she got in, he walked around and got in on the other side.

He gave her a short briefing about the controls and panel and about using the cyclic, the thing that looks like a joystick and controls the lateral movements.

They put on their headsets and before long Ray took off. He decided not to show her everything yet because it would be too much information for the first time.

They climbed higher and higher and he saw the huge smile plastered on Liz's face. He was glad he was able to take her mind off things for a moment.

"Okay, so grab the cyclic and move it like I showed you before" Ray said and he let go of the controls.

Liz was nervous but the good kind. She took a hold of the cyclic with a sweaty hand and moved it and the helicopter made a 360 turn to the left. She did the same thing but the other way and they made a 360 turn to the right.

"Ahhh, that was so cool!" Liz grinned from ear to ear.

They then practised hovering and some different turns and Ray explained about the rotation of the helicopter and the wind direction. All too quick it was time to fly back to the airport.

"And, what do you think? You liked it?" Ray asked as he flew the helicopter back.

"Yeah! It was awesome!" Liz answered, still with a big smile on her face, "It was so cool to have the helicopter do what I wanted it to do"

"You did great for a first lesson" Ray told her and that made Liz's smile even bigger, "A few more lessons and you'll be flying this thing on your own" he said, giving her a wink.

When they were back on the road, Ray suddenly took a different route.

"I hope it's okay? I just need to pick up some stuff from my apartment"

"Erm, yeah, sure" Liz answered, quite excited that she got to see where he lived.

"I'll be right back", Ray said before getting out of the car and going into one of the apartments across the street from where he had parked. Liz had hoped he would ask her in but he hadn't and she didn't want to ask.

He was back in the car within 5 minutes, carrying a bag, which he put on the backseat.

They drove back to the house, Liz all the while talking about the flying lesson.

Ray loved the fact that she was so excited about it and was happy he had made the suggestion.

When they got back Liz went into the living room with a book, which gave Ray the opportunity to do what he had wanted to do, using the equipment which he had returned home to collect.

He got a little device out of the bag from his apartment and went to Liz's room. The device was made to detect any bugs or electrical devices that shouldn't be there and he started to sweep Liz's entire bedroom and bathroom.

When he was satisfied that there was nothing else there, he also swept his own bedroom and Sam's, just to be sure.

Sam got home that night with no further news on the prints, picture or camera.

He told Liz and Ray that the police had been shocked about the camera and that they would try their best to find out more about it.

After Sam had told them everything, it was Liz's turn to tell her dad about her first flying lesson. Sam could tell she was over the moon and gave Ray a big smile.

"Thanks dad, it really is a great present", Liz said as she hugged Sam.

"Liz really has talent. She picked it up real quick" Ray added.

"That's great, Pumpkin. I'm glad you enjoyed it"

Ray told Sam and Liz about sweeping their rooms. "I will do the rest of the house tomorrow but at least our bedrooms are clear".

"That's great. Thank you for that" Sam said, in a heartfelt manner "It was quite a shock to discover that camera"

As they went upstairs to their rooms, Liz was suddenly very quiet.

"Are you okay?" Ray asked.

"Yeah…it's just…I don't really want to be alone in my room…." Liz confessed, "I know you said it's clear now, but I just…. somehow I just…feel safer when you're there", she said, barely audible.

"Erm, well, sure, I can sleep in your room tonight, no problem" Ray said as they went into her room. He looked around, got an idea and left the room again.

Liz heard a loud thump and moments later Ray came through her door, dragging his mattress with him. "I don't really want to sleep on the floor again, so if you don't mind?" he said, while placing the mattress beside Liz's bed.

"No, of course, that's fine. Very smart actually" she smiled.

They got ready for bed and Ray switched off the lights.

"Thank you for today. I had a really good time", Liz said.

"You're very welcome, Lizzie" Ray said, "Goodnight"

"Goodnight"