Ronan slid the key card into the door, sighing as the light flashed green in front of him. He stepped into the room hesitantly. Kelly Cramer was a virtual stranger to him and yet he someone felt a connection to her—one he couldn't quite explain. Stranger still was how rare it was for him to make a connection with anyone—least of all a woman and yet here he was…in her room, alone. He shook his head. This was certainly not the time to try and psychoanalyze this situation. No one had time for that.

He walked over to the closet, opening the door and quickly pulling a few items off the hangers and tossing them onto the bed. He spotted her suitcase in the corner of the room and grabbed it, quickly throwing the items into it. He paused for a moment as he pulled open the drawer in the nightstand. Rifling through a lingerie drawer, in any other circumstance, would take on an entirely different meaning, but today he didn't even have time to enjoy it. He grabbed a few things and tossed them into the bag.

Moving quickly to the bathroom, he made a clean sweep of the counter top, grabbing toothbrush and toothpaste, shampoo and conditioner, a hairbrush, and what appeared to be some sort of hair device. He shrugged as he moved back through the room, pausing only to grab a couple of pairs of shoes. The feel of his phone vibrating in his pocket caused him to pause again. He grabbed it, glancing down at the screen.

"Damn it," he hissed. He'd hoped to be quick enough. "Hello?"

"You don't sound so good, Malloy."

"Walker." It always amazed him how much joy this man took in causing other's so much misery. "What do you want?"

"You know what I want. I want to make you suffer. I told you already, my memory is impeccable and I certainly haven't forgotten about you. I'm not even almost finished with you."

"That's fine…you've got something you want to take up with me, fine. Take it up with me. She's got nothing to do with this. You leave her the hell alone!"

"Oh, but it's so much more fun to play with a group, isn't it?"

The disgusting tone in his voice made him feel physically ill and he had to lower himself into a chair by the door to keep from collapsing. "Why don't we just handle this, huh? We can meet somewhere—end this—finally, once and for all. You just tell me what you want and I'll do it."

"You can't ever give me what I want," Walker spat, his voice becoming even more angry. "What I want is to make sure you never live a day with any peace. I want you to know what my life has been like for the past fifteen years. I want you to wake up every morning and know the pain I've felt, the emptiness I've felt…and you will know it…I'll make sure of it. I've already started…"

"Walker…"

"Make sure you grab her a jacket," he added, "It gets chilly out at night."

"Walker," Ronan repeated, slamming the phone down on the desk in frustration when he heard the line go dead. He let his head fall into his hands as he tried to process the conversation. How do you try to understand the ramblings of a madman? There was no way to predict his actions, no way to have any idea of his next move. His insanity made him completely irrational and his lack of compassion and empathy made it impossible to reason with him or to appeal to any sort of human decency.

Ronan stood, reaching down to pick up the bag when the words Walker spoke seemed to echo in his mind, "Make sure you grab her a jacket. It gets chilly out at night."

His breath caught in his throat and he felt his heart race faster. He knew he was here—in her room. He was watching him which meant he knew she wasn't here.

With trembling fingers he dialed the number to his room, his eyes closed in fervent prayer that she'd answer. The incessant ringer seemed to get louder and louder with each subsequent tone that went unanswered. He slammed the phone shut and shoved it in his pocket.


"Umm.." She moaned as she struggled to open her eyes. The light seemed blinding as she moved to sit up. "Jesus," she hissed as she grabbed her head.

"Thank God…Thank God you're alright." Ronan collapsed beside her on the bed.

"Ronan?" she muttered, still entirely confused. She managed to open her eyes wider and look around the room. "When did you get back? I didn't even hear you come in." She paused trying to determine what had happened in the last hours. "I guess I must have fallen asleep."

"You didn't fall asleep," he whispered, his cheeks still flushed with worry as he leaned back against the headboard.

"What do you mean?"

"This." Ronan held out the apple towards her. "I found this on the floor beside the bed. I'm guessing you were eating it?"

"Yeah," she muttered. "I mean I started to eat it…I don't really remember much after that."

He nodded, rage welling up inside him. "Damn it," he hissed, throwing his legs over the side of the bed and standing up. "I knew I shouldn't have left you alone here."

Kelly sat up, staring at him, her eyes wide. "Ronan—what the hell are you talking about?"

"Walker called me while I was in your room. He was going on and on about how he wanted to make me suffer and then he told me to make sure I grabbed a jacket for you because it got chilly at night." He walked back over the bed, sitting back down beside her. Frightening her was the last thing he wanted to do, but at this point, she needed to know the seriousness of this. This time Walker was sending a message, but next time things could end very differently.

"He was watching me…watching us and this…this was his way of letting me know he could get to you."

"If he wanted to hurt me though, why not do it? I mean why just put something in the food to make me sleep?"

Ronan shook his head as he reached out to her, tucking a lock of her hair behind her ear. "That's not the way he operates. It's not dramatic enough. He wants people to suffer…he wants to drag things out. This was just a way of sending me a message. Walker wants me to know that he's in control. He wants me to see that he can get to you and that he can do whatever he wants to you."

The look on her face broke him. It was the same look he'd seen on her face so many years ago. He'd promised her that he'd keep her safe. He'd swore to her that nothing would hurt her and then….

Not this time. It would not end that way. Walker would not do that to him again.

"Look at me," he said again. "He's not gonna hurt you. I know I've told you this before, but I'll protect you from Walker. He can do his worst, but I know him…I've dealt with guys like him for years. I've studied the way they think, the way they operate. He'll have to go through me to get to you."

"Ronan," Kelly said softly. "I don't want you to think I don't appreciate this or that I don't want to be here with you, but…"

"But what?"

"But I think maybe I should go…"