Shout-Outs: Ssssy, rr, Mlle M's, Jane Doe51, Miss Donnie, AprilVV, and LouiseKurylo

Author's Note:

For full effect, listen to Requiem in D Minor by Mozart while you read this.

Rated: T

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

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Chapter 11

"Lorelei, I'm going out!" McAllister said, coming into the kitchen where she and Julian were having a late ice cream sundae.

"Where on earth are you going this late?" Lorelei asked, laughing a little. "Is it really true then? You have two women in every state?"

"I have proof is what I have," he answered. "And I'm going to do something about it."

"But you said. . ." Lorelei trailed off. "I hope you aren't going to do what I think you're going to do."

"And what if I am?" McAllister asked. "What are you going to do about it? Nothing, that's what, unless you want to pay the price. Now you stay here like a good girl and I'll be back soon."

Lorelei felt uneasy about what was going to happen. She knew whatever it was that it wouldn't bode well for Patrick or Teresa. She waited for the front door to close and listened for the tell-tale sound of a car engine starting up. When it had driven away from the house, she sprang into action without even thinking. She grabbed Julian by the hand and dragged him to the door.

"You have to go Julian. You need to get into your car and drive as far away from here as you possibly can!" Lorelei told him.

"What? Why!?" Julian asked struggling against her.

"I can't tell you why! Just do it okay?" Lorelei replied, shoving him against his rental car. "Just get out of here! I'll call you when I get the chance."

"Lorelei!" Julian said, wrenching free of her grasp and grabbing her shoulders. "What's going on here? You need to tell me the truth right now!"

"I can't because telling you the truth will only get you into trouble or worse!" Lorelei said. "You just have to trust me, okay?"

"Lorelei, I can't leave without knowing why. If you're in any kind of trouble or danger, I want to know so I can help you!"

"You can't help me," Lorelei answered. "I've been at the end of a loaded gun for a long time now. I don't even think I can help myself anymore. Now go!"

Julian hesitated for a moment. "But what are you going to do?"

"I'll call you when everything's over," Lorelei replied, kissing him on the cheek and freeing herself from his grasp.

She ran back to her house as fast as she could and went into her bedroom, she yanked open her top drawer and threw her lingerie all over the floor, searching for the gun McAllister had purchased for her 'protection', when he found it she checked to see if it was loaded. Seeing that it was, she flew back outside to her own vehicle, much to her relief, Julian was gone. She got into the convertible, threw the gun on the passenger seat and with shaking hands started the engine.

As she sped off, her heart was beating irregularly. Somewhere in the distance, thunder clapped loudly and gave it a great jump. But still, she continued on her journey breaking every speed limit until she had reached Teresa and Patrick's little home.

Sure enough, McAllister's rental car was parked next to their own car. For a second, Lorelei felt like she was going to vomit. But she swallowed it down and hid her gun in the back of her jeans while she breathed a prayer to a God that she had rejected in her youth. When she reached the front door, it was already open wide, like an invitation for anybody to come in. She realized that he must have broken it down, with growing dread about what she was going to find, she continued into the home that had become familiar to her and up the stairs.

Lorelei's heart started to pound in her throat when she heard his voice, soft and comforting with a sinister hint underneath it all. She pressed herself against the wall and listened to every ugly word of the one-sided conversation, her fear turning to rage with every breath Thomas McAllister took.

"She's quite beautiful, Patrick. I can see why you're taken with her," he said, laughing slightly. "It's such a shame that I have to take her from you seeing that you've moved on so nicely."

"I know who you are now," Patrick answered. "I can call the authorities back in California and have them arrest you as soon as you get home."

"I thought about that," McAllister acknowledged. "But I don't think you're going to do it, I think you're going to be so grief stricken that you won't be able to do anything about it. You've loved and lost twice Patrick. I've won!"

"Please. . ." Teresa begged. "You don't want to kill me; the police are already on their way. Either way, you're going to be caught. Don't add one more murder to your rap sheet."

"I don't care about my rap sheet!" McAllister snapped. "Can't you see darling? This murder is personal. I like seeing Patrick Jane suffer! And to take away the woman who gave him love after he thought he'd never have it again will be my greatest triumph in this game of cat and mouse!"

Lorelei's breath caught in her throat as she imagined the scene in the room next to her. Outside it had started to pour and she could hear the tell-tale sound of police sirens in the distance. They weren't coming fast enough for her taste though, with one final prayer she pulled her gun out and cocked it before charging into the guest room.

Teresa and Patrick were tied up on the bed, both looking calmer than she felt. Thomas McAllister stood over them unmasked and menacing. He turned around when he heard movement in the doorway.

"I told you not to interfere Lorelei!" He said, not even noticing she had the gun pointing straight at him.

"Go away Lorelei!" Teresa ordered. "Go away now!"

Lorelei shook her head, all of her fear left her in one great rush. "I'm not going anywhere!"

"That was the wrong thing to say," McAllister said, giving her his full attention. "And it's such a shame too, because I like you Lorelei. You're not bad to look at and you're great in bed. I hate to see something happen to you."

Lorelei's hand tightened around the barrel of her gun. "Yeah, it was fun while it lasted. But it's over now. It's all over now."

"Oh?" McAllister asked, lunging for her.

It all happened at once, before she knew what was happening, her finger had curled around the trigger and she'd shot him. And then time was moving in slow motion. She fell backwards, taking McAllister with her while Mozart symphonies rang in her ears and there were voices, so many voices. She had to struggle to recognize some of them. One of them was Julian's.

He had pulled her former lover off her and was helping her sit up.

"Lorelei," Julian said. "Lorelei, are you okay? Oh god, there's so much blood!"

"It's not mine," Lorelei told him as she looked down at her designer tank top, her voice sounded distant. She looked at him, feeling like she was in a dream. "What are you doing here? I told you to leave."

"I didn't listen," Julian answered. "I waited for you to leave the house and then I followed you here. Tell me what's going on! Tell me now!"

"There isn't enough time!" Patrick interjected. "You both need to help us out of these ropes and then get out of here as fast as you can. Drive until you can't drive anymore but get as far away from this place as you possibly can."

Lorelei watched as Julian got to his feet and untied Teresa first. When he turned to help Patrick, he shook his head. "Get out of here now! The police will be here soon!"

"Okay," Julian said, going to Lorelei and scooping her up like she was as light as a feather and then he sprinted off.

The last glance she got of Teresa and Patrick was of him untying her and then the pair clinging to each other in a tender embrace.

"My car," Lorelei said when they had gotten outside. "What are we going to do with my car?"

Julian put her down into the car and then pulled the top up. "Drive, I'll be right behind you. We can ditch it somewhere when we're outside the Cape."

Lorelei nodded, surprised that the police hadn't gotten there by then. But she didn't think about it as she turned the car back on and sped away with Julian on her tail.

They drove all through the night, only stopping once to ditch her convertible at a gas station when they were in the middle of nowhere. Julian paid the attendant a good deal of money to scrap it and keep quiet about them ever being there.

When they were together, he gave her a sweatshirt from the backseat of his car and stuffed her blood-stained tank under his seat.

"I'll take care of it later," he promised.

It was the last thing he said to her until they were holed up in a fleabag motel outside of Connecticut; they were both staring at fast food breakfasts and cheap coffee, to spent to even think about eating.

"Tell me the secret," he whispered like the walls had ears.

"You're going to hate me when I do," Lorelei answered, managing a swallow of coffee.

"I won't," Julian said. "But we're on the run now, I deserve to know why. My whole life has changed in such a short amount of time."

Lorelei sighed and flopped down on the bed, making circles in her stomach. "Once upon a time there was a young confused girl and she met somebody, somebody who was supposed to change her life. But he wound up helping her make a bigger mess of things then when she first started out. . ."

She told him the whole sordid story and when she reached the end of it, she waited to see the loathing and rejection in his eyes. Instead, he lay down next to her and took her hand in his; he interlaced their fingers and looked at her with so much sympathy it almost broke what was left of her heart.

"We're kind of the same you know? We both fell victim to Thomas McAllister," Julian told her. "Don't worry; I'm going to keep you safe now. We'll take care of each other and I'll keep all your secrets. Now get some sleep, we're going to have to leave in a few hours."

But Lorelei couldn't sleep, there were too many images dancing in front of her eyes and there was this fear that no matter how far she ran away, the demons from her past would wind up catching up with her.

TBC. . .

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Author's Note I:

This chapter was written with much consideration and a lot of tossing & turning since I first started to write this story. I've planned it the whole time, mostly for shock value and mostly to give the readers a tremendous twist. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and that you'll be back for more. While I go and write the next chapter, I hope you'll leave a review and tell me what you thought about this.

Love,

Holly, 7/22/2014_