Chapter 11

Julie's POV

It was great spending the morning with Aunt Ella. She got out the baking ingredients and let C.D., C.J., Casey, and me make cutout cookies. All of the dough was made and we were ready to roll it out and use the cookie cutters, when Caleb woke up and wanted a bottle. Aunt Ella left me in charge of the cookie baking while she went to take care of the baby. This was something the two of us had done a lot over the years when she'd come to visit Mom and me. Once I rolled out the dough, I showed the younger kids what to do and let them cut out the cookies while I put them on the trays and put them in the oven. Once the timer dinged, I took them out and transferred them to the cooling rack.

We'd just finished when Stephanie and Ranger walked into the kitchen.

Dad smiled at me as he reached for one of the cookies and bit into it.

Steph's eyes got round as she said, "I thought you didn't eat desserts."

Dad chuckled. "This isn't dessert, Babe. It's an important part of the food pyramid."

Aunt Ella laughed as she walked into the kitchen. "They are his one weakness when it comes to food." She paused with her brows furrowed. "Well, there are corn dogs too, so I guess you could say he has two weaknesses."

Steph smiled as she leaned into Dad. "Good to know." She turned to the rest of us and asked, "Are you guys ready to go upstairs and have some lunch?"

Casey ran over to Steph and raised her arms in the air as she squealed.

Steph lifted her up, and we all headed for the door.

As we were walking through the apartment, Aunt Ella said, "Everything should be ready. You just have to take it out of the oven."

Steph grinned. "Thanks, Ella."

The Morellis joined us in the hall, and we all rode the elevator up to Dad's apartment. Steph turned to me and asked, "Julie, would you mind showing Robyn where she can lay Caleb down?"

I nodded my head and took her to my room. I got the pack and play out and set it up so that Caleb would have a safe place to sleep.

She smiled at me. "Thank you, Julie. And I really appreciate your helping to keep the kids occupied while Joe and I talked with your dad."

I grinned. "It was fun."

We went back to the kitchen where the others were. Steph had the kids at a smaller table, and I went over to join them. When I saw the pizza in the middle of the table, I was excited. This was one of my favorite meals, and I didn't get it very often. I looked up at Steph. She winked at me, and I grinned back at her.

It didn't take us long to finish lunch. When I was finished, I walked over to the other table where the grownups were and asked Dad, "Can we watch a video in the den?"

He winked at me. "That would be great, Jules."

I couldn't help but smile. I always felt warm when he called me that. I went back over to where I'd been sitting and asked, "Would you guys like to watch a movie?"

They all spoke at once, saying, "Yes!"

I turned to the grownups table, as they were all laughing. I smiled too, feeling like I was one of the grownups.

It didn't take long to find a movie that we all wanted to watch. Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs was the winner, and we all settled in to watch.

Casey didn't seem to be as in to the movie as the boys were, and I was puzzled why she was so insistent on this being the show she wanted to watch. She was looking around as if she was searching for something to do. She seemed to be looking at something on the coffee table, and when she lifted Steph's photo album, I moved over to sit beside her on the sofa.

I knew that Steph didn't mind people looking at her photo album, but I just wanted to make sure that it didn't get ruined in some way accidentally.

Casey sat back on the sofa with her knees bent and her feet flat on the cushion as she placed the book on her thighs.

Some of the faces she made as she looked at the photos were kind of funny, and I wondered what she was thinking. Suddenly, she seemed to freeze. Her eyes got really big, and there was a look on her face that made me feel sick to my stomach. Before I could decide what to do, she let out a blood-curdling scream and kept screaming.

I didn't know what to do. I was so scared.

In the next instant, Aunt Steph was there along with the rest of the grownups. She took Casey in her arms and talked to her in a soothing manner that she'd used with me when I had really bad dreams. Aunt Robyn and Uncle Joe were beside us too, but Casey was clutching at Steph.

Dad moved over beside me and placed his hand on my shoulder. I felt safe and looked up at him.

He knelt down beside me. "Do you know what happened?"

I shook my head. My voice was no more than a whisper as I said, "She was looking at Steph's photo album and just started screaming."

Dad looked down to the floor where the photo album had fallen and picked it up.

Casey started crying harder, shrieking, "No! No! Bad man. Hurt kitty."

I was scared. Like the day when someone tried to take Casey from the backyard and then when I tried to stop them they tried to take me. As much as I tried not to, I started crying.

Dad lifted me in his arms as he spoke softly to me in Spanish. "It's all right, baby girl. You're safe."

I'm not sure how long Dad was holding me and talking to me, but when I looked around, C.D. and C.J. were standing beside their parents looking just as scared as I'd felt. Casey was finally calm, and she nodded her head at something Steph asked her.

Steph took the photo album and looked at the pictures on the pages. She frowned for a moment, and then her expression changed. She showed the pages to Casey and asked, "Who was it that scared you, Casey?"

Casey pointed to a picture of Uncle Kye and a man I didn't know.

I looked up at Steph and at the look on her face, I started feeling funny again. The look was gone almost as soon as it appeared, and she smiled at Casey and said, "All right, baby. Thank you for being so brave. I'm going to put the pictures away now, okay?"

Casey nodded.

It wasn't long after that that the Morellis left.

Stephanie's POV

I was reeling from what I'd just learned. This was going to kill Kye, and I hated the fact that I had to be the one to tell him. I felt a hand on my waist and looked up at Ranger as I fought not to let the tears fall.

He didn't say anything, but I knew he was offering me whatever support I needed.

I smiled sadly and leaned my head against his chest for a moment before looking up to meet his gaze. "I need to go and get this taken care of."

"Why don't you ask him and Hector to come up for dinner?"

My gaze went to Julie, and I knew that wouldn't be an option. She'd been through enough today, and I didn't want to add to it. Shaking my head, I said, "I think it would be better if I talked to him at their place. Besides, I want to stop at the office and see what the search engines can find."

He nodded. "All right. I'm going to spend the afternoon with Julie."

At that, Julie lifted her head with a look of wonder. "Really?"

Ranger hugged her to him and said, "I wouldn't want to be anywhere else."

Although I was sad about what I was going to have to tell Kye, I was happy that Ranger had been able to put a look of excitement back onto Julie's face. I leaned up and kissed him before heading down to my office on five. Once I got everything set in motion, I headed down to four, where Kye shared an apartment with Hector.

I knew that they were in. It was their routine when the two of them had days off during the week, and then on their weekends off they would head out of town. I knocked on the door and waited as I heard footsteps on the other side moving toward the door.

Hector was the one who answered, and his eyes narrowed as he looked at me. "What's wrong?"

I took a deep breath before saying, "I need to talk to Kye."

Hector stepped back to allow me to enter the apartment, and then he asked, "You want me to go?"

I shook my head. "No. I think Kye is going to need you to be here."

His gaze sharpened, but he didn't comment as he led me into the living room where Kye was sitting on the sofa. Hector sat down beside Kye, and I opted for the chair across from them.

I wiped my hands on my jeans as I tried to think of how to bring up the subject that I needed to broach.

Kye leaned forward, clasping his hands in front of him. "What's going on, Steph?"

I met his gaze and said, "After the meeting with Joe and Robyn, they came to the apartment to have lunch with us."

Kye nodded but remained silent.

I hesitated for a moment, and then I straightened up and continued. "After lunch, while Ranger and I were talking to Joe and Robyn, the kids were watching a video, and Casey started going through my photo album."

Kye seemed to stiffen and pale at the same time. He moved his hand, and Hector clasped it with his, which seemed to settle Kye a bit.

"God, Kye, I wish I didn't have to tell you this."

There was a look on Kye's face that told me he'd already guessed what I was going to say, but I had to say it anyway. "Casey freaked out when she saw one of the pictures." I hesitated. This was painful, and I hated having to do it. "Kye…she said that Bear was the one who hurt the kitty."

He lowered his head.

Hector's hand went to his back and he leaned in to say something to Kye, but I was too far away to hear what it was.

It was several minutes before Kye looked at me. "I've been thinking a lot about Bear recently…all the things that didn't add up. I wish I could say that this is a total shock, but if I'm honest, there at the end, I felt like Bear was two different people."

My eyes widened. "I never knew that."

Kye shrugged. "At the time, you needed to focus on catching a killer."

I moved so that I was sitting on the coffee table in front of them, and I took Kye's free hand in mine. "I had time for you, Kye. Always."

Our gazes met, and I could see the pain in his eyes. "I know. I just…"

I leaned forward and wrapped my arms around him. The next thing I knew, I was sitting on his lap and he was holding me tight. The sobs that broke from him had tears pooling in my eyes, and I tried not to let them fall, but it was a lost cause. Arms wrapped around us, and I lifted my gaze to see that Hector had enfolded both of us in a comforting hug.

The three of us sat there like that for what seemed like hours but was in fact not more than twenty minutes. Kye leaned back to look at me as he asked, "Did you start the search?"

"Yes."

"Promise me that you'll tell me what you find. No matter what it is."

I hesitated, but then I admitted that if our roles were reversed, I'd want the same thing. "I promise."

He hugged me closer, and the next thing I knew, he was sound asleep.

Rina's POV:

It was nearly midnight when I slipped out of bed and made my way to where I knew the phone was hidden. I was determined to find the cord so I could make a call. I'd had enough of Thor's high-handed ways. The bastard!

I was a pro at moving around in the dark. After all, that was part of the defensive training I'd undergone with Joe and Stephanie as my teachers. I slowly made my way to the library, taking care not to make any noise. Once I was in the room, I looked around to see if I could figure where the missing cord might be hidden.

There were several potted plants, and I started out searching there. When nothing materialized, I switched to checking out the paintings to see if there was a safe hidden behind one of them. I stifled a sigh when I wasn't able to locate what I was looking for. I'd just decided to investigate the big mahogany desk when light flooded the room.

I stilled, careful not to give away the fact that he'd scared me with his sudden appearance, and turned to face my jailor. My eyes narrowed, but I refused to say anything.

Thor gave me a sardonic smile as he said, "Looking for something, princess?"

I stood silently, still refusing to say anything.

He stalked closer, and it was all I could do not to run screaming from the room. This was too much like what Avery had been putting me through. I locked my knees in place so they wouldn't give way and lifted my chin. After several minutes of silence, I lifted an eyebrow and sweetly said, "I was just looking for a book."

Thor stopped when his body was flush against mine and chuckled, "Try again."

I just stood there staring into his eyes defiantly as my hands clenched at my side.

His eyes narrowed, and then he leaned in. When his mouth was nearly touching mine, he said, "I suggest you get back in bed unless you want me to think you're making yourself available to me for pleasure, princess."

My knee moved, and it was only his fast reflexes that stopped me from doing damage to his favorite male appendage. He took hold of my arms and pulled me into him as his mouth swooped down. The heat was intense, and my heart started racing as the kiss seemed to go on forever. When he finally released me, he nudged me away from him and wiped the back of his hand across his mouth.

His heated gaze roamed over me before his eyes met mine. Once again he raised an eyebrow. "Or is that what this is about after all? Curious about whether you can fill in for Stephanie?"

Pain lanced through my chest, and I turned and hurried back the way I'd come. I knew he was in love with my sister. And no amount of wishing for things to be different was going to change them. When I got to my room, I slammed the door and locked it and then sank onto my bed as sobs racked my body.