Hi everyone! Well I'm back with another chapter as well as a few answers to some questions one of the readers asked me...
PureAsDrivenSnow: As far as my first version of this fic on the Fox Site, I wrote the chapters as I went along with a vague outline of where I wanted to take the story, posting updates every other day if I could. As far as staying focused....believe me there were many times where I struggled and had to step away until that certain "spark" or "muse" if you will returned:) In saying this I am now revising the fic again in its second posting on this site ...trying to make it flow a little smoother while giving you all what I feel is a better insight into each the characters. As far as how I came up with this story.....I of course love House and Cuddy and my own tastes in stories are ones that range from romantic to drama with some really good twists along the way....that along with the fact that I love the author Dean Koontz... lead me to develop this type of story....but enough about how I came up with the story.....IT'S TIME TO READ THE NEXT CHAPTER !!! LOL!! ENJOY EVERYONE!!
Chapter 26
As a crescent shaped moon continued to shine down on the residence of Lisa Cuddy, with the warm lazy breeze of summer moving over its rooftop in soft yawning gusts, Ruth Cuddy took in a shuddered breath, lying on her side and trembling under the covers in guest bedroom. Trying to escape the tidal wave of her past once more as it crashed into her dreams, running from it as fast as she could, only to have it wash over her in dark never-ending waves of gloom and suffering….. carrying her back to the place in time before her marriage to her husband and birth of her daughter….back to when she herself had been a twelve year old girl…………back to when a demon had entered her life and changed it forever.
Oh god it was so dark here….so utterly black she could not see her outstretched hand shaking in front of her…… nothing but emptiness surrounding her now as she lie in wait for the evil that would come for her……...
With the muscles in her legs flexing against the sheets that covered them, Ruth tried once more to run away from what was going to happen next; but like countless nights before this one, when the nightmare of her past came to visit her, no matter how hard she tired to escape it, she would remain trapped in the dark tide that was rising higher around her, beginning to fill her mouth and lungs with every evil and vile thing that had happened to her when a cruel twist of fate placed her in the hands of a madman. The demon who continued to haunt her after all of these years…. fashioned from the human race they both belonged to, made of flesh and bone just as she was making him all the more terrifying.
Still trembling in her sleep, Ruth's body moved into the well remembered fetal position on the bed, the sound of Bill's gentle voice in the distance, cutting through the darkness for a brief moment, telling her to hang on, urging her not to give up hope after coming so far in her journey.
But that was easier said than done. Bill's voice, although true and pure, no match for the evil that was coming for her now.
No matter how many times she prayed for it to end, the demon would always return, sometimes within days …sometimes waiting a few years before rising up from the darkness inside of her ….but rest assured just like the waves on rocking sea, time and time again it always came for her. Taking another piece of her soul down into the part of her it called home. Leaving more and more emptiness behind when it departed. The ever increasing hollowness within her soul assuring sooner or later it would end up break completely, her spirit finally broken by the demon who lived with now for so many years.
Getting read for the onslaught of his attack, Ruth knew this time when the demon came for her, it would be even more cruel to her than the times before, finding out that she had started to become filled with something he had not seen in a very long time….the light Lisa held within her brilliant smile and open heart, beginning to fill up the empty pieces in her soul once more, the kindness Bill had shown to her, reminding her she could indeed still become whole again if she was brave enough to try and take the narrow and treacherous steps out of the darkness.
Gritting her teeth, Ruth squeezed her eyes shut as the demon entered into the abyss surrounding her, his blood lust and anger sniffing her out in the darkness while she vowed to fight him like never before, the light she had found…too precious to give up on now.
"No…...I won't let you take it away from me…..not this time…." Ruth whispered in her dream with the voice of the child she once had been as the sound of the demon's heavy footsteps drew closer, making her shiver in the emptiness of complete and utter darkness it called home.
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Inside the spare bedroom directly behind Lisa's room, House stared up at the ceiling, lying on his back and listening to the sounds of the crickets outside of the bedroom window.
He had come up here a little over a half hour ago after talking with Lisa for a few more minutes down in the laundry room, parting ways with her as she made her way into the master bedroom, stopping in the hallway after she had closed her bedroom door behind her, turning back around and slowly opening the door to Ruth's bedroom that was located across the hallway from her daughter's room, plagued by the thought that the puzzle regarding Lisa and mother was not complete. Sure that certain pieces of it where still missing …Lisa's memories, only telling half of the story at this point.
Thinking back to the way Ruth had been curled up into a ball when he had looked in on her through the darkness of the room, the nagging feeling of the missing pieces grew inside of him considering during the few days he had spent with Ruth Cudy one thing he knew above all of else without a shadow of a doubt was that she was indeed one very strong and determined woman.
The kind of woman who would challenge you with her wit and cunningness at every turn, the kind of woman who raised her daughter to be exactly like her in those aspects as well as many more...... and there is where he was sure the first missing piece in the puzzle was buried. Ruth Cuddy would not be the kind of woman who would have a mental breakdown simply because her husband had committed adultery; rather she would be the kind of woman to throw her cheating husband out on his ass while telling him off in the process.
And so, no matter how he looked at the problem of the missing pieces, turning it every which way he could think of the only thing he kept coming back to was the fact that Ruth Cuddy had some secrets of her own, secrets that came into play whenever high emotions were at stake. Secrets that surfaced whenever she was around Lisa and felt her daughter being threaten, unable to distinguish friend from foe in some situation when it came to the daughter who she feared for and yet was afraid to touch as times..…perceiving everyone, including herself as a potential threat to the woman who bore her resemblance.
Rubbing his thigh that was now comfortably pain free after the vicodin he had taken shortly entering the spare bedroom, House closed his eyes, the job of diagnosis the mother of the woman who now possessed his heart, not an easy task to complete, seeing as how the end result could end up destroying them all.
Letting out a sigh of frustration, House opened up his eyes again, staring up at the ceiling and searching for answers somewhere among plaster and paint, glad in a way he was not sharing Lisa's bed with her currently, knowing she would see right through him now if she would have been lying beside him…… asking him for answers he was not ready to give her yet.
Turning on his side, House looked out the bedroom window, knowing he would be lucky if any sleep made its way to him tonight, fingering the pieces of his latest puzzle in his mind as he contemplated on how to make the missing ones to fall into place without causing irreversible damage to the keeper of them along the way.
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At seven am the next morning, Ruth opened her eyes up to light filtering into the guest bedroom. The memory of the nightmare, trying stubbornly to cling to the corners of her mind.
Last night, the demon had tired with all his might to pull away the light from within her, digging its claws of horrific memories into her flesh, making her scream out in agony until her vocal chords where paralyzed.......but somehow she made it through the emptiness while keeping the small part of soul still attached.
Sitting up in the bed, Ruth stretched her arms as they protested against the actions, the muscles in them as well as the ones in the rest of her body, angry and sore over the tense position they had been forced into for hours during the long and harrowing night.
Pulling the covers away from her, Ruth stood up in the bedroom, taking a step into the morning light that moved through the pane of the window she was now standing in front of.
Taking in a deep breath, she closed her eyes as the warmth of the rising sun kissed her face, the memory of Bill's voice that had come to her in a time of desperate need….whispering to Ruth once more in a soft and gentle tone.
Turning back towards the bed, she reached for the tangle sheets and comforter on the mattress, humming an old song her father used to sing to her down by the river of the house she grew up in as she hopped across the rocks sticking out from the waters surface, smiling as she recalled what a good man her father was, how soft and gentle his voice had been when he spoke to her.
Just like Bill, her mind informed her, making her smile again.
"Just like Bill." Ruth whispered to herself in agreement, fluffing up the pillow on the bed before walking over to the dresser in the room, determined that today she would fill herself with so much light it would blind the demon the next time he came and visited her in her dreams.
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After getting dressed, Ruth silently made her way over to Lisa's bedroom door, opening it slowly before peeking inside, pleased to find her daughter sleeping peacefully in her bed with a small smile on her face, remembering in an instant how quickly her little girl had grown into the beautiful woman she now was.
"I'm going to make you proud of me again…just wait and see." Ruth whispered to her sleeping daughter before closing the door and heading downstairs.
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With a sudden jolt, House woke up from the few hours of sleep he had managed to get throughout the night. Whatever image in his dream that had startled him back into the walking world, escaping from him as soon as he had opened up his eyes.
Rubbing his face while feeling the dull aching pain in his thigh, he looked over his watch which he had placed on the nightstand, the small pointed hands telling him it was seven thirty in the morning as he exited the bed and limped towards the bathroom so he could answer the early morning call of nature.
Yawning as he relieved himself, House opened up his eyes widely when the aroma of an honest to goodness hot breakfast along with the smell of fresh brewed coffee wafted up the stairs from the kitchen below him.
Someone else was also up at this ungodly morning hour and….. he had a pretty good idea of who that someone was.
Limping out of the bathroom, House headed towards the stairs and down into the kitchen where he knew Ruth would be, hoping that he could catch her alone for a few minutes in oeswe to gauge how she was fairing after last nights events.
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When is came to dealing with a mystery, medical or otherwise, House's preferred choice was to use the direct approach. Which meant, as he limped into the kitchen with Ruth's back facing him as she stretched to reach one of the large mixing bowls on the top shelf of the kitchen cabinet, he did not hesitate to walk up behind her and grab her ass, figuring this was a sure fire method in finding out if Ruth was actually afraid of him physically touching her as opposed to him mentally touching on the secrets she was trying to keep hidden from him.
"What the hell are you doing?" Ruth shrieked, turning around in a flash as she glared up at him.
"What?" House asked with a shrug, "I usually have a little ass grab with my morning coffee when I have my hookers stay overnight with me and since I'm doing your daughter a favor by staying over here, I refuse to break from my morning routine," he told her with an evil smirk, noticing that although Ruth had been shocked by the grope, she was definitely not afraid of him touching her…but rather royally pissed at him for the grope.
"In case you didn't realize…….I am not one of your hookers." Ruth shot back, still feeling the sensation of his strong hand squeezing her behind.
"I can give you twenty bucks if it will make you feel better. It always seems to work for the hookers." House offered, reaching for one of the empty coffee cups Ruth had placed on the kitchen counter.
"I would never take anything from you." She snipped, narrowing her eyes at him.
"Oh so that was a free ass grab? Mrs. Cuddy, are you trying to seduce me?" House asked, raising an eyebrow to her as he poured himself a cup coffee.
"I am not trying to seduce you Doctor House." Ruth clarified, as a small smile popped on her face before she could stop it, amused by the look he was giving her.
House smiled back at her…this was very interesting indeed, "See I really am a lot of fun to hang around with Ruth….just ask your daughter," he whispered over to her watching her smile turn into a disapproving frown.
"What's going on in here?" Lisa asked as she entered into the kitchen on her crutches, wearing light blue pajama bottoms and a light pink tank top with spaghetti straps.
"Your employee Doctor House just came in here and proceeded to grab my ass!" Ruth informed her daughter, placing her hands on her hips, watching Lisa's jaw drop.
"Hey..I thought it was you." House chimed in with another shrug, unable to resist as he watched Lisa's eyes practically bug out of her head.
"Doctor House." Cuddy started to say in a stern voice as she prepared for her Emmy award winning performance. "If you cannot keep your hands to yourself and show my mother some respect I will have to ask you to leave," she finished.
"You're just bitchy because you're hung-over." House told her stepping up to her with his coffee in hand.
"I'll be even bitchier if I have to hire a new head of my Diagnostics Department." Cuddy stated evenly, hating the fact that he could tell by the look on her face she did indeed have a nagging pain in the back of her head.
"Sure you don't want some vicodin to take away your headache?" House asked, producing the pill bottle from his pajama pants pocket before shaking it vigorously in her face as she reached for her forehead.
"I just took two Tylenol upstairs… but thanks anyway." Cuddy answered back sarcastically, glaring at him while clenching her jaw.
Turning away from the stove, Ruth looked over at them both, "House, either leave my daughter alone or I'm throwing your breakfast in the trash." she warned, pointing the spatula in her hand at him.
"Cuddy….I think your mom wants to do me she's been giving me her bedroom eyes all morning." House gloated with a cheesy grin, looking back over at Lisa while Ruth shook her head and let out sigh.
"Just sit down and shut up before I call Wilson to take your place as my noble guardian." Cuddy replied back in an exasperated tone.
House stuck out his tongue at her and reached for the morning paper on the center island of the kitchen, "I am so outta here when I turn eighteen," he muttered under his breath as he took a seat at the kitchen table.
Glancing over at Lisa, Ruth watched the way her daughter's eyes followed House as he sat down in the chair.
There definitely was something between the two of them, but for right now she was not sure if that something involved the two of them sleeping together or merely seeing which one could drive the other one crazy, "Lisa I wanted to tell you, Bill called me this morning and asked me if I wanted him to help me out with the rest of the yard work today and since he's been doing so much for both of us, I invited him to come and eat breakfast with us today."
"Bill is such a great guy," Lisa responded with as smile, watching her mother turn her attention back to the stove and the pancakes she was making, "Mom is there anything you want me to help you with?" She asked.
"Actually you can start frying up the sausage." Ruth said, cringing after she spoken the word "sausage"
House snapped his head up from the paper and wiggled his eyebrows at Ruth as he saw the blush rise up into to her cheeks.
"What?" Lisa asked looking at them both with complete ignorance to the subject as she rested her crutches against the edge of the countertop, limping over to the stove.
"Nothing." Ruth responded before flipping one of the pancakes she was cooking on the grill part of the stove. Thankfully, Lisa seemed to have no memory of their dinner discussion from the previous night and that suited Ruth just fine.
Lisa gave her mother a suspicious look before focusing her attention back on House.
"Just make sure to handle my sausage with care and try not to burn it." House told her with a wide grin.
"Grow up." Lisa muttered as she opened up the package of breakfast sausage.
Just then House thought or a rather risky but brilliant way to test Ruth's reaction to the unexpected again, seeing as how she seemed to be more than up for his challenges this morning.
"Maybe you should tell your mom to grow up since she's the one who got totally trashed last night and made an inappropriate comment about my sausage …IF you know what I mean." House said, giving Cuddy and exaggerated wink.
Ruth would need to use the spatula she was holding in right her hand to pick her jaw up off the kitchen floor after what House had just said about her.
"I….I never! You!" Ruth stammered, pointing the spatula in his direction once more.
Lisa looked over at her mother with eyes that were as wide as when she was tripping off vicodin and booze last night.
House rubbed the stubble on his chin, and waited for Ruth to recover. The ball was in her court now and he wanted to see how she would serve it back to him as more of the person who she truly was had begun to surface, the woman who handed down her wit and as well as biting charm to her daughter, someone who he actually hoped would be able to stick around for awhile.
"I may have had too much to drink, but believe me when I say your sausage was the last thing on my mind last nigh." Ruth shot back without batting an eye.
"Maybe we should wait till Bill comes and then we can ask him about it." House said innocently, while inside he remained impressed by Ruth's continued ability to joust with him.
"NO!" Lisa and Ruth both said in unison.
If there was one thing Lisa did not want to hear, it was sexual remarks about sausage coming out of Bill's mouth. It was bad enough when House had put the mental picture of Bill looking at mom's nipples into her head.
Ruth of course knew that Bill was too honest of a man to lie about the details of last night's dinner and the last thing she wanted to hear was Bill confessing to Lisa of how she had spoken about House's "sausage" while House smiled at her widely like the Cheshire cat.
"You know if I had a plate of food in front of me, I bet I wouldn't be able to talk at all." House said coolly…. giving both women the hint that he could indeed be bribed into keeping his mouth shut.
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A little after 8am, Bill pulled his white Cadillac into driveway of Lisa's home, shutting off the engine and walking over to the back door of the kitchen like Ruth had told him to do when he called her this early this morning.
Reaching the top step, he knocked, being greeted by none other House who had a broad smile stretched across his face.
"Come on in Bill, I've got the womenfolk working hard this morning making us men a hardy breakfast." House said cheerfully, wiping his mouth with a napkin as he stepped back from the doorway.
Bill looked over to Ruth and Lisa who had turned around with less than amused looks on their faces in regards to House's comment, "Something smells delicious in here." He exclaimed with a grin as he crossed the threshold and closed the door behind him.
Ruth looked over at Bill noticing how the tan shirt he was wearing brought out the color in his eyes, "You're just in time, and if you hurry, House may even share some of my pancakes with you," she told him with a smile.
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After everyone had finished eating breakfast Lisa had volunteered both herself and House to clean up the dishes so that Bill and her mother that they could go and finish up the yard work outside.
"My mom seems to be doing really good today. Don't you think?" Lisa asked House with a hint of worry to her tone as she started to rinse off the dirty dishes in the sink before placing them inside the dishwasher.
"Does you mom always laugh that much or did you steal some of vicodin when I wasn't looking and slip some into her morning coffee?" House questioned in return as he limped up behind her, placing a dirty glass int the sink.
Lisa turned to face him, "My mom used to laugh all the time when I was younger..…but it's been years since I've seen her this happy, Bill seems to really know how to reach her, how to bring out the best in her," she told him closing the door to the dishwasher.
"It's not just Bill you know. Being around you is obviously doing your mom some good as well although for the live of me, I can't see why." House teased with a dry tone.
Lisa rolled her eyes at him, "So now that my mother isn't around, you need tell me about this whole 'sausage' thing," she said coolly looking up into his eyes.
House smiled, looking out at Ruth and Bill in the backyard before moving his hand onto roundness of her ass, "You were a really bad girl last night," He said with a low tone caressing her plump behind.
"Are you complaining?" Lisa asked, completely missing the point he was trying to make as she arched and eyebrow at him.
House let out a sigh, "I wasn't talking about the laundry room when you were a sex crazed animal. I was referring to your dirty talk at the dinner table last night." He clarified.
Lisa furrowed her brow at him, "What did I say?" she questioned.
"Oh nothing much …..….just about how I should feed your mom my summer sausage …." House said nonchalantly raising his eyes to the ceiling.
"I did not!" Lisa gasped, placing her hand up to her mouth.
House could not help but chuckle at her expression. "Yeah you did…. but in all fairness I kind of egged you on a bit." He confessed.
"What do you mean you egged me on?" Lisa questioned slowly.
"Well I was sort of boasting about how good your pie was." He said slyly, rubbing his hand on the back of his neck while staring down at her crotch.
"Oh my god! What did my mother say?" Lisa asked with a grimace, moving the palm of her hand up to her forehead.
"Apparently when it comes to pie the only kind your mother has ever heard of is the baked kind that Bill brought over last night." House assured her.
"She really didn't know what you were talking about?"
"Nope….but lucky for me, Bill did." House told her with a devilish grin.
"Alright you don't have to say anything more." Lisa insisted as she placed her hands up in front of her.
"Oh but there is so much more to tell Doctor Cuddy!" House teased as he placed both of his ohter hand on her ass before pulling her close to him.
Moving his lips to the side of her face, he began to whisper to her word for word what he had said in regards to "her pie", stopping in certain spots as she looked up at him with a shocked but amused smile….letting him know she too was surprised that the very risqué topic of conversation had completely gone over her mother's head.
Finally House looked down into her sparkling grey eyes as he told her about what she had said in regards to "his sausage" that was completely understood by her mother.
"So do you think my mom knows about us?" Lisa asked him, with her hands now resting on his chest as their bodies had inched closer during the conversation.
House thougth about her questions for a moment, "I think your mom may have her suspicions, but she was also pretty lit at that point so luckily Bill hauled her ass up to bed before she could start any Jerry Springer stuff with me, accusing me of banging her baby girl right under her nose." House answered, slipping his hand underneath the back of her pajama bottoms so he could feel the soft skin that resided there.
"You just love to push your luck don't you?" Lisa asked, turning her head to make sure her mom and Bill were still preoccupied in the backyard.
"You like it when I push. In fact I can remember several times when you've moaned out for me to push harder…and faster." House answered, squeezing her left cheek with a grin.
"Keep it up and I'll be pushing your hand out of my pants." Lisa warned with a low whisper, pressing her breasts into his chest.
"You..wouldn't.......….dammit." House muttered looking away from her.
"What wrong?" Lisa asked following his gaze out the kitchen window before letting out a sigh of disappointment as she saw her mother and Bill walking up from the yard towards the back door of the kitchen.
"I think we need to start rethinking this plan about not telling your mother about us." House stated with emphasis before taking a step back from her just as Bill opened up the door that lead into the kitchen.
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In the city of Houston Texas, Jeff Hansom had just gotten done pouring himself a glass of scotch at the bar of the executive suite he was staying in when he heard a knock on the door.
"Mr. Hansom, this just arrived for you at the front desk." The hotel staff attendant said, handing him the large white envelope that had been stamped 'priority mail' after he had opened up the door.
"Thank you." Jeff replied, taking the envelope from hotel employee and tipping the man generously before closing the door.
Walking back to the drink that was waiting for him at the bar, Jeff loosened his tie before heading over to the seating area in the suite, placing his drink onto a small round cherry coffee table as he sat in down in the cream colored high backed cushion chair.
Tearing open the envelope he reached inside of it, pulling out the manila folder that was thick with the contents it contained.
Resting the folder on his lap as he tossed the envelope aside, taking a sip of the drink beside him before flipping the folder open, revealing a pile of glossy black and white photos.
Looking down at the photograph of Ruth Cuddy as she stood the backyard of Lisa's house, Jeff could not get over how much the Lisa resembled her mother, even though the man he had hired to keep tabs on Lisa while he was out of time had informed him of this fact over the phone yesterday.
Holding the photo up to the light, Jeff studied the fine lines on Ruth's face that the high quality camera brought out, the delicate footprints of time enhancing her beauty rather than taking away from it.
Setting the first photo aside, he picked up another picture that held the image of Ruth and Bill Martin, who of course he already knew, the both of them standing side by side in the backyard.
Seeing nothing in the photograph that interested him, Jeff tossed it onto the floor beside him as he reached down into his lap for another one, this time taking in a sharp breath as his eyes connected with the grey irises of Lisa's eyes that still maintained their magnetic hue in the black in white photo.
She was talking to House whose back was facing the camera inside what Jeff knew was her laundry room.
Picking up the next photo, he turned his head away and closed his eyes in disgust after looking at the image of Lisa kissing House as he held her in his arms.
It was going to be ok, Jeff assured himself, reminded of all the powerful men he had brought to their knees when the dared to step in the way of what he wanted, knowing in the grand scheme of things…. House was little more than a pesky cockroach scurrying under his feet.
Placing current photo on top of the one of Ruth, Jeff looked down at the next photo resting in his lap, letting his fingers trace the profile of Lisa's face, dragging his fingernail down over her the exposed skin of her slender arm, following to where her hand rested on House's bare chest, the bottom curve of her right breast visible underneath as she stood naked before the drug addict who represented all the filth in the world he so despised, House's back taking up the better part of the imgae in black and white, preventing him from seeing the rest of Lisa's naked body that he so desperately longed for.
Flipping through the rest of the photos, Jeff scanned through the last dozen of them, noticing that House's body always managed to be positioned in such a way that he continued to block Lisa's body from his view, standing in his way once more from what he had already claimed for himself.
Looking at the final photo, Jeff studied the expression on House's face as he gazed down at Lisa, his piercing eyes giving away the truth that he was indeed deeply in love with the woman before him as Lisa looked up House with the expression on her face that Jeff had wanted for himself ever since the day they had met.
"Desire." Jeff whispered as his finger traced the outline of her face once more.
It had been in her all along and even after all that he had given of himself to her when they were together Jeff know bore witness to the fact that it had been House who brought out of the hunger and longing desire inside of Lisa like he never could.
While any other sane man would have realized the defeat staring him in the face, Jeff found himself even more determined than ever to get back what he considered to be his…by any means necessary.
Getting up from his seat, still clutching the photos in his hand, he made his way towards the large bay windows on the other side of the room, looking out into the night at the city skyline of Houston.
Leaning his forearm against the cool glass of one of the large windows as he gazed upon the tall buildings surrounding him, a small smile of comfort appeared upon Jeff's face, brought on by the knowledge that money had always gotten him everything he had ever wanted in his life and that no matter what obstacles he may face this time, money would end up getting him the one thing that he could not live without.
Looking back down at the photos he held in his right, Jeff released them from his grip, watching them drift softly to the floor like leaves caught up in the autumn wind.
Walking over to his cell phone resting on the small cherry table, Jeff picked it up and dialed the number of the man he had hired to watch over Lisa, reaching for the two photos he had placed beside him earlier.
"Hello." A gruff voice answered.
"I want you to find out everything you can about Ruth Cuddy." Jeff instructed.
"That's going to cost you and extra five thousand." The voice informed him.
"Does it sound like I'm worried about how much it's going to cost me?" Jeff asked with irritation.
"No." The voice replied, backing down from the man who was paying him a very good price for his services.
Hanging up the phone Jeff gazed down upon the image of Ruth Cuddy once more. She was a new player in the game he was orchestrating, a rouge piece he knew nothing about ….unlike the others who his private detective had investigated for him.
"Who knows Ruth, maybe you'll end up being the person to help me show Lisa the error of her ways. That would be something, dont you think?" Jeff whispered down to her with a cold smile before letting the photo of her fall from his hand where it drifted softly to the floor beneath him.