Hi amazing people. I'm so sorry I've been AWOL, I lost my Ray muse a little but I just sat down and caught up with a couple more episodes of the new series and he's back! This is a short one but I'll get a longer one to you before the end of the week.

Love and so many thanks for reading - give me a holler if you're still here, you have no idea how much I appreciate it! :)

S x


This was bullshit. This was worse than bullshit. Ray rinsed his hands together anxiously as he sat in the back of the Sedan, watching the coastline whip by him as he drove as far in the opposite direction from the place he actually needed to be as they could possibly take him. Malibu disappeared behind him as Volcheck continued the drive down towards central LA, his steely eyes flicking regularly back to the rearview to look at Donovan.

"Why'd you look so sad? Am I keeping you from your wife?" He chuckled darkly. "I heard she skipped town. That's what your daughter said, anyway."

Ray could feel his blood beginning to boil. This prick had been sniffing around his kids? "You talked to Bridget?"

"And the little one. Conor. Sweet." Volcheck smirked. "Could do with a better father figure, I'd say."

Even though every urge in Ray begged him to surge forward and knock the block off this piece of shit, he sat on his hands to still himself. He had to go through this process - real or not - as quickly and effectively as possible just to get away again. There were too many people waiting on him: Avy, Lena, Ashley... Lex...

Damn. Lex. He knew her, he knew she'd be sitting there waiting for him. She'd be dwelling on the thought that he'd be with Ashley, thinking that every moment he didn't call her was another minute he was with a woman he couldn't bare the thought of being with. He could feel his fingers twitch, anxious to call her, and he looked ahead at the mounting traffic beginning to build on the Pacific Coast Highway into Los Angeles. The car slowed, and he took a deep breath.

"Please, please can I use your phone? I gotta make a call."

Volcheck shrugged. "Not my problem. When we get in, you'll get your quarter like everyone else."

Ray shook his head. "You don't understand. Come on, be reasonable." He rubbed his hand along his leg now, he could feel his fingers itching to throttle this prick. "I got family I need to take care of."

The other officer snorted. "What, like your pregnant wife?" Volcheck sniggered at that, and the two fell about laughing as they hit another solid stream of traffic.

Ray could feel his whole world stopping as he sat there in the back of the car. He felt captured, like some sort of animal, and he hated it. He was the one with the control, he always had been, and having that stripped away from him right now by a pair of morons like these... it was killing him. His fingers drummed nervously against each other as he gazed out of the window again. He was suddenly full of energy, full of fight-or-flight, and he studied the cars rushing past in the opposite lane. There must be something he could do. Something...

"Fuck this."

Before anyone could respond, his hand shot to the left-hand door, and he slid smoothly across the leather seat and kicked the door open. Thank God for gentlemen's agreements, those cuffs wouldn't have done him any favours. Before Volcheck could even muster a reaction, he had shot across the highway, clambering quickly over the metal barriers and stumbling into the middle of a lane. Like a madman, he stood, arms splayed wide, in front of an oncoming car until it jolted to a halt barely a few feet from his body. The driver leaned out of the window, cursing.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?"

"I need your car." He didn't have much, but Ray was already frantically unlocking his Rolex from his wrist. "I haven't got much, take this, I'll get you more, but I need it, now."

The woman looked at him in shock, unaware of the commotion he had caused on the other side of the highway. "Are you fucking crazy?" Ray wasn't intending to take no for an answer, he clambered into the passenger seat immediately and stared at her expectantly.

"Please. I'm begging you. You don't have to understand, I just need you to drive me wherever you're going. Stop at a cash point when we get back to Malibu, I don't care, I'll give you as much cash as you want, we just have to go." He could see the suited feds beginning to climb over the partition, and he looked imploringly. "Please, I wouldn't ask you if I didn't need this. Just hit the gas."

The woman allowed herself a nervous giggle. "Am I on TV?" She looked around, as if trying to spot a camera, and Ray knew that he couldn't wait any longer. Without much thought, he stretched one of his legs across the centre console and put his foot down on the accelerator, sending the car shooting forward wildly. The woman screamed, slapping him away in an instant as she took control of the car and continued to drive.

Ray could feel his racing heartbeat begin to slow now, and he closed his eyes for a second as he felt the vehicle continuing on its path. "Thank God," he whispered softly, crossing himself as he spoke, and the woman glanced over at him, unsure.

"Are you in trouble?" she asked. "Are you running from cops?"

He took a brief moment to look over her. She was a pretty, middle-aged black girl, her hair knotted in neat braids. She kept her eyes focused on the road ahead of her as she continued to drive at full speed, intimidated by his very presence. He spotted the little love-heart earrings adorning her, and an engagement ring sitting on her left hand, sparkling brightly.

"I'm in love," Ray answered quietly. "And I need to get back to her. That's all."

The words seemed to touch her, and she nodded slowly. "Next time, just send flowers." She handed him her cell phone. "You want to call her? Tell her you're on the way?"

Ray couldn't help but be touched by the small gesture and he nodded gratefully, accepting the device and punching in Lex's number. He could feel himself holding his breath as he waited for her to answer, and a soft smile spread across his lips as she answered.

"Hello?" Her voice was hesitant, just as he had warned her she should be, and he exhaled steadily.

"It's me." He could feel a calmness overwhelm him now, a smile spreading over his lips that he saw his new companion reflect with her own grin. "Listen, I'm going to come straight to you. I'll be half an hour, forty tops. I need you to pack, be ready for when I arrive. We're going to have to head straight off, okay?"

He heard her swallowing, her light breath drawn in in anxious bursts. "What's happened, Ray?"

He could lie. He was used to lying, he'd done it all his life but he shook his head. He didn't want to any more, not to her. "There's been a change of plan," he murmured. "I'll tell you everything as soon as I get there." He smiled. "I love you, Lex."

He could hear her voice changing as she smiled down the phone. "I love you too, Ray. I'll see you soon."

As she clicked off the call, he could feel relief flooding his body. He smiled at his temporary companion and gave her the phone back, a grateful smile on his face. "Thank you," he murmured gently. "I'm serious, about the money, and the watch," he added, nodding to the Rolex on the seat beside her. "Please, just keep it. I owe you one."

She laughed a little. "Yeah, brother, you do. But I believe in love so... you're kinda lucky there."

Ray smiled wistfully. For once, he had genuinely meant the words he had said about getting back to Lex - it hadn't been the usual line he had deployed on guessing the woman's circumstances. "I didn't used to," he said softly, gazing ahead of them towards the coast as the smoke of LA disappeared behind them. "But then I met her and..." He chuckled. "It took me too long to realise that she was the one. Now, I just can't risk wasting another second."