Chapter Ten
It had been a late night for Nicole and by the time she left her bedroom, it was after twelve in the afternoon. She wandered downstairs and into the main room of the house, where she noticed Brady, talking on the phone with his back turned to Nicole. Nicole moved closer to him, wanting to make out what he was saying on the phone.
"No, Chloe, I'm not kidding." Brady was saying and hearing Chloe's name made Nicole even more alert, "No, there is nothing to talk about. It's over, okay? I'm sorry but I can't keep dating you long distance when I don't feel anything anymore. Good-bye, Chloe."
He slammed down the phone so hard it made Nicole jump. He turned around and saw her standing there.
"How much of that did you hear?" he asked in a low voice.
"Enough." Nicole looked at the floor, "Brady, did you break up with Chloe because of what I said last night? Does this mean that you don't want her, does it mean that you only want me?"
"Nicole......" Brady's voice trailed off, "Yes, that's what I think it means. Chloe was a great person but I understand you so much better and I know my feelings for you are more than just infatuation. I don't want to be with Chloe just because it's less complicated. I want to be with the woman that I really love. And I would do anything to keep you in my life."
"That was the sweetest thing anyone has ever said to me." Nicole told him, giving him a big smile. Her smile slowly faded and she closed her eyes as his lips hovered above her own. The warm sensation when their lips finally made contact was amazing and she gave a little murmur of contentment and pressed her body closer to his. Before they could deepen the kiss any further, they heard Victor's enraged voice. He stood in the doorway, his eyes burning a hole into Nicole as he shook his head angrily.
"I warned you." he growled, stepping closer to her, "You just made a very big mistake. That's the last time you ever touch my grandson because I'm going to finish you off once and for all." he lunged and her and Nicole shrieked and dodged him. She had never seen him so angry.
Brady grabbed Nicole and pulled her out of Victor's reach, "I'm sorry, grandad. I know I broke my promise to you but I couldn't help it. Because the truth is, I'm in love with Nicole. And I hope she feels the same way as I do."
The intensity of Brady's gaze was enough to make Nicole forget Victor was in the room. One hand moved so that it rested on his chest, "Brady, you know I do. I have for a long time."
"Shut up!" Victor roared, trying to grab Nicole, "I am not going to let this happen. You will not destroy Brady's life the way you destroyed mine. I don't care if I have to rot in jail for murder, you are going to die, Nicole."
Brady stared at his grandfather in horror and disgust, "You..... monster!" he finished finally, "How dare you threaten her like that! I am not going to let you near her ever again. We are leaving the mansion." he pulled Nicole away and she fought down a triumphant smile when she passed her dumbstruck husband. It was obvious he had finally lost every ounce of self-control he had ever had.
"I can't believe I just did that." Brady shook his head in amazement, "What are we going to do now? Where are we supposed to go?"
Nicole remembered the phone call from a very excited Sami earlier that morning and grinned, "I think I have an idea."
Richard and Cassie returned to the motel they had been staying at and got off the motorcycle. Richard turned to Cassie, his face uncertain.
"Well, we finally did it." Richard tried to sound happy, "We took care of the Salem Stalker."
Cassie sighed tiredly, "I wish I had come back earlier. Maybe then we could have stopped him before he got the other victims. I can't believe that Roman and Tony are both gone. We should have stopped this sooner. Now I have no one. I'm not even speaking to my brother anymore."
Richard rubbed her shoulders soothingly, "Cassie, we didn't know who it was before. It wasn't in our power to stop Brandon. We could have ended up being victims if we had come back earlier." he felt Cassie shudder as he said those words, "You can't beat yourself up over something you couldn't stop from happening. You did everything you could do. And as for your brother, I think you should give him another chance."
"How can I do that after what he did?" Cassie cried angrily, "It was bad enough finding out that Tony had died. Knowing that he died alone without either one of his children around made it worse. Rex was horrible to betray our father!"
"I know it pisses you off. It would piss me off too. But what if you had been in town when Tony got put in jail for the killings? Would you have stayed loyal to him?" Richard questioned her.
Cassie's chin jutted out defiantly, "Yes. Nothing would have been able to change my mind. I never doubted my brother, not even when he went to jail for the murders and I wouldn't have doubted Tony either. Rex was just plain wrong, no matter how you look at it."
"People make mistakes. But if they try hard enough to redeem themselves, you should let it go. No one if perfect and I think if you really love your brother, you should forgive him and move on." Richard said, thinking of his own problems as he said those words.
Cassie sighed, "I don't know if I can." she began walking towards the motel, "Are you coming?"
Richard turned back towards the motorcycle, "I'll be there in a second." he ran his fingers over the surface of the bike aimlessly, wanting to be alone with his thoughts. He had never wanted to get serious about one girl but Cassie was different. The only problem was, he didn't know if she could look past all the awful things he had done back in his hometown and still accept him.
He was so engrossed in his thoughts, he didn't even hear the woman approach him from behind. He stifled a gasp when someone grabbed his arms and wrenched them painfully behind his back. He felt the cold metal of the handcuffs touch his wrists and barely resisted wincing as someone clamped them on as tightly as they could go.
"I finally caught up with you, Goldilocks." Richard went rigid with shock, realizing who it was, "You thought you could get away with it, didn't you? You thought you could escape justice. Well, you were very wrong. I put everything I had into finding you and it finally paid off." she smiled as she continued speaking, "Richard Hayward, you are under arrest for assisting in the murder of Olivia Lake, for the attempted murder of Justin Pendleton and the murder of..... that guy you made go over that cliff. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you-"
"Shut the hell up." Richard turned to stare at her defiantly, "Why did you work so hard to track me down? Why do you want me to go to prison so fucking badly?"
"Because you're a heartless bastard." her nails dug into his back as she spoke, "You would have kept killing, just like you did with that guy on the cliff. You think it's fun. You like doing it."
"You don't understand." Richard hissed, "He was a serial killer. He killed my girlfriend's biological dad and her surrogate dad. He needed to die. I was trying to do the right thing."
She snorted, "God, you're pathetic. I was married to a jackass like you at one point. He stabbed me with a butcher knife over and over and then left me to die. I know when you're lying. The only serial killer around here is you. You're probably the Salem Serial Killer. You kill for the hell of it, it gives you the rush of adrenaline you need to make you feel normal. I work for the police, I know these things. And your girlfriend? God, I pity that girl. She doesn't know what she's getting herself into. I heard all about your ex-girlfriend, Lisa. From Justin. About how she and Justin were interested in each other and you got her into bed with you and video-taped it. Then you gave the tape to Justin. I love the way you treat your girlfriends and your friends too."
"I had to get him away from Lisa." Richard told her in a hoarse voice, "Justin was my friend. He deserved better than a dirty blonde like her."
"You're the dirty blonde, Goldilocks, not Lisa." she gritted her teeth, "Now, I'm going to take you down to the station and-" Richard watched as Cassie brought the metal pipe into the side of the policewoman's face. Officer Mayweather collapsed on the ground and Cassie knelt over her, finding the keys to the handcuffs. Richard looked at her in surprise.
"You heard everything didn't you?" he asked, disappointed that Officer Mayweather had finally given him away. Cassie nodded, "I'm sorry, dollface. But if you let me explain-"
Cassie silenced him by kissing him softly on the lips, "You don't need to explain right now." she bit her lip nervously. He had never hurt her before but after everything she had learned in those few minutes, she wasn't sure if this was what she should be doing. But she looked into his piercing blue eyes and knew she had to give him the chance he needed. His eyes were troubled and held a glint of danger in them but he wasn't the cold-blooded killer this police officer thought he was. She knew him better than that, "I trust you." she freed him from the handcuffs and quickly put them on the policewoman's wrists.
"Good." Richard's eyes revealed how thankful he was that she was giving him this chance, "But I have to explain later. Right now, we have to get out of Salem as soon as possible."
"You're right." Cassie looked over at Officer Mayweather uncertainly, "But before we go, I have to see my brother. You were right, I have to let it go. It isn't fair to keep making him suffer for one mistake, even if it was a pretty damn stupid one."
Richard and Cassie hurried inside the motel, throwing their belongings into their bags. They would pack up, finish off whatever else they needed to do in Salem and then ride away, leaving Salem, Officer Mayweather and Brandon Walker's dead body behind them.
