Ch. 24 Something Bigger

"You." Ric looked shocked at his new company.

"Me."

"W-What are you doing here?"

"Oh, you know just out for a walk. Ended up here. What about you, why are you here?"

"Just, um, clearing my thoughts." Ric found himself stumbling over his words. But he had to be careful not to let anything slip.

"I think it's something else. Something bigger than that."

Jason had been following Ric for most of the day. He had hoped to find something by now, but he would keep his patience. The only thing unusual he had found was the end of a call. He didn't know who it was or what they were talking about. All he had heard was that Ric wouldn't be able to "make it tonight."

By the time they reached the docks, Jason was prepared to beat it out of him. But before he could remove himself from the shadows someone else approached Ric.

'Damn. What are you doing here Elizabeth?'

"Bigger?" Ric's paranoia began to show as he looked at his soon-to-be ex-wife.

"The divorce? I've been thinking about it too." His paranoia was immediately replaced with a sense of hope. Before he could stop himself the optimism came out in words.

"Are you having second thoughts about getting divorced?"

"No, not that." her hand traveled to her pregnant stomach. "I may have been too harsh to go for sole custody."

"You mean, joint custody?" the hope reappeared once again.

"I think a baby deserves to have both it's parents."

"Wow, you don't know how much that means to me. How happy that makes me. Thank you."

"You don't have to thank me. It's the right thing to do." she looked towards her stomach and sighed. "Well, we should get going. Have a good day, Ric."

"You too!"

Ric was filled with happiness. It wasn't all that he wanted but he was happy nonetheless. He was too caught up in everything that had just happened that he completely forgot that he was being followed. Jason had caught him completely by surprise.

"Hey Ric!"

Tap. Tap. Tap.

She was going crazy.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

How much longer was this going to last?

Tap.

"Would you stop that?" she commanded of the blonde at the desk. Faith had been reading the paper and tapping that stupid pen for what seemed like hours. She looked up from the paper, smiled and resumed banging the pen against the desk.

After a few more minutes she tossed the pen on the desk and let out a frustrated sigh. Being stuck in this place was a nightmare. Though she wasn't stuck like Courtney was stuck. But she had to get out of that place. Now.

'What are the chances one of Sonny's goons will see me? If I could just get out for an hour or so.' she debated to herself whether or not to risk it. 'No, I better not. At least not until it gets dark. Yeah, once it's dark I'll head out for a while.'

"Definitely."

"What are you talking about?" she jumped realizing she had said that out loud.

"Just working on this crossword puzzle." she covered taking the pen and paper in her hands once more. "Hmmm...lets see. Five letter word for a furry, hopping animal."

'You've got to be kidding me.' Courtney thought. 'This is like one big cosmic joke on me!'

"B-U-N-N-Y. Wow, ironic, huh? Lets see, what else is there?" she teased. Faith knew she was getting on every one of her nerves. She loved it.

A quick glance at her watch and she realized that the sun had been down for a few minutes. This was a great chance to get away for a while and come back, Ric would never know. She got up from her chair and made her way across the room.

"See you later Cottontail." then she exited the room and made her way out into the night air.

The room was now empty, and she was alone. She was extremely relieved that Faith had left for whatever reason she had. But, it wouldn't be long before she or Ric reappeared. Courtney had to get away. The first step, was getting out of the bed.

The smart thing to do would be to carefully examine the cuffs or bedpost for any sign of a weak point she could use to her advantage. However, Courtney was not feeling smart or patient enough for that.

She began to violently thrust her hands forward repeatedly, letting the noise echo throughout the room. When nothing changed she took another approach. Using all her strength she pulled her right hand away from the post as far as it would go. The metal ring dug into her wrist as she tried forcing it farther than it would allow, and she felt the smallest bit of blood trickle down her forearm.

"Damn!" she yelled in anger, giving up on the idea. Short of chewing her arm off, she didn't see a way of getting out anytime soon.