A Place In the Sun
41
Ryan watched as Tyler left the bar. "He's sorry for what his brother has done…"
It took a few moments for Ryan to realize what Tyler had meant; before he could go after him, Tracy came over the bar.
"Ryan," she said softly as she finished tying on her apron. "Mateo said you were looking for me."
"You left me a message."
"I'm sorry," she said, sounding ashamed. She stood behind the bar, keeping the counter between them.
"What did you mean by the message?" he asked her, not sure why she was apologizing.
She took a deep breath, "I tried to warn you…" She put down the towel that was in her hands.
"Tried to warn me of what?" Ryan asked, interrupting her. "What did you know?"
"I knew he was going to do something," Tracy told him. "I didn't know what, Ryan, but I wanted to try and tell you before he could, but—"
"How do you even know Ray?" he asked, angrily.
She walked around the bar over to him. "I know I shouldn't have, Ryan," she said, beginning to speak quickly. "But when he first approached me it was right after Gillian came and he said that he would help me get you back. It was so stupid. I should have known he was trouble."
"Tracy, tell me, what did you do?" Ryan asked, his jaw clenched and his eyes narrowing.
Tracy was inclined to back away, but instead stood her ground. "He just wanted some information. But what I didn't know was how he would use it and before I knew it, he was out of control. He wanted me to help keep tabs on you two. He would ask me where you were going to be on certain days, so he could get Gillian alone."
"So he could get Gillian alone…" Ryan said, seething.
"I didn't know what he was going to do, and I don't know what he did any of the times before last week. I got really scared after that and I wasn't going to tell him anything else but he threatened me."
"You let him know she was alone the night of the party here?"
"Yes," she replied meekly.
"And last night?"
"I told him you all had gone to Wildwind. I didn't want to tell him, I swear I didn't," she said, her eyes wide and brimming.
……….
The doorbell rang at Wildwind; Maria jumped up to answer it.
"Package for Mr. Edmund Grey," the man on the other side said as she opened the door.
"I'll take it," she said, taking the square box from him.
"Sign here," he told her. She took the pen and wrote her name. She thanked the deliveryman and closed the door. As she walked back into the living room, Edmund walked in the other direction from the kitchen.
"What is it?" he asked, seeing the box in her hand.
"Whitecrest Jewelers," she read from the label. She raised an eyebrow at the name of the store.
He laughed at her expression. "Probably not what you're thinking."
"For some other woman in your life?" she teased.
"Not that either," he said, taking the box from her and opening it. "I guess there's really no need for this now."
"What did your order?" she asked him, still curious.
Edmund took out a crystal ornament and handed it to his wife.
"7th Annual Crystal Ball, benefiting the Maria Santos Grey Foundation, December 31, 2003," Maria read. "Crystal Ball?"
"After you—we thought you died, I set up a charity foundation in your name, and every year we had the Crystal Ball to encourage donations. Each year I gave some sort of memento to all the guests; this is the one I had made for this year. But I guess a memorial fund isn't really appropriate now that we know you are alive."
"So you're just going to discontinue the foundation?" she asked.
"I hadn't really thought about it."
"I'm honored that you would do such a thing in my name. But just because I am here doesn't mean you should get rid of it," Maria said, setting the ornament back into its box. "We should still have the ball."
……….
"Do you realize that that monster has my daughter right now, and it's partly your fault?" Ryan nearly yelled.
"Yes, Ryan, I realize that," she said, tears streaming down her face. "Why do you think I tried to warn you? Ray threatened that he'd implicate me as an accessory to what he did last week. That's why I told him, but after I hung up I realized it didn't matter if I got in trouble. What he was about to do…he needed to be stopped. Ryan, I tried, you have to believe me." Tracy put her hand on his arm.
Ryan turned his arm so that her hand landed the bar. Why didn't you call Wildwind? If you knew we had been there, then why did you call the apartment?" he asked, a little calmer now.
"I don't know, I honestly don't know. I wasn't thinking straight. I was mad at myself for telling Ray what I had and terrified of what he might do.
He took a deep breath and shook his head in resignation. "I believe you. I just want to find my daughter; I don't have the energy right now to be mad at you."
"I got in over my head, I know that. I just wanted you back, Ryan. We were together for two years; we lived together. All my family thought I'd finally found 'the one,' and I guess I kind of did, too," she said, wiping her tears away. "But I guess all along, I knew that I'd never replace Gillian, you always loved her. Then she came back, and I wasn't ready to let go. I didn't want anyone to get hurt like this, though."
……….
When Bobby woke up, he found that he was lying down on the quilt in front of the fire. Kelsey was in front of him and his arm was draped over her.
Kelsey rolled over to face him and nuzzled her head up under his chin. He pulled her closer to him and enjoyed the warmth of her body against his. She closed her eyes again momentarily as she raised her head to kiss him.
"It is real," she said softly.
"I told you," he replied, rubbing her back.
"I should have believed you."
"Why didn't you?" he asked, sitting up and placing another log onto the fire.
She shook her head, "Stupid reasons."
"You don't go into hiding for stupid reasons."
"You know the reasons. I messed everything up so badly before and all. You didn't love me then, and I guess I didn't really love you either. I don't want that to happen again," she told him.
"No, there's something else. What aren't you telling me, Kelsey?" Bobby asked her. "You've been acting really weird. I've never known you to hide from your problems."
"Bobby, that's it. I told you, stupid reasons."
"Kels…"
"Bobby, it's in the past; it doesn't matter."
"Obviously it does," he said, putting a hand on hers.
"Everything that happened in California can stay there," she said, pulling away.
"Kelsey, what happened?" Bobby asked, looking her straight in the eyes.
Kelsey closed her eyes and took a deep breath, "Simple, I fell in love."
……….
Ryan didn't respond, but looked deep in thought. "Ryan?" Tracy asked, trying to get his attention.
"Yeah, uh, sorry, I was just thinking all this over. So do you know anything that could help us find Katalin?" Ryan asked.
"I wish I did," she said, somewhat confused. Ryan didn't seem to have even registered what she had just said about their relationship.
"Nothing?"
Tracy thought for a moment. "I don't know how much this will help," she said, taking a seat in the chair next to him. "I followed him once."
"Where did he go?"
"First he went to the Pine Cone. He went into a room for a few minutes, then came back out and got in his car again. He drove an old black Honda; the paint was peeling off in some places and there was some rust on the bottom. I followed him again for a while. He went through Centreville, but then went off on a back road. After that I turned around because I figured if he saw me he would realize someone was following him."
"Probably a good move."
"I don't feel safe from him, Ryan."
"You need to tell the police what you know."
"I don't want to go to jail; I know what I did was wrong…"
"If you come forward now, they'll be more likely to go easy on you. Can you get someone to cover you here?"
"No customers, Mateo won't mind."
"Good, then you're going down to the police station now, then you are taking me to where you followed him."
"Of course. I want to help you find your daughter."
……….
Maria and Edmund turned to face the door as they heard it open.
"Dimitri," Maria said as they stood up. "You finally got here."
"I got held up in New York; the trains shut down during the worst of the snow," he explained. "How is Gillian?"
"She's upstairs resting," Edmund told him.
"Ryan hasn't left her side, has he?" Dimitri asked.
"Actually," Maria said, "he flew out of here a couple of hours ago; he checked his messages and there was one from Tracy, apparently, and he took off."
"I'm going to go up and check on her, then," he said, turning to go out towards the stairs. "I brought your mail in and left it on the table in the hall."
Maria followed him into the hall and picked up the mail. There was a folded sheet of paper, not in an envelope, that caught her eye. She picked this up, opened it, and quickly read it over.
"Edmund," she called, her eyes growing wide.
"What, Maria, what is it?" he asked, coming to her side.
"It's from Ray."