A Place In the Sun
49
Gillian read off the directions as Ryan drove. Ryan pulled a napkin out of his pocket and gave it to her.
"Those street names are the same, right?" he asked, referring to the directions Tracy had written down a couple of days ago.
"Identical," Gillian answered. "The directions you gave me are only two streets short of the directions Julia printed off for us."
Ryan banged his fist on the steering wheel in disgust. "That's where Tracy took me to show me where she followed Ray. We were so close to finding her. This has to be the right place."
Gillian bit her lip and tried to hold back tears.
"Gillian?" Ryan rubbed her hand with his.
"But what if she's not there?" she asked, trembling.
"She will be," Ryan assured her.
"I cannot go with him tomorrow."
"You won't have to."
"How can you be so sure?" she asked. Ryan did not answer immediately.
"I have to be," he finally said. "Not finding her is not an option."
She nodded solemnly. "It is not."
Ryan's cell phone rang and he quickly answered it.
"Ryan Lavery...yes...thank you for acting so quickly."
Gillian looked at him.
"That was Officer Rosenberg. He's moving some officers up there right now," Ryan told her. "They will set up road blocks and surround the house in case force has to be used."
"I just want to get Katalin out safely," Gillian said.
"Of course, that's all I want, too."
Kelsey rolled over onto her back and stared up at the ceiling.
"I cannot believe..." she started laughing.
"We just did that," Bobby laughed, too, finishing her sentence.
Kelsey rolled back to face him. She used one hand to play with the stubble forming on his chin as she leaned closer for a kiss.
"Now, I need another shower," she said, throwing back the covers. "I'm having an early dinner with my grandparents."
"No, come back," he said, reaching for her hand.
She brushed his hand away and shook her head. "I promised; I have to go."
"We can do this all again, though, right?" he looked hopefully at her.
She smiled, "Of course. I think we'll definitely be doing this again."
Ray's fingers could barely hold onto his cards as he fanned through his hand. His head lobbed to one side as he tried to read the numbers.
"Any discard?" Tyler asked, wondering how much longer this could go on.
"Ehhh..." Ray said, letting his cards flutter to the table. "That's enough of that." Ray clumsily stood up and stumbled into the other room, grabbing furniture for support. He collapsed onto the couch by the time Tyler had followed him.
Tyler's phone vibrated in his pocket. He ducked into the bathroom quickly to answer it.
"Hello?" he answered quietly.
"Tyler, it's Ryan."
"Where are you?" he whispered.
"We're on the road out by Silver Lake. Julia gave us the address."
"Good. I'm just about done here. Ray's drunk and passed out on the couch," there was a sense of sadness in Tyler's voice.
"Kata's there, right?" Ryan asked.
"I think she's in the bedroom. I was just about to go in and find her and get out of here."
"Can we come on up to the house?"
"Yeah, go ahead. We'll be outside in a minute."
"Thanks Tyler," Ryan said. Tyler could hear the relief in his voice. "We might not have found her without you."
"Don't mention it," Tyler said. "Now, I'll see you in a few minutes, with your daughter."
"We'll be right there."
"Bye."
Tyler put the phone back in his pocket and quietly opened the door. He checked the couch and found Ray out cold. He went to the room Ray had gone in earlier and looked around. It only took him a moment to notice the tall dresser pushed against the closet door. He quickly crossed the room.
Kata heard the footsteps and quivered in the corner of the closet.
"Katalin?" she heard a voice from the other side of the door. It wasn't Ray's voice, but not unfamiliar. "I'm going to get you out of here."
She heard the slight scrape of the furniture being pushed away from the door. A band of light appeared as the door was opened. Katalin remained in the corner. Tyler saw her and knelt down to her level.
"Don't be scared," he said. "It's Tyler; we met the other day at the Thanksgiving dinner at Wildwind, remember?"
Kata nodded. She still didn't go any closer to him.
"Your daddy is outside waiting for you," he told her.
"Is Ray gone?" she finally asked.
"He's asleep in the other room. I won't let him hurt you," Tyler promised. He held out his hand and she hesitated a bit before placing her small hand in his as she stood up.
"I don't think he will wake up, but be quiet just in case," Tyler instructed.
Kata simply nodded as she followed him.
They stepped out of the room. Tyler motioned to Kata to stay put as he checked on his brother. All appeared the same with him, so he turned back to Katalin.
"Let's get out of here," Tyler whispered to her. She walked toward the front door and he followed her. The room was eerily quiet.
"Where d'you think you're going?" Ray's slurred speech stopped Tyler in his tracks. As he turned around, he gently pushed Kata down beside a table near the door.
"You were asleep and I thought I should get home," Tyler told him.
As Ray stood up, he could see into the bedroom. Tyler knew he could see the dresser moved and the open closet door. Ray swayed as he tried to focus on the other room and then turned back to his brother.
"Where is she?" Ray asked, enraged.
"What do you mean?" Tyler acted innocent. "I was just leaving."
"Gillian's kid—you knew about—where is she?" Ray yelled.
"I don't know what you are talking about," Tyler said. Katalin huddled on the floor behind Tyler, trying her best not to cry.
Ray bent down over the couch and stuffed his hand into the space between the couch cushions. He pushed himself up to standing and fumbled with something in his hand.
Tyler was in shock as he realized what his brother was doing. It became all too clear when the sun coming through the edge of the window glinted on the silver barrel of a gun pointed directly at him.
"You double crossed me," Ray said, shaking the gun at Tyler. "You lied to me and double crossed me."
"It's not like that," Tyler assured him, knowing his ruse was up. "I wanted to help you."
"A lot of help you gave me!" Ray yelled.
"But you were so set that your way was the only way. Gillian doesn't love you," he said, staying right by the door.
"She does. She belongs with me."
"No, she doesn't. She is with Ryan and she loves him and their little girl."
"You don't know what you're talking about," Ray insisted.
"I do, Ray. Listen to me," Tyler urged.
"No, you're wrong," Ray said tersely. Tyler could see Ray's hand tightening on the gun.
"Ray, put the gun down," Tyler said, trying unsuccessfully to hide the fear in his eyes.
Ray laughed as his brother pleaded.
"You're going to regret this," Tyler said.
Ray stumbled as he tried to step nearer to his brother. Tyler made a reach for the door as Ray regained his balance. Ray pulled his hand up to once again point the gun at Tyler.
Tyler reached behind him and twisted the doorknob. He nudged Katalin with his foot as he pulled the door open. She had to get out as quickly as possible.
Outside, Ryan, Gillian, and Julia waited in the driveway as several officers surrounded the building.
As soon as Ryan and Gillian stepped from the truck, a gunshot rang out.