Hi everyone! Yes, we too found a way around the system! Thanks to Moonlight Enchantments for the tip! Love ya, sweetie! So, we know that everyone has been waiting for the new chapter. We've been really busy with a lot of other things so we're sorry that it took so long. We hope that this will make up for that. Please, let us know what you think of this one, just as you all have in the past. We love to hear from you. We have a little bet going on who will be first...lol! (we know...we're bad) Can't wait to hear from you...:)

Yours, as always,

butterflyswest and Erin Allen

15

The three of them settled into an uneasy existence at Carter's home. Despite the lush surroundings, the likes of which even Ray had not seen, he was waiting. Waiting for the moment that it would all come crashing down. He hadn't lost Neela with his painful confession, but he couldn't help but feel as if it was only a matter of time before something happened. It pissed him off to feel like that. That wasn't him anymore. At one time, yes, but that had been long ago and far away. He was a different man than the one who had run from his father's house all those years ago. He was stronger than that.

And he was ready to fight.

It was two days before he heard anything from Will Ramsey. Ray was surfing the web on Carter's computer while Neela and Emily played some obnoxious game that Neela had brought over from England. He'd never been able to get the hang of it, but Emily had taken to it quickly. Ray winced at Emily's shrill squeal as she won. He glanced over at them and raised an eyebrow.

"I told you that she catches on quick," he told Neela when she scowled in disbelief.

"I just can't bloody believe that she could learn that quickly," she groused as she gathered up the cards. She pointedly ignored Emily as the girl began to do an energetic victory dance right there in the den. Ray laughed.

"Cut it out, squirt. That's not cool."

She stopped and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Really? Then why do you do that to me every time you beat me at something?"

Ray grinned and turned back to the computer.

"Because then I'm trying to help you build character."

"Seems to me that she has enough character," Neela said sourly, tapping the deck of cards on the table, as she pinned him with a glare. "She acts just like you."

The phone rang, and Ray snatched it up, grateful for the reprieve. He didn't want to get into a discussion about his past and likely future behavior.

"Hello?" he said, smiling smugly at Neela. The look in her eyes promised that the session of "let's cut on Ray" was far from over.

"Ray? Will Ramsey here."

Ray's humor immediately dried up. He fought the urge to just grab Emily and run. He didn't need to hide, but it was hard to remember that when he knew what he was dealing with.

"Mr. Ramsey," he said, glancing at Neela. Her head snapped up to look at him, her eyes widening. He gave Emily a meaningful look and she nodded in answer to his unspoken question.

"Why don't we go to the kitchen and see what we can find to eat," she said to the girl.

Emily shot Ray a half fearful look and went without protest, her mood quickly going somber. Neela gave him an encouraging smile before following her from the room. Ray took a deep breath.

"Have you found out anything?" he asked the lawyer, deciding to come right to the point.

"Actually, I have," Will said, and Ray felt his heart quicken at the grave tone.

"I take it that it's not good."

"I'd just rather speak to you in person," Ramsey said. "This isn't a matter to be discussed over the phone. Will you be there for the next hour or so?"

"Yeah. I don't have a reason to leave right now. Neela and I are on leave until this is cleared up."

"Good idea," the man said, and his tone sent Ray's pulse up another notch. "Just sit tight and I'll be there as soon as I can."

He hung up, and Ray could only stare at the dead phone in his hand, wishing he could just read minds. He didn't hear Neela come into the room and almost came out of his skin when she touched him.

"Are you all right?" she asked.

"I don't know. Ramsey's coming over to talk to me. He didn't sound encouraging."

"I'm sure it's nothing to worry over," she said, but didn't sound convincing. He took her hand and gave it a squeeze to show that he appreciated the effort she was making.

"I don't know," he repeated. "I didn't like the tone of his voice."

She said nothing, but the soft kiss she gave him did much to thaw the ice that was now forming around him. He stood and gave her a tight hug.

"I'm going for a walk until he gets here," he said. He had to get out of there for a minute. He needed to move or else he would go nuts. She nodded, and gave him a kiss before she moved aside and let him go.

Neela shook her head as she watched him leave the room. She wanted to go after him, to hold him and tell him that everything would be all right, but she sensed that he wanted to be alone for a while. And she didn't want to lie to him. She didn't know the future any more than he did. For all she knew, everything could go to hell in a hand-basket with no more provocation than a misspoken word. Everything hinged on what William Ramsey could accomplish.

She returned to the kitchen, to find Emily. She doubted very much if Ray was hungry. Emily was the only one of them that didn't seem to be suffering from such anxiety. She was eating with all the enthusiasm of a teenager and talking to the kitchen staff as if they were old friends. Neela wished that she could have that kind of faith. She looked up as Neela came into the room.

"Is everything all right?" she asked, betraying her true feelings. She and Ray were alike in so many ways, but this was not one of them. Ray kept his feelings right there in view. Anyone who looked close enough would know what Ray Barnett was feeling. Emily hid her inner emotions behind a wall of chatter and adolescent enthusiasm.

"Mr. Ramsey is coming," Neela said carefully. "He wants to talk to your brother."

Emily was silent for a long moment, her eyes never leaving Neela's face. Finally, she sighed.

"Did he say what he wanted?"

"No. I don't think so."

The girl forced a smile and pushed aside her plate.

"Well, so much for lunch." She rose from her stool. "I think I'll go online for a while. See what I can get into."

Neela watched her go, her hatred for their father again burning her blood. It sickened her that a father could do this to his children, so that even into adulthood, they were feeling his poisonous influence. Fathers were supposed to be loving, supportive, and protective…even a bit annoying in a loveable sort of way. They were not meant to be manipulative, cruel, or violent toward the very people that they were put on earth to take care of. It went against everything that Neela had ever been taught to see just those things in Ray's father.

She left the kitchen without eating. Just like Emily, she was no longer hungry. She was, in point of fact, a bit sick. Her barely suppressed anxiety was eating at her. God, how she wanted to just make this all go away! For Ray and Emily, but also for herself. She wanted to really begin her life with Ray. Now that she had finally come to grips with what she felt for him, it all felt suddenly precarious. She understood exactly what Ray felt when he worried that this would all be cruelly ripped away. She had never felt that way before, as if the whole world was about to slip through her grasp. But then, she'd never had anything that meant this much to her. Until now.

She was in a truly dark mood when William Ramsey knocked on the door only thirty minutes later. She did her best to keep herself composed, to keep a lock on her emotions, but she didn't do a very good job apparently. The lawyer gave her a small smile of understanding at her sharp tone when she greeted him.

"I'm sorry," she said, taking a deep breath. "I'm just feeling the strain."

"I understand," he said, following her into the large family room. "This sort of thing can get sticky for everyone involved." He laughed without humor. "Of course, this one is about as bad as any I've ever seen."

Neela's heart sank at his words. And she had been hoping for good news…

Ray rose from the sofa as they approached, and she did her best to hide the fear in her heart. Whatever came of this meeting, she would be strong.

Ray waited until the lawyer was seated before he pounced. He couldn't help it, though he'd told himself to be patient.

"What's going on, Mr. Ramsey?"

Will looked at the young man before him and sighed inwardly, wishing that he'd just gone to barber college. The little Will knew of him, he liked. The man had fire in him, and Jon Carter believed the same thing. If Will had never met Dr. Barnett, Carter's word alone would have been enough. The things that his little sister had described and the atrocities that Ray himself had only hinted at had made him want to hunt their father down and kill him with his bare hands. What he had learned in the past two days had done nothing to change his desire.

He settled back in the chair as Dr. Rasgotra took the space beside Ray. Will hid his smile at the look Ray gave her. There was no mistaking a man in love.

"I got a call from that sorry excuse for a lawyer today," he began without preamble. He was too tired for bullshit, and could sense that Ray was not in the mood for it anyway.

Ray didn't even have to ask whom Ramsey was talking about. It made him feel better to know that he wasn't the only one who felt that way about Randly.

"And?"

Will snorted and rubbed the bridge of his nose with his thumb and first finger.

"If that's the kind of man that the Pennsylvania Bar accepts, then I'm glad I live in Illinois. He actually offered a deal."

"What kind of deal? If he wants Emily…"

"Oh, he wants her, make no mistake. He wants her by today. He said that he'd already gone to the police to file charges and thinks that you're about to be arrested. Smug little prick."

"And why would he think that?" Ray asked sharply, his heart in his throat.

"Because he filed the report with Detective Ramirez. She put out a city wide alert to call her if Emily's name came up in any reports." Will laughed. "She may be small, but she has big clout when she wants something. She wanted to see exactly what the man had to say. So when the report was filed, she was there within twenty minutes."

"Isn't that illegal?"

"No. He's not a suspect. He came to them. He's just a representative, though a sad little excuse for one. I would have thought that your father had better taste."

"He doesn't think I'm a threat," Ray said bitterly.

"Alone…maybe not. But I am. I have connections in every major city in this country. I've been on the phone for the last two days. I tell you, son, I'm surprised that the man hasn't been arrested before now."

Ray frowned, confused as to where this was going. He'd thought that he had explained all this before.

"What are you talking about?"

Will grinned, and Ray suppressed the urge to cringe at the predatory smirk.

"I've spent the last two days going through that man's life with a fine toothed comb. I know more about him now than even he does. If he crapped during that time, I'm sure I have documentation telling anyone who cares what color it was. I didn't believe what I found."

"Such as?"

Will tented his fingers in front of him, looking completely relaxed. Ray felt some of his tension leave him. If the man was this confident, then maybe everything would be all right.

"I've had to wade through shit in my career, but what this bastard does makes me look like a damn saint," he said harshly. "On the surface, everything looks kosher. He defends wealthy clients and gets paid insane amounts of money to do so. He wins a majority of his cases. An impressive majority, I might add, and from all we could find out, he wins them legitimately. You don't start to smell the rotten part of the apple until you start looking at his finances."

Ray shook his head in confusion.

"I know he's rich," he said testily. "I don't need you to tell me that."

"Of course not, but do you know where that money comes from? You don't think that he drives a brand new Jag and owns a Mercedes just on the fees his clients pay."

"I never really thought about it," Ray said. "I just assumed…"

"So does everyone else," Ramsey said smugly. "Especially when he has people on his payroll to doctor the books. In the past two days, we've uncovered evidence of billing fraud, real estate fraud, tax evasion…I'm excited just thinking about it."

Ray barely felt Neela's fingers tighten on his, showing her astonishment. Ray could only stare at him. The man was talking about things that could get his father indicted several times over. He was talking jail time of titanic proportions, and all he could say was that he was excited.

"Maybe you should tell me what you have in mind," he said slowly.

Will grinned, rubbing his hands together. He looked for all the world like a kid at Christmas. And why not? If what he said was true, then they had all just been handed the biggest present in the history of gift giving.

"I have to ask, Ray. How far do you want to take this?" he said seriously. "How far do you want to go?"

"What do you mean?"

Will sat forward, his elbows on his knees to pin him with a glare.

"What I mean is, how down and dirty are you willing to get with this man? You say the word, and I could tie him up in so much legal red tape, that your kids will be grandparents before it's all settled." He sighed when Ray only stared at him blankly. "What I'm asking is, do you want revenge on your father, or do you just want this over with?"

Ray leaned back into the sofa, his mind working overtime. He'd never really considered the possibility of revenge. He rifled through his memory, viewing every horrifying bit of his past. The beatings, the humiliation, the hatred he'd held when he was a child for his father. It was all there, though he had believed he'd buried it beyond recall. His pulse raced to think that he could get back at the man, lash out at the one who had done his best to destroy him. He glanced at Neela, who was staring at him with an inscrutable expression on her face.

"What do you think, babe?" he asked her quietly.

"I can't make that choice for you, Ray," she said. "Only you can make that decision."

He nodded, though he wished he could have shucked it off to someone else. He thought of Emily in the other room. She was counting on him to take care of her, to help her. Would she want to be dragged into a long, drawn out affair? For that matter, Ray wasn't sure that he wanted to live with the indecision. They had both been through enough without the pain continuing for years. They had already given years to their father's cruelty.

"Enough is enough," he muttered, before he looked at Will. "I just want this over," he said firmly. "I don't want Emily to suffer anymore."

Something flashed in Will's eyes as he smiled warmly. If Ray didn't know better, he would have sworn that it was admiration. He pulled out his cell phone and a business card.Dialing quickly, hepressed the phone to his ear. His entire demeanor changed in that instant, and Ray saw that he was in lawyer mode. It was frightening how cold the man sounded.

"Mr. Randly. William Ramsey. I have discussed your offer with my client, and he has refused it." He listened for a moment, his expression turning to stone. "I know what you said. I relayed the information to my client. He still refused. Especially when I advised him to do so." He grinned, and glanced at Ray with an almost triumphant expression crossing his features. "I realize what you believe you can do, but the truth is, I am disinclined to deal with you. You call your employer and tell him that he needs to come to Chicago. Advise him that his interests would be best served to deal with me directly. I refuse to deal with one of his peons."

Ray stifled laughter at that and felt Neela shaking with the same. He wished that for just a minute he could be a fly on the wall wherever Randly was. He would have loved to see the look on the bastard's face at Will's assessment of him.

"I don't really care about Mr. Barnett's connections. Nor do I concern myself with his busy schedule. I would think that any father would want to ensure his child's safety personally." He paused, raising one eyebrow. "I don't believe that that will be necessary. The police have already sworn out a statement from Emily herself." He paused again, listening. "Well, you may tell Mr. Barnett that we have a counter offer for him. It will only be made once, and only in person…yes…Oh, and, Randly?…Take my advice. Don't jump in the water if you can't deal with the sharks. Have a nice day."

He flipped the phone shut.

"Little piss-ant actually threatened me with an injunction. He doesn't have the slightest clue who he's screwing with."

"You want my father to come here?" Ray asked incredulously. "Are you out of your mind? I don't want that man anywhere near Emily."

"He won't be," Will assured him quickly. "Trust me. Once he hears what I have to tell him, he won't want to be in the same country as the two of you."

Ray narrowed his eyes. He wasn't one to trust lawyers. It was instinctive on his part to doubt the very air they breathed, but he had been given no reason not to trust this one. He'd done exactly what he promised to do and had done it quickly. Ray glanced at Neela who was watching him expectantly. He knew what she was thinking. Don't argue, Ray. Just do it. That look was his undoing. For her, he would do anything.

"What do you want me to do?" he asked resignedly.

As Will began to outline his plans, Ray couldn't help but feel a small stab of fear. His father was coming to Chicago. After three years, he was going to have to face his biggest nightmare, and he was going to have to stay strong. He looked up as Neela squeezed his hand, and he instantly relaxed. At least this time, he wouldn't have to face him alone. Neela would be there beside him. He sat up, feeling stronger than he had in a long time. She believed in him, and he wasn't going to disappoint her.

It was time to end this.