I hope this is a satisfactory ending to the Nicholas saga. And some quick lovin for Erik too! Enjoy! Mind the rating, still applies.
As Detective Michaels dug deeper into the case files he was finding some…disturbing missing links. Something wasn't right with the Delaney family, but he wasn't so convinced it was anything to do with Nicholas. Andre had gone to Quantico Virginia, Tristan Delaney's last assignment before his discharge. After talking with his superior officers and fellow soldiers he was convinced that not only were Christina and Erik in danger but that mental illness ran in the Delaney family.
Rushing back to Pennsylvania Andre immediately went to Erik Montgomery's house; he had to alert them to his current theory.
Christina and Erik walked into the study, looking much more relaxed than before. Christina had been able to procure a new wardrobe; she and Erik seemed to be moving on from the trauma of the previous week.
"Thank you for agreeing to this on such short notice Mister Montgomery, I've found something in my investigation that is a bit disturbing and I needed to alert both of you. I've already told the feds who are following up leads as we speak. I don't think it was Nicholas Delaney who started your fire Miss Davies, or yours Mister Montgomery. I have strong evidence that it was in fact his twin brother Tristan Delaney."
"Delaney? Matthew Delaney's son?" Erik asked wide-eyed.
"Yes. When Tristan was younger he was diagnosed with ADHD, his psychiatrist warned his parents that he saw red flags that could suggest severe Antisocial Personality Disorder. But it's hard to diagnose in children. When I talked to his doctor he told me that Tristan could have very well been boarder line psychotic. He neglected to tell anyone this when he joined the Marines at 17. Where he became an EOD specialist."
Chris couldn't help the gasp, when Erik looked at her in question she explained "Explosive Ordinances Division. He knew a lot about bombs" one piece of the puzzle slid into place.
Detective Michaels continued "He was discharged after 5 years, his behavior had taken a severe downturn, animals on the base were turning up tortured, there was a series of fires set with an unidentified accelerant used. We were able to match the same chemical properties to 5 fires that are linked to yours Ms Davies." He took a breath before continuing "I talked to some of the Delaney family neighbors who told me a similar story, neighborhood animals being tortured and found dead and small fires being set when the boys were younger. Apparently Nicholas always took the blame for Tristan"
Christina felt very sad for Nick; he had to have known exactly what his brother was but who would say anything?
"I was able to figure out that Tristan's mental decline happened after his mother committed suicide" he heard a gasp from Chris and looked up to see her face drained of all color. "I'm fairly sure that Tristan is responsible."
"But why me?" Erik asked, anger in his voice and his fists clenched.
"Apparently there was some kind of dispute between you and the boy's father?" Andre asked.
Erik nodded curtly "He accused me of stealing his work, not understand that my designs had been submitted months before his and that pre-selection had determined my designs would win over his."
"The rest of this is merely conjecture. I believe Tristan heard his father berating you, being angry with you and blaming you when the family had to move, when in fact they were moving because they had to seek different doctors for the very ill Mrs. Delaney. I think Tristan took matters in his own hands on leave, I discovered that he was home on leave during the time of your fire Mister Delaney. I think he had the knowledge to set a bomb that we would have a hard time tracing, I think he was the one who killed your wife and daughter Mister Montgomery"
Erik bowed his head, he hadn't realized how badly he'd needed to know who and why. He felt an arm wrap around his shoulders and pull him closer to his lover. Without her by his side he didn't know how he would have survived this.
"Why Christina?" Erik's voice sounded deadly pissed off.
"I believe that Nicholas might have mentioned his failed attempts to start a relationship with her. Tristan is obviously very disturbed, not acting with any sort of sense at all. Just lashing out angrily." Andre watched Erik and Christina carefully.
"He's regressing, it's no longer enough to set the fires. Now he is watching them at the scene rather than being satisfied with watching the news reports. Which makes him dangerous, especially to you Ms Davies."
Her blue eyes hardened to ice "I hope that bastard has the balls to try to finish me off himself. Nothing less than that is going to get rid of me"
Erik started to protest but she looked at him, this side of her that he'd never seen worried him. "Erik, that son of a bitch tried to kill you, he killed your wife and daughter and has destroyed how many other families and then he destroyed my home. That little bastard is going to have to kill me, look me in the eye. Nothing less will stop me. I got shot three times in Afghanistan and that didn't kill me!"
Detective Michaels was a little shocked by this side of Christina. She turned to look at him "What do I have to do?"
This was where things got a little shaky "I don't know yet. He's not following any set pattern now; he's deviated from the script so we can't determine what he'll do. I've called in an FBI profiler but I'm afraid that there's no time for that. Profiling takes time, I don't think we have it"
Christina looked surprised "But they do it in like 10 minutes on TV"
Andre gave her a wry smile "Creative license. It's not nearly as glamorous as they portray on television. What I need you to do is be careful. My bet is he's not going to be satisfied with things, he'll try again. With the property being gated, surveillance everywhere and the grounds crawling with police, private security and feds he won't make his move here."
Erik could see where this was going…bait; they wanted to use Christina as bait. "No!" he shouted, "You can't do that! She could die!"
"We're going to take every precaution to ensure that doesn't happen. We're hoping he'll get sloppy. We have agents posted all over this neighborhood. I promise you we are going to do everything we can to keep her safe"
Chris took his hand "I have to do this Erik. I'd rather him try to hurt me then for him to kill more innocent people. I'm not a damsel in distress. I'm a badass with weapons and I fight dirty, remember?"
Erik's face was void of any color and fear was swimming in his eyes but he nodded, there was nothing more he could do.
So the three of them set a plan. Once Detective Michaels coordinated with the Feds their plan of attack was solidified. They had determined that Tristan had been studying her for quite some time, so he probably knew that she used to run. He probably even knew what route she used to take. They were hoping that he'd still be watching her. The plan was she'd go for a run, just like she used to. It was kind of a long shot because it had been so long since she'd done it. But if she was visible enough it could just work.
FBI agents would be monitoring her progress every step of the way, along with some of Erik's men and a few local police thrown in for good measure.
She been given a bottle of pepper spray, which had been tucked in between her breasts, sung in the sports bra and totally invisible to anyone. She'd thought about carrying a small handgun but had no way of discretely hiding it. One of her ipod ear buds had been replaced with a two-way radio so she was always in contact with Detective Michaels. That was tucked into the armband already on her arm and a transponder had been attached (rather embarrassingly by Detective Michaels to the waistband of her underwear.
Now she was in the driveway, hopping from foot to foot, stretching her legs and preparing for this, hoping it worked. Erik came out, hands on hips to watch. She tucked the ear buds in her ears, gave him a smile and jogged off down the lane, leaving Erik to wait…
Making her way back to her townhouse Christina was watching each person as she passed him or her, alert on a level she hadn't experienced since her deployment. Her heart ached as she saw the charred remains of her home, but jogged on passed it, circling the cul de sac and lopping back around. As she did she ran into someone, she stifled a scream when she saw Nicholas…or was it Tristan.
"Chris! Oh god you're okay!" he exclaimed. "Meg said she hadn't spoken to you in a few days and she was worried. Look, I'm sorry for being an ass. I really didn't mean it!" his eyes darkened "I have to tell you something."
Chris tried to steady her breathing; she nodded and wiped some sweat from her forehead "Okay, what's up?"
He pulled her to the curb "It's not something good. It's…well it looks really bad"
She tensed up, unsure of what he was going to say. "Okay"
"Look, I know you think I set the fire at Montgomery's house all those years ago and you probably think I set the fire to your place but I didn't!"
"Then who did!"
"It was my brother, Trist-" he was cut off by the sound of a gun shot, Nick crumpled to the ground and Chris looked down at herself, horrified to see blood on her clothes. She knew she hadn't been hit.
She watched as his brother dispassionately kicked his brother onto his back, the groan of pain told her that Nick was still alive.
"You really shouldn't have done that Nicky." Tristan said, his eyes cold and distant.
"You can't do this Tris! This isn't the way!" Nick shouted, though it was a bit weak.
She heard the cock of his handgun again and felt the terror rising in her throat. "Tristan, wait. Just put the gun away."
"No, you see that's not how it goes you whore! You die. I live. I kill Montgomery like I meant to years ago"
Her eyes hardened "Why?!"
A careless shrug "Because he got in my way."
Looking around Chris hoped to god the cavalry was on it's way.
"Oh I don't think anyone will come. They're all pretty well occupied right now with a horrific car accident down the block"
Fear inched its way through her body, her eyes widened a little making him laugh. "You all think you're so smart! Well I'm smarter!"
His hand wrapped itself around her throat and squeezed. She clawed at his hand, fear overtaking her good sense for just a moment before she focused herself. With one hard kick to his groin he dropped her and his gun, it skittered across the concrete out of reach. He gave an angry roar and swung at her, managing to connect with her ribs though it was fortunately a weak shot. She nailed him squarely with the heel of her palm again, rebreaking his nose, and not in a way that would be easy to correct.
She hit the panic button next to the transponder and waited for his next attack. He grabbed her around the waist and tackled her to the ground. Her elbow and shoulder connected with the concrete hard, making her grunt with pain. She struggled against him; kicking him in the stomach but not before he placed a good slap across her face. With an elbow to his face he stumbled back, dazed.
The whine of the police sirens could be heard, along with the screeching tires as they whipped around the corner. Tristan tried to escape but her palm heel strike had blurred his vision so badly and severely knocked his equilibrium out of order. Her leg was aching, not used to this kind of exercise but she was able to land a good solid right hook to his jaw, sending him sprawling.
Her bad leg gave out just as officers pounced on him, flipping him over and cuffing him. Christina crawled over to Nicholas's prone from, ignoring how the concrete was tearing the flesh on her knees. She took his hand and checked his pulse. Thank god her brother had bad aim, it was lodged in his shoulder but that could be repaired easily. If it had hit a major organ he would be in big trouble.
"I'm sorry Chris, god I'm so sorry." Nick gasped through his pain.
"Shh, it's okay Nick. You didn't know." She moved his head to her lap, smoothing the hair back, waiting for the EMTs to arrive "Just relax. Help will be here soon"
She saw a tear roll down his cheek "He's sick, he needs help. I…I was ashamed to tell you my brother was mentally ill."
Christina could see how upset he was about the whole situation. "Don't worry about it right now. Think, you can show off your war wound to all the ladies soon" that startled a weak laugh from him. The medics finally arrived and she was pulled off to the side, a thousand questions came from all directions. One voice stood out in the crowd. Erik was elbowing his way through the crowd to her.
His eyes teared up when he saw the blood; she quickly took his hand "It's not my blood. Tristan shot his brother"
Erik gathered her to him, not even thinking about the blood that was getting on his clothes. "Oh god, I saw the blood and I thought" she could feel his body trembling.
One of the medics stepped in "She's free to go Detective. Nothing more than some bumps, bruises and cuts"
Detective Michaels took at the entwined lovers "Go home. I'll be by tomorrow to get your statement Ms Davies"
Erik nearly drug her do his car. As soon as she walked in the front door the staff started to fuss over her. She insisted all she needed was a shower and clean clothes. Erik paced outside the bathroom door as she did. When she walked into the main room, a towel wrapped around her but her hair was still hanging down her back in wet ringlets.
Before she could say a work Erik had her pinned to the wall, her towel in a heap behind her and hi hands running over her body, desperately, lovingly. His mouth sought her own, anxious kisses to her lips, neck, and chest. His hands cupped her bottom and pulled her against him, she groaned when she felt something hard pressed to her stomach. Her body was lifted and sat roughly on the edge of the desk, his fingers plunging into her, groaning against her neck as he did, her fingers threading through his hair and her head tipped back, egging him on.
"Oh god Erik! Please!" she begged, gasping in pleasure as she felt his tongue touch one of her nipples. She heard the telltale sound of a zipper being pulled, not long after that she felt him, sliding into her. Wrapping her legs around his waist and begging for more, Chris buried her face against his chest and cried out in time with the powerful waves of her release, clawing at Erik's back as he too reached his end, crying her name in his ecstasy.
He slumped against her; the high emotions of the day and the fierceness of their lovemaking had exhausted him. His sharp gasping breaths against her made Christina realize how scared he'd been for her. Now they could start to put everything behind them and hopefully start anew.