Chapter 6
"I can't tell you what a pleasure it is to see you again, Dr. Oliver." Carter told Reid.
Reid narrowed his eyes at Carter. The doctor sat, handcuffed to the same chair Luke had been cuffed to earlier. "Mind telling me where we met?"
Carter snorted. "I'm not surprised you don't remember me. People really don't mean anything to you, do they? We're all just numbers, right?"
Reid looked at Luke, who had been left on the floor. Luke sat against the rock wall, a knee drawn up to his chest. He held his bandaged arm close to himself and dully stared at nothing. He seemed unaware that any conversation was going on. Reid had to get him out of here, but had no idea how. He'd never felt more out of control and helpless in his life. "Whatever you want, I will give you. Just let him go."
"How very generous," Carter said, "but there's nothing you have that I want."
"Then what are we doing just sitting here?" Reid demanded an answer. "Is it prayer group time? Or did you not think far enough ahead to figure out what to do once you had me?"
"Be patient, Dr. Oliver." Carter calmly returned, "All in due time."
Grant nudged Carter. "What are we doing?" He whispered to his partner, confused. "Why don't we just waste them both and get out of here? I'm ready to get paid."
"Like I said, be patient." Carter told him. "You'll get your money."
"You want money?" Luke raised his head, speaking for the first time in a while. "I'm sure you know, I have money. Lots of it. Whatever the Thorne family is paying you, I will double it."
Carter looked Luke. "The Throne family, huh? You've been holding out on me, blondie. You know a lot more than you let on."
"Just name your price," Luke continued. "You can walk out of here wealthy and disappear."
"And how are you suppose to get this money?" Carter asked. "You expect us to wait until the banks open on Monday?"
"There's money in a safe upstairs."
Grant stepped forward "How much money?"
"Almost twenty thousand." Luke answered. "I'll give it to you now. Think of it as a deposit."
"He'll give it to you on one condition," Reid quickly added, "you let him leave. You can keep me."
"Reid, No!" Luke said.
"Keep quiet." Reid hissed at him.
Carter just chucked. "Your money doesn't mean shit to me."
"Hold on." Grant took Carter's arm and pulled him to the other side of the living room. "What are you saying. That's twenty grand!"
"This isn't about the money." Carter said.
"Maybe not for you, but that's the only reason I signed up for this." Grant said. "After the night I've been through, I think I deserve a little bonus."
"You know we can't let this kid walk out of here." Carter firmly reminded. "No witnesses."
"I'm not a moron, I don't intend to let him walk out of here." Grant assured. "I'll just let him think that so he'll give me the money."
Carter thought to himself. "On second thought, that's perfect."
Reid watched the two hitmen conversed. Whatever they were saying, he knew it wasn't good. "Luke, they're not going to let me go," he said quietly, "but there's a chance you could get out of here. Use the money to bargain with them."
"I'm not going to leave you behind," Luke said firmly, "I'm going to do everything I can to get us both out of here. And if I fail… at least I died trying."
"Dammit Luke, you're not thinking straight!"
"Yes I am." Luke looked at Reid, steadily holding the Doctor's eyes. Reid suddenly realized Luke wasn't as drunk as he thought.
Grant returned, took another swig from the bottle of bourbon then set it aside. "Take me to this safe of yours."
Luke slowly climbed to his feet, using the wall for support. To his dismay, Grant pull another pair of handcuffs out of his pocket.
"Put you hands behind your back." Grant ordered. Luke did as instructed and Grant locked the cuffs on him then placed the key in his pocket. "Let's go."
Luke glanced back at Reid, then walked ahead of Grant, leading him through the green interior door and up the stairs.
Reid watched them leave. Despite what Luke had told him, a sense of dread began to creep over him. "Are you going to let him go?" He asked Carter.
Carter walked over to the green door and closed it. "Nah, we're just going to let him think that."
"I told you, he won't be able to identify either one of you." Reid tried. "He's too drunk. Just take his money and leave. You can take me with you. Hell, tie him up and knock him out if you have to, just leave him here."
"He means that much to you?" Carter asked.
"Yes."
Carter smiled his sick twisted smile. "Glad to hear it. Because I want you to have to pleasure of watching him die."
Reid stared at Carter, momentarily unable to speak. If he was going to die, he could accept it. But he couldn't accept Luke dying.
Carter cocked his head to the side. "You really don't recognize me, do you?"
"Why the hell should I?" Reid said. "All I know is you're connected to the Thorne family. What are you? Their handy little henchman?"
"I'm connected to the Thorne family in more ways than you know." Carter replied. "Allow me to properly introduce myself. My name is Carter Thorne. James Thorne was my cousin. We grew up together, went to school together. He was the closest thing to a brother I'd ever had. And you allowed him to die."
Reid furrowed his brow. That was the last thing he expected, but now he fully understood Carter's motive. "You want to avenge your cousin. I suppose the fact that he was a murderer doesn't mean anything to you."
"Not really."
"I guess it wouldn't, considering you're a murderer too."
"And you know what you are?" Carter stormed over to Reid's chair. "You're a Doctor. A fucking Doctor, that's all! You are not God! You don't get to choose who lives and who dies. But that's exactly what you did, isn't it? You chose to operate on that FBI guy, knowing my cousin's condition was more critical. James was the one you should have operated on first! Why didn't you?"
"Your cousin tried to kill the FBI Agent." Reid said carefully. "This was after he murdered a corrections officer, and who knows how many people before that."
"I don't give a damn about them." Carter said. "Do you know I had to sit there, next to my cousin's bed, and watch him as he slowly died? There was nothing I could do to stop it. You have no idea what that was like, Dr. Oliver. But you're going to find out."
Carter went over to a table and picked up a framed picture of Luke, studying it. "I want you to see the look on your boyfriend's face when he realizes he's going to die. That he never had a chance." He said quietly. "I'm going to cut both his wrists wide open, and you're going to sit there and watch the life slowly drain out of him. And there won't be anything you can do to stop it."
Reid briefly closed his eyes. He tried to swallow, but his mouth was too dry. "Luke and I didn't even know each other back then. He is innocent in all of this. He doesn't deserve to die."
"Neither did James, despite what you think." Carter returned the picture to the table. "That's what makes this so perfect. Even Poetic, don't you agree?"
Reid shook his head. "Luke's death is not going to bring your cousin back. You know that."
"True," Carter agreed, "but I'm going to enjoy it just the same."
Upstairs, Grant removed the large painting from Lily's bedroom wall, uncovering the gray door to the safe. "How do I get it open?"
Luke glanced at Grant's pocket, where key to his handcuffs were. "Unlock me and I'll open it."
Grant snorted. "Nice try. Give me the combo and I'll open it."
"Why should I?" Luke asked. "I know you have no intention of letting me go."
Grant pointed his gun at Luke. "I have every intention of shooting you right now if you don't."
"Then you'll never get the money."
Grant hesitated. "So what?" Was all he could think to say.
"I will give you the combination." Luke said. "All you have to do is unlock me and let me climb out the window."
"We're on the second floor."
Luke shrugged. "I'll take my chances. You can tell Carter I escaped while your back was turned."
Grant thought to himself, his greed and alcohol-clouded mind almost over-ruling his better judgement. "No, Carter's got something in store for you. I don't know what, but he'll go ballistic."
"So you admit, you have no intention of letting me go." Luke said.
Grant opened his mouth then closed it. He hadn't meant to let that slip.
"The whole purpose in you being here was to find Dr. Oliver," Luke reminded him. "Now you have him. That's all Carter cares about. It doesn't matter what happens to me. Besides, why does he get to call all the shots? I thought you were partners, but he obviously controls your every move."
"Nobody controls me." Grant snapped. "I do what I want."
"If that's the case, let me go," Luke said, "Then you'll have all the money you want. Otherwise, you'll have nothing."
Grant thought to himself. "And what about your precious boyfriend? You'd just leave him behind? I thought you cared about him."
"I do, but…" Luke lowered his head, "I also know what it's like to be controlled. That's all Reid did. He never truly cared about me. All he cared about was my money, my power and what it could do for him. He never showed me he loved me. Not like I showed him. Remember when you asked me how I proved it to him?"
"What did you do?" Grant asked, more than interested.
"Anything he wanted." Luke answered. "He didn't even have to ask."
Grant looked Luke over. "So basically, you were his little bitch."
"Call it whatever you want. But, yes, I can leave him behind. He's the reason I'm in this position." Luke raised his head, looking at Grant. "And If you agree to let me go, not only will I give you the money, but I'll do anything you want.
Grant raised an eyebrow. "Anything?"
"Anything."
Grant stood, contemplating for a few seconds, then went over to Luke and touched his blond hair. "He ever tell you how attractive you are?"
Luke shook his head.
"That's ashame, cuz you are." Grant twirled a lock of Luke's hair between his fingers. "Maybe I deserve an extra bonus."
Luke nodded his head toward the door. "Close it."
Smiling, Grant quickly went to shut and lock the bedroom door. He returned to Luke and brought the barrel of his gun to Luke's chest, tracing a line from his collarbone to his stomach. Luke could feel his own stomach muscles clenching with tension and anxiety. He was trapped; completely at this man's mercy.
"Don't worry. It won't accidentally go off." Grant assured, then chuckled. "I'm not sure if I can say the same about myself." Without warning, he shoved Luke backwards.
Luke fell on the bed and suddenly, Grant was on top of him, forcing their mouths together. Luke squeezed his eyes shut, fighting the wave of panic that washed over him. He could taste blood inside his mouth and willed himself not to turn his head away, but he was about to get sick. Thankfully Grant broke the gruesome kiss.
"You've got a great body." Grant said.
"I do?" Luke could hear the tremor in his voice, but Grant didn't notice or maybe he didn't care. Luke kept himself still, giving no resistance as Grant's loathsome hands slowly groped him. Grant moved the gun under his shirt and Luke shivered, feeling the cold steel glide across his skin.
"Really great." Grant removed the gun from beneath Luke's shirt and laid over him, slobbering into his neck.
Luke sucked in a sharp breath, his handcuffs painfully digging into his spine. "Wait!" He tried to shift beneath the larger man. "Unlock me."
Grant sat up. "I though you were going to do anything I wanted?"
"I will." Luke arched his back, trying to relieve some of the pressure. "But the cuffs are hurting my back. I can't do anything like this."
"There's one thing you can do." Grant sat the gun next to Luke's head and climbed off the bed. He stood at the foot, smiling with anticipation as he began to unbutton his pants.
Luke saw the one and only chance he'd been waiting for. He kicked Grant in the groin as hard as he could. Grant cried out, clutching himself, and keeled over. Luke brought a knee to his chest and kicked Grant in the face, causing the man to fly backwards to the floor. He lay there, motionless.
Luke climbed off the bed and got down on his knees, next to Grant. He twisted around and dug inside Grant's pocket, searching for the handcuff key. He glanced at the door, fearful that Carter may have heard the commotion. There was no time. Luke found the key and tried to concentrate on getting it in the lock. But the key was so impossibly small and narrow. The lock hole was even smaller. His swore furiously, unable to keep his hands from shaking. God, please help me!
Grant groaned and raised his head from the floor. "What the…!" He sat up just as Luke finally managed to free himself.
Luke scrambled to his feet and climbed on the bed, reaching for the gun, but Grant was right behind him. The hitman took two fistfuls of Luke's hair and hurled him to the floor. Grant then climbed on the bed, snatched the gun and turned. Luke jumped to his feet and kicked the gun from Grant's hand, sending it flying across the room.
They both dove for the gun and Luke grabbed it first, wrapping both his hands around the handle. He rolled onto his back, trying to aim the gun at Grant, but Grant quickly grabbed his arms and pinned them above his head. At the same time, he straddled Luke's stomach. Luke tried to kick over, but it was impossible, the larger man outweighed him considerably. But he kept his death-grip on the gun.
"I was probably going to let you go, you stupid little fuck." Grant sneered in Luke's face. He raised Luke's arms and slammed them to the floor, trying to jar the gun from his grip. "Doesn't matter, you're still going to do whatever the hell I want."
"Over my dead fucking body." Luke turned his head to the side and bit Grant's arm as hard as he could. Grant cried out painfully and released Luke, instinctively pulling away. Luke brought the gun down on him…
Downstairs, Reid and Carter both jump at the unmistakable sound of a gun shot.
Reid felt his stomach instantly tighten with fear. His heart began to pound.
"Grant, you son of a bitch!" Carter yelled furiously at the ceiling. "I told you not to kill him yet. You've fucking ruined everything!" He stormed to the green interior door.
"NO!" Reid jumped out of his chair and ran to Carter, ramming his shoulder into the man's lower back.
Carter yelped, his body slamming against the door so hard, it cracked down the middle. Blinded by fury and greif, Reid started to ram into him again, but Carter managed to lunge out of the way. Unable to stop his own momentum, Reid hit the door, nearly going through it. He fell back onto the floor.
Carter stood over him, holding his lower back with one hand and his gun with the other. "You really messed up, Doctor." He cocked the gun. "Change of plans. Any last words?"
Reid twisted to his knees. "Rot in hell… with your cousin."
Carter's eyes flash. "After you."
A deafening shot went off in the room and Reid fell back. It took him a second to register that he hadn't been hit. He looked down at himself in disbelief then back up at Carter.
Carter's mouth dropped open, his face an ugly mask of shock. Reid gasped, seeing a dark red stain spread across Carter's shirt.
"Drop the gun." Luke's voice ordered.
Carter lowered his gun and slowly staggered around to face Luke.
Luke stood in the interior doorway, his gun aimed at Carter's chest. "I'm not going to say it again."
"Well I'll be damned." Carter weakly snorted. "Once again, I underestimated you." He raised his gun to Luke, but wasn't fast enough. Luke pulled the trigger. Carter dropped to his knees, his gun slipping from his lifeless grip. To Luke's astonishment, the hitman gave him one last twisted smile then fell forward.
Luke stood for several seconds, keeping his gun aimed at Carter then carefully stepped over his body. "Are you okay?"
Reid could only nod, stunned over what just took place.
Luke knelt behind him and sat the gun on the floor. He pulled the small key out of his pocket and unlocked Reid's handcuffs.
Reid instantly turned and grabbed Luke. "Are you okay?"
"I think so." Luke looked at Carter. A pool of blood was circling around the hitman's body. "Is he… dead?"
Reid crawled over to Carter's body and placed two fingers at his neck. "He's dead."
Luke quickly turned away. "Oh God, I've never killed anyone. I think I killed Grant too." He covered his mouth, feeling like he was going to vomit.
"Take a deep breath." Reid returned to Luke and placed his hands on Luke's shoulders. He could feel Luke shaking. Or maybe it was his own hands shaking, he couldn't tell. "It was self-defence. You had no choice. They were going to kill us. God, I thought he'd killed you."
Luke drew in a deep breath, trying to get himself under control. "What are we going to do? How am I suppose to explain this? What's going to happen?"
"Just calm down." Reid tried to keep his voice steady. He stood and pulled Luke to his feet. "I don't know what we're going to do, but we'll figure something out."
Suddenly, the front door flew open, startling them both. Agent Michaels stepped inside, his gun drawn. "Are you two, okay?"
"Impeccable timing." Reid replied. "Where the hell have you been?"
Without answering, Michaels walked over to Carter's body, examining him. "What happened?"
"That's Carter Thorne." Reid explained. "Cousin to James Thorne."
Luke blinked. "They were cousins?"
"That's what he told me." Reid said. "They came here and identified themselves as FBI agents. Then they held Luke hostage, trying to get him to tell my whereabouts."
"They?" Michaels asked. "There's more than one?"
"The other guy is upstairs." Luke said. "His name is Grant. I shot him. I shot them both."
Micheals looked from Luke to Reid. "How did you end up here? You should be long gone by now."
Luke also looked at Reid. "Why did you come here?"
"I knew something was wrong when I spoke to you on the phone earlier." Reid explained. "I couldn't leave until I knew you were okay."
"I didn't see your car outside." Michaels said.
"I parked a block away and walked."
Luke slowly shook his head. "Reid, when you realized what was happening, you should have left."
Reid frowned. "Do you honestly believe I could just walk away and leave you here to die?"
"You could have left and call the police." Micheals said.
Reid sighed, exasperated. "Sorry for not thinking of that. I must have been off my game."
"Just stay here, I'll be right back." Michaels hurried through the interior door and went upstairs.
Reid turned to Luke. "How did you get the gun? How did you even get out of your handcuffs?"
Luke shook his head. "Not now, please. I caught him off guard and got the gun. That's all that matters."
Reid wanted to question more, but didn't. Instead he pulled Luke close, tightly wrapping his arms around him. Luke lay his head on Reid's shoulder, letting Reid rock him. He wasn't sure if Reid was aware he was doing it, but he didn't want Reid to stop.
A few minutes later, Michaels returned to the room. "The guy upstairs is dead too. Did he mention if he was a relative of the Thornes?"
"He wasn't. He was just hired help." Luke answered.
Agent Micheals looked around the room. Blood was everywhere. "The authorities need to be contacted."
"And what is Luke suppose to tell them?" Reid asked. "For no particular reason, he just happen to shoot two random thugs in his house?"
"I'm sorry," Michaels said, "but there's no way I could possibly cover this up."
"I wouldn't ask you to." Reid said. "But maybe we need to drop this whole charade about me being dead. And I would never mention your involvement."
"There's no possible way you could ever return." Michaels said. "How would you explain the transplant? And what about the ramifications for Dr. Dixon?"
Reid shook his head. "I don't know." He admitted.
Suddenly, they could hear a cell phone ringing from the kitchen.
"That's mine," Luke said, "I thought I'd left it in the car." He ran into the kitchen and found his cell behind the dish drainer. "It's Jack." Luke returned to the livingroom. "He's my Uncle and a Detective with the Oakdale PD."
"You'd better answer it." Michaels said.
Luke opened the phone. "Hello."
"Hey Luke, I just wanted to let you know I'm on my way to your house." Jack said.
"You're coming to the house, now?"
"Yeah, we got some calls at the station from a few people in the area. They think they heard gunshots. There should be a patrol out there now, scanning the neighborhood, but I'm going to stop by the place to make sure everything's okay. I told Holden I'd keep an eye on things while everyone's gone. You're still at the Lakeview, right?"
"No." Luke said. "I'm at home."
"You are? Did you hear anything?"
Luke bit his lower lip. "Yes, it was gunshots. They were from my house."
"What?"
Luke glanced at Reid and Michaels. "Two guys broke in. I don't know who they were, but they knew about me and my work. They were trying to extort money from my Foundation and… I killed them."
"I'll be right there, Luke!"
Luke closed his cell phone. "Jack's on his way."
"You think he's going to believe that?" Reid asked.
"There's no reason he wouldn't, right?" Luke looked at Michaels.
Michaels thought to himself then looked at Reid. "There's nothing to indicate you were ever here. Or that this had anything to do with you."
"This is insane!" Reid insisted.
"It's the only way, Reid." Luke said. "Jack is going to be here any second, and he'll have re-enforcements. You've got to get out of here."
"Are you out of your fucking mind?" Reid snapped. "I can't just leave after everything that's happened!"
"You have to." Luke cupped Reid's face. "Don't you see? You're still safe. Nobody knows you're alive and it has to stay that way. I understand that now."
"He's right." Michaels said. "You need to go."
"No,' Reid shook his head, defiantly, "I'm not going anywhere until I know you're okay. I need to take you to the hospital."
"I'm fine." Luke tried to assure.
"You don't know that." Reid argued. "You need a CT to check for skull fractures and any other brain injuries. You need a full body CT."
Michaels came over and placed a hand on Reid's shoulder. "I'll make sure he gets to the hospital."
Reid was quiet for a long moment, debating with himself, but deep down he knew he had no choice. It didn't matter what he wanted, or rather what his heart wanted. The heart had no logic or reasoning, he had to follow his brain. "I want Dr. Chris Hughes to take care of him, no one else." Reid told Michaels. "If he's not there, have him paged."
"I'll find him." Michaels promised. He went to the window and peered through the blinds.
"Well, I guess we got our Saturday night after all." Luke said quietly.
Reid snorted. "I'll be sure to put this in my scrapbook of favorite memories."
"If it makes you happy."
Reid just looked at him. "None of this makes me happy. It should never have happened. I could have spared you all this if I'd never returned to Oakdale."
"Those guys would have come here no matter what," Luke said firmly. "Carter told me, they'd been scoping out my place for days, before you even came to town. None of this is your fault."
Reid lowered his head, wishing he could believe that.
"Remember when I told you earlier I'd risk anything to be with you?" Luke said. "You thought I was joking, huh?"
Reid faintly smiled. "You didn't have to go all out to prove it."
Luke returned his smile. "Reid, I'm so grateful you came back. I know I'd said I wished you hadn't, but it's not true. Just knowing you're alive…" He wrapped his arms around Reid.
"I expect you to take care of yourself." Reid said, stroking Luke's back. "This time I want you to promise me."
Luke nodded. "I will."
Michaels returned from the window. "An unmarked car is turning into the driveway. Along with a couple of patrols and an ambulance."
"It's Jack!" Luke quickly pulled away. "Reid, you have to go out the backdoor!"
Reid hesitated. It was all happening so fast.
"Hurry!" Luke took Reid's arm and rushed him to the green interior door. "Go past the stairs, the backdoor will be straight ahead!"
Reid stopped, halfway through and took Luke's face in his hands. "I love you." He kissed Luke one last time then darted through the door.
"LUKE!" Jack Snyder burst through the front door.
Luke spun around, but stayed inside the door frame, blocking anything Jack might see. However, Jack only noticed Michaels and quickly drew his gun. "Freeze! Get you hands up where I can see them."
"Jack wait!" Luke yelled. "He's here to help."
"I'm Agent Michaels with the Federal Bureau of Investigation," Michaels carefully opened his jacket and reached inside to pull out his badge.
Jack lowered his gun. A couple of cops came through the door, weapons drawn, and Jack held up a hand halting them. "He's FBI. Check on that guy." He pointed to Carter's body. "Where's the other intruder?"
"Upstairs, in my Mom's room." Luke answered.
"One of you get up there." Jack ordered his men. "And get a wagon out here."
Luke quickly glanced behind him then stepped away from the door, letting the officer pass.
Jack holstered his gun and hurried over to Luke. "What happened to you? I've got to get you to the ambulance."
"I look worse than I am," Luke said, "I don't need an ambulance."
"Your Dad would kill me if I didn't get you to the hospital, considering the way you look." Jack said. "Don't argue with me, I'll drag you there if I have to."
"I'll help you." Michaels added. He gave Luke a pointed Luke. "You need to take care of yourself."
Luke nodded, resigning. Michaels wasn't going to break his promise to Reid, and he knew he couldn't either.
Jack looked at Michaels. "Why would the FBI be here?"
"We've been on these guys for a while." Michaels answered. "They're career thieves. I manage to track them here, but unfortunately I didn't get here soon enough. However, Mr. Snyder managed to defended himself."
Jack shook his head at Luke, amazed. "How did you do that?"
"Why don't we get him to a hospital first." Michaels said quickly. "Once he's checked out, I'd like to ask him a few questions. I'll fill you in on my side of things."
"Fine with me." Jack grabbed a coat off the wall, threw it around Luke's shoulders and steered him to the front door.
They stepped outside and Luke stopped, seeing a group of curious spectators, collecting at the end of the driveway. He studied the group, but it was hard to see anyone specific in the dark. However, he knew Reid wouldn't be among them. He felt an odd mixture of relief while at the same time his heart ached.
"Are you going to make it?" Jack asked, regarding him with concern.
Luke quickly nodded, realizing he was showing more emotion than he meant. "Yeah. Eventually."
(Late Evening)
Reid sat in a corner booth of the truck stop dinner. Nobody outside of Oakdale knew who he was or cared. Still, he tried to be inconspicuous, wearing a ball cap and reading glasses. This late at night, there were only a few patrons and they were out-of-town truck drivers. They left him alone. So did his waitress, although it took a couple of rude comments for her to get the hint. She'd finally left a full pot of coffee on his table, along with plenty of sugar and cream, sparing herself from having to come over and check on him anymore.
He'd lost track of how long he'd been waiting. He drummed his nails on the side of his cup, impatient and anxious. He wasn't sure how much longer he could sit, before jumping in the car and heading to the hospital. But finally, Agent Michaels entered the dinner and walked over to the booth.
"What took so long?" Reid sat up. "Is he okay? Is everything alright?"
"He has a concussion." Michaels informed, sliding into the booth. "Other than that, he'll be fine. He's a tough young man."
"Yes, he is." Reid agreed. "Did you find Chris Hughes?"
"He was on duty." Michaels said. "I didn't even have to talk to him. He automatically ordered all the tests you'd wanted. He's personally looking after him."
Reid sat back in the booth, relieved. "Did anybody call his parents, Holden and Lily?"
"Yeah, there was a woman there named, Katie." Michaels answered. "She called them and they're on their way now. She's staying with him until they arrive. To be honest, I think Dr. Hughes and that woman are driving him crazy. They both seem to be a little extra protective of him."
"I'm not surprised." Reid nodded, satisfied. "What about Detective Snyder? What did you tell him?"
"Exactly what Luke told him," Michaels said. "I also make it clear that this is the FBI's concern not Oakdale PD's. It's out of their hands. He didn't question me. His main concern was for Luke. Trust me, Luke's getting more help and support than he wants."
Reid faintly smiled. "Hey? Why did you show up at Luke's house? You were suppose to be leaving town too."
"I had to check out of my hotel room first." Michaels said. "Then I decided to drive past his house to make sure he made it home okay. I just happened to hear the gunshots."
"I see." Reid stared out the window for a moment. "You warned me something like this could happen if I ever came back to Oakdale. I didn't listen. As a result, he was almost killed."
"Thankfully he wasn't." Michaels said. "And I have a feeling, after all this, the Thorne family is going to leave you both alone. It turns out this Carter Thorne really was a career criminal. He'd been in and out of prison for various crimes. The family doesn't want the press in their business and they certainly don't want any investigations started. When the hospital contacted them, no one wanted to come to Oakdale. They arranged to have both bodies shipped to Dallas."
"So you think Luke will be safe?" Reid asked.
"I honestly do." Michaels said. "The only thing left, is to put this all behind you. You both need to move on with your lives."
Reid reached into his pocket and pulled out his alternate cell phone "You might want to take that." He sat it on the table.
Michaels took the phone. "He told me about the phones. I already took his. Even though these are pre-paid, there are still records. I'll make sure everything's erased."
"I don't know how to thank you." Reid said sincerely. "Not only for helping me, but for helping Luke."
Michaels smiled. "Lets just consider this all debts are paid. Now it's time to go home." He held out his hand. "Have a good life, Doctor Strickland."
Reid shook Michael's hand. "You too, Agent Michaels."
Michaels slid out of the booth. "One more thing." He reached into his pocket, pulled out a small piece of folded paper and sat it on the table. Giving Reid one last nod, he walked away.
Reid watch him leave with the impression, he probably wasn't going to see the FBI Agent again. He wasn't sure how to feel about it, for it meant he was now on his own. But it was just as well. It was time to move on. More importantly, it was time he allowed Luke to finally move on.
Reid picked up the paper, noting it was from a doctor's prescription pad. He opened it and recognized Luke's neat hand-writing: I love you too.
Reid re-folded the paper and placed it in his wallet. He left a generous tip on the table then left the dinner.
TBC...