The Risk

This is the last filler chapter. Sorry, guys…

Fear makes the wolf bigger than he is. German Proverb

Chapter 20

"Relax…..just relax," she sang aloud. She was letting her imagination take over her logic. She told herself repeatedly that she had locked the door.

She wasn't going to be intimated or frightened. She wouldn't let Smith win. He didn't have a key…….the security system was on. Why hadn't she gone home with Brooke? Too late now!

Despite her claim that she had locked the door, Haley made her way through the house, turning on every light switch and lamp along the way. She paused in the utility area between the kitchen and side door. Her heart was pounding furiously against her chest, as she listened. Slowly she unlocked and relocked the deadbolt before feeling the door knob and finding it secure as well. Her hands were shaking so badly it took her four times to complete the process.

"Get a grip, Hales!" She scolded herself. "You knew it was locked."

She flicked on the porch light, peering out the door side windows. The drive way was empty and the back yard as far as her eyes could see. She cut the light and walked and back down the well lit winding back staircase. Nothing!

"Scaredy Cat," She mumbled aloud but was unable to stop trembling as she made her way around the home, checking all the outdoor perimeter. There was nothing strange and no one out there. Finally, she returned to the sanctity of her bedroom.

If Tim wanted to get back at her for dismissing him. He had done an excellent job! He had her shivering with fear. How could she let him get to her so easily? The man was a lunatic.

She supposed the slashed tires and spray painting profanity was his way of dealing with the situation. He had never taken responsibility for the things that got him fired. He was drinking on the job and being unreliable. That's what caused his demise. She didn't even know about the murders and molestations then. She sighed deeply, how could you make sense of the insane?

If only she could stop trembling. She was tired of being brave. She had to make two calls, Brooke McFadden and Cooper Lee.

Hanging up the phone after some soothing words from her dear friend and her insistence Haley call Lee. He would be there soon.

While waiting for Marvin to escort her best friend over, Haley surmised that she was angry at Nathan. He should be here with her, damn it! But he was in Africa. Shit! How could they ever build a future if it was going to be like this? He wasn't around when she needed him. He wasn't here now!… Her eyes began to mist as she sat on her bed, her chin resting on her bent knees.

"Ms. James, I need to know what he said, verbatim." Cooper Lee asked one more time.

"I'm sleepy, Coop. It's 3 am. Can we do this in the morning?" they had been at it for hours and Haley's was at her wits end.

"You can do it, Boss," Brooke urged, holding Haley's hands, Marvin squeezed the other as they listened to Cooper as he sat across from them in the living room. "Just let the nice FBI man take your statement once more time and we'll all get out of your hair and go home."

"Last call, I promise." He vowed, hiding a smile.

Haley sat up, wiping the moisture from her eyes. "I had just gotten back from dinner-?"

"What time was that?"

"Ten twenty, twenty-five….how is that important? Besides, I've told you this about a million times. I'm starting to feel like I'm being interrogated, Cooper." Haley rose from the chair and marched over to the roaring fire Marvin had made in her fireplace, fingering the crystal egg on the mantle Nathan had sent her while he was working in Paris. The crackling of the wood was the only sound in the room.

"I think, I'll make some coffee." Brooke offered to no one in particular.

"You don't have to do that, Brooke….I'll get-" Brooke proceeded without a second thought. "If I don't, I might be hurt the nice officer man because he won't stop badgering you." She gave Mr. Lee a menacing look before heading for the kitchen.. He turned to her husband for help, but he was all smiles.

"I know this is monotonous, but it's important. I have to make sure we don't miss any clues, even if it's the simplest thing."

Haley frowned, but continued. "I had just come from my bath. I was taking off my robe off and getting in bed. The phone rang and I checked the caller id……. The number wasn't familiar, so I assumed it was Nathan. Whenever there's a phone available he usually take advantage of it to call me, no matter the time…….I said "Hi.", but Tim didn't identify himself. It didn't even sound like him. The sound was distorted. I guess he was trying to cover his tracks…..He started to tell me how he finally had his life on track when he was working at the school- accused me of turning the police on to him……He said he was good to me and I betrayed him…..He said he didn't hurt or touch anyone…. He called me a bitch and warned me to stay away from him." She remembered the last part with absurdity.

"Did it sound long-distance? Or like he was at a bus station?….. Or in a car? Could you hear anyone else talking…. A door open?……It's important, Haley. He may still be in the area."

"I don't know. I don't watch CSI or Law and Order!……… I didn't hear anything out of the ordinary. I told you the call was muffled, like there was a handkerchief over the receiver or something."

"Are you positive?"

"Just like the other five billion times you asked!" She raised her voice before bringing the tone down a notch. "Mr. Lee, I know you're just doing your job……But you're working my nerves and I'm very close to killing you at the moment….. Oh my god! I can't believe I said that!" She gasped, covering her hand with her mouth, more disappointed in herself than the agent. He was only trying to help her.

"I can take it like a man, Haley. You don't have to spare my feelings…… But there could be something you overlooked, it may seem trivial, but it could lead us to Smith. He's reckless. We've got to get him before he harms another child…. Just hang in there, we're almost finished."

"It's about damn time!" Brooke squawked, returning from the kitchen with a tray of coffee, cider and gingerbread for the foursome.

"How did his call make you feel, Haley? Were you scared of his threats?"

"Hell yeah! Why else would I have called you?"

"He told you exactly what he would do to you?"

"No. It's not what he said, but how he said it. He was so angry and cold. I was so freaked out by his tone, I thought I may have left the side door unlocked. So I ran downstairs and checked it along with every other window and door in this place. I didn't calm down until Brooke and Marvin got here."

Lee wrote a few lines on his notepad.

"Oh….he mentioned how Ms. Roe had liked him. I guess he lost his room at her boarding house because of the investigation and he blames me. I think he was very content there. It would make sense. Karen Roe is one of the sweetest people you could ever meet and one of the best cooks. She always has a house full of people. She owns the diner on 5th Street." Haley interjected and Brooke surprisingly added.

"I've known her since I was five. I lover her to death…….She gripes when tourism season is over and every room isn't filled in her home and the diner isn't crammed with customers….. Mr. White, the high school janitor and Mary Jones have lived there for years…and she moved Jaime French in when his mother died last year. She's wonderful with special needs tenants." Brooke speculated. "Maybe it's the first real place Tim had to call home."

"Hmm…. Maybe you're on to something. Thanks, Ladies. Mrs. McFadden will you be staying the remainder of the night here?"

Brooke eyed her worried husband cautiously. "Yes. I'll worry too much at home. Mouth's going back home with the girls."

"The locks have been changed and the alarm is working. I'll be fine. You don't have to stay. I'm safe." Haley insisted.

"Well, then I will be too."

Marvin opened his mouth to protest, but what was the use? His wife was very good at getting what she wanted.

"I'll leave a man outside just incase, although Smith may be out of town by now." He answered.

"I don't want someone shadowing me. It's only going to creep me out more." Haley declined the offer.

"He's here for your protection. I really don't want Nathan kicking my ass when he comes back because something happened to you." Lee's joke only received a harsh glare.

"Haley, c'mon. It's kinda hott. Like The Bodyguard." Brooke smirked, trying to calm her friend to no avail.

"I won't live like a prisoner in my own home." Chills ran down Haley's spine, not the good ones.

"He's stay out of your way. You won't even know he's here unless he's truly needed. He'll be stationed outside the house, across the street. He'll make periodic checks of the entire outdoor premises, including the beach and wooded area in the evening hours. If you have a problem all you have to do is press this hand held alarm." He handed her the small black object with a red button, that looked very much like a car key chain that automatically locks the doors and trunk.

"If the town finds out I have someone tailing me, I'll loose all my students."

"Haley!"

"Brooke, I'm serious. This is too much."

Cooper rested his large hand on her shoulder. "You win. No guard. Well, do it your way."

Haley smiled in triumph.

"I'll just keep an unmarked car, down the street."

"Okay."

"If you remember anything, call me. It doesn't matter what time it is. I would like to put a surveillance device on the telephones here and in the nursery. That way if he calls again, we can get a trace on it. Okay?"

"Tomorrow afternoon?"

Cooper agreed.

"Thanks for coming."

"It's my job." Why did this have to happen to this sweet lady now, with Nathan in the Sudan…..Cooper Lee vexed. Smith's victims were all teenagers, not beautiful women. But the phone call really worried him, something was different this time. He just couldn't put his finger on it.

"I'll see you two out, " Brooke volunteered before Haley could.

Marvin got up, kissed Haley on the cheek and his wife soundly on the mouth. After a few I-love-you, I-love-you-toos, he was ready to go.

"Good night." Haley tried to sound optimistic but failed miserably.

Once she was out of hearing range, Brooke questioned. "Are you sure she's safe? If necessary, I'll make her take her ass to my house to stay until Smith is caught."

Marvin spoke up."She's probably the only person in Tree Hill as stubborn if not more than you. She doesn't want to leave her house, Dimples. Can you blame her?"

"Well, at least she had good friends like you and the Freeman's." Lee added, feeling awkward standing between the couple. He unlocked the door and opened it wide.

"What if he calls back?"

"I hope so…..right now, that's our only way of tracking him. Stop stressing. We're not about to give up. I'm going to get this guy." He patted her shoulder. "Relax, help is right out the front window, whether Haley wants it or not." He winked and Marvin let out the breath he was holding, kissing his wife on the temple one last time.

"Lock the door behind us….and don't forget…..I love you, Dimples." Mouth said to the practically shutting door.

"Kiss the girls and Jersey for me. I love you too." Brooke knew if he stayed any longer, either he would never leave or she would be on her way home.

"Remind Haley to call me if she remembers anything at all!" Lee shouted through the crack.

Haley was curled up in an arm chair when Brooke returned to the living room. She was staring at the photograph she had bought at the Sawyer Exhibit Hall. It graced the wall at the far end of the room. Her thoughts obviously weren't pleasant from her downcast face.

"We're locked down tight, like those sexy guys on Prison Break."

"They escaped, Brooke." Haley mumbled.

"Oh….I knew that." Brooke laughed at herself. "More cider?"

"You've done too much already, Brooke."

"Eh, it might help us sleep."

"I wasn't talking about the cider. I mean how you've been here for me, letting me stay at your home. Coming over when I need you. I don't want to interrupt your life this way. I'm taking you from you family. I know Marvin didn't want to leave you here with me tonight."

"Marvin gets me….. That's why I'm married to him. D'uh!……that and the fact that he is a god in bed…good gracious, Mmm!" Much to her relief, Haley giggled.

"You're incredible." the blonde hugged her tightly.

"And don't you ever forget it." She smiled before backing away and jumping up and down. "We can have a slumber party! I'll get the sleeping bags from hall closet and you put on a movie………nothing animated, Haley!" She ordered before skipping out of the room.

Haley moved the coffee table out the way and popped in Ever After before finding a cozy spot on the sofa until Brooke returned. She had changed into pajama pants and a t-shirt before Cooper or the McFadden's had arrived earlier that night. That had been hours ago….where had the time went? She pinched her nostrils with her fingers, her head was pounding.

"What's wrong?" Brooke asked as she spread out two sleeping bags and matching pillows in front of the projection television and put down the tray with two cups of warm cider on the table.

"It's just a headache?"

"Ibuprofen still in the kitchen cabinet?" Brooke asked, handing Haley a cup of the spicy liquid.

"Uh huh…" She said drowsily as she carefully got down and rested on one of the fleece bags.

"You were tough tonight. Now try and get some sleep. I want to grab a shower."

"Remember where everything is?"

"I've got it, Hales. Just pause that for me. I love this movie."

"You'll holler if you can't find something?"

"No….night, night?" She crossed to the door.

"Night." Haley echoed.

She dreamed, she lay in Nathan's strong arms. His mouth was gently pressed against her and his large hands made circles over her naked back. He groaned hungrily was their tongues dueled. The ecstasy- oh the sweet glory.

"Nathan." She whispered his name longingly, wrapping her arms around the fluffy pillow. She sighed again as his warm mouth ran along the column of her throat before his tender hands took their place. The lovingly encircled her throat, his thumbs meeting the hollow and gently caressing the soap scented place. Suddenly, his powerful fingers tightened, strapping around her windpipe with serious force. She tried to scream, but no sound emerged.

Haley's eyes flew open and she sat up, gasping for air. Her body grew rigid, the fingers around her neck weren't much larger than hers and the palms bigger, but not like her man's, but nonetheless strong. Nathan's handsome face had turned into Tim's. Her whole body shook.

"A nightmare," she soothed herself, blinking rapidly, making herself concentrate on calming her breathing, hoping it would return to normal. Her eyes moved around the room, stopping on familiar furnishings in her living room.

"Only a dream," She told herself softly, hugging the pillow before lying back. "Nathan….Gawd, I need you." Tears stung her eyes, but didn't fall no matter how she longed for a good cry. She had drifted back to sleep before Brooke returned from her shower…..

Pamela