A/N: Sorry to keep you waiting for so long – life sometimes has a tendency to get in the way of writing. But now the moment has finally arrived, chapter 12 is here… Thanks for your patience and kindness, and please let me know what you think of this chapter!

Chapter twelve

Dani watched her son pouring the last of the coffee from the pot she'd made them an hour before while trying to process everything she'd just told him. She wished she could have found some way to keep him out of it, but she figured he was too much like her. He'd refused to go back to bed and kept on asking questions, digging deeper, demanding she stop treating him like a child. And she had eventually relented, telling him about SBG and Troy Cutler, although she hadn't mentioned him or his business partner by name. Ray Jay had listened quietly, not interrupting her even once.

"Okay, guess I understand the bodyguard now…" Ray Jay's voice was pensive.

"There's one at the hospital too, so don't worry, 'cause Lindsay's safe there."

"Good. But, mom?"

"Yes?"

"Where does Nico Careles come in?" Dani frowned. How did Ray Jay know Nico's name? They'd only met once, as far as she could recall, when Nico had caught Ray Jay and Lindsay selling merchandise outside the Hawks stadium… Then she realized that Juliette Pittman must have told him about Nico. Still, her son's next words were a shock. "He came to see Juliette once."

"Really? When?" And why didn't he tell me?

"Just a few days after we got there. Scared the shit out of us, actually. We got into her limo and all of a sudden there he was." Dani couldn't help smiling at that.

"Yeah, he does that sometimes…" Then the timeline hit her. A few days after we got there, that must have been around the same time Nico had left the Hawks. But hadn't he told her that the FBI approached him right after he'd walked out of the stadium that night? Would they really have let him fly off to Paris, just like that?

"Mom?" Ray Jay's voice cut off her thoughts.

"Huh? Sorry, honey, I was just… Anyway, what were you saying?"

"I was asking you what Careles had to do with any of this." There was a more than a hint of dislike in her son's voice, and Dani frowned when she heard it.

"Well, for one, Nico is Xeno's boss. And second, he and I are…" Are what, exactly? "We're, um, dating, I suppose."

"You're dating. Him." Ray Jay looked at her with a frown.

"Well, we only went out on one date so far, but yes. Why?"

"It's just that… I mean, Juliette told me… You know he's a cheater like dad, right? Juliette's mom and he were… You know." Oh. Right. That.

"Yes, I know about Nico and Juliette's mom, Ray Jay… But that's over now. Has been for some time, actually." She gave him a reassuring smile.

"Are you sure? Because Juliette's mom was in Paris too, you know. When he was there." Dani felt her smile disappear when he said that.

"I see… But – well, that was what, a year ago? So I don't understand what that's got to do with me dating him now." But it still stung, although Dani did her best to hide that fact from Ray Jay.

"I just don't want him to hurt you, okay? That's all." Her son shrugged, but he wouldn't look her in the eye. She decided not to push him on the subject now, because they both really needed to get some sleep.

"Well, don't worry about me. I know how to handle myself. I am a grown woman, you know." Dani sighed, trying to lift the tightness she suddenly felt in her chest. She really could have done without the mental image of Nico and Gabrielle sightseeing in Paris.

Troy Cutler got into the car Chernikov had so generously provided him with when they had first started working together and drove past the feds that were still sitting outside his apartment building. They never even saw him. It would have amused him, if it hadn't been for his anger towards dear Abby. Once again she had tried to go behind his back. This time she hadn't succeeded, because of the listening device that had caught every word of the conversation Bruce had had with Careles and Santino this morning. But he would deal with Bruce's transgression later. Santino was more important now. She and her pesky boyfriend had tried to talk Bruce into going to the feds. Unsuccessfully, he had to give Bruce that. And if the agents sitting outside his building were anything to go by, they hadn't gone to the FBI themselves. Yet. He suspected that wouldn't take long. So he had to act on Santino now. Once he had her, Careles would probably back down. Troy despised having to do the dirty work himself, but the man he usually hired for jobs like this one had been unavailable tonight. And he didn't want to ask Chernikov to have one of his men handle it. He owed him enough as it was. Besides, he didn't want the man to think he was incompetent.
He drove past the Santino house and saw a dark car in her driveway, with some gorilla behind the wheel. Good. Getting past the guard wouldn't be easy, but he knew that he was smart enough to figure out a way to do it. And at least this meant that Careles wasn't there himself tonight, which was a definite plus. Troy drove around the block and parked just around the corner from the Santino house. Then he reached into the glove compartment to retrieve the gun that had come with the car. He'd really hate to have to shoot the gorilla, but desperate times and all that…
As Troy carefully approached the Santino house, he was surprised to see the gorilla now standing by the porch talking to some kid. So she had a son too, huh? He watched from behind a tree as the kid suddenly took out his phone. Had they spotted him? The gorilla walked away, disappearing around a corner of the house. He didn't look alarmed, so Troy figured he was safe for now. But it was now or never, he thought, noticing that the front door of the house was ajar.

Dani felt like she'd only just fallen asleep when she woke up again. The room was dark and a glance at the alarm clock told her it was 3.03, so why was she awake? As she sat up, she thought she heard voices outside. Had Nico come back? Maybe he had news about Troy Cutler or the man that had hurt Lindsay? As she got out of bed and picked up her robe from the floor, she expected to hear a knock on her front door, but it didn't come. The voices outside had fallen silent too. Dani frowned, a feeling of unease settling in her stomach. She quietly opened the door and stepped out of the bedroom. Then she noticed that there was a light on downstairs and that Ray Jay's bedroom door was open. That explained it. Ray Jay, high on cafeïne, probably couldn't sleep and had gotten up. The voices she'd heard must have been his and Bill's. Still it wouldn't hurt to go check if everything was okay, she decided as she started down the stairs.
The front door was ajar, and she could now clearly hear Ray Jay's voice coming from the front porch. It sounded like he was talking on the phone. To Juliette Pittman, probably. It may be in the middle of the night here, in Paris it was Tuesday morning already. Dani stood at the bottom of the stairs, trying to decide if she should step outside or go into the kitchen and wait for Ray Jay to finish the call, when she suddenly heard Bill shout.

"Kid! Look out!" There was a shuffle and she heard Ray Jay curse… and then a shot rang out. Dani broke into a run. She reached the front door just when it was pushed open from the other side.

Ray Jay stumbled in. Dani's initial relief that her son was still alive and in one piece was quickly replaced with fear as she registered that he wasn't alone. Standing in the doorway behind him was Troy Cutler, holding a gun to Ray Jay's head.
They all stood frozen just inside the house for a moment, staring at each other. Dani felt fear war with anger inside of her. This was the man who'd hurt Lindsay. She would die before she'd let him hurt Ray Jay too… But what could she do? As she looked around the hallway searching for anything she could use as a weapon, Dani couldn't help wondering what had happened to Bill. Troy must have shot him, she realized that. Was he badly hurt? Dead?

"Step back, doctor. I don't want to shoot your son, but I will if you don't do exactly as I say." Troy said in a low voice, and Dani stepped back. Troy and Ray Jay came further into the house. The gun never once left Ray Jay's head.

"Ray Jay? Are you alright, honey?" Dani saw Ray Jay swallow and give her a nod. He was trying hard to keep his cool, but his eyes told a different story. Dani locked eyes with Troy again. "Let him go, Troy. Please. Ray Jay has nothing to do with this." She tried to keep her voice calm and reasonable.

"You should have thought of that before you went to see Bruce this morning." Dani opened her mouth to try and reason with him again, but he cut her off. "Anyway, we don't have time to chat, doctor. We've got to get going."

"Oh, no. You are not taking my son anywhere. Let. Him. Go." Dani moved towards them again and Troy suddenly pointed the gun at her, his finger on the trigger. Dani wanted to ignore his command anyway, but then Ray Jay started struggling and Troy put the gun back against his head. Dani froze, not wanting to do anything to put her son's life in anymore danger.

"Now why on earth would I take your son? I was talking about you and me, actually." Troy's tone was casual, almost conversational even, and that made his next move even more shocking. He drew the fist with the gun back and punched Ray Jay on the side of his head. Hard.
When she saw her son collapse to the floor, apparently unconscious, Dani reacted on pure instinct, running to his side. "Ray Jay!" Please let him be alright, she prayed. As she kneeled beside him and saw the blood trickling into his hair, rage tore through her. But before she could do anything else she felt Troy's arm come around her throat from behind. The gun now pressed into her own temple. She struggled to free herself, clawing at his arm and thrashing around, but he was surprisingly strong. Troy yanked her upright and she felt the gun pressing harder into her skin.

"Relax… doctor. Don't make me… hurt you." He seemed to be having some trouble holding on to her, so Dani put more effort into her struggle. She brought her leg up and started kicking backwards. But she was wearing slippers, not heels, so her kicking had little effect. Troy's arm around her throat tightened, and Dani had to let up a little to be able to get enough air in her lungs. "You want your son to wake up beside your dead body? Because I will pull the trigger if I have to." Troy growled in her ear. He ground the gun against her head for emphasis. Then the pressure of the barrel suddenly lifted as he stretched his arm out, the gun once again pointing at Ray Jay. "Or maybe I should kill him instead?"

"No!" Dani ceased her struggling altogether.

"Good girl. Now come with me." He started dragging her towards the front door and she let him, deciding she could resume her efforts to free herself once they were outside and he couldn't shoot her son so easily anymore. "Open the door." Dani followed Troy's order and then gasped when Bill's body came into view. The guard was lying on his back on her front porch, a gun next to his outstretched hand, his chest covered in blood. She was so shocked at the sight of him, that she didn't even realize that Troy drew back his fist again. Then he delivered a massive blow to the side of her head and everything went dark.

Nico had fallen asleep on the couch, Onyx stretched out beside him. When his cellphone started buzzing on the coffee table, he was immediately awake and alert. He grabbed the phone, took one look at the caller ID and felt his heart start thudding. He got up off the couch as he brought the phone to his ear, startling Onyx in the process. "Bill. What's wrong?" Nico had to work to keep his voice under control. Fear trickled through him when Bill didn't immediately answer him. Please let her be alright… I Should have stayed with her… "Bill? Dammit, talk to me!"

"Bastard… took her. Sorry… man." Bill sounded like he was in pain. Nico registered that fact, but his fear for Dani trumped his concern for Bill.

"What. Happened?" he growled. He headed for the door, anger and dread clenching his stomach as he heard Bill let out another grunt of pain. Why the hell hadn't he stayed with her tonight? He could have crashed on her sofa…

"Fucker… came out of nowhere… Had a gun. Shot me. Took her." There was a pause. Then, "Cops are coming." Nico could hear the sirens in the background.

"Don't tell them anything yet. I'm on my way." The phone still clutched in his hand, he ran out the door.

An ambulance came speeding by in the opposite direction when Nico turned into Dani's street, but he barely even noticed it. He couldn't park his car in Dani's driveway, because it was filled with cops and nosy neighbours. He left the car in the street with the engine running, not caring whether it would still be there when he got back, and started pushing his way through the crowd. Halfway down the driveway, a uniformed officer tried to stop him. "Sorry sir, you'll have to stay back. This is a crimescene…"

"This is my girlfriend's house," Nico bit out as he pushed the cop out of his way. He ducked under the yellow tape and made his way across the yard to the front porch, the cop chasing after him. But Nico was faster. He'd just reached the porch when the front door opened and a detective came out.

"Hey! What the hell…" The man did a double take as Nico came to a stop before him. "Wait… Careles, right? What the fuck are you doing here?"

As Nico searched his memory for the name of the guy, that indeed looked familiar, the uniform that had been chasing him grabbed his shoulder. "Sorry, detective Decker. He just slipped by me." Decker! Nico didn't remember the detective's first name, but their professional paths had crossed a couple of times when Nico had worked for The Hawks.
He shook the uniform off. "Decker. You in charge here? I have information on this case." The uniform grabbed his shoulder again, but before Nico could do or say anything, detective Decker held up his hand.

"It's okay, officer." The cop reluctantly stepped back a little, letting go of Nico's shoulder. "So? What are you doing here, exactly?" Decker asked Nico.

"He's dating my mom." Ray Jay's voice sounded from behind Decker suddenly. Nico winced in sympathy when he saw the kid come forward. The ice pack he was holding to the side of his face couldn't completely hide the bruises there, and there appeared to be some blood too.

"Ray Jay. You okay?"

"Do I look okay? Oh, and hey, great security service, man," Ray Jay sneered. "That asshole walked right past your so-called bodyguard."

"That was your guy?" Decker asked.

"Yes." Nico barely glanced at the detective before focussing on Dani's son again. "Ray Jay, I'm so sorry…"

"Yeah, well, that doesn't buy me anything, does it? My mom's still gone!" Ray Jay turned and stormed back into the house. Nico sighed. He couldn't blame the kid for being pissed. Although he knew Cutler or whoever he'd hired hadn't really walked right past Bill, he also knew this never would have happened if he'd been here himself.

"So you wanna tell me what's going on here?" Decker interrupted his thoughts.

"No. I want to go hunting. But I'm guessing that's not gonna happen." Yet, Nico added in silence. Because the minute he'd gotten Decker and Ray Jay to tell him exactly what had happened to his woman, he was going after Cutler. Bennett and that Chernikov be damned.

"Good guess. Come on inside." Decker walked back inside and Nico followed him, trying not to look at the blood on the porch and the signs of struggle in the hallway – and failing miserably.