Page 87 of Allison

“Fucking missed you so damn much, sugar,” Russell’s voice sounding strangled. “I’m so sorry, baby. Please forgive me for being so damn ignorant. I never wanted to hurt you, Allison.” He raises his head to peer down at her. “I love you, sugar.” Allison’s heart beats frantically in her chest. She’s wanted to hear him say those words for so long, day-dreamed about it. Now, finally, he’s saying them.

“I didn’t think I could have it all,” Russell confides. His voice is soft and low. “You, my career, and still be able to look after Mom and the girls. I was afraid of letting any of you down, but I now know that I can’t do any of it if I don’t have you in my life, by my side. I need you, sugar. I need us to be together, to raise the baby you’re carrying.”

Allison stiffens. Her heart hurting and her stomach roiling with nausea.Is this why he wants to be with her? Because of the baby? How does he know about the baby anyway? Did Charlotte betray her?

Allison pushes against his chest, needing some space, to be able to think clearly. Something she can’t do when he is surrounding her so completely. “Please,” Allison whispers, “I need some room.” Russell frowns, but shifts off her. Allison sits up a bit too fast, making the room spin. Her hands fly out to the sides to steady herself.

“Sugar?” Allison shakes her head.

“I’m fine,” she sighs. “I just sat up too quickly. Give me a sec.” He nods, but doesn’t move away. His hand rests on her lower back, supporting her. Allison takes some deep breaths to calm the dizziness and nausea that is ever present. “Tell me how you came to be here and what is happening outside?” She turns to look at him, suddenly noticing all the sounds that had been in the background have died down. She can’t even hear the chopper any more.

54

WORM

Worm looks at the woman he loves more than life itself. Despite her split lip and bruising on her face, she’s still the most gorgeous woman he’s ever seen. He knows he has a long road ahead to get back in her good graces, but she’s worth every second of his time and effort. He’ll do whatever it takes to get her to forgive him, but if she can’t ever find it in her heart to do so, he’ll make sure she and his child have everything they need, financially and emotionally.

“Tex, the man I told you about when we met in Denver?” he waits for Allison to nod, indicating she remembers the man. “He helped us track you,” Worm begins his confession. He knows what he’s about to disclose will likely make her angry, might even be a deal breaker where he is concerned, but he will bite the bullet and do the right thing. God knows he’s done nothing, but fuck shit up with Allison from the moment he met her.

Allison’s brow wrinkles as she takes in his words, looking a bit confused. He needs to just rip the band-aid off. “The jewelry I gave you in Denver,” he says, reaching up to touch the necklace. “It has a GPS tracker inside. We were able to follow you in real time with his software.” Allison’s eyes widen in shock. Her full mouth dropping open.

“I’m sorry, sugar,” Worm continues. “I should have told you when I gave them to you, but, being the idiot I am, I was afraid you’d think I was trying to control you, to stalk you, or something, and you’d refuse to wear them. I swear I haven’t used the technology until we knew that you’d been taken from the airport.” Allison just stares at him, not saying a word.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t completely honest with you, but I’m not sorry that I gave them to you,” Worm plows ahead, determined to get her to understand his reasoning. “We wouldn’t have been able to find you without them and Tex’s hacking skills. We couldn’t risk forcing the limo off the road. You or the baby could have been injured.”

“How do you know about the baby?” Allison asks, her voice hard, angry even. “Did Charlotte tell you?”

“No, she didn’t,” Worm answers, not hiding his anger or frustration either. “I’m still pissed at her for keeping it from me. I understand why she did, but I’m not happy about it.” Allison bites her lower lip, wincing when she breaks open the wound on it. Worm reaches out to catch the drop of blood that wells up. He rises and heads into the en suite bathroom for some tissues. While he is in there, he wets a cloth with cold water, wringing out the excess so it doesn’t drip on her.

He walks back to the bed, dabbing her bleeding lip with the tissue, then places the cold cloth against her swollen lip. “Thanks,” Allison murmurs, softly. Worm sits back down next to her.

“Tex told me about the baby, when we were following behind the limo.” Allison tenses and tilts her head, looking at him with curiosity. “He’d been going through your internet searches,” Worm hurries to explain. “He was trying to figure out who might want to hurt you based on your stories.” Allison relaxes a bit. “He came across those searches and found the file you’d saved of your lab tests done at the clinic. He told me about the support groups and the questions you’d asked.”

Allison’s face flushes a deep red. He isn’t sure if it’s from embarrassment or anger at her privacy being violated. “I’m sorry sugar, that I made you feel like you’d have to raise our baby alone. I’m sorry that Tex violated your privacy, but it was necessary to find out who posed a threat to you. If it hadn’t been for him, we wouldn’t have known you’d left the airport or that you hadn’t left willingly.”

“I need time to think about all this,” Allison says softly when he pauses. “Where are we?” Her eyes dart around the beautifully decorated room.

“This is the home of a Senator who works with Claymore.” Allison’s body becomes stiff and Worm realizes he’s scared her. “Not in his side business. Senator Mingham had no idea what Claymore was into, until Tex had his contact at Homeland get in touch with her. She agreed to allow Claymore to enter her property so we could subdue him and get you free.”

“Why would she be willing to risk her home and her own safety?”

“Tex has been combing through your investigation long before you came to Jacksonville,” Worm informs her, knowing he has more to disclose. “I’d asked him to look into things the night you’d called me after being released from your kidnappers.”

“You did?” Allison is looking at him like he’s grown an extra head or something. “Why?”

“Yeah,” Worm shrugs his shoulders. “I’ve always wanted the best for you, sugar. Even when I didn’t think I could have you for keeps.” Allison's eyes fill with tears. “Don’t cry, baby. I don’t like seeing you upset or hurting.” Her tears spill over, leaving a trail down her face in their wake. He slips an arm around her shoulders, pulling her toward him. She rests her head on his chest. He doesn’t know what to say to help so he just continues to tell her about what has been going on without her knowledge.

“Tex found the files you’d sent to Claymore when he’d forced you to give up your research. Tex took what you had and using the dark web, gathered more evidence. He sent everything he found to a contact of his at the FBI, who helped bring in the man from Homeland Security. The FBI has been working the ring for a few years, and had a man on the inside, but hadn’t been able get a lock on who was the ringleader. You managed to uncover things from people on the street the FBI hadn’t been able to. Tex, the FBI, and Homeland worked together putting what each one had on the missing children’s cases, until they managed to tie things to Claymore who appeared to be running the operation. It just so happened, their inside man had traveled with Claymore to Jacksonville.”

“Claymore wasn’t really in charge,” Allison startles him when she speaks. She’d been so quiet, he wasn’t sure she was still awake, but he hadn’t wanted to lose his hold on her. Allison glances up at him, but keeps her head resting on his chest. “Bruno, the Uber driver in San Diego, indicated he was the real mastermind. He used Claymore’s and others’ desires as a way to control them and get them to do what he wanted; which was to make him wealthy. I think he felt powerful because he was using these other people who were supposed to be untouchable, but he had things on them that would ruin them.”

“Uh, didn’t see that coming,” Worm comments.

“Yeah, he was really crazy,” Allison mutters, shivering all over.

“Are you cold, sugar?” Worm wraps both arms around her, hoping to warm her up.

“No.” She shakes her head. “I was just remembering him in the limo, after he’d been shot.” She curls in tighter to Worm’s body. He holds her tightly, wanting to take her bad memories away. She’s too good, too precious to have been touched by that evil.

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