Page 46 of Desire

Chapter 36

When Malcolm had pointedhis gun at Connor, I knew he was going to kill him. I’d never been so scared in all my life. And the blood. Oh my god. I refused to let go of Alex and kept his eyes averted from the body on the floor. Connor was speaking to his friend, a man I’d seen that first day at Connor’s office, which seemed like a lifetime ago. The dazed expression on his face surely matched the one on my own.

I watched as Connor led him into the kitchen. They briefly spoke before Connor was pulling out his phone. Needing to get Alex out of this room, I held his hand and brought him with me into the kitchen.

“Alex and I are going into the bedroom. He doesn’t need to see — ” I didn’t know what to say. His uncle? The dead body? Regardless of how it was phrased, it couldn’t be easy to reconcile the fact that his uncle had tried to kill us.

“Hold on.” Connor spoke into the phone. “Do I need to come with you? Webber can wait.”

“No, we’ll be fine. Talk to Detective Webber.”

Connor nodded and I heard his “All right, I’m here. We have a problem.” as I guided Alex to the back of the house, continuing to keep him out of direct sight of the living room.

Once we reached the bedroom, I sat Alex on the bed. He still hadn’t said a word. He wasn’t even crying. I first checked his arms and hands to make sure they weren’t bleeding from the ropes. Then, I knelt down to take off his shoes. I pulled up each leg of his jeans and checked each of his legs as well. There was a little redness around his wrists, but no broken skin.

“Why don’t you lay down sweetie.” He continued to sit there listlessly. I gently nudged him and when he didn’t fight me, I laid him down myself. When I moved away for a second, he grabbed my hand.

“Don’t leave me.” My heart ached at his broken tone.

I squatted down next to him. “I’m not leaving, baby. I was just going to find a blanket.”

He shook his head and refused to let go of my hand.

“I’m right here, love. I’m not going anywhere.” Not knowing what else to do, I scooted him over and crawled into the bed next to him. The second I wrapped my arms around him, he burst into gut-wrenching sobs. I hugged him to me tightly, doing my best to comfort him. Eventually, his sobs quieted to soft hiccups. I listened as his breathing evened out and he fell into an exhausted sleep. I waited a little while to make sure he didn’t wake before I quietly slipped out of the bed and made my way back out front. The couch blocked my view of the living room floor. I wasn’t surprised to see Detective Webber had arrived and was standing in the kitchen speaking with Connor. Connor’s friend was nowhere to be found.

He nodded when I entered the room and came to stand next to Connor. “Bridget.”

“Detective Webber.”

Dreading it, but doing it anyway, I quickly glanced into the living room, and saw that Alex’s uncle’s body was still there, but someone had covered it up. I stood there, feeling like I should be doing something. I wasn’t used to being idle. Connor put his arm around me and pulled me close.

"Connor has filled me in a little on what happened here. I need to know what happened before Connor got here though, Bridget.”

Thinking back on everything that had happened today, I couldn't believe it had only been this morning that I'd been trying to figure out how to try and get guardianship of Alex. And now his uncle was dead. Holy shit. I gave Daniel the details while he took notes and asked an occasional question.

“You know what happened next.”

Webber nodded. “Yes, Connor explained his version of the story from the time he arrived. I’ve called the coroner to come and collect the body, and the sheriff’s office as well as county CSI should be here any minute to go over the crime scene. I recommend that you guys go ahead and stay in the bedroom and out of the way. Also, we have our suspicions about who the corrupt cop was that falsified the report on the Shipman’s death. She’s under investigation. I thought you’d want to know. There isn’t anything more I need from either of you at the moment, but you will need to make sure that you are both available for any further questions I might have.”

He started to turn, but paused partway as though remembering something. He stared intently into my face. “I’m really glad you’re safe, Bridget.” He turned and quickly walked out of the house to wait for the other officers to arrive.

Connor’s hand felt warm in mine as he led me back to the bedroom where Alex still slept.

“Where did your friend go?”

“Miles? I sent him outside. He should be, if he followed my orders, on the phone with a friend of mine. He needs someone to talk to right now. To take his mind off everything.”

“I understand. I don’t think I told you this, but thank you for saving us. He was going to kill me and then go after you. He blamed all of us, even Alex, for losing access to the trust. I had no idea what he was even talking about. He was totally insane.”

Connor looked over at Alex to make sure he was still asleep. He spoke softly.

“Malcolm was siphoning money out of the trust to pay off his gambling debts. I can’t prove it, but I suspect that Malcolm had Alex’s parents killed. And when Alex contacted you initially, it started a chain of events that put Malcolm under the spotlight. He was investigated, which is how the disappearing money was discovered. He would have had legal troubles regardless of our involvement, especially when the money started to run out. He would have had to kill Alex to claim his insurance money. The death of three family members that close together would have raised a dozen red flags. There was no way he would have gotten away with any of it. His troubles would have happened sooner rather than later anyway.”

“So, what happens now?”

“With what?”

“This. Us. Everything.”

“Nothing’s changed for me, Bridget. I love you and want to spend the rest of my life with you. Isn’t that what you still want?”

Connor still had one of my hands in his so I grabbed his other one and held tight. “God, yes, Connor. More than anything. I love you too, and nothing would make me happier than spending my life with you. There is just one thing. I hadn’t said anything to you yet, because I wasn’t sure what your thoughts were, but I want to do everything I can to get custody of Alex. Especially now.”

“Absolutely. I had every intention of contacting Donovan and getting his advice. Alex holds a piece of my heart too. Not only because he’s a great kid, but because he’s a part of you. There is nothing I won’t do for either of you. Nothing.”

I leaned up and placed a soft kiss on his lips, falling even more in love with this man. I don’t know how I ever got so lucky.

Suddenly, Alex, in the throes of a nightmare, cried out from the bed. I jerked away and rushed over and crawled into the bed with him and tried my best to soothe him. Connor moved the chair from across the room to place it next to the bed. He took a seat and reached for my hand, lacing our fingers, and forming a connection between the three of us.

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