Page 47 of Limitless

“I walked right into NYP’s ER. Dane was off shift, but he spoke with one of the other ER docs, who agreed to see me right away, stitching me up and sending me on my way. The three of us — George, Dane and I — went to the local precinct and gave statements. Then, we went to a nearby pub and that was it. We ate something then had some beers. George was off duty, so another driver took us all home. I was the last to be dropped off.”

“So, it was Lisa’s father who was watching you?”

Drake nodded. “She told him some big load of crap about how I seduced her, brainwashed her into the BDSM cult, and then abused her. How it was me who wanted Richardson dead, and it was me who convinced Jones to kill himself, not her. Typical sociopath. Lies like it’s breathing.”

“Oh, my God,” I said, unable to imagine how someone could be such a liar and so deceptive. “What do you think he was going to do? Kill you?”

“I don’t know, but the police think her half-brother was the driver. They have a BOLO out for him and will bring him in and charge him with attempted abduction, fleeing the scene of an accident, and conspiracy.”

I sighed heavily. “Does this mean we can get rid of all this security and move back to the 8thAvenue apartment? If they have Mr. Monroe in custody…”

“I spoke with Kyle. We’ll keep the security in place until the trials and we know what happens to them. The police haven’t even caught Allan Monroe yet and until they do, I guess we’re still in danger. We have to keep being careful until they do, and even beyond that.”

“Okay. I was hoping we could start going to parks during the day, and you know, enjoying city life. But I guess until he’s in custody, we need to be safe.”

“Even after. If there are other family members who are crazy, we’ll have to be careful.”

“Will they let him out on bail? After he tried to abduct you?”

“No, he won’t get bail. It was a violent offense with a handgun. He’ll be kept in custody until his trial. Same with Allan once they catch him.”

“Good,” I said and thought about months of ongoing security and how it would affect our daily life. It wasn’t what I had in mind when we returned to New York, but it was reality. I had dreamed of being able to take Sophia to local parks and along the waterfront while Drake was at work. Enjoying city life in Brooklyn Heights, on the days I wasn’t on campus working on my thesis.

It looked like I would have to wait for that kind of life.

“Maybe one day, we’ll be free to enjoy our lives here,” I said, unable to keep a sour note out of my voice.

“Shh,” Drake said and took my hand, squeezing. “We will sooner than that. Once they have Allan Monroe in custody, I promise we’ll make a point of enjoying the city. The three of us.”

“Okay,” I said and sighed. “It’s just that I’ll be looking around every corner from now until we know the two of them are in custody for a good long time.”

He nodded. “We’ll try to enjoy our lives. I promise.” He leaned forward and kissed my knuckles. “And now, I think I need to get out of this bath. I’m beat. I think the adrenaline has all worn off and I feel like I could collapse and fall asleep in five seconds after closing my eyes.”

I stood and held out his bathrobe so he could slip into it. He kissed me briefly and then stood at the sink, brushing his teeth.

“I hope you don’t mind if I come to bed later,” I said. “I’m too wound up to go to sleep now. You go to bed. I’ll sit in the living room and watch some Netflix until I’m tired.”

“Sounds good.”

Drake brushed his teeth, and then I pulled back the blankets and sheets and watched as he slid under the covers, his head on the pillow, eyes closed.

“Ahh, that feels so good…”

I pulled the covers over him and then bent over and kissed him warmly. “Good night, my love. I’m so glad you’re okay and had Dane there to prevent anything too bad from happening to you.”

“I know,” he said, his eyes still closed. “I am lucky…”

I turned off the light on the bedside table and went to the partition between the living area and the bedroom area. I stood and watched him for a moment and when I could tell he was asleep, I went to the sofa and finished my tea.

I wouldn’t be able to sleep for a while, so I watched the news, searching for any information about the attempted abduction. There was one report on the local news station, not mentioning any names but talking about a thwarted attempted abduction and that police were looking for a male suspect in his twenties who was the driver of the vehicle involved.

There was video feed of the van, which crashed into a parked car, the door open, the crumpled hood open and steam hissing out of the broken radiator. The camera showed the broken bumper and shattered glass on the road from the car that was t-boned.

There was no footage of Drake or anyone else involved, just the flashing lights of the police vehicles that responded to the scene.

I realized just how lucky we were when I saw the small spot of Drake’s blood on the curb from where the attempted abduction took place.

When I finally crept into bed an hour later, I snuggled as close to him as I could, and even though the two of us were safe, sleep was a long time in coming…

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