Whispers in the Dark

Chapter 7

Ethan's POV

"You think running from me will keep you safe?"

Like a razor, my words sliced across the quiet of her flat. Olivia froze in the low kitchen light, her palm clutching the counter's edge as though it were the only thing providing stability.

Her huge eyes ran to me, horror and defiance lighting over her face. "You cannot show up here and start demanding, Ethan."

Ignoring her stiffening jaw, I moved in closer. "I'm trying to protect you—not making demands."

She laughed, the sound harsh and nasty. "Safety for me?" Not after everything, you do not get to be the hero.

I closed the space separating us, the strain between us flickering like a live wire. Olivia, you have no idea what is at risk. Should I turn aside, should I let them come for you—"

"Let them come," she said, her voice quivering but firm. "I have stopped living in anxiety. I refuse to allow anybody else or you to run my life any more.

Her disobedience felt like a smack to the face, but I would not back down. This has nothing to do with control. It is about ensuring your survival. Who do you know we are handling here?

Then tell me, she said, her voice rising. "Stop with the cryptic warnings and give me the truth for once, Ethan."

I hesitated, the weight of my silence descending on both of us. Though the truth was a two-edged blade and I wasn't sure she was ready to handle it, she needed answers.

Her laughter was hollow, and she shook her head incredulously. "That's what I considered. Surely you cannot. Because it's only another justification to keep me under your control.

Something inside of me caught fire. "Damn it, Olivia; I never wanted this for you!" My voice thundered across the little room, my emotional rawness pouring over. "Do you find it reasonable that I saw you leave? To avoid every instinct I had screamed to bring you back?

Her breath stopped, and for a second I thought I could see the barriers she had erected around herself beginning to fracture. She then straightened her shoulders, her gaze sharpening.

"Maybe you should have paid attention to your gut feeling," she remarked coldly. "Because all I see now is a man who dropped me when I most needed him."

Though I pushed myself to retain her eyes, her words seemed like a physical blow. I left Olivia because I loved you. They would have wrecked you to reach me if I stayed. And right now they are back.

Her eyebrows wrinkled, the skepticism in her gaze fighting the residual anguish. "Who are them, Ethan?" And why do they want to hurt you so desperately?

Frustration bubbling over, I ran a hand over my hair. "They are not now only after me. They now pay you more attention. And should they learn about Amelia,...

She gasped clearly, her hands moving to cover her lips. You cannot mean...

I nodded sombrely. "They know, Olivia." They are knowledgeable in everything.

Her face turned pale, and she looked very terrified—first since I had entered her flat. "What are we supposed to do?"

I moved in closer and whispered less. "We head out. Tomorrow. I have a secure house: "

"No," she said, shaking her head. I'm not sprinting here. Not once again.

"This isn't up for discussion," I stated with great conviction. "You and Amelia are now my responsibility whether you like it or not."

Her eyes burned with wrath. "Ethan, I have no need for your defense. I have spent years looking after Amelia and myself without you. We are not your issue to fix.

"Olivia, you are not an issue. You are family to me.

Her breath seized, and for a second the fire in her eyes darkened. She said, "Don't say things like that," softly.

"Why not?" I asked, moving just a little closer. "Because it's the truth? No matter how hard you try to dismiss it, you still feel something for me.

I interpreted her silence as confirmation; it was deafening. She did not draw away as my hand lifted and brushed a hair strand off her face.

"Ethan...," Her voice was almost heard; she was simultaneously pleading and menacing.

My voice low and anxious, I replied, "Tell me you don't feel it." "Tell me you not still consider what we had, what we could have been."

She shook her head and shined eyes with unshed tears. "I can't...."

I waited not for her to finish. My lips found hers, and the universe collapsed momentarily. The years of suffering and guilt melted into the kiss, and all I could feel was her—her softness, her warmth, her melting away resistance.

Her hands shaking, she then shoved me back. "This does not solve anything, Ethan. It does not alter my inability to trust you.

I started to reply, but we both jumped at a startling crash from outside the window.

She said, "What was that?" her voice tinged with anxiety.

I slid to the window and peered through the curtain. When I saw a shadow hovering close to her automobile, my blood froze.

"Get down," I yelled, dragging her to the floor just as the room echoed with glass breaking.

The front door exploded open, and a man in a mask entered with a revolver glinting in his palm.

Olivia murmured "Ethan," her voice trembling as she gripped my arm.

"Stay behind me," I said, my head whirling.

Rising the rifle, the man pointed it squarely at us. The intruder added, his voice icy and threatening, "It's time to finish what he started."

Then the air burst with the sound of a gunshot.

The gunshot reverberated in the little room, deafening and fatal. Shoving Olivia behind me as we landed, my body moved on instinct. Everything else—the beating of my pulse, the sharp intake of Olivia's breath, even the second pair of footfalls echoing in the hallway—was muffled by the adrenaline pumping through my veins.

"Stay under!" Keeping one hand on her shoulder, I snarled.

The masked man moved forward, his huge boots crushing over the broken glass fragments. His rifle stayed fixed, aimed straight forward toward us.

"You're making this too easy, Ethan," he murmured, his voice tinged with icy humor. "All these years, and you still think you might outrun us?"

"I don't have to outrun you," I said, staring at the invader and gently inching my hand toward the knife stashed in my boot. I only have to stop you.

"Beautiful words for a dead man." His finger poised above the trigger, he moved still another step forward.

"Who mailed you?" I insisted, allowing time to buy.

He laughed, a low, frightening sound. You know who, then? She's turned to pay; he's bored with waiting.

Olivia tensed behind me, her grasp like a vise clutching my arm. "Ethan, who is he talking about?"

"No one that's going to get near you," I said, sounding as low a growl.

The invader turned his head, his entertainment lost to cold calculating. You truly believe you can keep her safe? You were unable even in defending yourself.

Before he could speak more, a black-clad tall, broad-shouldered guy emerged in the doorway. He held a knife; the blade shimmered in the low light.

"Clock's ticking, Ethan," the just arrived newcomer stated. She cannot be saved by you. One never could.

I just needed Olivia's keen awareness of breath to act. I jumped forward and twisted the wrist of the masked man hard. The pistol clattering on the floor setup anarchy.

Run! Olivia hesitated when I yelled at her, her eyes wide with horror.

"I'm not leaving you!" she screamed back.

She ducked when the second man lunged at her, grabbing a glass shard from the floor and cutting it across his arm.

The man in mask battled free, grabbing the gun once more and aiming at Olivia. My heart halted.

His horrific words, "Say goodbye," were the last I heard.

And then still another gunshot sounded. The room was swallowed in darkness.