Blake Pierce - Once Lured

Blaine’s look was farther away now. Riley sensed that he was reliving bitter memories that he didn’t want to talk about.

“When April came along, I was in training to be an FBI agent,” she said. “Ryan wanted me to give it up, but I wouldn’t. He was dead set on becoming a successful lawyer. Well, we both got the careers we wanted. We just didn’t have anything in common for the long haul. We couldn’t make the real foundations of a marriage.”

Riley fell silent under Blaine’s sympathetic gaze. She felt relieved to be able to talk to another adult about all this. She was starting to realize that it was almost impossible to feel uncomfortable around Blaine. She felt as if she could talk to him about anything.

“Blaine, I’m really torn right now,” she said. “I’m really needed on an important case. But things are such a mess at home. I feel like I’m not spending enough time with April.”

Blaine smiled.

“Oh, yeah. The old work-versus-family dilemma. I know it well. Believe me, owning a restaurant is awfully time consuming. Making time for Crystal is a challenge.”

Riley looked into Blaine’s gentle blue eyes.

“How do you find a balance?” she asked.

Blaine shrugged slightly.

“You don’t,” he said. “There’s not enough time for everything. But there’s no point in punishing yourself for not being able to do the impossible. Believe me, giving up your career isn’t a solution. I mean, Phoebe tried being a stay-at-home mom. It was part of what drove her crazy. You just have to make peace with it.”

Riley smiled. It sounded like a wonderful idea – making peace with it. Maybe she could do that. It really did seem possible.

She reached over and touched Blaine’s hand. He took her hand and squeezed it. Riley felt a delicious tension between them. For a moment, she thought that maybe she could stay with Blaine for while, now that both their children were occupied elsewhere. Maybe she could …

But even as the thoughts began to form in her mind, she felt herself drawing away from him. She wasn’t ready to act on these fresh new feelings.

She gently pulled her hand away.

“Thanks,” she said. “I’d better go home. For all I know, April’s back already.”

She exchanged goodbyes with Blaine. As soon as she stepped out the door, her phone buzzed. It was a text from April.

Just got ur text. Really sorry I acted like that. I’m at the coffee shop. Be back soon.

Riley sighed. She simply had no idea what to text back. It seemed best not to reply at all. She and April were going to have to have a serious talk later on.

Riley had just stepped back into her house when the phone buzzed again. It was a call from Ryan. Her ex was just about the last person in the world she wanted to hear from. But she knew that he’d keep leaving messages if she didn’t talk to him now. She accepted the call.

“What do you want, Ryan?” she asked curtly.

“Am I catching you at a bad time?”

Riley wanted to say that no time was a good time as far as he was concerned. But she kept her thought to herself.

“Now’s okay, I guess,” she said.

“I was thinking about dropping by to see you and April,” he said. “I’d like to talk to both of you.”

Riley stifled a groan. “I’d rather you didn’t do that.”

“I thought you said this isn’t a bad time.”

Riley didn’t reply. This was just like Ryan, twisting her words to try to manipulate her.

“How’s April doing?” Ryan asked.

She almost snorted with laughter. She knew he was just trying to get some kind of conversation going.

“Nice of you to ask,” Riley said sarcastically. “She’s doing fine.”

It was a lie, of course. But bringing Ryan into things was the last way to make them better.

“Listen, Riley …” Ryan’s voice trailed off. “I’ve made a lot of mistakes.”

No kidding, Riley thought. She kept silent.

After a few moments Ryan said, “Things haven’t been going so well for me lately.”

Riley still said nothing.

“Well, I just wanted to make sure that you and April are all right.”

Riley could hardly believe his nerve.

“We’re doing fine. Why do you ask? Has one of your new girlfriends left, Ryan? Or are things going badly at the office?”

“You’re being awfully hard on me, Riley.”

As far as she was concerned, she was being as gentle as she could manage. She understood the whole situation. Ryan must be alone right now. The socialite who had moved in with him after the divorce must have left, or some newer affair had gone sour.

She knew that Ryan couldn’t stand being alone. He’d always turn back to Riley and April as a last resort. If she let him come back, it would only last until another woman caught his eye.

Riley said, “I think you ought to patch things up with your last girlfriend. Or the one before that. I don’t even know how many you’ve been through since we’ve been divorced. How many, Ryan?”

She heard a slight gasp on the phone. Riley had definitely called it right.

“Ryan, the truth is this isn’t a good time.”

It was the truth. She’d just paid a nice visit to a man she liked. Why spoil it now?

“When will be a good time?” Ryan asked.

“I don’t know,” Riley said. “I’ll let you know. Bye.”

She ended the call. She’d been pacing since she’d started talking to Ryan. She sat down and took a few deep breaths to calm herself.

Then she sent a text message to April.

U’d better get home right now.

It only took a few seconds before she got a reply.

OK. I’m on my way. I’m sorry, Mom.

Riley sighed. April sounded fine now. She would probably be all right for a little while. But something was off.

What was going on with her?

In his dimly lit lair, Scratch dashed frantically back and forth among the hundreds of clocks, trying to get everything ready. It was just a few minutes before midnight.

“Fix the one with the horse on it!” Grandpa yelled. “It’s a whole minute behind!”

“I’ll get to it,” Scratch said.

Scratch knew he’d be punished anyway, but it would be especially bad if he didn’t get everything ready on time. Right now he had his hands full with other clocks.

He fixed the clock with the curling metal flowers, which had fallen a full five minutes behind. Then he opened a grandfather clock and moved the minute hand just a little to the right.

He checked the big clock with deer antlers on top. It often fell behind, but it looked okay right now. Finally he was able to fix the one with the rearing horse on it. It was a good thing, too. It was all of seven minutes behind.

“That’ll have to do,” Grandpa grumbled. “You know what to do next.”

Scratch obediently went to the table and picked up the whip. It was a cat o’ nine tails, and Grandpa had started beating him with it when he was too young to remember.

He walked toward the end of the lair that was separated by a chain-link fence. Behind the fence were the four female captives, with no furnishings except wooden bunks without mattresses. There was a closet behind them where they went to relieve themselves. The stench had stopped bothering Scratch quite a while back.

The Irish woman he had fetched a couple of nights back was watching him carefully. After their long diet of crumbs and water, the others were wasted and weary. Two of them seldom did anything more than weep and moan. The fourth was just sitting on the floor near the fence, shrunken and cadaverous. She made no noise at all. She barely looked alive.

Scratch opened the door to the cage. The Irish woman leaped forward, trying to escape. Scratch lashed fiercely at her face with the whip. She cringed back, turning away. He whipped her back over and over again. He knew from experience that it would hurt plenty even through her tattered blouse, especially over the welts and cuts he’d given her already.