Ryan Ch. 09

"If I had known I could have had Hall watched, but that's neither here or there now," he sighed. "I don't think Dani knew that the guy could be such a nut job. Besides, he hadn't come near her in three years," Ryan said.

"Not that you know," Matt said quietly.

Ryan just stared at Matt, hearing the words echo in his head over and over again.

*

Ryan was finding it difficult to sleep and decided to do something about it. Instead of staring at the ceiling thinking about things over which he had no control, he chose to call his contact in the sheriff's department. Zane Montgomery was head of the detective division and a long time friend. He considered calling in the morning because it was late, but he knew Zane wouldn't mind; the life of a detective wasn't one lived between 9 and 5 O'clock.

Picking up the phone from the bedside table, he dialed Zane's cell phone.

"Montgomery."

"Zane, this is Ryan. I'm sorry to call so late, but I have a favor to ask."

Catching the strained in Ryan's voice, Zane sat up, alert.

"What's up, Ryan?"

Ryan went on to tell Zane everything he knew about the circumstances of the attack and Keith Hall.

Zane listened and took notes, asking questions as he saw the need. Under normal circumstances it would be a day or two before the file came through the detective division but he'd expedite the procedure if need be. He was on vacation, but assured Ryan that he would stop by the division in the morning.

"At least I have a name," Ryan said. "It shouldn't be that hard to track the bastard down."

"Ryan, you can't go after this guy," Zane warned.

"You would not only be the prime suspect if anything happened to him, you would be the only suspect. As much as I would hate it, I would bring you in for questioning. Do you really want to put Dani through that?"

Ryan gritted his teeth as the anger and frustration seep through his body.

He knew Zane was right. Although he'd like nothing better than to find Keith Hall and torture him before killing him, he couldn't hurt Dani. No matter how good it would make him feel in the moment, it would devastate her if he went to prison.

"I know," he said with a grimace. "But I can take pleasure in thinking of the many ways I could make it happen.

Sighing, Zane said, "We both can."

"I'll stay out of trouble," Ryan said grudgingly. "I have a family to look after and I can't do that behind bars."

"It's for the best all around, Ryan. I'll let you know what I find out," Zane said.

Ryan thanked Zane before saying goodnight.

*

Turning over on his back, Ryan threw his arm over his head and sighed.

It's been months since he slept alone. He missed just hearing Dani breathe next to him. His bed, his home, he felt empty without her. He loved the way she snuggled against him and even in sleep she would caress his chest or arm.

He loved waking up next to her. She would sigh and groan softly as he coaxed her into consciousness with his kisses, his touch. Then she would take him into her body and they would both cry out as they shared the most sensual pleasure he'd ever known.

The feeling was mutual; he knew that even without the words. She was a part of him. How could he live without that, without her? As bad as it was, he knew things could have been much worse.

He thought of all their first times together gaining solace from his memories of the woman who completed his life. It was a long time before he drifted off to sleep with his last conscious thoughts being of the beach house where she promised to be his for the rest of their lives.

* The next morning Ryan packed an overnight case with a couple of night gowns, a dressing robe and underwear for Dani. She would be in the hospital for at least a week and he thought she'd feel better in her own clothing.

When he got to the hospital a little after eight, the nurse was taking Dani's vitals. Dani turned her head at the sound of his boots tapping on the floor. She smiled at him and whispered hi as he moved closer. Ryan's heart almost burst on seeing that smile. He softly returned the greeting and sat down as the nurse was finishing up.

He'd already stopped at the nurse's station to check on her condition. Crystal was thoughtful enough to put his name on the list of people who could be given updates. As he looked at Dani now he thought, "One day I'll have the right without anyone's approval." He wanted that right sooner rather than later.

The nurse told him that Dani was in more pain today and he should expected to see some bruises on her throat. Her voice was hoarse, but there hadn't been any permanent damage. She also had some blurred vision and dizziness which would clear up in time. She was progressing as they'd hoped and in another day or two she would be moved to a regular room. Dani was sleeping a lot, but was waking up on her own. They just needed to keep a close eye on her for any complications and monitor the pain medication.

Ryan arranged for Dani to be placed in a private room. He wanted to make things as comfortable as possible for her while she recovered. Sharing a room meant that people would be in and out visiting the other patient and he rather that she not be bothered with that.

When the nurse left, he pulled his chair closer to the bed, leaned over and kissed Dani on the lips and caressed her cheek.

"I love you so much," he whispered humbled by the breadth of his feelings.

"Love you, too," Dani whispered; her voice husky.

Ryan thought that living without her would be like diving into a deep dark hole, one that would swallow his soul and spit it out in bits and pieces. Just looking at her now made his heart ache.

"How are you feeling, sweetheart," he asked taking her hand in his.

"Happy about our baby," she said as she squeezed his hand.

"Glad you're mine." she added.

"You'll always be a part of me," Ryan averred.

"So will this little guy," he added, stroking her still flat belly.

"Little guy?"

He answered with a grin, "The next one can be a girl."

Dani caressed the side of his face noticing how tired he looked. She knew he was worried and angry at the man who did this to her, Keith. She should have told him about Keith, but she really forgot about him with everything that was going on.

"Ryan... about Keith," she started haltingly, she didn't want Ryan to think that she was keeping secrets from him.

"Shhh, sweetheart, you don't need to talk about him," he said.

"You probably shouldn't be talking at all. I spoke with Haley and Crystal, they filled me in. I passed the information on to Zane, but no one will be questioning you for a while. There will be time enough for that when you're stronger."

"Ok." she said with a sigh. She was still very tired and wasn't looking forward to talking to the police at all.

"Oh, I almost forgot," Ryan said. "I bought a couple of gowns and underwear. Before you ask, it's not your Victoria's Secret stuff; it's some of the pre-Ryan things which you seem to have given up wearing."

"Good," she said with a small smile.

Ryan saw her eyes fluttering with the effort to stay awake.

"Close your eyes and rest, baby. I'll be here when you wake up," he promised.

Dani nodded then gave up the struggle to stay awake.

In less than a minute she was asleep. Ryan sat back in the chair and got as comfortable as he could. Closing his eyes, he decided to get some shut eye to make up for his restless night.

It was twenty minutes later when Dani's parents and her sister arrived. Upon seeing Ryan asleep in the chair, Michelle smiled, but left him undisturbed.

Ryan's family was able to see Dani later in the day. The hospitable ICU policy was somewhat liberal as they felt that the presence of family and friends could be a great help in recovery.

*

Keith Hall was back in Los Angeles hiding out at Walter Randle's Place. Of course Keith hadn't told him why he was back in town, but his childhood friend wasn't a fool. He hadn't seen Keith in over three years, now here he was out of the blue. It didn't take a genius to figure trouble wasn't far behind.

Walter knew Keith better than most. Keith, although a smart guy, he had some issues, most having to do with his mother abandoning him. Of course, he'd had his dad, but like so many kids from broken homes, it didn't matter the parent you had, you always wanted and needed the one you didn't have. At least that's what Walter thought.

Walter wasn't bad at deductive reasoning, but he really didn't know what Keith's relationship had been with his father. The fact that Keith rarely talked about the man should have been a clue. However, the things that Walter did know had come from Keith's own mouth.

One night when Keith was drunk out of his mind, he spilled his frustrations, insecurities and anger out to Walter. The weird thing was, the next morning he hadn't remembered a thing he'd said. Walter, not foolish enough to remind him, decided to let sleeping dogs lie.

Walter offered Keith his sofa, but he didn't want to get involved in whatever he was running from. He wasn't going to ask him because the less he knew, the better it would be. They had a history, but three years was a long time and he didn't know what Keith had been up to in the interim.

As he stood in the kitchen drinking a glass of orange juice, he watched Keith stir on the sofa. Sitting up, Keith rubbed both hands down his face and grunted. He hung his head and sat with his forearms on his thighs and his hands hanging down between them.

He looked whipped.

"Good Morning," Walter said.

Keith's head shot up, startled by the sound of Walter's voice.

"Morning, man," he mumbled.

Shaking his head, he whispered, "Damn."

"You, Ok?" Walter asked politely, but was hoping he wouldn't get any come to Jesus revelations.

"No, but I'll just have to deal with it," Keith groused.

He stood up, stretch and yawned before heading to the bathroom.

Watching him walk away, Walter wondered if Keith would tell him what had happened. Even though he'd rather not know, he still thought of him as a friend and hated to see him busted up like he was.

Keith walked back into the room rubbing his eyes. Walter thought he looked like he'd been crying. That was new. Even when he was pouring his heart out, drowning his feelings of abandonment in alcohol, he never cried. He'd been angry as hell, but he hadn't shed a tear. Now he was looking like hell, obviously broken up about something. Walter didn't know what to make of it. * Ryan was asleep when Dani woke up. She watched him remembering that as being one of her favorite pastimes. It felt odd waking up and not having him in bed with her. At home when she woke up in the middle of the night, she'd be in the safety of his arms.

Watching him now, reminded her of the child she was carrying; a child that they would both nurture and love. For the first time she wondered what he or she would look like. Would it be a boy with Ryan's smile or a girl with her brown eyes? The only thing she knew was that she would love their child completely and unconditionally.

In the end, Dani couldn't stop herself; she reached out and touched Ryan's arm. Slowly, his beautiful green eyes fluttered opened. Upon seeing her, he smiled, sat up from his slouched position and leaned forward.

"Hi, baby," he said in a gruff voice.

But, before she could return the greeting, the nurse came in to take her vitals again.

While she was attending to Dani, Ryan went to the bathroom. When he came out, the nurse was finishing up, but Dani was sleepy again.

Ryan sat back down and held her hand as he softly talked to her sleeping form and told her how much he loved and how lucky he was to have her in his life.

*

Dani was awake when her parents and Crystal came in. Ryan greeted each of them with a hug.

"Will you be here for a while?" he asked Dani's mother.

"Yes. I expect we'll be here for some time," Michelle answered.

"Good. I need to go down to the sheriff's office and I didn't want to leave Dani alone."

"You do what you need to do son, we'll be here."

Turning back to Dani he said, "I just want to have a talk with Zane, but I'll be back. Ok?"

"Ok," she said softly.

Ryan kissed her on the forehead and squeezed her hand before saying goodbye to the others.

*

Ryan walked into the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Department Detective Division and stopped at the receptionist station. "Ryan Sinclair to see Lieutenant Montgomery," he said.

"One moment, please," she said picking up the phone to speak to Zane.

"Lieutenant Montgomery, there's a Mr. Sinclair to see you."

She paused to listen, then responded, "Yes, sir."

She unlocked the electronic security doors and said, "Go right in, sir. He's in the last office to the right."

Ryan nodded and entered the central hub of the detective division.

The main part of the division was a large open area. The detectives were partnered with their desks facing each other. On the outer periphery were smaller offices where victims or witnesses could be questioned in private.

Ryan nodded to a few guys that he knew as he headed to Zane's office. He knocked on door and was entreated to come in. Zane was on the phone having a heated discussion with someone.

Ryan took a seat and waited.

Looking about, he noticed that Zane's office didn't look like the typical television detective office. For one thing, the guy was neat, almost to a fault. You really wouldn't think anyone actually got much work done with the neat stack of files at the end of his desk, but he knew Zane was exacting in his work and a stickler for details.

His pens, pencils and markers were all in an orderly little caddy that also had a place for sticky pads. There were photographs of his family on the wall, all neatly arranged, not a crooked picture among the lot. There was a massive map of the county on one wall with mufti-colored push pin dotting some areas.

Zane was dressed in a three piece suit, minus the jacket which he had taken off and put on a hanger which hung on a coat stand. His raven hair was pulled back in a ponytail, his face hard without a trace of softness. Although Zane could make grown men squirm with just a stare, behind it all Ryan knew him as a good friend and a first class human being.

His countenance was real and part of his personality, but underneath, he was a compassionate and passionate guy. The women could attest to the latter. They loved his bad boy image, but as yet, he hadn't let a woman mean more than his job.

Zane finished his call and reached over to shake Ryan's hand with a smile. Ryan marveled at how the smile broke away the hard planes of Zane's face. The man was a regular Lon Chaney, not with make up, but with facial expressions. One minute he could be hard and uncompromising, the next he almost look like a regular good old boy; almost.

Sitting back in his chair, Zane took on a more serious expression and asked about Dani.

"She's doing as well as can be expected. She'll be in the hospital at least a week more. She's in ICU now, but will be moved to a private room probably tomorrow. Of course, she'll be dealing with the effects of the concussion for a while even after she's out of the hospital. The baby is doing fine, thank God," Ryan said.

"Baby?" Zane asked taken aback.

"Oh, fuck!" Ryan said, "I forgot that you didn't know. Hell, until this happened neither Dani nor I knew. She's pregnant, about six weeks."

"Congratulations," Zane said grinning. "Damn, now you'll have a kid to give you hell."

"Hey, I never gave my folks hell, I was just a little busy," Ryan said tongue in cheek.

"Uh huh, busy. Okie Dokie, I'll let that pass for the time being," Zane said.

"Have you gotten any information?" Ryan asked eagerly. "I know it's a bit early ..."

"Actually we do have some information," Zane interjected.

"The case was assigned to Harley Rayell, but I'll follow it closely and relay any updates to you personally," Zane said.

"Harley ran a check with the transportation facilities, trains, airline, bus etc. Hall took a flight to Los Angeles a few hours after the attack. I have a friend on the force there and asked him to do a little checking around. We expect to hear back from him later today."

"A background check was done, checking his history in Florida and California. I'll let you know as soon as we have that information. We're doing everything that we can, which includes checking criminal background and occupational records."

They went over everything Ryan knew about Dani's history with Hall again. Although they'd discussed it, Zane found that sometimes forgotten details came out in the retelling.

After Ryan finished, Zane said,

"It sounds like this guy definitely has some issues. I'd really be surprised if he hasn't been in trouble before. It would be interesting to see if he's moved around frequently, that would be a red flag. I'll call you later tonight with a status report, but that's all I have right now."

Ryan nodded, stood up and held out his hand to Zane.

"I'm sorry for interrupting your vacation, but I'm glad you'll be following up on the investigation. Thank you man, I owe you one."

Zane shook his hand and said, "You don't owe me anything, Ryan, you'd do the same for me. As for the vacation, I wasn't doing a damn thing. I can take the rest of my time off at any time. This is more important."

"Yeah, but thanks just the same," Ryan said.

He said goodbye and quickly left the office anxious to get back to Dani.

* A few days later the reports on Keith David Hall started hitting Rayell's desk.

Harley Rayell was a ten year veteran of the detective division with three of those years in Citrus County where he relocated after graduating from college in Georgia.

Harley learned to appreciate the law the hard way, through incarceration in juvenile detention for two years due to a series of auto thefts and B and E's as a teenager. His record was expunged when he was twenty one years old. Because of his own experience, he knew the myriad of ways a kid could go wrong. It was for that reason that he had more than a professional interest in Hall's case.

Hall had a juvenile record which was sealed, but had not been expunged. There was never a written request, which was required for juvenile records to be destroyed. He was able to get the entire file with a court order. It was no surprise that Hall had been in trouble before. There was one charge each of grand theft auto, assault and breaking and entering before the age of fifteen. However, Harley knew it didn't mean that those were the only crimes that Hall committed, just the ones they could prove. The Judge adjudicated the case by court ordered therapy once a week for two years and five years probation.

Somewhere around sixteen years old, Hall seemed to have gotten some control of his life and his temper. He did well in school and seemed to stay out of trouble. At least there weren't any other incidents in the court records.

There was a separate record for the therapy. Harley would have to get another court order to get those unsealed. He would have to show the court the need in regards to this case. He thought the crime was sufficient based on the evidence. Whether Hall planned it or it just happened in the moment, Harley fully believed that if that couple hadn't arrived, he would have strangled Danielle Carter to death.

* The next day Zane visited Dani before going into the office. When he arrived at the hospital, Ryan was already there. He stood in the door way watching them for a few seconds. Ryan was sitting, leaning forward talking to her softly.

He knew Ryan wasn't a man to get bowled over by women. There were plenty who threw themselves at him, but he preferred monogamous relationships. He'd told Zane he didn't need or want the drama of multiple women in his life.