Fade to Red

Ian shook his head. “Come in.”

Two officers walked in. One had a folder in his hand and opened it up to show Ian a picture. “Do you recognize this room?”

Ian’s eyes narrowed. “Yes. It’s where I was locked up, and where I left her chained to the bed.” He swallowed. “Did you find her?”

The officer looked down at the picture. “There was no sign of the suspect. We have a team searching every inch of that property. Her picture is already up on every news cha

Ian looked at his wife and little girl and wished to God he’d made sure Coco couldn’t walk out of that house alive.

“God help us,” he said.

After Ian was discharged and assured Sparrow he was fine—a little sore, but fine—they went to Roxie’s room. The hospital was willing to bend on the rules a little bit for him. He didn’t have to leave in a wheelchair. No one was quite sure where they should go anyway, with Coco still out there. It seemed like more guards had accumulated outside his door during the night, and when they reached the outside of Roxie’s room, it was also fully secured.

Dion smiled when he saw Sparrow and Journey, and he shook Ian’s hand.

“Good to see you up and around. You had your wife worried sick,” he said, patting Sparrow on the back.

Ian cringed and leaned over to kiss Sparrow’s temple. “Not my finest hour,” he said.

“I was just getting ready to head to your room,” Dion said. “We need to talk.”

Ian bit his bottom lip and nodded.

“Any word on Roxie?” Sparrow asked.

Roxie’s dad stepped out of the room, looking exhausted. He introduced himself and apologized in the same sentence.

“Sorry I’m leaving … I’ll be right back—go

Beckham leaned his head back and his neck and shoulder blades made a loud protest. When he righted himself, he looked at Roxie and she was staring back at him.

He gasped and stood up then quickly sat back down.

“Roxie!” He wanted to wrap his arms around her, but he was afraid of hurting her. “How are you feeling?”

She swallowed and sounded hoarse when she finally spoke. “Like I’ve been beat up.” One side of her mouth lifted and she briefly closed her eyes. “You look so tired, Beckham.” It seemed like it hurt for her to even talk. “How long have you been here?”

“Ian let us know you were here yesterday afternoon. I came as soon as I heard. Not leaving you,” he said with a smile.

“How is Ian?” she asked.

“He’s doing well. In some pain, but Sparrow texted that he’d be discharged soon. They’ve been asking about you every ten minutes. When you see all the texts on my phone, you’ll see how popular you are,” he teased.

He remembered the text from Coco and his smile dropped. He pushed it down. It didn’t matter.

“I’m … so sorry, Roxie. I can’t imagine what a nightmare that was.”

Roxie’s eyes filled and she leaned her head back on the pillow. A tear dropped on her cheek. “Yeah.”

“I need to let your mom know you’re awake. She just went to grab coffee. She hasn’t left your side before now.”

“Has Leo been here?”

“Your dad said he was go

“Good,” she whispered. Her eyes closed and she dozed for a few minutes. She jolted and her eyes were huge when she opened them.

“You’re safe. I’m not letting anyone near you,” he said.

He stood and leaned over her, kissing her hair, the one spot on her that didn’t look hurt.

The nurse came in and thoroughly examined Roxie. Beckham watched in amazement as she didn’t flinch even once. His insides cringed just looking at her bruises. And the broken ribs—she had to be in so much pain.

“The doctor is on his way to see you. He was pleased with the way your night went, but he’ll want to see you now that you’re awake,” the nurse said with a smile.

She looked at the tray of food that Roxie hadn’t touched. “Can you try to eat a little something?”

“I’ll try,” Roxie said.

“Good. Time for meds. Why don’t you try some of that juice?”

After the doctor had been in, Dion arrived. Roxie was taking a nap and Beckham stepped toward the door and held his hand up to keep it quiet. Dion was in full business mode, so much so that Beckham was about to tell him to come back later, when he brought up leaving the hospital.

“Once Roxie is physically out of danger, I think we should get you both out of here. The Sterlings too. We can hire full-time care until Roxie is feeling 100%, but I’m not comfortable with this…”

Beckham got in Dion’s face.

“They haven’t found Coco?” Beckham snapped. He tried to clear his head with a shake but just wanted to punch the wall. “What have you guys been doing all this time?” He knew that was a bit of a low blow, but he couldn’t seem to rein in his rage.

Dion lowered his head and nodded. “Trust me, I understand your anger. We’re going to find her and we’re going to protect you in the meantime. We’ve been questioning Ian on this, since he has more insight on the house and Coco’s state of mind. And I know you’ve needed to concentrate on her. Now that we know she’s going to be okay, we need to talk about the next plan.”

Beckham took a deep breath.

“One of my men took pictures of the scene and I’d like you to go through them. I tried earlier, but you were in no state of mind to look then. Are you up for it now?” Dion asked quietly.

Beckham swallowed and rubbed a hand over his scruffy jaw. “Yes.” He suddenly felt all the energy eke out of him.

Dion held up a folder. “You sure?”

“Yes. I’m sorry for blowing up.”

“No apologies necessary,” Dion said.

He handed the folder to Beckham. The first picture showed a room with photographs on the walls. There were so many it was hard to tell what the pictures were. He flipped to the next one. It was a close-up of one of the walls. He took a step back and dropped some of the pictures. Different shots splayed out on the floor, the charred ones of him with Roxie shocking him the most.

Dion helped him pick up the pictures and handed him one of a bedroom. “Do you recognize anything in these pictures?”

“Other than the pictures of me that I never knew she was taking? No. Some of these are from when I was a teenager. Family events … who is this girl?”

He went through dozens of pictures and then reached a photograph of the outside of a house. His blood went cold.

“I recognize this house. I … know who she is.” The truth hit him like a brick. “Oh my God. She’s been watching me for at least half of my lifetime. How is that possible?” He stumbled back and sat down in the chair by Roxie’s bed.

He was fifteen and had been going out with Lana Redley for about a month. She was a few years older and already had her own car. She’d sneak into his bedroom late at night and they’d make out for hours. She was a little reckless for him, but he liked her.

His first time had been with Lana. He didn’t want her to leave afterward, but she had to work early the next morning, so he walked her to her car that night. Someone jogged by and stopped when they saw him.

“B-beckham? What are you doing here?” she asked.

Beckham could barely see her in the dark, but he recognized that awkward voice. He’d met her at school and every time he saw her he tried to be friendly—she was such a loner.

“Hey, Colette! I live here. What are you doing here?” He laughed.