On The Run

Disclaimer: All characters in this story are mine.

Warnings: m/f, preg, angst, death, lemon

** Asterisks indicate thoughts

-----------------------




Chapter Eleven


Jeremy Waven reclined in his desk chair, studying Randy Hudson’s folder for the umpteenth time. Something wasn’t right here. He was a madman, a murderer, and had been on a killing rampage for close to five years, if he went strictly by the information on his file. How could he have cleverly slipped out of their grasp so many times?

He didn’t want to think it, but more and more the scenario played out in his mind. Now that he had intently studied Hudson’s papers, he began to see a link between all of the victims. All women, save for the recent incident at the convenience store. That could have been just a random shooting. Something to tide Randy over until his next assignment.

The victims all had something in common. Attended University of Miami, pursuing a major in journalism. That wasn’t all. During some point in their education, each woman had to do a paper relating to the Miami International Wine Fair. Shortly after that assignment the body count started to go up. Jeremy leaned his elbows on the hard wood of his desk. What had happened at that fair to make Randy Hudson start killing? Before then he was practically unheard of, just a regular citizen.

Jeremy had made a quick note to check the police files for any information about earlier victims, as well as making a few phone calls and planning interviews with residents who possibly had information. As bits of the puzzle started coming together, he had hoped that he would be less confused. That wasn’t the case at all. Nothing was making sense anymore.

Although he didn’t want to think ill of his job, the way Randy just knew when the police were near to him was uncanny. Jeremy wanted to rule out police involvement, but he couldn’t blind himself to any possibilities. That would be taking the easy way out. He had to expose all the ugly sides, whether that got him in trouble or not.

Slipping on his winter jacket, Jeremy left the office, still pondering over the new information given to him. What happened at the vineyard that made Randy kill all those journalist students? And what did Naomi Lewis have to do with it? As he braved the cold winds, a startling thought hit him.

Maybe Naomi had nothing to do with it, and that it was a completely unrelated case. Could Randy be starting a new trend?


--------------------



Randy fumed. It had been weeks since his trail on that bitch Lewis and her bodyguard Holmes had gone cold. His fists clenched, his knuckles paling. He would get them both. At first it had only been for Naomi, but since Grey had taken a paperweight to his skull, every time he thought of the dark-haired man his blood boiled. Killing him would be a pleasure. Naomi was a special case though. He thought of her long blonde hair and wide caramel eyes, and his heart burned with desire. Not sexual desire, but a desire to take her life, to watch her light slowly fade from her eyes.

The fact that Naomi was expecting was even more of a beautiful thing. It worked two ways. He could cripple Holmes and make him watch as he extracted the baby from her, knowing how much that would torment the man alone. By then Naomi would be in so much pain, she might be welcoming death. There were so many ways he could go about finishing them, and each possibility brought giddy laughter to his lips.

Naomi and Grey. Both were at the wrong place at the wrong time. He had to thank fate for that, otherwise he would have never bothered with them. They weren’t part of his original assignment. They were just the goodies thrown on top of an already delicious sundae. Oh, if they could only know how much joy they could bring him, if they would just surrender. He had been severely tempted to just kill Grey’s parents, or torture them until he got the information he needed. He had been ordered not to, and so long as he was under contract, he had to obey.

Randy knew he had dutiful insiders though, and that they would eventually find Naomi and Grey’s whereabouts. They always do.



------------------



It was November, and it was cold. Naomi hated that she had to be cooped up inside for most of the day, but with the windshield factor so low, going outside was not a good idea. She would end up freezing in a matter of minutes, and then Grey would never let her hear the end of it. Sometime during the middle of the month it had began to snow, and it still had to let up. Naomi had lost track of the days, and for once, it felt good. She had no obligations pertaining to her job, her stepmother never cared to hear from her anyways, and she had Grey by her side.

The only dent in the vacation was the fact that she was hiding to protect her life. When that thought creeped into her head, suddenly this ‘vacation’ didn’t seem so wonderful anymore. There was one good thing that came out of it, and that was Grey. She would have liked to meet him after she had her baby, but that didn’t happen. There was no use wishing for anything different. She couldn’t go back in time.

“By that window again?” Grey teased from behind her. She turned to regard him, sticking her tongue out childishly at his smirk. He came to stand next to her, the two of them watching the snow softly fall to the ground.

“If you tell me I’m going to get cold standing by the window, I’m going to tell you that that’s a bunch of bull.” Naomi said, giving him an indignant look. Grey held his hands up in mock surrender.

“I wasn’t going to say anything! I merely commented that you were standing by this window again. It seems to be your favourite spot.”

“I like the view. It’s peaceful.” Grey couldn’t disagree. That was one thing that he really loved about the cottage, and one of the many reasons he purchased it. It had an astounding view of the property and the ocean, even though he couldn’t see very far at the moment. With the falling snow, there was limited visibility. Wrapping his arms around Naomi, he drew her close to his body.

The baby was due in only a few short months, and that fact had been running through his head constantly. She would need to go to a hospital to deliver – there was no way in hell he was going to assist with it. He didn’t know anything about childbirth. There was a high chance that if they went to a hospital, Randy would find them sooner. That was his number one concern.

The other was how a baby would change Naomi’s relationship with him. He wondered if she had thought about it too. Did she see them being a longterm thing, because he certainly did. He was protective over the baby as if it was his own. Would he make a good father? He liked to think so. He had always wanted children, and although Naomi’s baby wasn’t his biologically, that mattered less and less to him. He wanted her, and he wanted the child. He could see a family between them, and could see that they would be happy together. Naomi would never want for anything if she stayed with him. He would give her the world.

Randy would find them eventually, Grey was sure of it. They couldn’t hide forever, and he was beginning to think that the police were incapable. Maybe he should take Naomi and move far, far away. That couldn’t be done right then, with Naomi so close to birth. He pondered the places they could go. They could even change their names, like go in the Witness Protection Program. Even then, he didn’t like having to give up his identity. Randy should have been caught a long time ago, and it would have saved everyone grief.

There was nothing that could be done except wait. Detective Winslow was trying the best he could, and Grey wanted to believe the rest of the police department was as well. They were kidding themselves if they thought that Randy was just going to leave them alone, or if they expected Naomi and himself to stay incognito for the rest of their lives.


-------------------



The days weren’t nearly so painful with Grey by her side. He helped pass the time pleasantly, and helped her whenever she asked. Sunshine was rowdy, like usual, and Naomi just had to suffer through the discomfort. She was due in two and a half months, and she was counting down the days. It would be a long time before she got pregnant again. One child was enough for her right now.

“I wish I had a newspaper or something, so I could keep up with the times.” Naomi whined, peering over Grey’s shoulder to watch him sketch. She had never seen art as good as his. Granted, she wasn’t the type to visit art galleries all the time or read graphic novels, but still.

“I asked you if you wanted a newspaper while we were out, and you said you couldn’t care less what was happening in the world. You thought it would destroy the Christmas mood.”

“I did not say ‘Christmas mood’.”

“Winter mood then.”

“Yes. It’s a little too early for Christmas talk yet.” Naomi said, crossing her arms grumpily. Grey set down his pencil, raising his eyebrow dramatically.

“Too early for Christmas talk? We’re less that a month away from Christmas now. My mother prepares for Christmas in July. What are you, not a Christmas person?”

“I am a Christmas person! And how am I supposed to know what day it is when we don’t even have a calendar in here. I don’t keep up with everything all the time.” Grey had to refrain from rolling his eyes. Naomi was sensitive today. He had to try his best not to make things worse. He had already put his foot in his mouth one too many times.

“Ok, ok. I’m sorry. I guess it doesn’t really feel like Christmas when we haven’t done anything seasonal. We can’t really decorate the outside of the house, because that would be visible by the road. We can decorate in here though, and bake, and try to get our hands on some Christmas tapes.” Naomi’s face brightened at the mention of Christmas tapes. Christmas music was the best.

“That would make things better for sure. And we should get a tree too!”

“It’s a little early for a tree. We don’t want it to die early. When it gets closer to Christmas, I’ll cut one down and drag it in. For now though, we can focus on everything else. Sound good?” Naomi nodded in reply. She was a little blown away at how Grey seemed to read her mind so clearly. He could tell that she wasn’t in the greatest of moods, and he was still able to cheer her up anyways. That took skill.



------------------


With Randy not taking anymore victims, and his sightings becoming limited, Jeremy wondered if they would ever get their hands on him. He had talked to Detective Winslow several times already, and still they were unable to find out where Grey and Naomi were located. It was frustrating that the two of them couldn’t see eye to eye with the police. They didn’t understand that the police would be able to offer then all the protection they could possibly need.

As soon as they found out where Grey and Naomi were living, they planned on visiting them. Maybe if he could talk to Grey in person, since he was certain that it was Grey who was in charge, he might be able to convince him to side with them. Jeremy didn’t want anything to happen to either of them, and he didn’t want their faces to be added to Randy’s list. The only way he knew how to prevent that was going in and protecting them himself.

Jeremy could understand them wanting to hide away, but he hoped they had realized that they couldn’t do that forever. Naomi must be close to delivering her baby soon, and there was no way she was going to do that without getting caught. That stuff went on record, plus the birth certificate would be a dead giveaway. If he could find them before then, then she could deliver in peace, without worrying that Randy was going to burst in and chase her through the hospital like what had happened before. They could guard the door and put security on all entrances and exits. She wouldn’t have to worry about a thing.

Detective Winslow was supposed to be working day and night with finding Grey and Naomi’s location, but Jeremy had to wonder if he was slacking off. It was an urgent case, and since nothing like this had come their way in a long time, he would have thought the older man would have been chomping at the bit to get everything done and close the case, once and for all. Every time he had stepped into his office, Detective Winslow had been preoccupied with other things.

True, there were other cases, but this one seemed the most pressing. Randy fully intended to finish off Grey and Naomi, and Detective Winslow was worried about small robberies? That wasn’t fair though. He couldn’t expect everyone to drop what they were doing and help him work on this case. The police had many crimes to solve, Randy was just one in the pile.

Jeremy was just getting frustrated with how things were playing out. He didn’t find out as much as he had hoped about the journalism students murders, nor what had happened at the Wine Fair. There were still many sources that he needed to contact, but he wanted the answers, and he wanted them now.




--------------------

A/N: Sorry for the ridiculously long wait! I was living without the internet for some time, and now I've just started yet another year at uni, so its been busy. Thanks for reading, more to come soon, please review! :)

--------------------