On The Run

Disclaimer: All characters in this story are mine.

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

** Asterisks indicate thoughts

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



Chapter Twelve



With a gasp, Naomi arched her back, pressing herself against the man who would soon give her a child. It the fogginess of her dream, details were not as clear, but she remembered the sounds, and she certainly remembered the feelings. He had a way of being able to work her body to climax each time, and this time had been no different. All she had to do was put herself in his hands, and he knew exactly what to do from there.

While their day-to-day relationship wasn’t perfect, he had a way of making her forget that beyond the bedroom doors. With an experienced touch, he knew what would make her cry out and whimper. Each time their bodies tangled, she tried not to imagine all the women he had perfected his technique on. It would only twist her gut into jealous knots.

His thrusts were powerful, dominant, but at this point in time, all she wanted to do was surrender to him anyways. She let him do his thing, make her body sing with pleasure, and soon enough, her legs wrapped tightly around his waist and she shuddered in her climax.

And a condom broke, signaling the beginning of their end.




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



Naomi woke, feeling a wave of disgust wash over her as she recollected her dream. It was the second night in a row that she dreamt about the night sunshine was conceived, and as much as she hated to admit it, her dream, and her memory of that night had been on her mind for hours after.

She couldn’t deny that her ex was a fantastic lover. Their relationship wasn’t great, but he had a way of making her forget that everytime she lay between his sheets. It was a sex thing – what happened during the day was just the two of them going on with their separate lives.


He had been an asshole when she told him that she was pregnant. Abortion was the first word on his lips, and it was the furthest from hers. It had nothing to do with a religious standpoint – she would not be pushed around by the constant message of, “God created life. It’s not yours to take”. It was her choice, just as it was any woman’s. She wouldn’t judge a woman and condemn her to hell for having an abortion.

Abortion was not her choice though. She just couldn’t terminate a life, especially since that life was made because of her. It was her baby. If she didn’t want once, she should have thought about that before she had sex. And she should have been on the pill. There were so many things that she did wrong, but at this stage in her life, so close to her child’s birth, Naomi knew that this was right. She would be a good mother. Hell, she already loved the kid and sunshine wasn’t even out yet.

When her ex left her, she had been hurt at first. She was deserted. Her stepmother had pretty much turned her back on her as well. Pregnant without being married? That was unheard of! Naomi rolled her eyes. It was just another hurdle she had to clear, getting past her stepmother’s disappointment. She guessed it was probably not a good idea to tell dear stepmommy that she was having sex since she was 14. That would not go over well.

Financially, she was more than stable. Songwriting had been a talent she had possessed for as long as she could remember – even making up stupid songs as a kid. When she had realized that she could turn it into a career, Naomi had gone over music schools numerous times before finding the perfect program. She didn’t care much about graduating at the top of her class, what mattered was the knowledge she had come out with. Thanks to intelligent and seasoned profs, she had gotten the kind of education she had craved for as a kid.

She had come into mainstream music two years ago, writing songs for the hit bands of her time. Some of the songs were just fluff, things to get her by, but sometimes she came up with a gem. Those songs usually were used in the movies, up for academy awards, those kinds of things. Sunshine would never have to worry about where its next meal was coming from, since mommy was sort of a celebrity, just without the fame. Among today’s songwriters, she was the one most often requested.

Since she had found out she was pregnant though, she had informed her manager that she was taking time off, to get into the right frame of mind. After all, the baby wasn’t planned, and the realization that she was in the midst of creating another life had her in shock for awhile. That, and she was in for the ride all by herself.

At least, it had been that way for the first six months. She definitely didn’t meet Grey under desirable circumstances. She was haggard, fleeing for her life, and ended up in a car accident. From the first minute though, he had been wonderful. She just wished they could have met up when she was slim and sexy, which she had been before the pregnancy. Things probably would have moved a lot faster between them too. At this point, she had usually gotten them into bed and had a feel for what kind of man they were.

That wasn’t completely fair though. Even though she and Grey were not physical yet, she knew what kind of a man he was. He had showed her that already. He was kind, loyal, protective, romantic, sexy, sensitive – she could go on, but she didn’t want to sound like a mushy schoolgirl. That was not the kind of woman he wanted, boy, could she tell you that.

Funny thing was, even though she felt (and surely looked) like a whale, hadn’t worn makeup or done her hair for weeks, was fleeing for her life, and felt like the most undesirable woman on the planet, Grey had still fallen for her anyways. It was sweet, and Naomi had to smile at that. He had already made more of a commitment to her than her ex ever had.

She hoped the police would do their job and catch Randy Hudson. She was constantly on edge because she knew he was out their somewhere, trying to find both she and Grey. There was no way she could ever hope to lead a normal life while he was out there, and she certainly couldn’t waltz into a hospital and give birth without him finding her. That put the police on a tight schedule. They had two months before sunshine needed to come out, and there was no way she could put that on hold. Babies didn’t wait for anybody.




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



Randy puffed impatiently on a cigarette, holding the payphone tightly against his ear.

“Have you heard anything about their whereabouts yet?” He muttered over the line, cigarette handing from his lips. Weeks had dragged on without being able to get ahold of either Grey or Naomi, and he was growing anxious. Not in a frightened way, but more twitchy. He was anxious to get his hands on them, close the deal, end the chapter. As soon as Grey and Naomi were dealt with, he could move onto new clients. God knows he’d been working for the one far too long. Pay was lousy, but it was all he could get right now.

“They’ve dropped off the radar. That doesn’t mean you quit looking now. They need to be wiped out, I can’t have any loose ties. You know that. Some way or another, the links will be made back to me, and I can’t have that. Already grounds are shaky, can’t have it getting any worse.” The voice over the phone was quiet. Randy mused that the man was shaky, in a frightened way.

Randy knew he had been hired because he possessed a special gift. He did not fear death, and he never felt sorry for his victims. From his standpoint, he thought his victims should feel honoured that he was the one taking their lives. No one else would appreciate their deaths the way he did. He never left them alone to die, he was always there, watching, seeing the light fade from them. No one could ever say they died alone. Any other person would have popped them and left, but not him.

He had finished many women over the last five years. It was always women. He had lost his cool at the convenience store, where Naomi came on the scene. That day was such a thrill, just walking in there, finishing all those people. First time he had killed men. He had to thank his short temper for that afternoon – it brought him to pregnant Naomi, and pregnant Naomi had led him to Grey.

He had gone through several scenarios of what would happen when he finally found them again. It got better and better the more he dreamt about it. Naomi was his first pregnant woman – there was no way that he could waste that. Plus, it would be his first male-female couple. He had done doubles before, but they were always women. Women walking back from class, at night… no, Naomi and Grey would be so much more fun.

Randy’s heart thrummed with excitement. The possibilities of what he could do felt endless. It was such an exhilarating feeling. Now, if his client could get his ass in gear and find the pair of them, he could have it done before the snow got too heavy. Usually his client was quick on his feet, able to locate his prey. The longest one of his assignments took was a week, and that was only because the woman was moving around a lot on an apprenticeship. He had finished her in her own car. That had been a sweet one.

After his brief conversation, Randy replaced the telephone back on its receiver. Exiting the phonebooth, he began to whistle a jolly Christmas tune. Hell, it was just about the season, and he was about to receive the best Christmas present ever.



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




Jeremy Waven never thought his job could be so difficult. He had been out all afternoon interviewing sources pertaining to the deaths of the female journalism students. For a long time nothing had come up. Parents were weepy, and he sympathized, but no new information had come up from those meetings.

When all hope seemed lost, he had knocked on Madison Richard’s door, expecting to find another weepy parent that he had to console. The woman who had opened it was definitely not the parent of a university-aged student. The first thing he had noticed was the shock of red hair. She had it cut in sort of a bob, just brushing the tops of her shoulders. It had been meticulously straightened, and she sported the ever popular side-bang, which hung over the right side of her face.

She had copper skin, a result from being out in the sun or the drugstore self-tanners, Jeremy didn’t know. Her eyes were a sharp green, impressive and intelligent, and twinkling in her left nostril was a diamond stud. Quite the character.

“Can I help you?” She asked, unwavered by the sight of a police uniform. If her dared to guess, he might have thought she was used to cops showing up at her door. Judging from the file he had been looking at earlier, he felt it was safe to assume he was correct.

“I’m Officer Jeremy Waven. I’d like to speak to Madison Richards.”

“I’m her.”

“Okay Miss Richards. I would like to ask you a few questions regarding your late roommate, Jane Willows.” Madison’s eyes widened slightly. She hadn’t expected that he was there about that at all. With a slight nod, she stepped away from the door.

“Come in then. Can I get you anything to drink?” Jeremy shook his head.

“No thanks Miss Richards.”

“Madison.”

“Madison, then. I don’t want to take up too much of your time.” She led him to the living room, taking a seat on a plush recliner. The room was sparsely furnished, as would be expected of any university student living off campus. Jeremy sat on the couch, taking a tape recorder out of his jacket and placing it on the coffee table between them.

“I only need this recorder for documentation. As I’m sure you’re aware, Jane’s case, as is all those other women, is still open.” Madison nodded again. It was nice when he had cooperative people to work with. Madison seemed to be in control of herself so far, and he hoped that it would stay that way. He was all consoled-out. He didn’t know if he had the strength to do much more of that. He just wanted the facts, and then he wanted out of there.

“Alright Madison. I know this is hard, but can you think back to what happened the day Jane was murdered? You were her roommate then, correct?”

“I was. We met each other right before our first day of classes, first year. At that time we were living in residence, and she was placed with me. Typically they like to mix roommates doing different degree programs, so I was in arts, and she was journalism. We meshed instantly. I know that doesn’t happen often, but we became good friends.

“Before second year, we decided to move out and find a place of our own. You see, the caf food sucks, so we didn’t want to live there anymore. Anyways, during that year she had to do this assignment, write a paper about some wine party or whatever. That’s when things got weird. I’m not stupid. I know something happened then.”

“What happened?” Jeremy prompted her when she grew guiet. Madison raised her clear eyes back up to his once more.

“Once the assignment was finished, she came back to the house, ate dinner as usual. I know her though. We were really close. She was just off, you know? Just not herself. I asked her if she was okay, but she just shrugged it off, like she didn’t want to talk about it. Well, if she didn’t want to talk about it, then I wasn’t going to push her. I knew she would come to me in time.

“We never did get a chance to talk about it though. She had an evening class, ended at ten, and she never made it home that night. I didn’t think much of it at first – sometimes if she hears about a party going on, she’ll head there instead. We didn’t go to everything together, so it wasn’t odd. Then I get a call saying that she’s been found dead in the park, from her brother. It was all over the news.”

Jeremy watched her as she quietly pulled herself together. She was a strong one. And an observant one. He knew about the Wine Fair because he had the file. No one else had really addressed it, until Madison. Whatever Jane had seen or experienced at the Fair had affected how she acted, and Madison had picked up on it.

“Madison, Jane had been murdered five years ago. You would have finished your degree during that time. Why are you still here?” It was more out of curiosity than anything. Jane had been murdered years ago, and yet Madison was still here, still a student. She didn’t take long to answer.

“I did get my degree. But I came back for my Masters. I just don’t feel like I have closure here, because of what happened. Who knows? Maybe I’ll stick around this place for a long time to come. What happened to Jane really affected me. She was my best friend.”

And it was understandable. Madison was a strong woman, but taking Jane out of her life so violently had shaken Madison, jolted her out of happiness. When Jeremy had finally left her place, he sat in his car for a long time. Meeting Madison had made him very, very sad. Her world would never be the same. Randy had robbed her of a soul mate, that was obvious. Close friends were hard to come by, and Madison spoke of Jane like they were sisters.

Turning the ignition, Jeremy decided to head back to the office. Madison had given him the most information so far. It was something that he could work with. If he could just find Grey and Naomi, he would feel that much more settled. He did not want them to end up like Jane did.





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

A/N: So sorry for taking forever! I'm swarmed with so much work right now (it's the final stretch of classes before exams) hope you enjoyed the new chapter! More to come soon. Please review, thanks!

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