Manhunt (16 page)

When Aaron was finished with his cursory exam, he turned to the FBI agents. “If Nikki is not being charged with a crime, I would like to take her to our hotel now. She needs her dressings redone and is obviously exhausted.”

The men both nodded in agreement. “Ms. Wright, you are free to go for now, but we will most likely have more questions for you tomorrow after we are done interrogating Mr. Brennan, so don’t leave town. Understood?”

“Yes, sir,” Nikki replied. Although every cell in her body was screaming to stay, to find Michael, she had no other choice at the moment but to leave. Christian wrapped her into his embrace as they walked outside. It was warm and familiar and safe, but it was not the one she wanted.

Chapter 15

Michael looked around the small, cold jail cell in which he found himself. He had adamantly refused to answer any questions until his lawyer arrived, which they were informed would be the next morning. He had no idea what Nikki had told them and he wasn’t taking a chance of contradicting her. Let them think he kidnapped her. He couldn’t deny it. Besides, he was going to be serving time for murder, what were a few more years for kidnapping? It was a small price to pay to ensure Nikki could lead a happy life from here on out. That had been his motivation all along.

After what seemed like hours of trying to convince him to talk, the cops put him in solitary confinement for the night. He was thankful. He didn’t want to have to spend the night with God only knows what kind of criminal. Paul, the officer who had arrested him, brought him something to eat and let him know his parents had arrived and had taken Nikki to a nearby hotel. He wished he could have seen them for himself, but he wasn’t allowed any visitors. He was grateful they were able to be there for Nikki. At least she would be able to sleep on a comfortable bed tonight. He hoped it was a nice hotel, with room service, a pool, sheets that didn’t feel like sandpaper, and absolutely no dead frogs.

She must be so scared right now, he thought. Hell, he was scared. Terrified, actually. He slipped beneath the scratchy sheets and curled himself in a ball, praying for his dreams to take him somewhere else. Anywhere else. Anywhere Nikki was.

*******

Meanwhile, Nikki was inconsolable. Aaron had reserved a two-bedroom suite at the hotel, but Nikki couldn’t sleep, not without Michael. Besides, she was finding it incredibly difficult to look Aaron and Olivia in the eye, knowing both of their children were currently behind bars because of her. They tried to convince her otherwise, but she couldn’t let go of her guilt. They sat in awkward silence while Aaron re-taped her ribs and removed the stitches from her forehead. Eventually, she had found her way to Christian and Sophie’s room, where she sought comfort by sandwiching herself between them on the bed like a four-year old during a thunderstorm.

“Shh… It’ll be all right, sugar. You’ll see.” Christian tried to soothe her, running his hand up and down her arm, while Sophie caressed her hair. “Wes is a terrific lawyer; the best there is at what he does. We have to trust him to fix this.”

Nikki nodded her head, sniffling. Sophie offered a tissue over her shoulder. “Thanks,” Nikki said before blowing her nose loudly. “When will we get to see him?”

“Who? Wes? Or Michael?” Christian asked.

“Both.”

“Wes said he’ll be here first thing tomorrow morning. I let them know that when we got to the precinct. Based on what Michael tells him, he’ll decide on how to proceed from there.” Christian paused for a moment then shook his head, looking like he wanted to say something but talked himself out of it. Instead, he bent down and kissed Nikki on the forehead with a sigh. “You should get some rest, the both of you.” He gave Sophie a pointed glance. She sighed before giving in and nodding. “I’m going to go talk to Aaron for a bit. You two be all right in here?”

They both nodded, and Nikki blew her nose again. Christian chuckled and kissed them both on the forehead before getting off the bed and leaving.

“Are you even supposed to be here? Shouldn’t you be lying at home with your feet propped up while Christian feeds you bonbons or something?” Nikki asked, rolling over to look at Sophie. “I’ll never forgive myself if something happens to the baby.”

“Cut it out! I’m fine. The baby’s fine. I’m pissed at Christian for telling you that; you’ve got enough to worry about. Besides, I am really overdue for girl talk!” Sophie’s face perked up at the very idea and she started bouncing on the bed, her voice going up half an octave in excitement. “So, what’s going on with you and Michael? Are you guys back together now or what?!”

“Yeah,” Nikki blushed, “I think so, anyway. I love him, and not just because I used to love him, you know what I mean?”

Sophie nodded enthusiastically. “And what about Michael? How does he feel?”

Nikki’s face lit up with joy, and Sophie smiled knowingly.

“He loves me too! He always has. We talked a lot about the problems we had before, why he acted the way he did, why I acted the way I did. I almost think my amnesia helped, in a way. I remembered things little by little, so we were able to address each issue individually instead of it becoming a kitchen sink argument. Does that make sense? Anyway, I think we both finally realized that the love was always there, just as strong as ever. It was just buried beneath layers of guilt and grief and bullshit.” Nikki’s smile faded. “I almost wish he didn’t love me as much as he does.”

Sophie’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “Why? How could that possibly be a bad thing?”

“He’s in jail right now because of me. My love for him drove me into the arms of an abuser. If anyone should have seen the warning signs, it was me! I grew up watching it. Michael grew up living it, and he never wanted me to go through that. His love for me drove him to murder! If he didn’t love me so much, Sebastian wouldn’t be dead, and Michael would be going about his merry way in Philadelphia.”

Sophie chewed on her lower lip for a moment before replying. “Nikki, this might be the wrong thing to say to someone with memory issues, but you need to stop living in the past. You can’t keep beating yourself up like this. That’s what Michael did when your mom died, and no good came from it.”

“That’s different!” Nikki retorted defensively.

“No, it isn’t. And what’s more, I can guarantee you that Michael is happier, right now in that jail cell, knowing you love him, than he ever was in Philadelphia.”

Nikki couldn’t deny that was inevitably the truth. No matter how messed up things were right now, knowing Michael never stopped loving her made her happier than she had been in any of her recalled memories. When Sophie seemed sure Nikki was convinced, she tried to shift the conversation back to lighter topics.

“So what was your vacation like?”

Nikki chortled at Sophie calling their time on the run a vacation.

“What? It kind of was, right?” Sophie protested. “I saw you at Disney World! You’ve always wanted to go there, I should have figured that’s where he’d take you. What else did you do? Where’d you stay? Did you sleep in the same bed? Did you do more than sleep? I want details! Spill!”

Nikki knew what Sophie was trying to do, and decided to give in and enjoy the moment. Even though she did feel guilty smiling while Michael was in jail, let alone laughing and talking about sex. Then again, who knew when they’d get a chance like this again?

“Oh my God!” she gushed, exaggerating her enthusiasm just a little as she tried to get into the spirit of things. “It was amazing! And the things he can do with his tongue!”

About that, there was no need to exaggerate. It was Sophie’s turn to blush as they giggled like school girls. They talked for a couple hours, about the trip, about everything Nikki had remembered so far, about everything she and Michael had missed while they’d been gone, about what they thought would happen in the coming days.

When Christian returned, he found them both fast asleep, each one facing the other and cuddling a pillow. He smiled, so happy to have his two favorite girls together again. He wished he had a camera, so he could take a picture and show it to Michael. He grabbed the extra pillow and blanket and crashed on the couch.

The next morning, Nikki got up and dressed quickly, anxious to get back to Michael. She was grumbling to herself when they insisted on meeting for breakfast in the lobby, until Christian told her they were supposed to meet Wesley Straussman, the attorney Christian retained to represent them all, there. He was due at 9 A.M., but as the clock passed a quarter to ten, Nikki’s nerves were shot. Why couldn’t he just meet them at the police department? Her knee wouldn’t stop bouncing as she kept compulsively checking the door.

Finally, the face she recognized from Jeremy’s press conference strode in, obviously in a rush. He stopped a random waitress and ordered a coffee with cream and told her to bring it to their table, pointing at Christian, who stood to shake his hand, as did Aaron, before they all sat back down.

“Sorry I’m late, folks. I stopped by the jail on my way here to meet Michael, and it took a little longer than anticipated.”

He gave Christian a pointed look, the two of them having a moment of silent conversation before the lawyer turned his attention to Nikki.

“And you must be Nicole. You’re every bit as lovely as the Brennan boys described. I’m Wesley Strausman, Christian’s attorney, and I will be representing Michael for these proceedings. You can call me Wes.”

He extended his hand to her, which she shyly shook. Christian rubbed his hand up and down her back between her shoulder blades, hoping it would calm her. It didn’t work. If Wes noticed how nervous or uncomfortable she was, he didn’t mention it.

“All right, then,” he said, retrieving a leather portfolio from his briefcase and opening it to a blank page. Nikki noticed her name fly by on the previous page, and wished she could read what was on it. “Let’s get down to business. First, let’s discuss Jeremy.” Wes turned to Aaron. “The police never did truly believe his confession. I’m certain they only arrested him in the hopes that plastering his face on the six o’clock news would lure Michael out of hiding. Which it did. Michael’s apprehension, along with the fact there were aspects of the crime Jeremy failed to describe in the confession, has allowed me to negotiate his immediate release. All charges are being dropped. The paperwork was being submitted when I left this morning, and my assistant arranged for his car to be waiting for him. With any luck, he’ll beat you folks home tonight.”

“Tonight?” Nikki shot to attention, alarmed. “There’s no way I’m going back to Hershey tonight without Michael. We can’t just leave him here!”

“Calm down, Miss. Of course we’re not leaving Michael behind. The Feds have arranged his transfer back to Hershey to stand trial. He’ll be taken by police van back to Pennsylvania today. The arraignment should take place first thing tomorrow morning. I’ll confirm a time for you as soon as I get the docket.”

“What will the charges be?” Olivia asked.

“Murder in the first degree, felonious kidnapping, possession of stolen property, and possibly interference with the course of an investigation,” Wes ticked off each item as though it was a grocery list.

“For the last time, Michael didn’t kidnap me! I tried explaining that to the agents last night, but they wouldn’t listen.”

Wes looked at her kindly. “Well, Ms. Wright, Michael disagrees with you, as do the agents you spoke with. You need to understand that forcing the issue on this could possibly lift the kidnapping charge, but then you too would most definitely be charged with interfering with the course of an investigation and possession of stolen property. Michael would prefer you let the charge stand, and I’m inclined to agree. For one reason, your amnesia was almost absolute at that point. You were not in complete control of your faculties and were therefore unable to make an informed decision in the eyes of the law. Besides, you will be more help to him as a kidnap victim-turned-character witness than you would be as a fellow criminal testifying on his behalf.”

“He’s right,” Aaron said. “We need to look at the big picture.”

Everyone else but Nikki nodded their heads in agreement. Nikki wasn’t happy about it, but conceded defeat.

“Good,” Wes addressed the group. “We’re in agreement. On to the next order of business. Nicole, they want to question you about the night of Mr. Cross’s death. I would like to go over everything with you first. Someplace more private, of course. I would also like to recommend a colleague of mine, Dorothy McKnight, to represent you.”

Wes handed her a business card. Nikki glanced at it, then looked at him in confusion. Wasn’t that what he was for?

“I’m representing Michael,” he answered to her puzzled expression. “Although we all know you’re on the same side, technically you are one of his alleged victims.”

“Oh.” Nikki let that set in for a moment. It didn’t settle well with her.