Luis reached for her in his sleep praying he'd find her and that the last few days had just been a nightmare. He opened his eyes choking back the tears. He'd been afraid of that. She wasn't there. And God only knew where she was. But she wasn't in his bed and she never would share it again. Mumbling a curse under his breath, he grabbed a towel and headed for the shower. There would be no more sleep tonight than there had been any other night since he'd discovered she killed his father.
He could still see her tear stained face in her wedding gown on the day that should have been the first day of the rest of her life - the day her life as his wife should have began. It should have been the happiest day of their lives. She was responsible for his father's death. Accident or not. She fired the shot. He heard her footsteps as she fled the chapel but couldn't bring himself to ask her to wait. When he finally did turn around it was too late. Sheridan was gone. Forever.
As the beads of water dripped down his body he couldn't help wishing she would walk into the room, clad only in a towel and join him under the steady stream of water. He could almost feel her damp hair brush against his back as she stroked him tenderly.
He wished he could reach around and pull her into the circle of his arms and just hold her. She was his other half. And he could never be complete without her. Her absence was a gaping hole in is day to day existence. In the distance he heard the cell phone ringing. It would be Sam, or his mother, or Hank. But he didn't want to talk to any of them. He wanted to talk to Sheridan. But she was gone. He'd blown it. It was all his fault. He'd lost his faith in her. He should have known better. Something didn't fit in all this. His temper, it had cost him everything. "Damn," he said slamming his hand against the plexiglass shower door. It cracked and blood from a cut on his hand joined the beads of water. He barely noticed.
Living on Sam's boat, the Lady Grace, had been the only solution for him when they broke up. He couldn't return to his mother's house - he couldn't be in the same room with his sister right now. And the other place he would have chosen to crash, the Harmony Youth Center, well, it was haunted by her presence too. At the Youth Center he'd discovered the wonderful woman with a warm, giving, gentle, nature - the woman he'd been destined to fall in love with. He had to be somewhere they hadn't been together and in Harmony and that left Sam's boat. "God," he whispered, "I miss her so much."
Meanwhile, Sheridan folded her arms in front of her and closed her eyes. She still wanted to cry but the tears wouldn't come. Her body couldn't produce any more - after three days of tears she was so dehydrated she couldn't cry any more. So she cried with dry eyes. She would give anything to feel him wrap his arms around her waist and kiss the top of her head. He'd done that once when she'd had a bad dream about being trapped in the coffin again. He had whispered over and over again how much he'd loved her, that she was safe in his arms, and that she would never have to leave his arms again.
So much for promises. Every promise anyone had ever made to her in her whole life had been broken. Well, not every promise. Her father had all but guaranteed her that if she tried to go through with a wedding to Luis it would bring misery and destruction. Well that much had been true. At their wedding she'd learned she'd accidentally killed his father.
"Miss Crane," a soft voice said behind her, "there's an Ethan Winthrop here to see you?" The voice belonged to the rental agent's daughter. Sheridan had hired her as a personal assistant for the summer. The girl was young, maybe 17, but, she was soft spoken and discreet. Two qualities Sheridan needed right now. The agent had found the penthouse in less than two hours and had it ready for occupancy in less than twenty four. Sheridan couldn't sleep in their bed alone. She just couldn't. The penthouse was a beautiful prison but a prison none the less.
Or was that coffin? After all, Sheridan planned to bury herself here for the rest of her days and never seek out companionship again. She couldn't live life without a heart and she had permanently given it to Luis. She wished she could say she had a broken heart. But it wasn't broken. She just didn't own it any more. She'd given it to Luis without reservation months before and in truth she didn't want it back. She wanted him. She wanted his love. But it had been covered over in ice. Frozen solid.
The cold had stung her fingers as she reached out to touch him that day in their wedding chapel He'd pulled away from her and she'd fled, leaving her life, her heart and her hopes and dreams with him.
"Kimberly, tell Ethan, I'm not ready to see anyone yet. Tell him to go away. I'll call him when I'm ready to see him.
"Not good enough Sheridan." Ethan spoke from the doorway. "You can't just lock yourself away and hide forever. It's been two weeks. Come on, get dressed and we'll go for a walk."
"No," she retied the robe and stepped out onto the balcony. "Ethan, If I want air, I can come out here. I was never here with Luis, this is fine. NO ghosts."
"Luis can go TO HELL!" Ethan screamed at him. Sheridan slapped Ethan leaving a red mark on his face. "Well it's about time!" he smiled at Sheridan who stood there stunned. "Come on Sheridan, hit me again, yell at me, do something other than hide in this penthouse of yours."
"Get OUT ETHAN. I'm warning you. GET OUT!!"
"No, I care about you damn it. You can't just crawl off into a corner and die. You are a bright beautiful warm loving woman and I won't allow you to let Luis Lopez Fitzgerald kill you."
"No Ethan, Luis didn't kill me. I KILLED HIS FATHER!" Sheridan broke down and Ethan gently wrapped his arms around her. She shrugged him off and walked away. "Just go Ethan, GO."
A few days later...
Luis sat at his desk. He was remembering again. Why did she vanish? It didn't make sense. Her family said she'd gone to Europe to start a new life. At the inquest his father's death had been ruled accidental. Okay, he could accept it wasn't murder, but it wasn't like Sheridan to run away. It was more like Sheridan to demand he personally dig into the events of that fateful night; to find the body; to find out what exactly happened that night, to tie up the lose ends. She'd want the people who participated in the cover up stopped from ever doing it again.
She'd want the truth, the whole truth. He'd overheard heard her tell her father she was grateful he'd helped her all those years ago. She'd said she wished she'd never met Luis or come back to Harmony. She wanted to be a real Crane again. Julian had accused her of trying to trick them all. But she'd seemed sincere enough. It just didn't make sense. He knew her. He knew HER - THE REAL HER AND IT DIDN'T FIT. A patrol man handed him an envelope. It was her handwriting. He tore it open.
Luis,
In case you're trying to find me, I thought I'd save you the trouble. Father was right all along and your lack of faith has finally been discovered. I'm shocked you thought I was lying. To hear you chose to believe Julian's lies over my explanation of the events was like a final slap in the face: you actually chose him!
Your obsession is keeping us apart not my father. Not only do I never want to see you again, I wish you were dead.
Sheridan.
He read it over and over again. Then, he heard a woman's voice. It was quiet and off in a distance. "Believe Luis, Believe. Read it like my diary. Believe." Then it hit him. The code. The code that her mother had used in her diary. He grabbed a highlighter for the first and last word of each sentence.
IN TROUBLE FATHER DISCOVERED I'M LYING TO HIM YOUR FATHER NOT DEAD.
"I'm coming Sheridan, I'm coming!" He dropped the note on Sam's desk. "I should have had faith man. Damn, Sam, we gotta help her."
"Ethan will know how to find her." Sam said reaching for the phone.
When the three friends arrived at her penthouse ten minutes later they found Kimberly closing up. "Her father was here yesterday, they've left for Europe. Is something wrong?"
"Everything." Luis said in frustration slamming his fist on the wall. "He must have figured out she wasn't going to cover it up any more. Damn, what's he going to do to her. Where could he have taken her?"
Sam answered the page on his cell phone. "We have another problem right now. That was the National Weather Service. The hurricane gained strength over the Atlantic and it's headed back to shore. It's going to hit Harmony at full force in less than two hours. At category four. We have to evacuate the town. Luis, finding Sheridan will have to wait." The Harmony Emergency Response Team was well trained. It was mayhem for a few hours but they managed to evacuate the town and prepare.
Sheridan was completely helpless. Chained to a wall in the basement of a hideaway outside the old Harmony settlement. Her father intended to punish her for her disloyalty. She'd been drugged and
beaten but wouldn't give up. She remained defiant. He was livid.
"You bastard," she spat at him in hate. "You destroy people's lives for your own pleasure. Martin was no threat. So what, he knew you were having an affair. He knew ..."
"He knew everything Sheridan, he knew you weren't really my child and was going to reunite your mother with your natural father. The scandal would have destroyed the family. I would have lost Crane Industries over it. He had to be stopped. Well, no matter - he's as good as dead. And you, Luis will never find you. He'll never love you again. He believes you're responsible. After that note you sent him, he'll be even more sure. Just imagine Sheridan, he's going to settle down with some local girl, have four or five kids, a life of mortgages, scratching out some meagre existence. While you rot here. With Marcus for company." The burly man grabbed her and kissed her brutally. Sheridan spit in his face. He ripped the remainder of her clothing from her body.
"You'll pay for that bitch." he said reaching for a whip. He was grudgingly impressed. Half an hour and multiple lashes later, Sheridan passed out again, as before, without crying out loud or begging for mercy. She was the strongest woman Marcus had ever encountered.
The word of the storm reached Alistair as he slapped his daughter across the face yet again hoping to wake her. Alistair's beautiful assistant arrived. She passed him a note without looking at Sheridan. "Hurricane moving in." It said. Alistair's voice was stone cold. "Marcus, we'll go now."
"What about . . ."
"Leave her, I'll find you a new toy."
Marcus glanced at Sheridan. He shook his head and left the woman behind. He turned back "I'll be with you in a moment sir. I just want to make sure no one finds her. Ever." His voice was cold. Alistair nodded and climbed into the waiting car. Marcus reached for a cell phone and dialed. "The old Harmony settlement. Hurry. She's still alive. She wont survive the storm."
Luis hung up the phone not sure what to do. Then he saw the woman in white. He knew form a photograph he'd once seen - it was Katherine Crane. "Believe Luis, Sheridan needs you go, the settlement hurry!" He broke into a run and dove into the squad care. He prayed he'd make it in time. The rained pounded the car. He practically crawled. But he got there. He saw Katherine again. Outside one of the structures. Then, she vanished. He ran toward her.
Sheridan thought she was dreaming or worse. "No, stop, please Father tell him to stop! Please don't pretend to be Luis rescuing me again. Anything but that please not that. . ." She thought she heard her mother's voice. "Sheridan Believe. You have to hold on. Luis is coming. He'll be here. Just believe."
When Luis saw her he decided he wanted to kill Alistair Crane. First, for ruining his family years ago, but now, even more so for torturing Sheridan. "Sh, Sheridan, love, babe, please it's me, it's really me." He reached up and undid the handcuffs that had secured her to the wall of this dungeon. She fell into his arms, her legs too weak to support her. He lifted her gently, remembering the last time he'd carried her. The day before their botched wedding. He'd carried her to their bed at the cottage and made love to her before returning to his mother's house where they planned he'd spend that night. He'd left her sleeping. She'd looked so happy so beautiful in his arms. Now, she looked battered, broken, helpless. And none of it would have happened if he'd just believed. Luis felt responsible.
The drugs still clouded her mind. "Oh god," she whispered under her breath, "I don't care any more. I can't fight it anymore." Luis couldn't understand what she meant. Sheridan's broken voice continued in a whisper, "I'll do whatever you say but please don't make me think you're Luis again, I can't go through that again. Not again."
"Sheridan love," he pulled off his uniform shirt and wrapped it around her nude body again cursing Alistair again when he saw the bruises and cuts. She'd been severely beaten. Her wrists were so badly chafed they were bleeding. "Come on, put this on. I'll get you out of here."
Sheridan stirred. It was a police uniform shirt, with HIS scent, his voice, his face. Maybe she wasn't dreaming! She was incoherent. Talking to herself, "Maybe, NO Sheridan, stop thinking that way." The shirt felt so warm, so soft. Luis carried her up the stairs and out to the pouring rain. He cringed at her next words, "Please, just get it over with, if you're going to kill me, do it. Just do it."
Luis carried her to the squad car and set her down on the back seat. He pulled the blanket from the trunk and wrapped her in it. "Baby, Sheridan, hang on honey. Just hang on." He realized she had collapsed from fatigue and emotional exhaustion. He drove as fast as he could. He got halfway to town and realized the storm had cut them off.
The road from the old settlement where they held her was washed out. The hurricane had moved in fast. And furious. The Crane Estate was the closest shelter. He'd take her home. Not to the main house, it had been evacuated earlier in the day, but to the cottage, he shook his head as he realized he still had the key she'd given him months ago. He was taking her home. Their home, the first home they'd shared together. He looked over at her. "I'll get us home Sheridan, you're safe now. I promise. Nobody's ever going to hurt you again."
The living room furniture was hidden by dust covers. He carried her to their room and layed her on their bed.
He pulled some candles from the drawers in the living room and lit them. She was still out but her pulse was strong. He bolted to the kitchen and pulled ice cubes and the first aid kit from their respective places. As tenderly as he could he treated the cuts and bruises. He winced at the welts on her back. She stirred again.
"Luis?" she whispered. He sat beside her and kissed her hand.
"I'm here, Sheridan. I'm here. Just rest, honey." She closed her eyes and he began thinking out loud. "I've gotta do something to brace these windows from the hurricane moving in. I can't drive us anywhere. I know you're hurt, I'll get you to a doctor as soon as I can but . . . I have to take care of you til then."
"Cold, Luis, I'm so cold. " She was shivering even under the blankets.
"I'll light a fire in the living room. It's probably safer out there anyway." The bedroom windows were huge and he didn't think he could brace them enough. At least in the living room he could build a fire and use the sofa as a barrier against shattering glass. He reached over and scooped her up carrying her blankets and all out to the other room. She rested her head against his chest and wrapped her arms around his neck. He looked at her, her eyes so full of trust in spite of his rejection and her pain. He didn't deserve her. He would make all this up to her. He had to.
After settling her in a nest in front of the fire, he pulled the couch behind them. It would block the flying glass if the winds got worse. She'd dozed again but awoke as he settled in beside her. She reached up to wrap her arms around him, then asked softly, "I need this. I need to love you again Luis. I need to be with you again. Even if it's just for tonight. Just for a little while . . ." She whispered kissing his neck. He wrapped his arms around her securely and cuddled under the blanket with her.
Tears streamed down his face. "We'll talk later, love." He felt so good just holding her. "You need to rest Sheridan. Come on honey, I'm right here, I'll take care of you. Just sleep. That's right. Sleep." Her eyelids fluttered shut. The storm raged all around them, but he knew he couldn't fight the hurricane to get her to a hospital and the emergency crews would never be able to get to them even if they knew where to look. He should have been taking care of her for months. He should have vowed to love, honour and cherish her before God and their friends. He had been such an idiot.
He looked at her bruised body and cursed himself and her father again. Luis knew he had nearly destroyed her when he walked away from her but her father, the son of a bitch, had all but finished the job. He kissed her left hand and realized his ring, the engagement ring he'd given her was still on her finger. He saw the scar and realized they must have tried to cut the ring. Her finger had swollen so badly it wouldn't come off. At least wasn't blue. Luis spent the rest of the storm gently rocking her. Finally, hours later, he felt her stirring again, "I love you Sheridan. Dear God, please give me a chance to make this up to her. Please God."
Sheridan's eyes opened and she saw him clearly. The drugs had been purged from her system but she was weak and dehydrated. She lifted her hand to run her fingers through his hair. "I wasn't dreaming? Luis, it's really you."
He sighed deeply at the realization she was conscious again. "Sheridan, you're not dreaming, it's me. I'll explain everything that's happened." He pressed a glass to her lips. "Drink this, babe," The water felt wonderful in her throat.
"Hold me a little longer?" She begged him in a voice no louder than a whisper. "I felt so lost, so cold, for so long, please, hold me?"
"I'll never let you go again." He promised as he pulled her close to him, gently cradling her broken body in his arms. "You need to rest, honey. Sheridan, please forgive me. I have so much I need to tell you, to ask you. . .I don't know where to start."
"All I need to hear, is you say love me again. Please Luis, please, that's all I need to hear for now."
"I love you Sheridan. I love you. I . . . I'm a damn fool for pulling away from you, but I . . . do . . . love . . . you." He rested her head on his chest and rubbed her arms gently.
"I have always loved you Luis, I never stopped. I never could. I love you." The sound of her words chiselled away at the block of ice that had formed over his heart. Her lips searched for and found his making a tiny chip in that block of ice. When his tongue rubbed up against hers, the ice block split in two and he felt his breath catch in the back of his throat.
Sheridan felt alive again for the first time in weeks. He groaned when her fingertips sensuously traced the hard muscles of his chest. His uniform pants hit the floor shortly thereafter. He was so tender, gently kissing each cut, each bruise. It was wonderful, but she wanted more. "Luis, please, I won't break! I need to feel you close, my love, please hold me, darling, touch me."
"Are you sure?" he asked. "I don't want to hurt you."
"I've never been more sure of anything." She smiled at him tenderly. "Well, except the day you proposed to me. Let me be with you again. I need to be yours - and feel you're mine again."
Oblivious to the wind, the thunder and the lightening outside the room, Luis tenderly caressed and kissed her. "Open your eyes, love," Luis said softly as he poised above her ready to join their bodies again. "I want you to see me, see my love for you. Sheridan," he whispered her name and she opened her eyes looking deeply into his. Sheridan climaxed the moment she felt him enter her. The combination of the sensation, the emotional intimacy and the love so clearly visible on his face brought her there right away. He felt her trembled and began to gently push. He followed her shortly after her second orgasm filled her. He kept them connected for as long as he could then rolled them both over so that she lay with her head on his chest. Every part of her was touching some part of him. Eventually the hurricane moved out to sea and sunlight began to filter through the curtains.
"It looks like the worst is over. Sheridan, I want you to see Eve today," he whispered kissing her forehead.
She nodded but placed a hand on his cheek. "I will, but Luis, first I think we need to talk. How did you find me?"
He kissed her palm. "I'm not sure you'll believe me. I'm not sure I believe everything myself. But, Sheridan, suffice it to say your mother's ghost is one persuasive lady." He took a deep breath.
"Sheridan, two days ago, I got the letter your father forced you to write." She cringed remembering that afternoon. He placed a finger on her lips to silence her. "I read it, packed my bags to chase you to Europe, then I remembered the trick in Katherine's diary. When I read only the first and last words of all the sentences, I knew what had happened. You're incredible you know that?" He looked at her and shuddered realizing how close he had come to losing her forever. "Sheridan, I didn't believe it but somehow it all made sense. He kissed her forehead. "We found Papa, yesterday, my mother's with him. He knew her. He recognized her. Sheridan, thanks to you, we found my father and he's alive."
"Luis, I . . ." she didn't know what to say. "Please tell me Alistair is in custody. That he can't hurt any one ever again."
Luis looked away from her. "He vanished."
Sheridan sighed. He held her close for moment.
"You need to sleep Sheridan, I"m calling Eve. I'll ask her to come here."
"Luis, not yet. Please all I need is you. I'm sore and tired. But darling, all I really need is to sleep with your arms around me. The room is still spinning. I just need to close my eyes for a while."
When she finally dozed off, Luis reached for his cell phone. Eve said she would be at the cottage as soon as the emergency room let up. Luis stepped out to the kitchen to try to rustle up some grub when heard her scream. "Sheridan," he called as he flew to her side. She was almost hysterical when he gathered her into his arms. "Honey, it's okay, I'm here honey. You're fine."
"My father, he's on his way here, he wants to kill you - my mother she warned me. Luis, we have to run. . ."
"No honey, we're safe - we won. He'll never be able to hurt us again." He rocked her gently.
Alistair stood in the bedroom doorway with a gun pointed at them. "I should have killed both of you months ago instead of leaving it to that fool son of mine. No matter. Goodbye Sheridan, your arrogance was your undoing Luis," "
"No Alistair, it's yours." Sam Bennet's voice was as steely calm as the gazes of the SWAT team that he led. "Drop it." As Alistair's gun hit the floor Katherine and the Angel girl smiled at Sheridan and Luis and faded away. Finally Alistair Crane was defeated. It had taken more than half a century but the greatest human agent of evil in Harmony was defeated. And he knew it.
THE END