Chasing the Omega Book 2
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Jessica Edwards
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19
Chapter One
Book Two: Chasing the Beta
“Three deaths. An attack. And all the victims were close to Alice. With each death, Alice becomes more isolated—yet she's caught between two males, each demanding something new from her. But through it all, Alice remains determined to find the killer.”
ALICE
She was gone.
That was definite.
My mother, who had raised me for eighteen years, was now dead before me.
It didn’t matter how many times I prayed and begged for her to breathe. She was already gone.
Eighteen years she had raised me, and those eighteen years were full of love, anguish, joy, and even loss, but I wouldn’t have had it any other way.
Looking back at all the memories my mother and I shared, I realize there isn’t a single person I’d rather have shared all those events with. And now that she’s gone, I feel completely lost.
Where do I go from here?
She never hurt anybody or created enemies. She wasn’t that kind of person.
I mean, she saved lives, for God’s sake!
I must’ve been lying on the floor for hours, but the only place I wanted to stay right now was with my mother. I wanted to cradle her to my chest until my arms gave out, but I refused to let her go.
From all the blood, sweat, and tears I’ve had to go through this week, I didn’t think I could endure more heartbreak and loss.
How much more could I take, until my own heart gave out?
The question that kept circling in my head was who could do something like this, and what reason did they have for it? But deep down, I knew who did it. There was only one person I knew that could be responsible for this.
Mr. Edmund.
His intention was to kill me, but instead he murdered my mother, in cold blood. If he killed my mother to get at me, then I would do the same to him.
He won’t get away with this.
Away from me.
Not after this.
Mark my words, I’ll be coming for you.
Whether it be a week, a month, or a year from now, I’ll be coming for
you.
Another hour goes by, and I remain with my mother’s lifeless corpse. While the sky becomes darker, I get colder, but nothing, not even the cold, can drag me away from the woman lying in my arms.
I’ll never leave her side.
“Alice!”
A voice in the distance urgently shouts my name. Deep and guttural, the voice sounds panicked, and it belongs to a man.
I shrug it off, thinking that I’m probably hearing things, but when I hear the faint familiar sound of the back door being pulled open in haste, I know that someone’s here.
Could it be Mr. Edmund?
Has he come back to kill me too?
I press my mother tightly to my chest when I see the figure approaching.
Not once do I meet the eyes of whoever’s running toward us.
I keep my focus entirely on my mother.
“Alice!”
He shouts my name again and stops right in front of me. He breathes heavily as though he’s been running for quite some time, but who is this person, and why is he here?
“Alice.”
Again, he calls my name, but I can’t think of anything to say in response.
He remains standing still, but when he realizes that I won’t answer him, he slowly crouches down in front of me, his face so close, I can feel his hot breath against my cheek.
I still can’t bring myself to look at the person in front of me.
How can I when I’m still trying to get my head around the fact that my mother has just been murdered?
“Alice, look at me.” His voice is gentle, as though he doesn’t want to startle me. As he speaks, recognition stirs, and I remember where I’ve heard this voice before.
I ignore his words and continue to stare at my mother, but when his hand reaches toward her, my head swings to the movement, and I start to growl.
“Don’t touch her!” I hiss.
His hand stops mid-air, but he doesn’t lower his arm. Instead brings his other arm forward and puts his palms facing forward, as if in surrender. “I wasn’t going to touch her.”
I shake my head repeatedly, not believing a single word. “You’re here to take her from me! I won’t let you take my mother away!”
He lowers his arms and rests them at his sides. “Alice, I promise I’m not here to take her away. I’m here to help you.” His voice becomes desperate. “Please look at me.”
I take in his words, and after a long final look at my mother, I take a deep breath and slowly meet his eyes. I release my breath and start to cry when I stare into the greenest eyes I’ve ever seen.
What’s he doing here?
I remember the words we exchanged just hours ago and flinch at the harsh words I’d said, but I still couldn’t understand why he was here.
I look at him through tear-filled eyes and shake my head in disbelief. “Ryder...?”
He smiles warmly at me and nods. “That’s right. I’m here, and I’m not going anywhere.”
I look down at my mother and more tears start to fall. “Why are you here?”
He’s silent for a few seconds, then clears his throat. “I heard you scream and followed your voice.” He shakes his head in distress. “I’ve never been that scared before in my life. I didn’t know what to expect after finding you.”
“What did you expect to find?”
He too looks down at my mother. “Not this. Never in my life did I expect to see this.”
I remain silent, too, because I can’t help but think the same.
I’ll never be able to forget what I saw.
Ryder inches closer and brings his arm forward again. “Alice.”
I stop him by shoving my hand out in front of me. “Stay back, and don’t come any closer.”
He stops again. “Alice, I’m not here to hurt you. I just want to help.” He points at my clothes. “You’re covered in blood. I just want to get you cleaned up, okay?”
I looked down at myself and saw the blood all over my clothes. I turn over my trembling hands and again see blood coating my fingers and under my nails. The more I looked at the blood, the more nauseous I felt.
Suddenly, a hand gently cups my cheek and lifts my attention from the blood on my hands. “Let me help you.”
I shake my head. “What is there to help with? My mother’s dead and there’s nothing I can do to get her back!” I wail.
Ryder looks at me compassionately while stroking my cheek softly. “I know that there’s nothing I can do or say to make things better. I feel completely helpless right now.”
He looks down at the floor. “I’m so sorry that I wasn’t here to protect you or your mom.”
I repeat his words over in my head and gasp when I think of something that might actually work. “Then, turn her.”
He looks at me questioningly. “What?”
“Turn her,” I repeat.
“It doesn’t work like that, Alice.”
I can feel the hope of bringing back my mother disintegrate. “I can’t live without her, Ryder. She’s all I have left.” I plead while staring deeply into his eyes.
He shakes his head again. “I can’t turn her.”
“Please!” I beg.
“It’s too late. I’m so sorry, darling.”
And that’s when everything goes black.
***
Could it be possible that it was just a dream, or will I wake up to realize that nothing’s really changed? If that was the case, I didn’t want to wake up.
I was too scared to know if the events of tonight actually happened, because if it was true, then I’d rather keep my eyes closed.
I knew that I was lying down on the living room couch, I could smell the strong familiar scent of the cinnamon candle my mother adores.
At every Christmas, I always made sure to buy her that candle, and it would last her the whole year. From all the gifts I would present her with, the cinnamon candle was always her favorite.
I smile to myself while remembering her unwrapping the wrapping paper and holding a candle in the palm of her hands, her eyes filling with joy, but the smile soon vanishes when I start remembering what happened here tonight.
I soon find that even the memories of the past are too painful.
I slowly open my eyes, and the first thing I hear are two male voices talking in a hushed tone on the other side of the room.
“I will have to interview her, Ryder.” The voice is recognizable. It doesn’t take me long to figure out who that voice belongs to.
“Tom, please understand. This is her mother, alright? Not a co-worker.”
Even though Ryder’s talking in a hushed tone to the police officer, his voice has complete authority.
Tom sighs. “I understand that it’s her mother, but it’s a murder investigation, nevertheless. I’m going to have to speak with her.”
“I didn’t call you here to take her statement. She can barely think, let alone speak right now.” Ryder’s tone rises.
“Ryder, let me do my job. I’m going to need answers, and the only way I’m going to get them is from her.”
I can sense the impatience coming from the officer, but one thing I know for sure is that he won’t get any answers from me.
I’m just as confused as everyone else.
“For fuck’s sake, Tom! Just stop with the whole inquisition!” Ryder bellows. “This isn’t the time or the place to be asking questions!”
“How else am I supposed to do my job? Yes, her mother’s dead, but the killer is still out there. I need to catch that person before somebody else gets killed.”
“Can you please be a bit more sympathetic? I care about that girl so much that it hurts, and I can’t begin to imagine what she’s thinking about right now. She’s going to need a lot of time to process this.”
“I know.”
Ryder continues. “Losing a family member is something you can’t relate to. So, please leave the interrogation for another time.”
Tom exhales. “I keep forgetting that you’ve gone through something like this before. With Anna.”
Silence.
“Don’t bring Anna into this.” Ryder snaps. “Her murder isn’t connected to these murders. Don't make assumptions.”
I don’t hear Tom’s response because all I can hear is a deafening sound coming from outside. I quickly sat up to see the whole house engulfed in blue lights.
No! They’ve come to take her away!
I shove myself off the couch, race out the front door, and run across to the other side of the road to the ambulance. I start to cry when I see my mother being lifted into the back of the vehicle. In a black body bag. “Stop!”
Before I can take another step, strong arms wrap around my waist and start to pull me further away from the vehicle. I claw with all the strength I have left at the hands keeping me from reaching my mother.
Let go of me!
When I see the double doors of the ambulance begin to close right before my eyes, I feel as though I might throw up.
“No...” I shake my head in horror.
This can’t be happening!
I claw at the hands again but start to panic when I hear the engine of the ambulance starting.
I scream in frustration but give up the fight when the vehicle slowly takes off in the direction of the hospital, taking my mother away. “Come back!” I scream into the night.
Unexpectedly, the person holding me brings his face closer to mine, and the first thing I feel is his five o’clock shadow rubbing against my cheek.
“Alice, stop.” I immediately recognize his voice and feel a great amount of resentment toward him.
“Ryder, you promised!” I wail. “You said you weren’t going to take her away! How could you do this to me!?”
He turns me around to face him and gently cups both of my cheeks. “I know what I said, and I hate myself for lying to you, but I only did what I thought was right. Please don’t take this the wrong way.”
“You lied to me!”
Ryder only looks at me in despair.
“I didn’t even get to say goodbye.” I whisper as I lower my head in defeat.
I let the tears fall to the ground but gasp in surprise when Ryder pulls me into his chest and wraps his arms protectively around me.
I forgot how comfortable and protected I feel when I’m in Ryder’s arms.
In this moment, being in his arms is exactly where I need to be.
“Alice?”
Ryder groans. “Not now, Tom, please.” I feel his whole body go completely rigid.
He looks sternly at Ryder, then looks at me. “I know speaking to me right now is probably the last thing you want to do. I’m sorry for your loss. Losing a family member is such a tragedy. I offer you my sincere condolences.”
I numbly stare at him.
A few minutes go by with awkward silence, then finally Tom clears his throat. “Do you think you could answer some questions?”
“I said, not tonight,” Ryder seethes.
“Ryder.” Tom warns.
I feel Ryder’s body tense. “Not. Tonight.”
I detach myself from Ryder’s hold and stand directly in front of the officer. “I don’t think I can answer your questions. I know that you want answers, but, trust me, officer, there’s nothing that hasn’t happened before.”
More silence.
Tom clears his throat, again. “Maybe tonight isn’t the right time to take your statement.”
I turn to go into the house, but stop when Tom calls my name.
“One more thing, Alice. I’m sorry that I have to say this, but you can’t stay here tonight.”
First, they take my mother away and now they’re saying I can’t be in my own house.
I stare at him, motionless.
Tom reaches for his phone and holds it out to me. “Is there somebody you can call to stay with tonight or…”
Ryder interrupts. “She’s staying with me.”
Tom glances briefly at me. “Did you ask her first?”
Ryder crosses his arms over his chest. “Why would I need to ask her? She’s with me.”
“I had to ask. But seeing as she’s with you then I guess her staying at your house is probably the better option.”
I continue to stare at him.
He looks at each of us individually then nods. “Alright, then. I’ll leave you to it.” He looks at me with sympathy.
“We’ll catch this killer. I promise you that. She was a good woman, your mother, the strongest woman I knew.” He shakes his head in disbelief. “She didn’t deserve this.”
And with that, he walks away, gets into his car, and drives into the night.
Ryder and I both stare at Tom’s car as it drives away.
“He can be such a pain in the ass when he wants to be.” Ryder puts his hands on his hips while shaking his head.
“Are you ready to go?”
I turn to look at Ryder to see him looking at me.
Without a word, I turn around to look back at my house. “Where else am I supposed to go?”
Ryder calls my name softly and places a hand on either side of my neck. “Wherever you go, I go.”
I stare deeply into his eyes while thinking who I could stay with.
One of my options would’ve been to stay with Sam, but considering she’s in the hospital after being attacked, staying with her isn’t an option. So, I don’t hesitate to tell Ryder where I want to go. “I want to go home.”
He frowns. “Alice, you can’t stay here.”
“Home. Your home. With you.”
I want to be with him, only him.
He doesn’t answer me with words.
Instead he places a gentle kiss on my forehead, takes my hand, and settles me into the car parked in the drive.
