Into Darkness

Chapter 24

Ryler:

Nikki was ecstatic when Colt and I came back with the info about the car for her. She loved feeling useful and I loved seeing her happy. I wondered if we should actually be giving this info to actual law enforcement, but Colt informed me that Agent Hawthorne had kind of hired Nikki onto this case as some type of outside computer expert. I was surprised neither Nikki nor Agent Hawthorne mentioned it to me themselves, but I decided to let it go. We had plenty of other things to worry about.

Since Nikki now had unfettered access to the FBI database her search was able to go much faster. Unfortunately for us there are several hundred people in this city who own burgundy Toyota Camrys. After hours of sifting through the owners of the vehicles I make Nikki go to bed and tell her we can continue this tomorrow. She wasn't happy with me, but eventually agreed. I could see the tiredness in her eyes. She needed sleep.

Colt stayed with us for the first couple hours of the search but I made him leave after a while. I didn't want him to go but I knew Nikki would find it strange if he stayed in our room past eleven even if it was for work. He reluctantly agreed to go, but only after I promised that we would call if we found anything and that we would go to bed soon.

As usual sleep never really comes for me. I fall into a restless sleep for maybe two hours before a nightmare sets in and I wake. My nightmares have been differently lately. They start off as memories, but eventually now turn into events I don't recognize. Many of them involve me losing Nikki or my parents. Those have been occurring ever sense the photo of Connor arrived. I'm so terrified of losing them. The way I lost him.

I feel exhausted as I go through my day. I think even Colt could tell as he took it pretty easy on me this morning in our training session. I thought about calling him on it, but decided against it. I was too tired to start an argument about something that was not important. I also didn't feel like drawing attention to the fact that I'm physically and mentally exhausted. It would only make Colt worry more.

"Maybe you should skip work tonight" Colt says as we walk back to the dorms after lunch.

I shake my head, "No Colt. I need to work."

"You don't need to" he says.

"Yes I do" I say adamantly. "It keeps my mind off everything."

He sighs, "Fine" he says giving in. "Will you take a nap at least before work? You look exhausted Ry."

I smile when I hear him use Nikki's nickname for me. She was usually the only one to call me that, but I liked the way it sounded coming from him. "Will you stay with me?" I ask bravely. "The nightmares aren't so bad when you're there."

He pauses beside me as we stand in the dorm hallway and looks down at me, his eyes filled with emotion. I can tell my words have struck a chord I just hope it's a good one. "Of course I'll stay with you" he whispers softly and I can tell from his tone that my words meant a lot to him.

He follows me into my room and I put my bag down and then wander over to my bed. He follows closely behind and pulls back my covers for me so I can slide in. Once I climb into my bed he tucks me safely inside and then pulls a chair over to sit next to me and hold my hand.

I want to ask him to crawl into my bed with me and hold me, but I'm afraid he'll tell me no. I'm also afraid that Nikki will maybe come back early and find us. I decide to quickly text her that I'm taking a nap and she replies quickly to tell me that she won't be back all afternoon so I don't have to worry about her coming in. This relaxes me some.

"Colt" I whisper.

"Yea?" he asks as his eyes meet mine.

"Will you hold me?" I ask quietly and I break eye contact as I wait to hear his answer. He squeezes my hand and the pressure causes me to look up at him, which is what I know he wanted. In his soft silver eyes I can see his answer, I can see that he wants to give me everything I want and the thought makes my heart swell. I move over and he slides into bed with me. I rest my head on his chest over his heart and the sound of the smooth beat soothes me, like a lullaby. He wraps his arms around me and holds me tightly as he rubs gentle circles on my back and within moments I can feel myself slipping into unconsciousness knowing the whole time that Colt will be there to keep me safe.