Julian’s hands shook visibly as he poured a glass of brandy. Oh, Eve, where are you? Where are you? He tossed back the dark liquid, hoping the burning sensation would incinerate the hellacious thoughts that plagued him every second since he heard Eve’s voice earlier tonight. The alcohol didn’t help. He slammed the glass to the bar. Why wouldn’t somebody call him? How hard was it to find one woman?
He returned to his desk, staring holes into the phone while silently pleading for it to ring. Wanting Eve to call, but knowing she wouldn’t. Countless times he tried her cell, only to get the same blasted recording, the customer was not available. He didn’t know where she was and he had no way of reaching her. All he knew, all that mattered, was she was in a world of pain at the hands of that bastard husband of hers. TC hurt Eve, and he would not get with that. Not by a long shot.

Julian reached for his phone at the same time the first floor maid walked into the library. “Sally, what do you want?” he said through gritted teeth.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Crane, I didn’t know you were in here.”

“You didn’t answer my question. What do you want?!”

The woman flinched. She did nothing wrong, but he was so wrought with anger and worry he couldn’t contain himself.

“A note from Ms. Rebecca,” Sally said, handing over the message with her quaky hand.

Julian remembered he hadn’t seen the pesky woman all day. Not even to break the news about his unavailability for marriage. In his worry about Eve, he had forgotten all about her. “Is she here?”

“No, sir. Good night, sir.”

He scanned the note when the maid left. Gwen lost her baby, so Rebecca and Jonathan flew out to California to be with her. Julian was sorry for Gwen and Ethan’s loss, but Rebecca being out of town was welcoming. With her out of the way, he could concentrate fully on finding Eve and formulating a plan to make TC suffer long, hard, and very painfully.
 

~*~
“Are you going to say something?” TC asked his deathly quiet friend.

Sam brushed remnants of tears from his eyes. “I don’t know what you want me to say. I can’t believe this, TC.”

“Neither can I.”

Sam turned to him. “There’s no excuse for this.” He angrily shook his shoulders. “I don’t care how angry you got, there was no excuse for this?!”

“I know, Sammy, I know.”

“Do you? Do you really know? Eve’s your wife, man. The mother of your children. How could…. I can’t understand this.”

TC sniffled, brushing away the tears that refused to stop pouring. “You can’t hate me any more than I hate myself right now.”

“Don’t try to work me with guilt!” Sam snapped. “I’m your oldest friend in this world, and I’m not falling for it. You should feel guilty. You should feel guilty as hell! You went too far tonight. You called me, but you knew what you needed to do before I got here, didn’t you? Didn’t you?!”

He nodded. “Yeah.”

“Then you do it, and you do it right now.”
 

~*~

Six weeks later….

Ring-Ring

Julian slammed the ringing phone to his ear. “Julian Crane.”

“Mr. Crane, it’s Hastings.”

“It’s been six weeks, Hastings, tell me you finally have some information for me.”

“Yes, sir, I do.”

He blew a sigh of relief and sat up in his chair. “Are you waiting for an invitation? Talk, man!”

“It appears Dr. Russell had a prescription filled today at a small pharmacy in a town called Salem. It’s on the outskirts of Cincinnati.”

“Salem? Isn’t that the town on the news with the serial killer?”

“Yes, Mr. Crane, it is.”

Julian plopped his arms on his desk. Why would Eve run to a town where there was a serial killer on the loose? He remembered Hastings mentioned a prescription? His blood ran cold. “Is Eve sick?”

“No, sir, her prescription was for uh, yes, Mynatal Rx.”

“What the hell is that?” Julian barked.

“It’s a prenatal vitamin, Mr. Crane.”

“Prenatal? Eve’s….”

“Yes, sir, Dr. Russell is pregnant.”
 

~*~
“Eve, do you need anything before I go off to the hospital? Eve?”

Eve cleared the cobwebs from her head. “I’m sorry, Lexie, did you say something?”

Dr. Alexandra Carver approached her friend. “Are you okay? Do you need anything?”

“Do I need anything?” Eve laughed humorlessly. “That’s a rhetorical question, right?”

“Oh, sweetie, I wish you would let me call someone. Whitney or Simone. Julian. You know he’ll be here in a second.”

Yes, he would be, and she so wanted to see him, but TC’s threats were all too real. Julian couldn’t be near her. She had to keep him safe. “Lexie?”

“I’m sorry. I just hate seeing you like this, especially now.”

Especially now. Eve pressed her hand to her flat abdomen, where inside a new life grew. Tears welled in her eyes.

Lexie joined her on the couch. “Hey, hey, I can call in. I’ll be more than happy to stay with you.”

“You’ve been such a good friend. I feel bad imposing on you the way I have.”

“You’re not an imposition. I like having you around. It…it helps me.”

Eve’s heart went out to the woman. The two met years earlier at a medical conference and became fast friends. Only a few weeks before Lexie’s husband was tragically killed at the hands of a serial killer, yet here she was playing hostess extraordinaire. She shook her head. “No, no, you go on to the hospital. I’ll be fine.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah, I’m feeling a little tired. I think I’ll just try to take a nap and maybe later see if I can keep something down.”

“Well, Theo’s with mother, so you’ll have the house to yourself. If you need anything, anything at all, don’t hesitate to call, okay?”

Eve nodded. “Okay.”

Lexie brushed a kiss to her cheek. “You get your rest and I’ll call in a few hours to check on you.”

“You don’t have to.”

“I want to.” After grabbing her purse, Lexie departed for University Hospital.

Eve pulled the throw over her body and reclined on the couch. She needed some rest. Maybe this time she could get more than five minutes of sleep without the horrible memories of that fateful night replaying. She closed her eyes and hoped that Julian’s smiling face would keep her nightmares away.
 

~*~
“No. Don’t. Please, stop. TC, Stop!”

“Eve?” A hand on her shoulder shook Eve from the hellish dream. She shot upright and her eyes flew open. Was she dreaming? “Julian?”

He brushed away the tears that filled his eyes. “Yes, my love, I’m here. I’m here.”

She flung her arms around his shoulders. “Julian, oh, Julian,” she managed between sobs.

He rocked her in the circle of his arms, offering comforting words. “It’s okay, Eve. I’m here and everything is going to okay. I promise. Everything is going to be okay.”