Bound To You: Inevitable

Chapter 3

~Ari~

After spending sometime with Jaxon, I felt better. He always makes me smile. I told Cami that I’ll see her later and now I’m on my way to the office. When I arrived, I went straight to Briggs office. I knocked on the door and he told me to come in. “Hey,” I said.

“Hey, sleep good?”

“Yes, but we have a problem.” He looked at me. “I saw him,” I confessed. “This morning, he was with another woman.” He looked at me with pity.

“I’m sorry. I know part of the reason you accepted this assignment was for you to reunite with him.” I sighed.

“It’s okay. He seemed happy and she was very pretty.” I plopped into his chair. “Arielle, I’m about to go into friend mode really quick. You are a beautiful woman. You survived something most wouldn’t have and was blessed with a miracle.” I played with my fingers and smiled as I thought about my son. I still can’t believe that I’m a mom. I didn’t even know I was pregnant when everything happened.

“You’re right. But I just can’t forget him. I love him.”

“I know you do, but he thinks you’re dead. Maybe he is still grieving. Did he see you?”

“No. Even if he did, I wouldn’t know what to say. I just can’t go to him and say hey Zane, I’m back from the dead.” He snorts and I give him a death stare. “Okay, so what are you going to do?” I threw my hands in the air.

“I don’t know. He doesn’t know about Jaxon.” It hasn't been a full twenty four hours and the man already had me mixed with emotions. Briggs has been my mentor since I was in college. He blames himself for what happened but I reassured him that it wasn’t his fault. Still, he felt guilty. He’s been so supportive of me and my decisions. He was almost like a big brother to me. Despite our age difference, we had a bond.

“Anyway, how’s Tony?” I asked him. Tony was his husband. “He’s fine. He said he misses me and wants me to take some time off.” I met Tony twice when Briggs came to visit me in Barcelona. “But enough about our men, back to boss mode. The cities of Atlanta and Decatur has had a string of murders in the last month. The unsub has left no trace so locating him will be a challenge.” He passed a file with a picture of a man. “A Caucasian male, mid 40s, was last seen in Conyers. These women were murder by him,” he revealed. I looked at the file and saw the one common factor with the women.

“He has a type that’s for sure,” I said. I spreaded the white thin pieces of papers on his desk as we observed each woman. “They all have dark hair.”

“Right, but look at this.” He pulled out some files. These were the victims. “Here we have Stacy Hastings. She was a hotel manager and was working the night that she was murdered.” Briggs explained. I looked over hers alone with the other four.

“They all are affiliated with this hotel.” I insinuated. What was the cause of death?” These women were young and was murderer within weeks of each other with the most recent murder being three days ago. “Poison. The Atlanta police department already made a public statement. This man is looking for something.” We stayed for hours going over these reports. We put a plan of action together and decided we would meet again tomorrow. “Go ahead, it’s already after six,” Briggs said.

“Okay.” I grabbed my purse and I left. I called Cami to check on her and Jaxon. “Hey,” she answered.

“Hey, how’s my baby.” I missed him so much today and it was hard leaving him this morning.

“He’s good. I just fed and changed him and now he’s asleep.” He was only three months old and was so advanced.

“Okay I’m on the way there. Did you talk to Riley?” I asked.

“Yes, she should be here soon. And she’s also bringing Alaia.” Alaia was Riley’s and Jacob’s daughter. I was nervous to see how she would react. “As a matter of fact, I think this is her in my driveway.”

“Okay. I’ll be there in a half hour.” I sped on the freeway trying my best to avoid the Atlanta traffic jam. “See you soon,” she said and I pressed the red phone button in my radio. My heart raced not expecting the outcome of this. I just hope it’s a good one.

I pulled into Cami’s driveway almost an hour later, hoping that I didn’t miss Riley. I reached her door and raised my hand to knock. She opened the door. “She’s in the kitchen. Come on.” She pulled me in and after a full year of not seeing my best friend, I saw a glimpse and my eyes watered. She was looking into her phone. Swallowing the lump in my throat, I spoke.

“Riley.” She looked up and she looked if she seen a ghost. I mean she technically did.