Catching The Girl (FIRST BOOK COMPLETED)

Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Eric stared at Tom. There was just too much information for him to digest. He didn’t understand. Nicole had sat quietly on the sofa while Tom told narrated the story. The truth. Eric wished he hadn’t heard it. It changed so much. He couldn’t look at Nicole without feeling that he had not been understanding at all. He had been a jerk. Yes, a jerk.

“Nicole...” Tom wondered what to say to her. She just sat there, staring at Eric, waiting for him to look at her.

“Eric...” Nicole said softly. “Please... look at me.”

“Let me get this straight,” Eric looked up at Nicole, his face gave away nothing, “you’re an orphan now. Your parents and brother were killed when you were thirteen, on your birthday, by... a man. Tom here has known you since you were a toddler and was your brother’s best friend? Then when you went to live with your grandmother, the same day and you won’t tell how, she was killed too by the same man. On your birthday. Between then and when you were seventeen, you were thrown around in foster homes and ran away for a bit.”

You got accepted to Dartmouth, where you did your bachelors in political science and writing. And your final step was getting accepted into Harvard Law School with a full scholarship. Wow, it took you only five years to do both. There are very few people smart enough to do that. Anyway,you still had some money left from working in college, I’m guessing, and you used it to come to Los Angeles. To what? To become a seasonal teacher and a consultant for various firms?”

Nicole nodded. Eric knew he was being harsh by saying the facts so bluntly but he couldn’t help it. It was all settling in and he needed to repeat it for his own sake.

“Also, this... man sends you mutilated human parts as a birthday gift every year?”

“When the FBI ID’d those... parts... they found out the parts belonged to her grandmother, mother, father and even... even... Nate.” Tom’s voice cracked when he said his best friend’s name. He had been as pained as Nicole was about their deaths. He was a son to her parents and a brother to her.

“The FBI only got involved because at the time, someone tipped them off. Fortunately, they viewed Nikki as she was, a victim. Sadly, they asked many questions and they found out... a lot. We managed to come to an agreement with them so it was all good in the end.” Tom said. He seemed to be cutting out a lot of details.

It actually explained why her information was blocked online and removed from archives in the FBI’s name. Eric seemed to be finally getting some clarity.

“Wow. Then, on your twenty first birthday, almost a year ago, he sent you a message along with some... other stuff... which said that for your next birthday he had something extra special planned?” Eric asked, still revealing nothing on his face.

“Yes...” Nicole whispered, her voice trembled. She got up and walked to the bathroom and shut the door behind her. Eric immediately got up and was about to go to Nicole when Tom put a hand on his chest.

“If I didn’t know for sure that you loved her, I would have thought that you just hurt her on purpose. ” Tom said, staring at Eric with what clearly seemed to be a lot of self control.

“I do love her.” Eric just said. It’s just a little difficult to believe her.

“You don’t seem like the type to love one woman.” Tom stated.

“That’s true, I used to play around a lot with women. The moment I saw Nicole I knew it was time to settle down and I promised myself I would never hurt her. I will never hurt her. I promise.” Eric replied, honestly. He didn’t know what had possessed him to talk to her so unkindly. So so unkindly. He prayed that he hadn't messed up too bad.