Strange Encounter

Chapter 8

Riley moped around her office most of the morning. She found it hard to concentrate. Robbie was still calling her to the point she put her phone on vibrate.

The elevator doors opened and out came men in black suits and a few police officers. "We have a warrant to search the premises."

Sally called to one of the assistants. "Get legal down here." The boy took off running.

"What's going on here?" Riley demanded.

The officer asked Riley to step aside. Peter Donaldson approached her. "We also have a warrant for Mr. Wilson. Is he here?"

"No."

"Do you know where he is?" Peter was starting to lose patience with this little chit.

"No." Riley raised her head up a notch.

"Who are you?"

"Riley Grier, comptroller of Wilson Enterprises."

Peter's eyes widened in surprise. He could understand why William was so smitten by this arrogant, petite woman in front of him. "We'll need to speak to you." He grabbed her by the arm and led her to an office.

"Hey, let me go," Riley demanded.

"Sir he's not here," stated one of the officers.

"Like I said."

Peter looked down at her and continued to the office.

******

Riley felt like she just went through the Spanish inquisition. They questioned her for 4 hours asking the same questions in different ways. Finally they realized she knew nothing and let her go. She immediately went home. Sally was in another room probably answering the same questions.

Riley was looking forward to taking a shower and just going to bed. When she approached her door, William sat there waiting for her. He slowly rose.

Seeing him there released a large range of emotions, happiness, sadness, anger. The one she chose was relief. He held his hand out to her. She ran into his arms burying her face against the corded muscles of his chest. He took her keys out her hands, without letting her go, he opened the door. Once inside she walked out of his embrace.

"Where the hell have you been?"

William started pacing. Now was the moment of truth. Tell her everything and lose her. He didn't know where to begin.

Riley watched him pace. His shoulders slumped, raking his long fingers through his curly hair. Slowly, reasoning started coming to her brain.

"It's the middle of the day. Why are you here at my apartment and not at my office?"

He stopped in front of her. Her eyes full of questions. "I want to start off by saying this weekend was real. It was a happy accident I will cherish always and hope it's a foundation of our future."

A soft gasp escaped her. "You know." He reached for her but she stepped back. "How do you know? Who are you?"

"Riley, I am William Holston but I'm not an auditor but an Inspector of Greater London's Metropolitan Police Service."

Riley looked up disorientated. It slowly sunk in. Sudden anger lit her eyes. "You're a cop."

He nodded his head. "They told me they've been investigating this for a while so you knew who I was."

"No. I've only been on the case a few weeks."

"I don't understand." Riley kept pacing her living room trying to make sense out of all of this.

"Your boss has been involved in some illegal international dealings and we were sent here to investigate and arrest the guilty party. Marcia Lewis gave us a tip."

"Mr. Wilson a criminal?"

"At first we didn't suspect him."

"Who did you suspect?"

She knew the answer before he said it. "You, but I swear...."

She cut him off. "Me. You did know about me. You used me. Was sleeping with me part of your plan?" She sputtered, bristling with indignation.

"No! Riley. Listen." He grabbed her and gave her a shake. She had to understand he never used her. He never meant to use her. What they have is real.

She ripped her arms out of his grasp and stepped back. "No. I've heard enough. Get out of my apartment, out of my life."

He sighed heavily, his voice filled with anguish. "Please listen. I did not know your name or who you were. You were just the suspect and comptroller. I swear I didn't know your name and when I found out, which was on Monday, I begged off the case."

She moved farther back away from him. He noticed a red dot pointed on her chest, over her heart. Instinct took over as he lunged at her before he heard the shot and glass shatter.

"What the hell?" was all she got out before she was knocked down on the floor, hard with William's weight on top of her. After the initial shock wore off, she started shoving at him. "Get off of me."

"Ssh," he covered her mouth with his hand. William strained his ears to hear any other noise. He reached for his gun but forgot he stopped wearing it when he would see Riley. He reached for his back pocket, pulling out his cell phone and dialed Benedict's number.

"I'm at Riley's. Shots fired. Get here now with backup," he shoved the phone back in his pocket. He removed his hand from her mouth. "Are you hurt?"

"No. What do you mean shots fired? Someone shot at us."

"At you." He looked in her fearful brown eyes. He was so scared he wouldn't make it to her in time. He noticed some blood on her face. "You're bleeding." He reached for her face.

Riley noticed the blood on his shoulder. "I'm not. You are."

He rolled off of her. When she tried to get up, he pulled her back down. "Bloody hell. Someone just shot at you. Will you stay down? Stay here." He cautiously crawled to the window, closing the blinds. He made his way to the door checking to see if it was locked.

"Why would someone shoot me?"

He went back to her and gathered her in his arms. "It's ok. I'm here and I will protect you with my life. I swear it."

She gave herself a shake. "Let me see where you're bleeding."

"It doesn't hurt."

"That's not what I asked Superman. Let me see."

He pushed her hands away. "I'm fine. It's probably a scratch."

She ignored him and lifted his shirt sleeve. It was just a faint cut. The bullet must have just grazed him. Thank God. "It's not bad but I want to stop the bleeding. You took a bullet for me."

"I just pushed you out of the way. I could not bear to see you shot or injured." He closed his eyes picturing the worst.

Riley tried to hold on to her anger but couldn't. He looked so full of anguish. "We're fine."

He opened his eyes and stared at her.

"William, I'm still hurt by these events. I'm hurt here," she pointed to her heart.

"I'm sorry but I swear I never meant to hurt you." A muscle quivered at his jaw. "If you still want me out of your life, I will leave once Benedict arrives and you're safe."

Riley chewed her bottom lip. She didn't want to lose him. She had to believe him or lose him. She sighed, weary of this internal battle. "I'm scared." She crawled on his lap.

He kissed the top of her head. "So am I."