Dawn Again

Ten

The longer Richard observed Josh with Sophie, the more impressed he was by the young man. He kept up a near constant stream of conversation, drawing in Sophie, making her talk and generally creating a cohesive group out of the three so that they were all relaxed and comfortable. That is precisely what Sophie needed. Richard was actually glad he'd not dissuaded Josh from joining them. Although Richard was itching to have Sophie all to himself, he realised that now was not the time. His personality was too forceful to be able to draw Sophie out. Josh was doing exactly that. The three of them had ordered their meal and were now waiting to be served when Josh's phone chirped. The tone was obviously set for something specific and important because Josh tensed up as soon as he heard it and quickly got up saying, "Sorry guys. I need to make a call. Be right back." And he was out!

Sophie's eyes followed the retreating figure of Josh and then came back to Richard. "Thank you for everything Richard. It seems like you have been there for me today every time I got into a jam, from morning till night! And thanks so much for dragging me out right now. I am really feeling much better." she said. Then with a tiny smile, but eyes full of mischief, she added, "And thank you for being a burr!" That smile and the world of emotion in her eyes pulled Richard further into her spell. She was affecting him far too much and he needed to reel it in. Richard sent her a mock angry glare and growled, "We agreed on hound." Sophie laughed, and retorted, "I never did!". "Witch" grumbled Richard.

Josh stepped out of the restaurant and dialled a number. It was picked up pretty much straight away, and Josh said, "We got a problem, man. Sophie's photo has popped up on f*******: and twitter." "What? When?" roared the man at the other end. Josh told him, "Not more than 5 minutes ago. I could hack in and remove the tweets and posts, but by the time I do that, the damage will be done." "We need to move her. I will call you back within the hour with a plan. How the f**k did this happen?" said the man at the other end. Josh told him about Charles' attack on Sophie and also all about Richard. The man let out another road, "What? Who is he? Why is he interested in Sophie?" Josh pulled the phone away from his ear, and grumbled, "Don't do that man. It is really not good for my ears. As for this Richard dude, he is one of your types. I am sticking to her while he is around though, like a burr if you ask her." The man chuckled, "That absolutely sounds like her." "And you don't really want me to tell you why he is interested in Sophie, do you? I mean, she is a bloody man-magnate!" Josh continued. "Yeah! Don't I know that!" the man muttered and said, "Thanks, bro. I will call you very soon."

Josh ended the call, and joined Sophie and Richard, muttering "Sorry guys." It was not long before the food arrived, and also Richard's phone rang. He looked at the phone, and got up with, "Sorry guys. Need to take this one." "If you value your food, you won't take long." teased Josh as Richard walked outside.

"Hey man, Nathan, what's up?"

"A brother needs help." started Nathan. Nathan had reached the ripe old age of fifty without getting a hang of leading into a conversation or starting with pleasantries. Slap-bang-slap was how he usually worked.

"Yeah. Nice to hear from you too!" poked Richard.

"His name is James Tucker. His sister has been living in Seattle for the last two years, hiding from her husband, John Quinn." Nathan continued.

"f**k! That is a lot worse than what I thought." muttered Richard to which Nathan responded, "What do you mean Z?" Richard brought him up to speed with all that had happened during the day regarding Sophie, ending with, "There cannot be that many troubled women with brothers called James who also happens to be a solder in Seattle. So, I am assuming that I already have the woman in question with me!"

"James has some geek kid looking out for his sister. It was the kid that found out that her photo had popped up all over the internet. Some stalker guy calling her my beautiful darling... or some such drivel." said Nathan.

"Josh" supplied Richard.

"Huh?"

"The geek kid is at least 6'4" and answers to the name Josh," informed Richard.

"Right. Well, James is away on Uncle Sam's business and cannot extract her himself. He asked for our help. And finally, the brother and sister are f*****g paranoid, understandable all things considered. But the girl will not touch you with a mile long pole unless you give her this line, verbatim: Trust me Ana." concluded Nathan.

"Absolutely. Done. But damn! I thought there was some story about her, but this is huge! Quinn is a powerful fucker! If Josh found out about her photos, I bet Quinn has too. I will move her and keep you posted." Richard ended the call.

Both Josh and Sophie looked up as Richard joined them back. "Sorry guys. What do you think? Like the food?" asked Richard. He was still putting his thoughts in order when Sophie's phone rang. "Wow, we cannot seem to get through 3 minutes without some phone ringing!" she chuckled, and picked up the phone, "Hey brother! How are you?" said Sophie. "Hi, darling! Same old same old for me at this end cupcake! But we have bad news." replied Josh. Sophie's face paled and her lips quivered. She thinned her lips into a straight line, took a deep breath, and said, "It had begun to feel too good to be true. Is he here already?" Richard's gut twisted at the turmoil evident on Sophie's face. At the same time, he could not help but admire the way she pulled herself together and seemed to get ready for the proverbial battle.

James continued, "Charles put your photos online. I had asked Josh to keep an eye on the internet if something like this happened. He found out five minutes ago and called me. I cannot come to you right away sweetheart, but I have asked a friend who has connections in Seattle to help you get away from there. His name is Richard Ballantyne, he will get to you shortly. But honey, remember, don't trust anyone...not until he says our code. I will come to you as soon as I can." Sophie closed her eyes, and a single tear slid down her cheek. She furiously wiped at it, tried to put on a cheerful note, failed miserably, and said, "Don't worry J. I will just go where we agreed I should go if such a thing happened. You know I don't need help...don't you?"

"I know Ana. I know you can do this. But I knew Nathan had contacts in Seattle. That's why I called him. These are good guys Ana. I will feel better if you have someone with you. Will you do this for me, please?" said James. Suddenly Sophie got up from her chair, and ran outside, "I don't need anyone's help, James. I am tired of being scared, and of feeling helpless and incapable. I am not going to wait for anyone. I am going to our place, and wait there for you. Bye J." She ended the call before James could counter her and kept running.