[chapter twenty-three]

Caitlin remained perfectly still in Ray's arms, trying to stop her brain from skidding in a thousand directions at once. She knew she had to remain calm to get through whatever ordeal he was going to cook up. After a few seconds, Ray slowly lifted his hand from her mouth slightly so she could talk.
"Well?" He demanded. "I asked you a question."

"Which one?" She managed to squeak as she tried to slowly creep out of his arm hold.

"Who's your boyfriend?" Ray asked nastily, gesturing to the answering machine. "You two lovebirds have a fight?"

Caitlin tried to construct a believable lie to make sure Ray didn't fly off the deep end. She didn't want to tell him JC's name or occupation-that was for sure-but she also didn't want Ray to fly into a jealous rage knowing she was seriously involved with someone else. "He's just a guy I've seen a few times. He's more smitten than I am. Very melodramatic." She said, rolling her eyes for effect as she turned around slowly to face him. She could hardly believe they hadn't seen each other in months, and yet seeing Ray's face, she felt like their abusive relationship had only ended days before.

"I saw you crying." Ray replied.

"It's been a long couple of days, and we've been fighting a lot. I guess my emotions caught up with me." Caitlin said wearily. "I just got back in town, and I'm really tired, Ray."

"That's okay. I plan to be here for a while, so we have plenty of time to catch up on old times." Ray said sweetly. He ran a hand through Caitlin's hair, and she struggled not to cringe or pull away. She could see that Ray was walking a thin line between sanity and being a crazed ex-lover. She hoped by being neutral, but not encouraging him, he would have his fill of seeing her and leave her alone-alone and unharmed.

"How did you get away from work?" Caitlin asked.

"Told them I had some personal issues to work through. I got a two week furlough so that I could get back together with my wife." Ray said with a smirk. "They bought that we were married. I got you a ring, and everything." Ray dug around in his pocket and pulled out a thin gold band. "Here, baby. Put it on."

Caitlin closed her eyes tightly when he grabbed her hand and jammed the ring onto her "wedding" finger. Ray had obviously been planning this reunion for a while, and even though he was acting quite normally, Caitlin was still shaking with fear inside. "I don't know what to say."

"Don't say anything." Ray commanded. "You haven't even given me a welcome home kiss yet." He said, moving closer. She backed away by instinct, and his hand connected with her cheek with a crack. "I said, you haven't even given me a kiss yet." Caitlin took a breath and barely brushed his lips with hers. He grabbed her and slammed his lips into hers, then snaked his tongue into her mouth. She fought the urge to gag, to run, to scream, and when he released her a few minutes later, she took several calming breaths.

"Think, Caitlin, think." She commanded her brain. "There has to be a way to get rid of him. Or to get help. Something."

"Ray, I'm just so tired." Caitlin pleaded. "Can we do this another time?"

"Don't worry, doll. I'm here for a while." Ray answered. "I can see you're tired-why don't we head for bed, and we can catch up on things in the morning."

"Gosh, I can't. I have to work early in the morning." Caitlin said.

Ray walked towards her menacingly, an evil glint in his eye. "Really?" He asked in a low voice.

Caitlin nodded. "Yeah, and I just got a new project to work on. I can't miss work."

Ray nodded in response. "Well, you see, that's funny. I called the library looking for you earlier, and they told me you were on vacation for the next two days." Ray reached a hand behind his back and pulled a small revolver from where it was concealed in the waistband of his pants. "Are you lying to me, bitch?"

Caitlin blinked rapidly, trying not to look at the gun. "No, Ray. I just…" She couldn't finish her sentence when the barrel of the gun smashed into her temple. She stumbled backwards and howled in pain.

"Don't start with the fucking crying bit." Ray demanded. "You like it rough, remember, baby?" He insisted. Caitlin continued to back away, then forced herself to stop, not wanting to infuriate him further. He stepped close to her, and gently kissed her throbbing temple. "You know I don't like to do that, but you need to remember your place."

"I'm sorry, Ray." She whispered, fighting for control. Suddenly, she had a desperate thought for rescue. "Oh god, what time is it?" She asked quickly.

"Uh…" Ray glanced at his watch. "10:30. Why?" He asked suspiciously.

"I promised my friend, Christy, that I would call when I got home. She'll be worried if I don't call. We talk every night, usually before now." Caitlin said, constructing the lie as she went. "If I don't call, she'll worry, or come over here. We don't want that, do we?" She asked, trying to sound coquettish.

"I guess not. Make it fast." Ray said, gesturing to the phone. "And don't say anything about me-I don't want all of Orlando coming over to meet your future husband." He said with a leer.

Caitlin stood up and walked over the cordless. Grabbing it with trembling fingers, she tried to formulate what she was going to say, knowing that Ray was going to listen to every word she said. She hurriedly dialed JC's cell phone number, praying he had left it on. She knew he was already at the stadium, probably singing his heart out for 40,000 fans, but she could at least leave a message on his voice mail…

She cursed inwardly when she heard the operator telling her the mobile service was not available at this time. She hung up, then tried Chris' cell phone, knowing she had a better chance that it was on-he left it on all the time for FuMan business.

Caitlin gave a silent prayer of thanks when she heard Chris' voice mail pick it. Trying to make her voice neutral, she began to speak as though she were carrying on a two-way conversation-with appropriate pauses and mm-hms.

"Hey Christy, it's Cat." She had never been referred to as Cat, and he certainly wasn't Christy, so hopefully this would get his attention.

"How's it goin'?" She said into the receiver. "Just wanted to let you know I was back home-the car ride was terrible." Chris had known she flew home. "I didn't have any CDs with me, except for that Madonna one-the one before her most recent one?"

Caitlin paused, licking her dry lips and forcing herself to continue speaking in a normal voice as Ray watched her while sitting on the couch, still holding the gun.

"It was awful. I hate that CD. And the roomies are gone, so the house was completely empty when I got home. Makes me wish I had a boyfriend to come home to every night-though that might become a possibility sooner than I thought." Caitlin said, trying to smile at Ray, who returned the smile. Caitlin paused, as though in conversation, then began again. "I might watch a movie or two before throwing myself into bed." Caitlin wracked her brain for movie quotes she could use to convey to Chris what the situation was in Orlando. "What movies should I watch, ye mistress of all that is cinema?" Caitlin asked trying to keep her voice light.

She paused, then spoke again. "Dirty Dancing?" She said, then quoted the movie, hoping to tell Chris her state of mind--fear. "Me? I'm scared of everything! I'm scared of what I saw, I'm scared of what I did, of who I am, and most of all I'm scared of walking out of this room and never feeling the rest of my whole life the way I feel when I'm with you!" She quoted from the movie. "That's a good one to watch. Any other suggestions?"

Caitlin pretended to listen and nodded, as if in agreement. "Aliens? I love that movie!" Caitlin answered her own question, then quoted the passage she hoped would spark Chris to action… "How long before we're declared overdue can we expect a rescue? Seventeen days. Seventeen days? Look man, I don't wanna rain on your parade, but we're not gonna last seventeen hours! Those things are gonna come in here just like they did before. And they're gonna come in here... Hudson! ...and they're gonna come in here AND THEY'RE GONNA KILL US! HUDSON! This little girl survived longer than that with no weapons and no training, right?"

Caitlin paused, as though listening, then spoke again. "Well…I think I'm going to be really busy the next few days. I have…friends visiting from out of town, so I don't think I can do coffee. But we'll get together soon. Okay. Okay. Talk to ya later. Bye bye bye."

"Is this Christy some sort of movie nut like you?" Ray asked as Caitlin hung up.

"Something like that. We quote movies together a lot." Caitlin said. "I'm really so tired. Can we talk in the morning?"

"Sure, sweetie." Ray said, standing up from his spot on the couch, still caressing the gun he had sitting his lap. "Let's go to bed." He pulled Caitlin's arm roughly and walked towards the stairs, snapping off lights along the way. "I've been dying to hold you in my arms, make you mine again."

Caitlin squeezed her eyes shut, trying to picture how she would avoid romantic entanglements with her crazed ex-boyfriend. She only hoped Chris understood the message and would send help. Quickly.

(After the concert that night)

Chris burst into JC's room without warning. "C, you got a sec?"

"Dude, I'm not in the mood." JC said wearily. "Let's just drop this for tonight so I can get some sleep."

"It's about Caitlin." Chris said quietly. "Did she call you today? Leave you a voicemail or anything?"

"No. Why?" JC said suspiciously.

"I got a really, really weird message from her." Chris said, puzzled. "I've listened to it a bunch of times, but I'm not sure what's going on. She sounds…not like herself. I have a feeling that maybe…well, you need to listen to it."

"Let me hear it." JC commanded. Chris obediently handed him his cell phone, where he had saved the voicemail Caitlin had left. JC put the phone up to his ear and listened to the strange message, then listened to it again before speaking. "Something's wrong. None of those things add up."

"I know." Chris said, worried. "That's the part that freaks me out. I was thinking of all the weird things she says, and wrote them down. You ready?" He asked, pulling out a small sheet of paper.

"Shoot. Maybe we can figure out if she was trying to say something specific, or just got drunk on her ride home."

"Okay, here's the list." Chris said. "She calls herself Cat, which she never does. And called me Christy, which I as a rule don't respond to. She mentioned she took a car home, and we know she flew. The Madonna CD thing is really random…"

JC's brow furrowed in concentration. "Which CD was it? Caitlin liked Madonna-why would it have been awful?" They both shrugged in bewilderment.

"Okay, here's more of the list." Chris continued. "The boyfriend thing sounded a bit weird, since we know you won't be home for a while yet, but she made it sound like you'd be there tomorrow." JC nodded in confusion, then Chris went on. "She quotes the scared part of Dirty Dancing, then the rescue part of Aliens. What's the correlation there? And 'friends' visiting from out of town? Who?"

"I don't know. I don't understand this." JC said, running a hand over his face. "The bye bye bye was a nice touch."

"She never says that, though." Chris said. "She always joked about ending every message that way, but she never does."

They both sat in silence, mulling over the strange message Caitlin had left-Caitlin, normally a lucid, straightforward girl, with a penchant for quoting movies. Maybe she was just in a weird mood. Maybe she felt like telling them a riddle. Maybe…

These thoughts ran through JC's mind, then he had an idea that struck fear in his heart. "Chris…what Madonna CD did she say?"

"The one before the most recent one. Why?" Chris said, looking at his sheet of paper.

JC flew into action, throwing on a sweatshirt, and putting on his shoes. "Oh God, oh God, oh God." He repeated for about 15 seconds before Chris physically stopped him by grabbing his shoulder-hard.

"What? What is it?" Chris asked, turning JC to face him.

"Madonna's second to last CD-Ray of Light." JC said. "It's Ray. He's there. In Orlando with Caitlin."

"Oh God." Chris said softly, sinking onto the bed. "Hence the rescue, scared, and CD references. God, she's brilliant." Chris said to himself, before flying into action. "I'll call the airport to charter a jet-you tell Johnny what's going on."

"You aren't going." JC insisted.

"Then neither are you." Chris said with finality. "You go, I go." JC stared at his older friend, his blue eyes ablaze with emotion. "Come on, dude. It's Caitlin. Let's get this bastard, not argue about who the hero is." Chris said gently.

JC continued to stare, then broke his gaze. "Five minutes and we roll."

"Should we call her?" Chris asked. "Or the cops?"

"No. The guy might hurt her if the cops going in blazing. And it's too late to call-it would be suspicious. Let's just get there and figure it out from there." JC answered.

"I couldn't agree more." Chris replied.

(In Orlando)

Caitlin spent an extra long time in the bathroom, hoping Ray was become tired and fall asleep before she emerged. It was bad enough having to sleep in the same room-same bed-as him, but she refused to touch him. Or to let him touch her.

And this time, if he tried to do what he did before, she'd fight him. With her entire being.

But she hoped it wouldn't come to that. She consulted her watch and figured that Chris had gotten the message by now and hopefully had understood. Hopefully. Finally, squaring her shoulders, she walked into the bedroom, where Ray lay on the bed, half-asleep. She couldn't see the gun, but assumed he had it somewhere near by. Yawning broadly, she slid into bed, as far away from him as possible. Caitlin closed her eyes immediately, hoping to deter any advances from Ray. He seemed to understand her exhaustion, and merely pulled her close to wrap his arms around her. Kissing her temple, he snuggled closer.

"I'm so happy to see you, babe." Ray murmured. "Tomorrow we can catch up on our lives, and start planning the future. With you as my wife. My obedient wife." Caitlin didn't answer, so he continued to speak. "And if I find out you were lying about having a boyfriend, we'll have to have a discussion." He put emphasis on the last word. "Right?" He asked, pinching her bottom roughly. She whimpered slightly, but said nothing. "And if I found out who he is that's been taking you away from me, I'll rip his fucking balls off. Goodnight, babe."

It was going to be a long night.

chapter twenty-four