Chapter 48


    DEZMOND


    He spun Spring around but she batted and swung at him with her closed fists. Shended several hits


    but her fight was hindered by her shoulder bag strap. Dez called her name again but he was certain


    she didn''t hear him. The fear he saw in her haunted eyes told him she wasn''t even aware that it was


    him.


    "Spring, calm down sweetheart. It''s me, Dezmond." He managed to get hold of her face. She started to


    push at his face and chest but he moved in so close that she could only beat at his arms and


    shoulders. "Baby, it''s me," he whispered as he kissed her face over and over again. "It''s me. I''ve got


    you. You''re safe."


    Dez sighed when her hits began to decrease. He eventually pulled back. What he saw damn near


    broke his heart. Spring''s wide terrified watery eyes regarded him with horror. Her hair was disheveled


    and strands were stered to her face. He felt each panicked breath she inhaled and exhaled over his


    skin.


    "Dez?"


    He leaned in and kissed her forehead. "Yeah, it''s me. You''re safe." Dez saw the first tear blink from her


    eye before Spring shifted away from his hold on her face andid her head on his chest. Her arms


    wrapped tightly around him and she squeezed as if her life depended on how tight she held him.


    ----------


    SPRING


    The heat from the coffee cup she held with both hands was moreforting than painful. She wasn''t a


    coffee drinker but the taste of the bittersweet concoction seemed to calm her. Spring raised the cup to


    her lips and took another long sip, enjoying the feel of the hot liquid traveling down her throat and filling


    her empty stomach.


    Earlier, when she found out the details of what actually happened in the apartment she and her sister


    shared, she lost what little food she was able to munch on today. It took about thirty minutes for the dry


    heaving topletely subside and still she feared the reflex would return. But the coffee seemed to


    help keep her sour stomach at bay.


    A sh of movement from beside her caused her to track Dez''s hand. He ced it on her thigh and


    started to stroke her leg in aforting caress. She looked over at him, their eyes meeting. His eyes


    conveyed understanding and a silent promise that he was with her. At least that''s what she wanted it to


    mean. Hers...she was sure sted fear and vulnerability.


    She hated being scared. She thought her days of living in fear were over when Grams took her and


    Summer to live with her. She hated being scared.


    "Springy."


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    The sound of Summer''s voice had her heart pounding in her ears and tears falling from her eyes as


    she frantically looked around the police station for the source. She felt, rather than saw, the coffee


    being pulled from her hands as she stood up. She was a ball of sobbing tears by the time she made


    eye contact with Summer who was running at full speed toward her. They hit hard, both of them visibly


    shaking as they embraced.


    Summer pushed away from Spring and did some kind of hand check over her body until she was


    cupping her face. Familiar hazel eyes stared back at Spring, and for the second time tonight, her world


    felt safe again. Even if only for a moment.


    "God, Two..." Summer pulled her in for another tight hug. "God, thank you."


    "I was so scared." Spring felt her sister squeeze her tighter.


    Summer pulled away then took Spring by the hand. They walked to where Dez still sat with her coffee.


    That''s when Spring noticed Fallon. He stood off to the side, not quite close enough to Dez, but not too


    far away.


    "What happened?" Summer asked. She motioned for Spring to sit next to Dez.


    Spring sat down but there was no way she could talk about it. Her throat felt raw and her chest started


    to ache. Just as more tears began to fall, she felt a soothing hand on her back.


    "From what we''ve learned, it seems that the Blue Candy Killer targeted Spring. He found your extra key


    and entered your apartment. The Police think he was lying in wait for her to return. They think that once


    he gained ess to the apartment, he returned the key under the mat."


    Spring felt Summer''s grip on her hand increase.


    "But it wasn''t Spring who showed," Dez said quietly. "It was your friend Troy Parker who dropped by,


    used the key, and-"


    "Troy?" Summer''s voice cracked. She looked at Spring. "Oh baby," she said as she pulled Spring into


    another hug.


    "He''s gone, One." The pain of it all returned with such force it threatened to smother her. "Troy''s gone."


    Spring whimpered into the crook of Summer''s neck.