Page 9 of Keegan: The Murphy Family
I spent half an hour cleaning up my apartment. Keegan had said that he would visit me once he was done with dinner with his family, and I wanted my place to be ready for him. This felt like a new life…like all of a sudden, now that I had Keegan again, a brand new life was beginning.
I didn’t care about anything else right now. Not my job, not my safety—I just wanted to be in Keegan’s arms again. Exactly where I wanted to be since I was a teenager. It was about time that we finally had our chance!
As I did the dishes, I had a smile on my face. It was finally happening…we were going to be together. I had complete faith in him, faith that he would be able to find a way for us to be together, and not just as friends; but more. I’d seen it in his eyes…he meant it when he said he’d missed me all these years.
I felt a bit of regret, that we’d missed out on ten years of being together. Ten years of a head-start of building a life together, of maybe starting our own family. So much time had been wasted, and I felt sad about that. Especially now that I knew he’d wanted me all along too.
But now, none of that seemed to matter anymore. All that mattered was the future, and despite the threat of the Gallaghers, the future seemed happy. As long as I had Keegan, I knew I’d be happy—no matter the threat.
After I was done with the cleaning up, I made myself a cup of coffee and sat down on the couch in my small living room. I didn’t regret leaving Nashville. I was glad I was back.
Now my next step would be to find where the Murphys had buried my father. I wanted to visit his grave. I knew that he would have been happy and content; knowing that I was with Keegan now. He wouldn’t have to worry about my safety.
We were just at the start of a new relationship…even though this wasn’t really a new relationship. I’d known Keegan all our lives. However, we still had some way to go before we could take the next step of commitment. We hadn’t even, hadn’t yet…confessed our feelings.
I was in love with him. I’d always been in love with him…but I needed to hear him say it, before I was sure that it wasn’t just an infatuation on his part. That the feelings he had for me were real.
My mind was filled with thoughts of Keegan and our future when there was a knock on the door. I put my coffee mug down and jumped out of the chair. He was back! Just like he said he would be.
I rushed to the door and pulled it open, expecting to find Keegan on the other side, smiling that handsome smile of his. What was the rest of the night going to look like now?
But it wasn’t Keegan, instead, there was a stranger on the other side. I looked at him for a few moments, confused by his presence. Did he have the wrong house?
He was in a dark jacket and baggy pants. His hair was thinning on top and he had a deep stubble.
“Yes?” I said and the moment the word left my mouth, I knew something was wrong. This wasn’t just some random man who’d mistakenly knocked on my door. He had every intention of finding me inside.
He lunged at me, grabbing my wrist.
“Hello, Fallon,” he hissed. I tugged and screamed, trying to get my hand free but he pushed himself into the apartment, kicking the door shut with his feet.
“Let me go! Let me go!” I howled. I could feel his hand digging into my flesh as he pulled me closer to himself. I wriggled in his grip till eventually, I kneed him. Right in his crotch. He hadn’t seen it coming and he yelped in pain. It was the perfect opportunity for me to yank my hand away from him and run.
I couldn’t run to the front door, so I ran back to my bedroom. I shut the door behind me, but there was no lock on it. I only had a few moments to decide what to do.
I rushed to the window, struggling to slide it open. There was a fire escape outside, which I hoped I could get onto in time. I’d managed to slide the window open, just enough for me to slip out.
I was panting, my heart was racing. I just wished that Keegan was here.
I swung one leg out the window, and then another. I thought I was going to make it, but I felt the man’s hand on my ankle. He was yanking me back into the room, just by one foot.
I screamed and thrust, trying to kick his face with my foot but he had a pretty good grip on me.
He pulled me back in the room.
“No, No!” I screamed, trying to stop him from dragging me away.
“The Gallaghers are expecting you,” he growled. I knew I was putting up more of a fight than he was expecting, but it still wasn’t good enough. He was a big burly man and he wasn’t about to let me go.
When he’d had enough, he pulled me by my shoulders, forcing me to face him.
“Shut up!” he barked in my face. I didn’t stop screaming. I wasn’t just going to give in to his demands.
“Fine. Fuck it!” he said.
And that was the last thing I heard, because then I felt his hand punch my face. I was knocked back on the floor and I felt light-headed. Then everything went black.
11
Keegan
“I’ll call you in the morning, mam,” I said to my mother as I left the family home. I knew she really wanted me to stay the night and spend some time with her but I couldn’t. I needed to see Fallon.
If only I could tell them the truth, and tell them who I was going to see—I knew they’d be happy. But I didn’t want to start telling people Fallon was back in town yet. Not till I had a plan.
Back in my car, I drove towards Fallon’s apartment again. I couldn’t wait to see her, especially now that I knew the Gallaghers had become an even bigger problem. If they found out that she was in Chicago again, it would give them the perfect opportunity to kill the last remaining witness of the Michael Donovan killing.
Besides, harming Fallon would be a great way to get to us—to get to me. They knew how important she was to the family.
Parking my car outside her apartment building, I charged up the stairs to her apartment. I already had the jitters. I still couldn’t believe the fact that we were finally together. I needed to see her again to remind myself that she was real.
On the fourth floor, when I approached the door of her apartment, I saw that it was swinging open. I looked around, reaching for my gun. Had I got the apartment wrong? This was the one she’d said she lived at.
I pushed the door further open with my foot and stepped in, my gun was already cocked out. I was ready to shoot.
“Fal? Fallon?” I screamed her name, but didn’t hear a peep.
Her apartment looked clean, there was barely any sign of struggle. Could it be that she’d just stepped out? I walked through the living room and noticed the mug of coffee on the table. She’d barely drank from it.
“Fallon! It’s me!” I shouted again, and no sound. Keeping my gun pointed, I went into the bedroom. There was a window open and a breeze was blowing in. If she’d stepped out, why would she leave the window open in her bedroom?
I went over and looked out at the fire escape. I was about to slink back in, when I saw a bit of fabric stuck on the edge of the window sill. I picked it up and looked keenly at it. It was a piece from her denim dress. I was sure of it.
“Fuck!” I growled.
Now I knew for sure that she’d been taken. Why else would a piece of her dress be out on the window? She was trying to make an escape, but they’d caught her.
Every dark thought was running through my head right now. Where had they taken her? What were they going to do to her? Had they killed her already?
I felt like I was going to be sick.
12
Fallon
I woke up to the sound of dripping water. I had no idea where I was, and my first instinct was to throw up. I was nauseous and feeling sick, but I screamed instead. It was then that I realized I couldn’t move.
I was tied, my hands were tied and my feet were tied too. I was on a bed and my arms were pulled up, tied to the back grills of the bed. I bl
inked furiously, trying to get my eyes adjusted to the dark. It was some sort of room. A small room…or it may have been larger, but I couldn’t tell in the dark.
I looked around me and immediately I knew that the Gallaghers had me. I remembered everything now, the man in my house, pulling me back in through the window, knocking me out.
I screamed again.
I knew I was alone in this room. I couldn’t feel another human presence with me. What were they going to do to me? Where was I being held?
Would Keegan ever find me?
I struggled against the ties, but whoever tied me; had done a professionally excellent job. I couldn’t get my hands free, not one degree. I was stuck here, in this cold dark room with the sound of dripping water in the background.
“Please please…what do you want?” I screeched, hoping to get someone’s attention.
At least I was still alive, I reminded myself—but right now, any silver lining appeared too bleak and faded. I trusted Keegan and that he would find me, but when? Was this how my life was going to end? Was that all I was destined to have with Keegan?
One stolen night of being together…and then gone?
I could feel the tears rolling down my cheeks as I sobbed. I couldn’t even sit up properly, I couldn’t lie down…they had me in a torturously uncomfortable position and I had no escape.
“Talk to me! What do you want!” I screamed again, as loud as I could. I was sure that they could hear me. If they had gone to so much trouble of tying me up like this, they were definitely keeping an eye on me too.
Eventually, I heard the sound of a bolted heavy lock being opened. Someone was coming in through the door.
A sudden flash of light appeared and I realized that the door had been opened. Someone had stepped in and then the light disappeared again.
