Loving Lucas

Loving Lucas /
Lisa Marie Davis

SWEET freedom was within his grasp and Riley Miller could

scarcely believe it was real.

After ten years ten long, agonizing years in hell—in less

than twenty-four hours, his life would be his and never again would anyone tell him what to do and when to do it. All the rules would be out the window. No more listening to guards

ordering him around, telling him when he could eat or sleep or take a shit while snoopy cellmates sneakily rifled through his belongings, spying on him for the guards and the

warden.

Everyone is against me. Always have been. But that’s

okay. Soon, they’ll see they can’t keep me down and they
can’t stop me from doing what I want to do.

Alone in his cell, staring at the ceiling, Riley smiled to

himself as he mentally reviewed his carefully crafted to-do list.

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Loving Lucas /
Lisa Marie Davis

He didn’t dare write anything down; his cellmates would

find it and pass it to the guards and they would try to use it to block his release. Riley couldn’t have that.

Not now.

Not when he had come some far; not when he was so

close to getting the second chance he rightfully deserved.

The second chance his new lawyer had secured for him.

“I can’t believe your first court-appointed lawyer missed it,
but you were only seventeen at the time the crime was

committed and because you were a minor, the police should
never have questioned you without your mother in the room.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means your confession is nullified and therefore, your
conviction is overturned.”

“You mean….”

“It will take about a day to process the paperwork, but
after that, you will be released and as soon as you’re settled,
we should think about a civil case on the grounds that your
civil rights were seriously violated.”

The lawyer, Drake Owens, seemed excited about a

possible civil case, but Riley wasn’t worried about that.

Owens had already served his purpose. Riley was no

longer upset by his mother forcing him to promise he

wouldn’t contact her or anyone else in the family again, if 3

Loving Lucas /
Lisa Marie Davis

she paid for Owens to review his case and fight for his

release.

She always was a bitch. I don’t need her. I don’t need

anyone now. She can rot in hell, ’cause I’ll be free really soon
and then I can really make things right.

For Riley, that meant only one thing.

He wouldn’t rest, he wouldn’t know a moment’s peace,

until he stood over Lucas Keifer’s dead body while the

bastard’s blood dried on his hands.

No mistakes this time; I won’t just assume he’s dead. I’ll
make sure of it. But no way will I kill him quickly. He thought
he suffered before, but this time, he’ll be begging for me to kill
him.

He’d had ten years to dream about it and plan it, ten

years to remember Lucas leading him on and then rejecting

him. He knew his mother and everyone else believed Lucas

when he said he and Riley had never been involved

romantically. His mother had gone as far as to back Lucas

up, telling the police that Riley had always been unstable

and strange. She even handed over his journals, which held

his writings about Lucas, and the police had used those

writings as “proof” that Riley was clearly obsessed with the young teacher, who had done nothing more than be kind to

the awkward kid who didn’t have any real friends in school.

It was more! It was! Lucas made me love him. He was

nice to me. I saw the way he looked at me in class and he
wanted me, but he changed his mind when he met that other
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Loving Lucas /
Lisa Marie Davis

guy and then he lied and I had to make him pay for that, for
making a fool of me!

Feeling the familiar stirrings of anger, Riley closed his

eyes and drew in a deep breath, assuring himself that soon, he would have his payback and nothing and no one could

stop him.

I wonder if anyone will call and tell Lucas I’m getting out
.

He almost hoped someone would. He liked the idea of

Lucas sitting around, afraid, worried, wondering when Riley would swoop down and end his life in a bloodbath.

Smiling at the thought, he allowed himself a moment to

remember how he had wanted it to be so different, how he

had fallen in love with Lucas Keifer the moment he saw the

new teacher standing in front of his senior English class.

Fresh out of college, ambitious and outgoing, Lucas

Keifer wasn’t like other teachers; he was warm and kind and he related to his students. He didn’t talk down to them; he talked to them, openly, in a way that made them feel

comfortable and at ease, and he never hesitated to offer extra help to anyone who needed it.

When the other kids in class made fun of Riley, Lucas

was the first teacher to ever tell them to knock it off. Riley knew then that Lucas loved him.

And he was beautiful. So very, very beautiful
.

At five-nine, he wasn’t overly tall, but he was beautifully built and graceful with well-crafted muscles created by years 5

Loving Lucas /
Lisa Marie Davis

of competitive swimming and gymnastics. His hair was a

thick golden-blond and more than a bit unruly and longish,

the mesmerizing shade a perfect contrast to his sun-kissed

skin and expressive, darkly- lashed cerulean blue eyes.

He wasn’t a fan of shaving daily, so he often had a

rugged appeal and, unlike other teachers, he avoided

anything more “dressy” than jeans and T-shirts.

All the students loved him, but none more than Riley.

Riley loved him completely and, for a while, Lucas made

it clear he loved him too, with smiles and eye contact and

extra help after class, but then Riley learned that Lucas was living with another man and it broke his heart.

He tried to talk to Lucas, but Lucas was confused when

Riley asked him why he was turning away from him.

“Riley, I don’t understand….”

“You do! I know you do! All the time we spent together?

You have to remember.”

“I helped you after school….”

“No! You told me you loved me. You said I was special.”

“Maybe we should sit down and talk about this.”

“No! I don’t want to talk. I want to know why you’re

cheating on me! I saw you yesterday, at the park, with that
other man.”

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Loving Lucas /
Lisa Marie Davis

Another teacher heard him screaming and she contacted

the principal and the school therapist and they came in and demanded to know what was going on.

They talked to him and Lucas separately, but no one

believed Riley. They all said he was clearly “troubled” and his mother bringing in his writings just confirmed that, the

principal insisted, before he and the therapist instructed

Riley’s mother to get him help before he returned to school.

Lucas even offered to help cover the cost, but his mother

refused his help. She told Riley he would just have to go to another school, that she wouldn’t waste money trying to “fix”

him because she knew it would be a waste.

“You just stay away from that teacher, you little freak. If
you go near him, I’ll kill you.”

He told his mother he would, but it was a lie, because he

started sneaking out that very night, to go and sit across the street from Lucas’s apartment.

Every night for two weeks after he was thrown out of

school, he watched Lucas come and go from afar. He saw

him with his boyfriend/live-in lover and he learned the guy’s name was Ridge Dallas. He was an accountant or something

like that and he was certainly good-looking, but not nearly as good-looking as Lucas, and Riley hated him. Each time he saw them hold hands or kiss, he grew to hate Lucas more.

Lucas lied; Lucas led me on; Lucas cheated
.

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Loving Lucas /
Lisa Marie Davis

Everything that happened was all Lucas’s fault. He had

brought it all on himself and Riley wasn’t sorry for any of it; even now, ten years later.

He only regretted that Lucas hadn’t died.

But he will this time; this time he will pay for hurting me,
for lying, for breaking my heart and ruining my life with his
lies.

Really, Riley reasoned, it would be so easy. Maybe easier

than it was before.

He already knew where to find Lucas. He had been

keeping tabs on him for years, going as far as to pay a

former cellmate to track him down and give Riley a report

about where he was living and what he was doing.

He lived in a North Carolina town called Cedar Point

where he owned a bookstore.

Bet no one is living with him now. Bet he can’t get a lover
or even pay someone to fuck him.

Satisfied with that thought, as he always was, to know

he had made Lucas Keifer unlovable, Riley rolled to his side with a contented sigh.

Tomorrow, he would be free.

Tomorrow, he would set his plans into motion and it

would be wonderful.

Enjoy what time you have left, Lucas. I’ll come see you
soon and this time, you will die.

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Loving Lucas /
Lisa Marie Davis

“LUCAS? Look, I know you’re there and you know why I’m

calling. I got a call from that DA in Atlanta and he told me what’s going on. He said Miller is getting out on some damn technicality and they wanted the local law enforcement to

know the deal.”

Pausing for a brief second, Sheriff Nicholas Demetris

mentally cursed, because he knew Lucas was sitting in his

living room, listening to the message as he left it, but the stubborn bastard wouldn’t pick up the phone.

As much as he loved the man, and there was no denying

that he did love the man with all his fool heart, there were times when he desperately wanted to strangle him and now

was indeed one of those times.

Damn it, Luc; let me be there. Let me help you and love
you.

“Okay, here’s the deal. No one knows what this Miller

bastard has in mind but I won’t take any chances, so I’ll be dropping by your place a little after five. I’ll grab some food 9

Loving Lucas /
Lisa Marie Davis

from the diner and I know you’re likely already making nice little plans not to let me in, but if you don’t, I’ll just spend all night sitting outside your door.”

Allowing a small smile, Nicholas ended the call and

sighed, sitting back in his well-worn leather swivel chair, reaching a hand around to rub the back of his aching neck.

He knew the beginnings of a tension headache all too

well and this one had been in the making since the

unexpected call from Dwight Daylan, informing him he might

want to keep an eye out for soon-to-be-released Riley Miller.

“I’ll e-mail you the file on Miller, but I wanted to call with a
heads-up. I still can’t believe the man is getting a free pass,
and if I had to place a bet, I’d say he’s just as dangerous
today as he was ten damn years ago when we locked him

away.”

“I’ll be sure to keep an eye out for him and I’d be happy to
look at that file.”

“It’s on the way, but to give you the basic lowdown; Riley
Miller became obsessed with Lucas Keifer. In his mind, he
had some sort of relationship with Keifer and when he had to
face reality, he snapped. He abducted the man outside his
apartment, took him to a secluded location, sexually assaulted
him, stabbed him and then set what he thought was a dead
body on fire.”