by Kelly Moore
Nothing. I don’t hear anything. I peek out the door into the empty hallway, making sure the coast is clear before tiptoeing across the floor to Miles’ office. He’s got his feet propped up on his desk and I can see smoke billowing in front of him, completely unsuspecting. The element of surprise is on my side. I quietly step into the room. He looks up when he hears me shut the door.
He is already staring down the barrel of my gun. “How the hell did you get here?” His eyes are wide.
“Did you really think I would let you go?” My neck cracks as I cock my head to the side.
He raises his hands in the air. “I don’t think you’re as smart as you think you are.” His eyes go to a drawer on his desk.
“Don’t even think about.” I walk closer.
He leans back in his chair. “You’ve left your family unprotected.”
“I don’t want to hear you mention my family ever again.” I cock back the trigger on the gun.
“Let’s talk about this.” His hands are back in the air. “You don’t really want to kill me.”
“I want nothing more than to see the light fade from your beady little eyes. You’ve done nothing but ruin my life.”
“You forget, I helped you get started in the business. I made you a lot of money to be able to take care of that brother of yours. You should be thanking me.”
I huff out a laugh. “Thanking you? You kept me from Brooklyn for two years, then you tortured me with the knowledge of my son. You kill innocent people and you expect me to thank you?”
Something behind me slams me forward into the desk. I hold onto the gun with a death grip as my face is pressed into the desk. Miles reaches into a drawer and pulls something out before bolting for the door. I push back with all my strength and my assailant lands hard on the ground. I swing my arm around with the pistol, connecting the cold steel with his temple and knocking him out cold on the floor. I look up and catch a glimpse of Miles’ backside as he hightails it out of the room.
I chase him up a flight of stairs while he screams wildly for his men to come help him. As his chubby feet land on the second step from the top, I dive forward and wrap my free hand around his ankle, causing him to stumble forward into the wall and slide to the ground. He lays there fumbling in his jacket pocket while I run up behind him. When he rolls over to face me, he has a grenade in his hand and his fingers around the pin. Reacting faster than he can process, I lunge forward again and grasp my hands around it. His fingers crunch beneath mine and he lets out an animal yelp before letting go of it. I get off the floor and stand above him. I shove my gun in the back of my belt, holding on tight to the grenade.
I glance down at the grenade in my hand and then at Miles. His eyes grow wide with understanding. “Don’t do it,” he shakes beneath me. “I’ll never mess with your family again. You’re a free man. All you have to do is walk away.” He sits up.
“I’ll be free when you are no longer breathing.” I pull the pin and shove the grenade down the back of his shirt. “This is for blowing up Brooklyn’s house.” He screams as I take off up the next flight of stairs, hoping like hell Jake got the door unlocked - if not, I’m a dead man. The grenade detonates just as I reach the top step and the door flies open for me, the shockwave from the explosion throwing me like a ragdoll through to the other side.
Jake runs over and helps me get off the ground. “Run!” I yell. We take off toward the ladder.
“What the hell was that?” Jake is hauling ass down the stairs.
“It was Miles,” I say with a grin, jumping down from the last few steps.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Brooklyn
I clutch my son to my chest, trying to calm him down while we wait for the fire department. I’m so relieved that we’re all okay, but also annoyed because John had to run off to chase that asshole. Why couldn’t he have just killed him here? None of this would’ve happened if he hadn’t insisted on letting him get away.
I understand his reasoning, but I just wanted this all over. I want to move forward with my family, not spend more time dealing with the man who’s ruined all our lives.
Red and white lights flash across the lawn, getting brighter as the fire truck pulls into the driveway. The guards usher us to the front of the property.
“Is this your house, ma’am?”
I nod. “Yes, it is,” I answer the fireman.
“Do you know how the fire started?”
“No, I just heard a loud explosion. Everything happened so fast, I just wanted to make sure we all got out.”
He nods. “Is everyone okay? Does anyone need medical attention?”
I look back at my dad, surrounded by his guards. “No, we’re fine. Thank you.”
He nods. “Okay, please stay back while we put out this fire.” He runs off to join his the other firefighters.
I take the few steps to my dad and he puts his arm around me. “I have a car on the way to pick us up. How far is Jake’s?”
“It’s just down the road.”
He rubs my back. “Everything will be okay, Brooky. It looks like most of the house is salvageable. Rebuild this section here and make a few repairs due to smoke damage and everything will be fine.”
I nod. “I know, Dad.”
The flames have been quenched. I look over at the sad, ruined home with a tear in my eye. I just hope John kills Miles this time. I want this done. I want my life back.
The car comes and takes us to Jake’s house. I walk up the front steps and unlock the door with the key Jake left for us. It’s still dark, so I turn on a few lights and show my dad to the guest bedroom.
I give John a bath and rock him to sleep. He’s so tired from the stress of everything that all it takes to send him off into a deep, peaceful sleep is a cup of warm milk. I place him in the bed and head to the bathroom to shower.
Stepping out, I feel like everything has washed away. I no longer smell the smoke on me or feel the heat of the flames licking my skin. I pull on a pair of Jake’s sweatpants and find a T-shirt that I can wear before climbing into bed with J-Man.
A piece of me feels like it is missing. John is off chasing after Miles who will lead him God knows where. What if he never comes back? What if Miles gets the upper hand again? And this time, it won’t just be John, but Jake too. I don’t know what I would’ve done without Jake all these years. He really is like a brother to me now. I just pray that I don’t lose either one of them.
John wakes me up in the morning, sitting up and playing with my hair. Bright light bleeds between the slats in the blinds, lighting the room.
I smile when I see his eyes meet mine. “Good morning, baby. Are you ready for some breakfast?”
He squeals and claps his hands, trying to stand up on the bed, but loses his balance and falls over onto his back.
I laugh before helping him off the bed and down to the kitchen. “Good morning, Dad,” I say as I hand him Little Man.
“Good morning. Any word from the two superheroes?”
I pour a mug of coffee, chuckling to myself. “Not yet.” I set the pot down. “Should I be worried?” I look over at him.
“Nah, not yet. I’m sure they’ll call soon.”
Jake’s fridge is empty, other than a half-full gallon of milk. I hand John a cup of it and rummage through the cabinets and pantry to find something for breakfast. Nothing there either. I check the freezer and, lucky me, find some frozen waffles and sausage patties.
I shrug and pull out the items. “I hope you like frozen waffles.”
Dad waves me off, too busy playing with his grandson to care what we eat.
I pop the waffles into the toaster and the sausage patties in the microwave. While they cook, I walk over and take John from my dad. “I’m going to get him dressed before we eat.” I walk him into the bedroom that Jake keeps stocked with John’s things for when he babysits.
J-Man crawls around on the floor while I dig a shirt and shorts out of the small dresser.
As I�
��m pulling the shirt over his head, I hear the crack of gunfire, accompanied by shattering glass. Someone yells, “Get down!”
I grab John and walk along the edge of the wall to peek into the living room. My dad is lying on the floor with a guard hovering over him. There is blood everywhere.
“Dad!” I scream and move to step out.
The guard turns toward me. “Don’t move. I don’t want you hurt. Stay where you are until the perimeter is cleared.
I nod and choke back a sob, feeling trapped. I want to run to my dad and check on him, but I can’t. All I can do is watch while the guard applies pressure to the wound on his chest and calls 911.
“Is he going to be okay?” I ask, tears filling my eyes.
“I don’t know.” I can hear the worry in his voice and it only worries me more.
The house phone rings and I slip into a bedroom to answer it. “Hello?”
“It’s me. I got him. It’s over,” John says on the other side of the line.
The tears finally overfill my eyes as I shake my head. “It’s not over yet. My dad’s just been shot.”
“What? Where are you?”
“We came to Jake’s last night. They shot him through the window. I don’t know if he’s going to be okay. The ambulance is on its way.”
“Fuck! This was his plan the whole time. He just drew me away so he could take out his target. If that son of a bitch wasn’t dead already, I’d kill him again.”
I sniffle as I fall onto the bed. “Get home soon, John.”
“We’re on our way,” he promises.
“Oh, and John?”
“Yeah?”
“I love you,” I say, a little breathless.
“I love you, too. We’ll be right there.”
I hang up the phone and rush back to the hallway to see what is going on. The guard sees me and says, “The perimeter is secure, ma’am. The shooter has been taken out.”
I rush to my father’s side and fall to my knees while holding on to little man. “Is he breathing?”
The guard nods. “Yes, but it’s shallow.”
I look at my dad’s closed eyes. He looks so peaceful, like he’s just sleeping. The color is slowly draining from his face.
It feels like forever but the EMT’s finally rush in and strap him on the gurney, rushing him out of the house and into the ambulance.
Little man and I climb into my dad’s rental car with two of the guards and we follow behind it.
I call Grace, the nanny, and she meets us at the hospital. When she arrives, I hand John to her and ask her to keep him occupied while I track down a nurse.
They’ve had my dad back in surgery for what seems like forever now, and so far, no updates.
I’m a nervous wreck without John here and with my dad in surgery. Nervous energy has me bouncing off the walls. I can’t just sit and wait, I have to do something.
I head over to the nurses’ station and wait for one of them to come back.
“Can I help you?”
“Yes, do you have any information on my father? He’s been in surgery for two hours now.”
She’s seen me many times so she knows who I am and who my father is. “Not yet, miss. I promise as soon as I get word, I will come find you. Now, please, just try to relax.”
I take a deep breath to keep myself from yelling at the poor nurse, who’s doing everything she can to keep me calm. I know none of this is her fault, but I’m so scared and anxious that I can’t sit still.
I force a smile and nod at her before turning around.
Back in the waiting room, I sit down in the floor with John and Grace. We take turns rolling a small ball back and forth. John laughs and squeals when he catches it and it helps to ease away my fears. I keep my mind busy by playing with him and before I know it, the nurse is walking out.
When she comes to a stop, I stand. It feels like the world has stopped spinning as I hold my breath.
“Your dad is out of surgery. Everything is fine.”
I let out a long breath and my shoulders fall. “Can I see him?”
“Soon. He lost a lot of blood, and he’s still in recovery. But when he wakes and we have him settled in a room, you’ll be the first to go back,” she promises.
“Thank you,” I tell her, shaking her hand.
I sit down in a chair and finally allow myself to breathe. My dad is going to be okay, John and Jake are on their way back, and Miles is out of our lives for good. A huge weight has been lifted from my shoulders.
The sun is just falling below the horizon through the window of my dad’s room when the door opens and John and Jake rush in. John rushes over and pulls me into his arms.
“I’m so glad you’re okay.”
He kisses my lips quickly. “He is going to be okay?” He nods toward my dad, who is asleep in his hospital bed.
I nod. “He lost a lot of blood and they are keeping him heavily medicated for now, but yes, he’ll be fine.”
“Thank God. I’m so sorry for leaving you. I wasn’t thinking clearly. I just had to get Miles out of our lives.”
I place my hand on his cheek, directing his eyes to me instead of my father. “It’s okay. We’re all fine and Miles is gone for good. What more could I ask for?” My lips find his again, but this time, they linger a little longer. I want to feel him, taste him, and remind myself that this is all over and that we can finally move on. No more being hunted or chased. Just us, living happily ever after.
“Where’s L.J.?” John asks.
“L.J.?” I ask, wrinkling my brow.
John shrugs. “I’ve been trying to think up a new nickname for him. J-Man won’t work forever, and Little John sounds too much like Robin Hood. I thought L.J. would be good.”
I smile and nod. “I like it.” I pull myself against his chest and let his arms wrap around me before answering his question.
“The nanny took him down to the cafeteria to eat some dinner.”
John and Jake sit down in the chairs on either side of my dad’s bed and I curl up with my head in John’s lap. He wraps his arms around me and kisses the top of my head.
Jake looks bored already and pulls out his phone. I see his brows furrow together while his eyes focus on something.
“What?” I ask him, nerves starting to rev back up.
He looks up at us. “I just noticed that I got an email from your security company.”
I sit up. “What’s it say?”
“It says that a silent alarm was tripped two days before we got home. They sent someone out to check on it but didn’t find anything.”
“That’s strange,” I say, leaning back into John’s chest.
“That must have been when they set up the explosives,” John says from behind me.
I turn to face him. “But how? Didn’t you two watch the video leading up to the day we arrived?”
“They must have tampered with it,” John says.
“Can they do that?” I ask.
He shrugs. “It wouldn’t be the first time. I wonder what kind of shape the video feed is in back at the house.”
Jake shows us his cell phone. “It all gets backed up to the cloud. I can access it from right here.”
John and I stand behind Jake, peering over his shoulder. We watch as he pulls up the security feed from the day the alarm was tripped. He plays the video in fast forward, but we don’t catch anything.
“Wait, go back,” John says.
Jake rewinds back a few minutes and hits play again.
The video is from the camera that is pointing at the back door. I don’t see anything out of the ordinary.
“What? I don’t see anything.”
“Look right here in this clip.” He points at a leaf falling from the tree.
“So? It’s a leaf, those fall all the time.”
He shakes his head. “In this frame, the leaf is falling, but in the very next frame, the leaf is lying on the ground. So somehow it went from mid-air to being on the ground. There is a
whole section of video that was removed.”
Jake plays it again, and we all watch a little closer. He’s right. It isn’t something that most people would pick up or notice since the main focus is on the backdoor.
I shrug. “Well, it doesn’t matter now. Too bad we didn’t notice this a few days ago. We might still have a house left.” I walk over to the window and look out.
John stands upright and walks over to me, wrapping his arms around me. “We will rebuild. Everything will be fine. All that matters is we’re all safe and we don’t have to worry about Miles ever again. We’re free.” His dark eyes meet mine.
“We’re free,” I repeat before moving in for another kiss.
Chapter Twenty-Three
John
“It looks better than ever.” I kiss the back of Brooklyn’s head as we stand back looking at the house. So much has changed in the last nine months. Freedom, for the first time in years. Happiness like I’ve never experienced. A legit job. I opened a shooting range and teach classes for concealed weapons permits. It’s the perfect job for me. I even exposed all of Miles’ clients to get rid of my guilt. Even the nightmares have all but stopped. I have peace for the first time in my life.
“I’m glad we built the additions. Dad is going to love living on the property now that his term is over. He loves spending time with L.J.”
“He will love spending time with this one too.” I splay my hand out on her pregnant belly. “I can’t wait for her to make her arrival in a few more weeks.”
She turns in my arms. “She could make her arrival today and I’d be okay with that. I’m tired of being pregnant.”
“I don’t know… I think you’re rather sexy pregnant. I think I’ll keep you barefoot and pregnant,” I tease with her.
“Oh no you won’t. Snip snip for you, mister.” She forms scissors with her fingers and makes a cutting motion.