Second Chance Baby Daddy

by Vivien Vale

  Sure, the bad guys would not fare too well, but hey, they’ve just killed us. At least that is what they fucking think.

  In one of the drawers, I find a torch. Now here’s something useful.

  “Ready?” I turn to Emma. She is huddled on the bottom step with Boss. The bear can obviously sense the danger and is keeping close to Emma.

  Wide eyed, she stares at me. The light’s on, but no one’s at home.

  “For what?”

  “Action, babe,” I smile at her and stretch out my hand.

  “I don’t—” she stops.

  “We’re going to get out of here and stop those evil men from leaving our mountain.”

  I fucking mean it. Those guys aren’t going to leave us here to die. Justice must be done, one way or another.

  As I’ve been watching the monitors for our way out and thinking on a plan, I realized how evil these men are. They’re prepared to kill not just one, but both of us. All in the name of profit for the fat suckers at the top, not the workers at the bottom of the pile.

  It’s got to stop.

  It sickens me. A punch in the gut from a giant would be no more painful than the realization of what the fuck has happened to the business I once helped build up. Those at the top will go to any lengths to make sure their yearly wage stays in the eight-figure margin.

  How much does one person really need? Once you have a few million, do you need to keep making more and more? And when do you stop?

  “But how?” Emma slowly gets to her feet. Boss is hanging on tight and doesn’t want be put on the ground.

  “I’ve got a plan, babe,” I explain. “But first, let’s get out of here.”

  I take her by the hand and lead her to the very back of the room, where I move a silver filing cabinet out of the way.

  Behind it is another door. This one is hobbit-sized. I open it and crawl through it.

  In my right hand, I’m holding the torch. Once I’m through, I stand up and light the way for Emma.

  When she’s through, I go and shut the door again. Old habits die-hard. I don’t want someone to find us, should they get into my secret lair. You never know.

  I attach a lock and am doubly sure that, at the very least, I’ll have considerably slowed down anyone stupid enough to follow us.

  “What’s this place?” Emma asks, and I see her pivot on her heals.

  “Think of it as the centre of a maze,” I explain. “There are four different ways to leave from here. Each one comes out at a different spot, depending on the reason for the quick exit strategy.”

  Emma shakes her head. “You planned for these guys to come here and kill you?”

  “No. I built these exit ways just in case something happens. You’ve got be prepared for all kinds of eventualities,” I explain and take her by the hand.

  “Now come on, let’s get out of here.”

  The walk is no picnic in the park. Our path is narrow, damp, and in places, we have to duck right down. Baby bear has to come to terms with having to walk himself.

  Emma doesn’t complain once, and I stop occasionally to check on her and make sure she’s okay.

  It’s been a while since I’ve taken any of my emergency exit tracks, and I can’t recall how long before we’ll get to the cave where this particular path ends.

  On and on, we walk.

  “Are you sure we’re on the right track?” Emma asks and stops. She sounds a little out of breath.

  I don’t want to alarm her, and so I nod.

  “Of course, Em,” I inject all the confidence into those words I can muster.

  Truth is, I’m starting to fucking worry myself. Did I make a mistake? Is this a path with no end, simply leading us deeper and deeper into the mountain?

  It’s possible, but not likely.

  “Won’t be much longer,” I promise and move on.

  Behind me, I hear Emma follow before there’s another sound.

  The sound of her footstep stops, and before I turn around, I know she’s fallen.

  “Emma,” I call out and rush to her side. “You okay? Say something.”

  “Something,” mutters Emma and tries to sit up.

  “Funny, ha ha.” I shine the torch over. “Where are you hurt?”

  “Everywhere.”

  She wipes dirt out of her face, and Boss stares at her with big brown eyes.

  “Can you stand? What happened?”

  I grab beneath her arms and lift her up. She grimaces when her left foot touches the ground.

  “I think it’s my ankle.”

  She stares at it.

  “Let me take a look.”

  I bend down to take her foot gently out of the boot. Instantly, I can see the swelling and the bruising.

  “Looks like a sprain.”

  “With the dim light, I tripped over something,” Emma explains and leans against me.

  “I can carry you.” I offer. It will be difficult, but somehow I’ll manage.

  “I’m fine,” Emma insists and starts to limp off.

  Boss is hot on her heels.

  “I’ll stay behind you this time.”

  I shine the torch ahead of us.

  Where the fuck is the exit? Surely, it must be around here somewhere. How long have we been walking? Maybe fifteen minutes?

  If only I didn’t take my watch off, we’d not only have the time, but a compass as well.

  I sigh. Fucking bastards.

  I decided to start counting to five hundred, and if we haven’t reached the exit point by then, I’ll have to go to plan B.

  Right now, I’ve got no fucking idea what plan B is, but hey, there’s always a plan B.

  By the time I’m at four hundred and sixty five, I’m starting to worry. When I get to five hundred, I shake my fucking head.

  Something’s wrong.

  “I can see it,” shouts Emma, and I look up. Sure enough, a faint light is ahead of us. Emma even manages to up her speed a little, limp faster and Boss has found his confidence again and is leaping ahead of us toward the outside.

  “What are you doing?” Emma looks at me as I prepare to leave her here.

  “I’m going to go after them and stop them once and for all.”

  I turn to her. I don’t hide my fucking worry.

  “You can’t.” She’s starting to sound hysterical. “They’ve got guns, Dylan. I don’t want to lose you.”

  Emma starts sobbing.

  I walk up to her and grab her by the shoulders. My right index finger lifts her chin so she’s got to look at me. “You’re not going to lose me.”

  Emma sobs and sniffs. “Promise?”

  I nod. “Promise.”

  My mouth finds hers. We melt into each other, and I can feel her fingernails dig into my arms. Like someone drowning, she’s clutching onto me for dear life.

  When I pull back, tears stream down her face.

  “I love you,” she whispers. I wipe away her tears.

  “I love you, too.”

  For a moment, we stand there and stare at each other. Briefly, for about a microsecond, I’m thinking of abandoning my mission to go after these guys and stay here with Emma. But what would that achieve? Absolutely fucking nothing.

  Once they find out we’re not dead, they’ll go after us again.

  “I’ll be careful,” I whisper and turn to go. “You and Boss stay here.”

  I feel her eyes on me all the way out of the cave and long after I can’t see her anymore.

  Chapter 34

  Emma

  If he thinks I’m seriously going to stay here while he goes and gets himself killed, he’s wrong. There’s no way I’m going to listen to what he told me. I mean, I don’t know what the fuck he’s got in mind, but I’ll make sure I’m there, even if only as an eye witness.

  I bite my lip and start to limp after him. Boss, of course, is hot on my heels.

  Dylan is just ahead of me. He pays me no attention. He’s totally focused on getting to those guys who very nearly killed u
s.

  Actually, as far as they’re concerned, they did kill us. The thought unsettles me.

  It occurs to me how close to dying we’d come. If I hadn’t meandered around the house because of being unable to sleep, things might be different now.

  At this thought, a shiver runs down my spine.

  Life and death, a finite balance, a constant struggle.

  There’s no time for daydreaming. I need to keep moving. Dylan is getting ahead of me, and if I lose sight of him, I’m fucked out here.

  Of course, since it stopped snowing, I can see his tracks. I have no idea where he’s going, but I do my best to ignore the throbbing pain in my ankle and follow as quickly as I can.

  Within no time at all, my lungs are ready to explode. If he doesn’t stop soon, I might pass out.

  Hot fire is ripping through my muscles. How much longer I can sustain this pace is anyone’s guess.

  Man. What is Dylan’s plan? Dylan who’s running like a man possessed through the wild.

  If only he had a gun like Rambo. I mean I’ve seen the movie a long time ago, I know what a guy can do. With a rifle and all kind of other shit, he might stand a chance against these bad dudes.

  But heck, he’s got nothing but his bare hands.

  Or does he have bear hands? The play on words and the analogy brings a smile to my face, despite the seriousness of the situation. Of course, those hands are going to be useless against bullets, no matter how big or strong they are.

  I’m so wrapped up in thought, I suddenly realize I’ve lost sight of him. Fuck. I stop and look around. My heart pounds against my chest.

  Nothing.

  Snow and more fucking snow as far as the eye can see.

  If I weren’t in a life-threatening situation, this would actually be spectacular. The deep snow all around me, the valley stretching out below, and the total wilderness. Boss looks perfectly at home.

  Not a sound can be heard, except for my own hard breathing.

  This must be what a bird feels like when flying in the sky. For some reason, I start to sob. Before I can stop myself, a lone tear rolls down my cheek.

  Quickly, I wipe it away. No point standing here and bawling my eyes out. Sure, the situation is pretty fucked. I’m all alone, I have an injured ankle, and at some point, I’m going to die.

  No matter how much I try to reassure myself, it’s all going to work out fine, I’m not succeeding. How can I? The odds are so fucking stacked up against us it’s not funny.

  And now I’ve lost sight of Dylan. Actually, I’ve lost him altogether.

  For the first time since Dylan rescued me from my burning apartment and brought me here, it’s not snowing. So the sun’s not out, but it’s not a bad kind of day.

  Up ahead, I think I can see footprints. Quickly, I scramble toward them.

  When something grabs me and pulls me down my instinct is to scream. I want to scream as loud as I possibly can.

  I open my mouth and feel a hand cover it.

  Survival instincts kick in, and I start kicking and struggling for all I’m worth. I can’t believe I’ve run right into the arms of those assholes.

  How stubborn can I be? Stay put, Dylan had said, and what had I done? The complete opposite.

  My thoughts tumble over each other. I’m fighting for my life. Where’s Dylan?

  “Shh,” a hoarse voice whispers in my ear. “I’m going to let you go but don’t scream.”

  And then I am free.

  I look into familiar eyes. It takes me a few minutes to slow my breathing. My heart is still galloping wild and uncontrolled in my chest.

  “What —” I start but Dylan holds his finger in front of my lip.

  “I’m pretty sure they’re all in the car, but we should keep noise to a minimum.”

  Slowly, I nod. This is fucking crazy. Where, how—I can’t get my head around all this.

  “Have a look,” Dylan whispers and points down the valley.

  Horrified, I look at the destruction below us. Hundreds, maybe thousands of trees have been felled.

  I’m pretty sure last time I checked, this area was under special protection. Has evil spread its wings all the way up here?

  It seems unbelievable, but all the signs point to it.

  I hear a sound that doesn’t belong into the wilderness. It’s out of place. Judging from the sound of the engine, it’s going at great speed.

  A squeal of the tires and crunching of gears confirms they’ve gone around the corner too fast.

  “What’s the plan?”

  Maybe their own driving will be the end for them? I know it would be too much to hope for.

  Dylan’s eyes are on the approaching vehicle. To my surprise, we’ve managed to get ahead of it. It’s still up above us, but it won’t take long to maneuver the steep bends in the road.

  “Push it off the fucking road,” growls Dylan.

  His words tug at my insides. It sounds so gruesome, so final, and so horrible. I stop thinking about it.

  “But how?”

  Various images crowd into my head. I can still only think of bare chested Rambo plowing through the forest with his heavy machine gun and shooting at everything that moved.

  What exactly does one do without a weapon? As far as I’m concerned, explosives would be good right now. If he had a hand grenade of some sort, he could throw it on the road just ahead of the oncoming car and boom—bad guys will be history.

  Of course, we don’t have a fucking hand grenade or any other kind of explosive.

  “Trees,” grumbles Dylan and points to the edge of the windy road. “Trees can help us.”

  With a furrowed brow, I follow his pointed finger but have no fucking idea what he’s on about. Sure, there are plenty of cut down trees, but what good are they? Is he going to pick one up and throw it at the car?

  Before I can ask him, Dylan’s running down the hill. I follow.

  Inches away from the road, he stops. I can see there are cut down tree trunks. Most of them are covered by snow, but a couple are exposed.

  Mesmerized, I watch Dylan squat and put his massive hands under the tree. With a ton of grunting and swearing, he tries to get back to his feet and lift the trunk.

  My eyes are glued to the tree. It doesn’t move. There’s no fucking way this is going to work.

  I can hear the car approaching. At the speed it’s travelling, it’s going to be here in less than two minutes. Dylan may as well kiss his fucking plan goodbye.

  “Come on,” I urge him. “Let’s go and hide. We’ll go to the cops and tell them all you know.”

  Dylan, of course, isn’t listening to me. Possessed, he keeps straining and trying.

  By now, I can see the car approaching. It’s fucking useless. As soon as they draw level with us, they’re going to start shooting.

  Suddenly, the tree starts to move. I do a double take, and yes, it’s moving upward.

  Boss has come to give Dylan the last bit of strength he needs to move it. Thankfully, he doesn’t have to lift it off the ground.

  No. All they have to do is raise it a bit and then shove it downward. With the thinner part of the trunk facing down the hill, nature and gravity will take care of the rest.

  Wide-eyed, I watch the tree get into motion and start spearing down onto the road.

  Had they timed their efforts right, or would it have all been for nothing?

  The three of us hold our breath. I’m sure Boss knows exactly what’s going on.

  As the scene below us unfolds in slow motion, a black sports car approaches, having just come out of a hairpin bend. The tree trunk is now gaining momentum. For the briefest of seconds, it looks like the guys might make it.

  I can see the driver’s concentration and the gun of the passenger being pointed in our direction.

  Before I can see what happens Dylan pushes me onto the ground and rolls sideways. He yells something at Boss.

  When I hear the sickening sound of scrunching metal, I know Dylan and Boss have ma
naged to achieve the impossible.

  I want to look up, but Dylan keeps my head down.

  “Wait,” he orders, and this time, I do as I’m told.

  Chapter 35

  Dylan

  This time, Emma better fucking listen to me.

  I can’t believe she followed me. As if I didn’t have enough on my mind without worrying about her. The last thing I want is to have her snooping around the scene of the accident.

  It takes me less than a minute to get to the wreckage. I’m pretty fucking sure the dudes are dead, but I want to be one hundred percent sure before I let Emma stand up again.

  On my approach, I see the steam rise from the crumpled-up engine and hear the hiss it makes. I keep my eyes peeled for any sign of a spark or fire. If this thing is about to explode, it won’t be good for us.

  There’s definitely no movement. As I get closer, I can see the driver’s head lying backwards in an awkward angle and his eyes stare straight ahead, lifeless.

  The others look no better. Still, I make myself go closer. I need to be absolutely fucking sure they’re dead. I don’t want to be suddenly faced with the perfect shot from a dying hitman.

  The closer I get to the smashed car, the stronger the smell of burning rubber and smashed metal becomes. It’s a sickening scent. I slowly walk around the car wreck.

  No airbags have gone off and I think one of the guns of one of the men in the back seat might have shot his passenger just before or during impact.

  Talk about bad fucking luck.

  I turn around and find Emma just a few steps away. My right hand gives her the thumbs up; they’re all dead.

  She seems to take the news alright.

  The authorities will need to be contacted. As much as I don’t want to, I’ll have to rummage around the bodies to find a phone. I don’t have one. There’s no other way to contact anyone.

  The driver has a phone in his shirt pocket. It’s got battery and shows full signal. I call the cops and inform them of the terrible accident.

  “No I don’t know any of the men.” I answer the question and listen.

  “Before the crash they tried to kill me and my girlfriend.”

  Eventually, I think I’ve convinced some police officer somewhere that this is a more serious situation than just your ordinary car accident.