by Christina OW
Audrey hugged his head to her chest, “Don’t say that!”
“You haven’t found her and she hasn’t called Kris in three months. She used to call her twice a day. I have the large phone bills to prove it!”
“What’s wrong? Why is he crying?” Kris stuttered. She ran the few feet to his desk, “Tell me what’s wrong? Is it Ellie and the baby?”
“We don’t know. We haven’t heard anything yet,” Audrey answered. Kris too had become a wreck. She called her every hour asking for news of Ellie. They both resembled junkies going cold turkey.
Kris dropped in the chair, despair and sorrow taking its place back on her face, “It’s been too long. Maybe she is dead.”
“Please don’t say that!” Audrey begged.
“What other explanation is there?”
“Why don’t you two go home? I’m sure Seth is waiting for you Kris.”
Kris smiled weakly, “Seth is probably updating Ellie’s twitter and Facebook accounts. We’ve got a number of false leads, but he’s still hopeful.”
“And you aren’t?”
Kris stood up, “I’m tired. Call me when you have news.” She staggered out, her head hanging low.
“Carson, why don’t you go home?”
“To the memories of my wife and daughter? I don’t think so. Audrey, thank you for taking care of me, but I’d like to be alone.”
Audrey nodded, “If you need anything, just call.” She walked out, closing the door and leaving Carson alone with his tormenting memories.
He curled up on the couch hugging Ellie’s and Stacey-Ann’s picture against his chest. He’d tried everything he could to find them and now a sickening feeling was settling over him.
Acceptance.
****
“Carson where are you!” Richard’s voice filled his ear. Carson ignored him. He wasn’t going to wait for the suspect to kill her. If they all waited outside, waiting for him to pick up the phone and negotiate, they’d have two dead victims- the killer and the innocent girl.
The killer would most definitely be his victim.
“Carson!” Richard yelled again.
“Don’t worry boss, I’ve got his back,” Gwen’s voice filled his ear, and then she appeared next to him, “Just like old times Carson.”
Stepping into the room, “Let’s just get this done.” The suspect pulled the girl up and held a large sharp blade against her quivering neck, “Put the knife down Troy!”
“Come any closer and I’ll slit her throat open!” He yelled back, with a sadistic laugh.
“Calm down Troy, we can figure a way out of this,” Gwen yelled back.
“Keep talking, I’ll find a shot,” Carson whispered.
Gwen cursed under her breath. There was no way he could shoot Troy without hurting the girl. But before she could say another word a loud bang rang in the empty warehouse. Gwen watched the two fall on the ground, a sharp scream escaping the girl’s lips.
Gwen rushed to them and pulled the girl away. She checked her for a bullet hole when she saw a large patch of blood on her back. She let out a sigh of relief when she found none and then turned to the suspect. She watched his body jerk around, blood leaking out of the two holes in his neck as his empty eyes stared up.
Richard entered the room, “What the hell?”
Carson holstered his gun and walked out, “I had to take a shot.”
Kevin watched him leave, wondering where the man he knew had disappeared to, “Do you think he’ll ever be himself again? It’s been a month since he accepted that they were dead.”
“He didn’t accept it, he just gave up trying to find them,” Paloma answered. She’d watched him spiral down, and it broke her heart, “Living in that kind of pain for months, it has gotten to the point that he is just shutting down.”
“Do you think they are dead?”
“Maybe, but for his sake I hope not.”
“Whether they are or not, he believes they are. And his way of grieving is killing every suspect we corner.” Doran made a passing comment as he walked to Richard and the cold body, “What are you going to do about Carson?”
Richard huffed, brushing his hand over his face, “I don’t know. I understand he’s grieving, but this is the eighth suspect he’s shot dead. What bugs me isn’t that he’s killing them, it’s that he doesn’t wait a beat.”
“Troy would have slashed her throat.”
“And maybe he would have surrendered. We’ll never know.”
****
Carson sat at his desk cleaning his gun, waiting for another reprimand from Richard. He had completely isolated himself from his team. The only time he came in contact with them was when they were working. He blamed them for Ellie not trusting him and for not doing their job. Who’d blame Ellie for taking off? Gwen was gunning to put her behind bars! It was that spiteful little bitch’s fault he had no idea if his family was alive or not!
Carson looked at his ring finger. He’d found it impossible to take it off. A part of him had accepted he’d never see his girls again, but part of him was still holding on- the part that wouldn’t allow him to take his ring off.
He twisted it around his finger, diving into the memories of his wedding day. He couldn’t believe he’d contemplated running away. Now it just felt like five minutes he’d wasted. Five minutes he could have spent with Ellie and Stacey-Ann. He’d do anything for five more minutes with his girls. His face creased as he came close to breaking down again, but the rap on the door made him gather himself back.
He picked up his gun and went back to cleaning it, “Make it fast Richard, I’d like to go home.”
“You mean hotel. You haven’t been to your apartment for months.” Gwen chirped, dropping in the chair across his desk, a large smile on her face, “That was a crazy shot you took today. I thought the rooftop one was sick, but with this guy you had two inches of exposed neck to work with,” she whistled, “If you were half an inch to the right, the victim would be dead and you’d be in lock up right now. Risky, but super awesome! You’ve got to teach me that sometime.”
Carson stared drily at her. How he wished she’d just disappear. He turned his attention back to his gun, “What do you want?”
“We figured you’d want to go out.”
“Why?”
“Celebrate your little girl’s birthday. She would have been one tomorrow, right?”
Carson stopped. His grip tightening around the gun as his rage mounted. She didn’t know how lucky she was it wasn’t loaded. He bit down on his tongue as he tried to simmer down his anger.
Gwen climbed on top of his desk and gently ran her fingers from his ear to his rough chin in a gentle caress. She lowered her voice and tuned it to a seductive tone, “If you want, we could go to your hotel and I could give you a condolence gift or birthday gift. Whatever you like, however you like it.”
He grabbed her hand and crushed it in his grip, “Get out!”
Stunned, she pulled her hand out of his painful grip, “Hey! I was just saying...”
“Get out!” He bellowed. He shot off his chair, his hands held in a tight painful fist. Gwen jumped off the desk ready to defend herself, “I will not let anyone, especially you mock my loss. Out, now!”
Just then Audrey rushed into the office, gasping for breath and with tears in her eyes, “Carson, she’s here!”
“Who?”
“Kris just came with her!” She laughed, tears trickling out of her eyes.
“Who is Audrey?”
“Ellie. She’s alive and she’s...”
She didn’t get a chance to finish. Carson ran out of his office and kept running until he got to where there was a small gathering, “Where is she?”
“Where else, but by the elevators?” Doran answered, with a relieved laugh.
Carson rushed passed them and then came to an abrupt stop a few feet away from the trio. Paloma was standing in front of her, blocking his view. But he could see Kris. She was crying, nodding her head at him an
d smiling.
Carson felt like his heart had stopped when Paloma moved, exposing the sight he’d craved and mourned for months. He bent over, his hands on his knees. He couldn’t breathe. It was too unreal for him to believe.
“Dale...”
Her sweet, quiet voice rang in his ears. He put his hand on his chest over his racing heart and stepped a few feet back, tears freely spilling out of his eyes.
Ellie moved towards him, “Dale I’m so sorry, I didn’t know.” She went to put her hand on him, but he retreated. He turned around, giving her his back.
“Dale...”
“This isn’t possible,” he gasped, “I must be dreaming. You can’t be alive.”
Ellie hugged him from behind, placing her hands on his chest, “I swear I’m real.”
Carson shivered when she touched him. It was like someone had placed a smouldering hot iron against his skin. Hesitantly, he rested his hand on hers. He felt her ring rub against his and his heart stopped again.
“Dale, please look at me.”
He turned around slowly, each second praying that he wasn’t dreaming. Ellie took his hands and placed his open palms on her wet face, “See I told you I was real.”
“How do I know you aren’t Ellsa pretending to be Ellie?”
She smiled kissing his inner wrist, “I think you would know if I was a usurper. Especially since I have your middle name, the one you hate so much, tattooed on my waist with musical notes around it.” She laughed, “I’ve never been an ink person, but like they say, you are doomed to pick up your spouse’s bad habits.”
Carson laughed and hugged her tight against him as he cried, chanting her name. He cradled a hand full of her curly hair and held it to his nose. He breathed in the coconut scent that used to drive him crazy. But right now, the annoying scent served as a confirmation that he had his wife back.
Ellie hugged him back, glad she was back in his arms, “Kris told me what was going on. I can’t believe she didn’t tell you.”
“Who?”
“Ellsa. We spoke every week. To think I trusted her.”
“What?” The entire time she was pretending to comfort him, with one-phone call she could have ended his suffering.
“She said it wasn’t safe to call, that your team was conspiring to use me as a pawn to protect Gwen. She said the two of you found evidence that she was trying to set me up.”
“What?” Gwen hollered.
“Don’t worry, I already told her the truth,” Paloma offered quickly.
Ellie looked at Gwen, “I’m sorry I didn’t know. All this time I stayed away, she made me believe it was for my own good,” she turned back to Carson, “I’m sorry I didn’t know.”
“That Ellsa!” Carson hissed, between clenched teeth, “Where is Stacey-Ann?”
“Downstairs with Seth. We were a little apprehensive about bringing her up, just in case Ellsa was right.” Kris answered, “But she has another surprise for you. Show him the surprise!” She chimed excitedly.
Ellie shyly looked away. She wasn’t nervous about coming home, but after having the wool pulled away from her eyes, she’d become extremely nervous. She took another deep breath.
Carson put a finger under her chin and lifted her head up, “Tell me, what’s wrong?”
“There is nothing wrong! Tell him!” Kris spat out, impatiently.
“I ah... I...,” the words were stuck in the knots in her stomach and then she felt it.
“Wow,” Carson flinched, “Your stomach just kicked me!”
“I’m going to be a godmother! Finally!” Kris announced.
Ellie shook her head, “Yes, that’s the big news. Kris is finally going to be a godmother.”
“Aah!” Audrey screamed, jumping up and down. Kris joined her, dancing around in circles.
“You are pregnant?” Carson whispered.
She nodded. When he just stood there looking at her, saying and doing nothing, she punched him in the stomach, “You can’t do that to me twice Dale Carson!”
“This isn’t like last time. You didn’t just arrive from New York, you came back from the dead, pregnant! I need a few minutes to process!”
“You have five seconds. I need to know what you are thinking.”
The dress had hidden it well. He placed his hand on her belly. It was like gripping a basketball! “How far along are you?”
“Twenty-six weeks.”
“Wait, you were pregnant when you left?”
She nodded, “That’s what I wanted to talk to you about.” She held down the loose dress to expose the big bump, “When Richard asked me about my blood at the crime scene, that’s when I got suspicious.”
“Did Ellsa know?”
She nodded, “I told her when we were in the lobby downstairs.”
Kris stopped her dancing, “That’s why she dragged you away. That little bitch!”
“That’s why she made them disappear,” Richard spoke out of her earshot.
“Do you think she’s the killer?” Doran asked.
“It would explain why it stopped all of a sudden.”
“And she did try to play on Carson’s grief to her advantage,” Kevin added.
“And someone called me a heartless bitch,” Gwen spoke, walking away, “I’ll get the uniforms on her.”
Ellie spoke up impatiently, “I’m still waiting for an answer Dale. Are you okay with a second baby?”
He smiled, shrinking a few inches to reach her lips, “The more the merrier.” He kissed her, his lips taking advantage, after missing hers for such a long time.
She giggled, “This is the last one. One of each, remember?”
Paloma tapped her on the shoulder, “Sorry to interrupt but, did you just say you are having a boy?”
“Yes. Dale Carson the third!”
Paloma gave her a kind smile, “Congratulations. One more question, did you tell your sister this?”
“Yeah. The moment I got into town, I called and told her.”
“That you are having a boy?”
“Yeah.”
“Oh no,” Kevin whispered, from behind the couple. The rest of the team marched back to the elevators.
“Who drove you here Ellie?” Richard asked. The urgency in his voice made her uneasy.
“Ellsa’s bodyguard. Why? What’s wrong?”
“And where is he now?” He asked, rigorously pressing the down button on the elevator.
“Downstairs with Seth and Stacey-Ann,” when Carson dislodged himself from her and ran for the stairway, she got even more uneasy. “Will someone tell me what’s going on?”
“Paloma and Doran, stay here with Ellie. The rest get downstairs, as fast as possible!” Richard jumped into the elevator the second the doors open, Kevin rushing in after him. Gwen took off after Carson.
Carson ran eight flights down. He pulled his safety gun from his ankle and rushed into the lobby. Seth was on the floor bleeding from his shoulder. And lying next to him was Stacey-Ann’s diaper bag.
Carson grabbed the security guard, “Where is the little girl he was holding?”
“Her mother took her.”
He shifted his hold to his neck, “And you let her!”
“She said she’d been kidnapped and the guy she was with said he was the father! What else was I supposed to do?” That answer earned him a hard clout.
“You do know this is a federal building!”
Carson had just found out his daughter was still alive, and now the stupid security guard had handed her to the woman who stole her in the first place!
Kevin and Richard wrestled Carson off the security guard.
Gwen ran back into the building, “I’m sorry Carson, they are gone.”
“No, no, no, no!” He yelled, tossing the decor around until there was nothing left to toss. He sank to the ground his head in his hands, “What am I going to tell Ellie?”
“Tell me what?”
His eyes rose to look at her.
“Seth!” Kris screame
d as she ran to him. The paramedics were rolling him out of the building on a gurney, “What happened?” She cried, getting on board the ambulance.
Carson got off his feet and moved to Ellie, tears in his eyes.
Sensing what he was going to say, Ellie moved away from him, shaking her head.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered.
“No.”
“Ellie...”
“No.”
The moment he held her, a pained scream left her lips. And after a few minutes of crying, she passed out in his arms.
Chapter Eighteen
“Stacey-Ann.” Ellie stirred awake, her daughter’s name on her lips.
“Ellie?” Carson had helplessly watched her wake up like this for two weeks.
It was killing him faster, than not knowing where his daughter was. He was a father and husband. His main duty in life was to his family, to protect and keep them safe, but he felt like a spectator. He was a bloody FBI agent for crying out loud! How was it possible he could help others, but when it came to his family he failed time and time again? What good was he if he couldn’t even keep his family safe? And now, they were cursed to spend every waking hour in the bureau and passing the night on the couch in his office, waiting for a lead to his daughter.
Ellie opened her eyes and stared at him, “Where is she?”
“Ellsa still has her.”
Ellie cringed away from him, fresh tears spilling out of her swollen eyes. “How could she do this to me, how could she?”
Carson lifted her up and laid under her before he held her against his chest, hugging her tight, “She’s evil and she wants to hurt us.”
“But why?”
“She hates us. She hates that we love each other and that we are happy.”
She pushed herself up to look at him, “I understand that, but she couldn’t be the one who kidnapped Stacey-Ann. She doesn’t like children.”
Carson put his hand on her cheek. He loved her naivety and how hard she tried to see the good in everyone, “Who else could it be?”
Ellie’s face creased as she cried, “I should have just let her walk. The moment she stood up, I knew I had to come home. I didn’t want you to miss it. And now she might never...”