by Ivy Wonders
My hands gripped the wheel as I waited for the next direction and prayed Skye wasn’t afraid. I hoped like hell that horrible man hadn’t hurt him.
As a surgeon, I’d lost lives under my care before. It never got easy. But I’d never purposely taken one. It was the very opposite of what I’d trained my whole life to do. And it wasn’t a thing I’d ever thought I’d be doing.
But here I am, on my way to kill a man.
Chapter 24
Reagan
It hadn’t been my intention to involve Arrie in things. I knew he loved me, but we’d only been back together for such a short time. I didn’t think he had enough invested in me and Skye to put his life on the line or take a life to save ours.
Gazing at the determined expression on Arrie’s handsome face, I knew none of that mattered to him at all. To say Arslan Dawson was one of a kind would be correct—to say he was a hero would be better.
Trailing my fingers over his thigh, I needed to let him know how much he meant to me, just in case the very worst happened to either of us. “Arrie, I’ve told you how thankful I am for you. What I haven’t told you yet is what an honor it will be to call myself Mrs. Arslan Dawson. I’ve given you hell about getting married, and it’s time that stopped. I want nothing more than to make up for lost time, just like you said. Our son will be fine. We’ll have a future together. I know that now.”
Slipping one hand off the wheel, he took my hand, pulling it to his lips and kissing it softly. “Baby, I know you were just worried about how Skye would feel about everything between us. And before this happened, I was coming around to thinking we should slow down for his sake. But now, he’ll need security and stability like he’s never needed it before. Being together as a family makes sense.”
“I agree.” I had some insecurities of my own now, knowing that my son had been so easily taken from my home right under my nose. “You know, if I hadn’t woken up to puke again, then I wouldn’t have known Skye was missing until much later. In a way, it’s good I drank on an empty stomach.”
With a grin, he said, “Nothing ever happens for no reason at all, I guess. Even something that might have seemed like a dumb decision at first.”
Thinking about the decision I’d made that last night with Arrie, I tended to think he might be on to something. “You know what? I think you’re right. I thought I’d made the worse decision of my life when I’d told you we’d be fine not using a condom. But then we got Skye out of that poor decision, didn’t we?”
“Exactly. I don’t think we need to keep calling that decision a poor one.” He kissed my hand again. “It was the most brilliant decision you’ve ever made.”
I pointed to the next road ahead of us. “The directions say to take that road there.”
Turning, we finally saw the abandoned warehouse where our son was being held. “And there it is,” he whispered. “I’m going to stop back here so we can walk the rest of the way.” He looked at me with the most serious expression I’d ever seen on his face. “You need to get out first, and I’ll lag behind. If he’s watching for you then he’ll spot me too, and we can’t have that. Now climb over me, so he can see you getting out of the driver’s side and won’t think anyone is with you.”
“Good thinking, Arrie.” I unbuckled my seatbelt and moved to sit on his lap. I turned to kiss him just before getting out of the car.
I couldn’t describe the kiss as passionate—there was so much more going on between us as we kissed, knowing things might not be the same in a short amount of time. Out of breath with the tremendous transfer of pure emotions, I whispered, “I will always love you, Arslan Dawson. For eternity, I will hold you in my heart.”
His hand moved over my cheek as our foreheads pressed together. “And you will be a part of my soul until the end of time.”
Knowing what we were about to willingly walk into, I got out of the car and began the long walk up to the warehouse. My son was inside somewhere, and the urge to run as fast as I could to get to him nearly overwhelmed me. But I knew I had to stay cool. Keeping things calm was the key.
Tension filled my body, and I worked to rid it of that as I walked to what might be my final destination. If this was how things were meant to be, then I had no control over that anyway. There was no reason to worry anymore. I had always been a believer in fate, and this didn’t feel any different. Things would happen the way they had been written in the stars long, long ago.
I’d learned a long time ago while training to be a surgeon that sometimes I had to go to another place in my mind. A place where I could find another level of concentration and focus, where I could join with a higher power to see me through what needed to be done
I knew I had to let myself reach that place now. That I had to be calm and razor-sharp if I wanted to save my son and come out of this alive.
Stopping in front of the door to the side of the large warehouse doors, I held up my hands over my head to let Haney know I was coming in unarmed. Deep down, I was also reaching out to the universe—to any higher power there might be out there—hoping for guidance and protection.
Feeling a strength and faith I’d never felt before, I opened the door, nice and slow. The darkness hid most everything from me. “Haney?” my voice echoed off the walls of the empty metal structure.
“Mom!” Skye called out.
I looked in the direction I thought his voice might be coming from, but his shout bounced off the walls. “Skye!” My heart pounded, and I nearly ran toward the place I thought he might be.
Slow and easy, Reagan. “To the right,” Haney called out. “Come slowly to the right and keep those hands up just like you’re doing now.”
Holding them up high, I moved to the right. Seeing a small light, I headed toward it. “Everything’s going to be okay, Skye. Momma’s here now.”
He sniffled, and I knew he was crying. The anger that flashed through me nearly did me in.
I had to walk around a corner to follow the light, and there I found my son. A twin bed, no sheets, no pillow, nothing—just my son chained to it. And now the anger crept up inside of me. Slow, burning, incinerating the calming words that tried to come through my mind. “Release my son from those chains immediately, Haney,” I growled. “Or so help me God, I will kill you with my bare hands.”
“You don’t—” that’s all Haney could get out.
“Your daughter was not confined to anything. Now you unlock those chains, or you have no idea what kind of hell I will bring down on you. You only think you’ve suffered. I’ll show you suffering like you’ve never imagined.”
Suddenly, Haney came out of the shadows, a shiny silver key in his now shaking hand. “I only put him in the chains an hour ago. He’s been free up until now. I didn’t mean to make you so mad, Storey.”
“Is that true, Skye?” My fists balled at my sides. I decided to focus on my son—Haney’s insanity could be addressed later.
“He’s been nice, Momma. But then he told me he had to tie me up.” He began crying. “I’m scared, Momma!”
“No need, baby.” I held out my arms to him as Haney unlocked the chains that had held my son.
Skye ran to me as Haney stood perfectly still. “Okay, you can hold him, but things are still going just the way I described to you over the phone.” He pulled out a gun and aimed it as us.
“Put that down,” I said with the most demanding voice I’d ever heard come out of my mouth. “You didn’t have to put up with anything like this when you said what you did to your daughter. Hailey got better than this. Skye will too.”
Putting the gun to his side, he dropped his head. “I know she did. You’re right.”
Holding Skye, I picked him up, hugging him tight. The place echoed far too much for me to attempt to whisper that we had backup, so I just focused on reassuring my boy. “Everything is going to be okay, Skye. You trust me, don’t you?”
His tiny fingers cut into my back as he clung to me. “Yes,” the tears were still evident in his
little voice. “But I’m scared, Momma. I wanna go home. I just wanna go home.”
Haney took the chance to interrupt. “And that’s where I’m sending you, Skye. I’m sending us all home. There won’t be anything to worry about anymore. Just like I told you. It’s better where we’re all going. No pain. No sorrow. It’s wonderful there. And I told you my wife and daughter will be there too. It’ll be such a joyous time.”
“But I wanna go to my home,” Skye whimpered as he buried his face in my shoulder. “I don’t wanna go with you, Mr. Haney. I don’t know anyone you’re talking about. Please, let me go home with Momma. Please.”
I’d never heard my child beg so hard in my life and it tore my heart into millions of pieces. “We will go home. To our home, Skye.”
Haney’s eyes drooped as he lifted the gun again. “No, you will go where I send you, Storey.”
His hands shook as he held the gun. I turned my back to him, keeping Skye out of the line of fire. “You will give me the time I gave you, Haney. Two minutes isn’t fair. You had hours and hours.”
“You know I can’t give you that much time,” he said. “But I can give you five more minutes.”
“That’s all I’m asking.” I held tightly to Skye, praying he’d feel the comfort I wanted to give him. Rocking back and forth, I decided to sing one of his favorite songs. If I sang loud enough, the noise would drown out any sounds Arrie might accidentally make when he got into place to take care of the man who had dared to steal and threaten our child.
As I sang Baby Shark, Skye began to sing along. That song had driven me crazy, I’d heard it so often. Now, it soothed my son and myself as it went on and on. “Baby shark, doo doo doo do-do do-do do-do.” Onto the next verse, we went. “Mommy shark …”
After running through that verse, Sky lifted his little head and looked at me with a smile on his face. “Daddy shark, doo doo …”
Please, let Daddy shark be in place and ready to end this for us!
Chapter 25
Arslan
The size of the warehouse made it nearly impossible to find Reagan and Skye. And then I heard her singing—I could follow the sounds she and Sky made as they sang a long and repetitious song.
I’d found a side door to slide into, as I didn’t want to go through the front, the way Reagan had. I felt sure Haney had some surveillance equipment monitoring that entrance. But he couldn’t possibly have every entrance covered.
Outside, the sky was a dark gray as rain clouds filled the early evening sky. Inside, the huge empty building was dark. I couldn’t see much, but what I did see was a lot of empty space.
Following their voices, I made sure to come up behind the sounds. I spotted a metal staircase and thought about getting overhead. That position would give me much more leeway when I took my shot at Haney.
The stairs creaked a bit under my weight. Going slowly, I tried my best not to make any noise. It worried me that if Haney heard even the slightest sound, he’d kill my son and Reagan.
“I think that’s enough singing,” Haney said.
I could pinpoint where they were now. And as I took the last step, I could see them all in a small room—one with no ceiling. That gave me the perfect advantage over the man.
Reagan didn’t stop singing right away. She and Skye finished the verse about daddy shark before they got quiet. Reagan had Skye in her arms with her back to Haney, protecting Skye.
I didn’t fully understand why until Haney lifted his arm from his side and I saw the gun. “It’s time to put him down, Storey.”
“Look,” Reagan said calmly. “It doesn’t have to be this way. Mr. Haney, I can get you all the help you’ll need to get on with your life. And my son’s father will pay you a king’s ransom for our release. I swear this to you.”
Haney tilted his head. “Do you honestly think money or therapy can make things better for me, Storey?” He let out a loud sigh. “Without my wife and child, I have nothing. I don’t want to find another woman. I don’t want another child. I only want my family back. And soon, I’ll have them again.”
“You’re not afraid that committing murder and then committing suicide will send you to some other place? A place they’re not?” Reagan asked him as she kept her back to him, holding tightly to Skye.
“I don’t believe in hell,” Haney informed her.
“But you believe in heaven,” she stated. “From my understanding, if there’s a heaven, then there must be a hell too. And there are certain things that will ensure you get sent there. Murder is one of those things.”
“Then that’s where you’ll go too, Storey,” Haney said as he trained the gun at Reagan’s back. “If I shoot you in the back, the bullet should rip right through your heart and into your son’s.”
I clenched my jaw, finding it hard to hold back as I listened to this insane man threaten my family. Pulling the gun out of the waistband of my jeans, I got it ready. Reagan had given him the chance to end this without bloodshed. Listening to his answer, it became crystal clear that I would have to kill the man if I wanted the two most important people in my life to stay alive.
As I stood there, contemplating what I was about to do, I wondered how he must be feeling. He’d lost his world. It had done him in. If I lost mine, I knew it would take my life as well. But that didn’t mean I’d try to take others down with me.
Haney just couldn’t accept that his wife and child were gone—that they were beyond his reach. He had to seek revenge for the wrongs that life had done him. And he’d taken out his anger on Reagan. In his own twisted way, he must think that killing Reagan’s son was the only thing that would end his agony.
But as hard as I tried to humanize the man, as hard as I tried to figure out what else could be done for him, I couldn’t find any other solution. If he wasn’t willing to seek help, if he wasn’t willing to let my family go, then there was nothing for me to do but shoot him.
But in trying to negotiate with Haney, Reagan had brought something to my attention. Murder was one of those sins that got your soul sent to hell. And I was right there, ready to commit murder. Did it count as murder when I was defending my family?
“Put him down, Storey,” Haney demanded.
“I can’t,” Reagan whimpered. “I can’t let you do this, Haney.”
“This isn’t up to you.” His hands shook as he used both of them to hold the gun as steady as he could. “I will do what I promised my little girl I would do before she passed away.”
“You told her you’d kill my son and me?” Reagan asked without looking at him. Her entire body wrapped around our son’s as she tried to use her body to keep him safe. I could see she was even trying to cover his ears, so he wouldn’t be scared by the way they were talking.
“I told her I would get revenge for what you did to her.” Haney’s hands shook terribly. It had me worried the gun would go off without him even meaning it to. “You let her die. You didn’t try hard enough to find her a heart, Storey. You know you didn’t.”
Putting Skye down, she kept him behind her. He clung to her legs as she turned to face Haney. “You don’t understand how the transplant system works, Mr. Haney. I tried to tell you before, but you never listened. I’m not in control of who gets what. All I can do is put someone on the transplant list. Your daughter was small for her age. That meant a small child would have had to die with his or her heart intact. That doesn’t happen too often. And that’s why your little girl passed on before a heart could be found for her.” Reagan put her hands up in the air as she asked, “What did you expect I could do, Haney? Go out and kill a little kid to give your daughter their heart?”
For a moment, I thought she’d gotten to him. He put the gun down and dropped his head. “I don’t know what I expected from you. I took my daughter to you for help, and you didn’t help her.”
“Again, Haney,” Reagan said as calmly as she could. “I helped her as much as I could. Everything else was out of my control.”
He pulled the gu
n back up. “You stayed there until she passed, then you patted me on the back and told me how sorry you were. Do you remember what you did after that, Storey?”
“I left you to grieve, Mr. Haney.” Reagan put her palms out in what I thought to be an effort to get him to put his gun back down. “I left you with a clergyman and a counselor. I’m trained to work on people’s hearts. They’re trained to help people deal with grief. I’d done all I could do, and then I left you to those who knew best how to help you. I am sorry for your loss. I am sorry for how life has treated you. And I am sorry it’s come to this. But you have to let us go.”
My heart stopped as he moved his finger to the trigger. “I have to send you both to wherever it is you’re going.”
I couldn’t let him pull that trigger. I aimed my gun at his upper torso, lined up my shot, and pulled my trigger first. Everything went in slow-motion. The bullet didn’t strike his chest, but hit him in the top of his left shoulder. And that hit alerted him to my presence.
Haney fell on the floor, face up, and his eyes zeroed in on me as I stood above them all. Then I noticed Reagan and Skye looking up at me too, for the first time realizing I was up there.
“I’ll kill you!” Haney screamed as he pointed his gun at me.
“No!” I heard Skye scream, and then I saw his little body running toward Haney.
“No!” I yelled. “Skye, no! Stop!”
Not listening, he ran straight for Haney and tried to kick the gun out of his hand. I watched in horror as the gun went off, and my son took a shot to his chest.
“Skye!” Reagan shrieked—an inhuman sound that I never wanted to hear again for as long as I lived. She’d been only inches from grabbing Skye, and Haney took advantage of how close she was, pulling his trigger once more and catching her in the shoulder.
I had to get to them. I ran to the stairs, taking them three at a time. Running around the corner, I saw Haney’s body shaking and his eyes closing as Reagan managed to get up and lean over Skye to protect him from anymore bullets.