by Mia Caldwell
Julien wouldn’t want me panicking down here with no one to help me out, so I tried to pull my act together. If someone was coming for me, then there would be hell to pay.
I stood quietly, aiming the gun toward the entry to the seller. It would be hard to tell who was coming in, and I would wait until I could see them… I just hoped I wouldn’t make a mistake.
So much had happened in such a short amount of time that I had no time to process any of it. All I knew was protecting my son was my only option.
There was more yelling going on outside, somewhere not too far off. Another shot rang out, this time much too close for comfort. I shuddered, the noise catching me off guard again. I closed my eyes, saying a little prayer.
Silence...
Minutes passed, and I heard nothing. Hadn’t Julien said that he had called for the authorities when he was here? What was taking them so long?
For the first time since I’d lived there, I regretted living so far from a bigger town.
I stood up after a few more minutes passed, my leg shaking under my weight. The baby turned over within me, jutting out one of his legs and making me wince in pain.
“Be careful, baby boy. You’re being too rough on me.”
I didn’t want to get any closer to the store, but it had been so long… I just wanted to know what was going on.
I debated with myself on whether or not to open the door. It was so hard not knowing what was going on. If they knew where I was why weren’t they coming? And what was holding back Julien and Gervaise? I felt more alone than ever…
I bit my lip, finally deciding that I had to know one way or the other what was going on.
I climbed the steps leading up to the door, hoping that it would easily open without me having to make much noise. I pushed my hands up over my head and felt it push up, the metal cold in my hands. I waited until I could see a few inches above ground in front of me and to both sides of me, where I saw nothing but grass.
I slowly inched my way out, finally stepping outside of the seller, the gun slipping in my palm sweaty palm clammy palm. I wiped the back of my hands and my palms against my shirt, shaking still. I didn’t like holding the gun, but I did have to admit that I felt safer behind it.
I made my way to the edge of the corner of the house, right where someone had shot at Gervaise. I didn’t want to look around the corner but I knew I had to in order to move. I hope I didn’t see anyone lying on the ground dead.
When I turned the corner ever so slightly I noticed someone was facing away from me, about fifty feet away.
From the back I could see that it was a bald man, someone very tall and wearing a clean cut dark gray suit. I immediately held my gun out.
As if I had announced my presence, the man turned around and I was stunned, nearly dropping my gun to the ground when I caught sight of him.
It was the man who almost shot me. The man from the hotel…
It was just at that time that I saw he was holding a thick rope in his hands, looking as though he was ready to tie something up. That something possibly being me.
I stumbled backwards as he advanced towards me, a weird look on his face almost as if he enjoyed stalking me. He eyed my belly, but it did not deter him. What a bastard.
The grim smile he gave me sent a chill down to my very bones, but I wasn’t going to run away this time.
“Don’t get any closer to me, I swear to God I will shoot you right there.” My words sounded far away in my head, but I knew that I had said them out loud when the man smirked at me.
“You ain’t gonna do shit. Except maybe shut your damn mouth.”
His words rattled me, but I didn’t let it show. He wasn’t about to intimidate me.
“I said don’t get any closer. This is the last time I’m going to tell you.”
It was as if something had taken over me, a feeling older than time itself. I realized why I felt so brave… It was the baby. Wanting to protect him with my very life. Because I was his mother.
The man rolled his eyes at me, shaking his head. “Yeah, yeah. Drop the fucking gun and maybe I’ll let your baby live. Do you know who I fucking am? I’m the new head of the Five Families. I put a bullet in Angelo Verdicci and I’ll put a bullet in you and your fucking Frenchman if you don’t drop that fucking gun.”
I pulled the trigger hard… Hard enough that it drew my aim upward and to the left. I shot the man in his shoulder, barely grazing him.
He looked surprised as I corrected my mistake, firing a second and third time. He fell. I rolled myself around the corner, just in case he had a chance to pull his gun out, but there was nothing. Silence.
All I could think about was how this was the part in the movies where people double-checked to make sure the person was dead, and then ended up getting shot. I stood there, not moving. The gun was still shaking in my hands, but I was ready for the next guy in case he came looking for his friend.
The baby flipped over within me, and I braced my hand against the brick wall as I realized something was wrong.
I felt a strong muscle cramp in my lower abdomen, making me double over in pain. I groaned, tears welling up in my eyes as I realized it was the baby. Something was happening. I swallowed hard against the lump against my throat, and looked around the corner to make sure the man was dead.
As far as I could tell he was, because he was keeled over, not moving, and his body was face down. I slouched against the wall, trying to shimmy myself down before I realized my pants were soaked. I reached down and felt between my legs, bringing my hand back up and realizing that my water had broke.
There was no way. All of this that had happened… I couldn’t…
And then the black stars formed in my vision, clouding it so that I could barely see out of my eyes. My head began to spin, and I knew that I had to hurry up and make it back down to the cellar before I passed out in the open. I tried to make my way back, but fell to the ground on my hands and knees. Trying to drag myself over to the door was nearly impossible, and the last thing I saw before I passed out was Julien’s face rushing up toward me.
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Chapter 39
Lights filtered through the window and hit my face at an odd angle. I blinked a few times before the room came into focus.
I coughed. my throat dry and scratchy. My eyes scanned the room to see if Julien was still with me, but the only one I saw was Dr. Thibodeau in the corner of the room, looking over a chart. I tried to turn my head and look the other way, but I was so physically tired I could barely move an inch. It was hard enough to keep my eyes open.
I waited for her to see me, wishing she would just hurry up and turn around already. I was dying of thirst as it was.
It only took a split second before I realized something was missing. I looked down and choked back a scream when I saw that the giant belly I had been used to carrying around for my pregnancy was gone.
I cried out the best I could, trying to catch her attention. Dr. Thibodeau turned around and quickly came by my side, patting my hand reassuringly.
“It’s okay… He is fine. The baby is okay, in fact I think he’s with his father right now. A lot has happened... Would you like me to go get Mr. Malveaux for you?”
I nodded my head the best I could, trying to motion for her to bring me some water as well. She gave me a quick nod and turned around to fill up a small Styrofoam cup with water.
So many things were running through my mind at that moment. I wanted to see my baby and hold him tightly against me, possibly never letting go again. They must’ve had to perform a c-section on me. My mind was reeling.
Dr. Thibodeau pulled out her cell phone, sending off a quick text.
She turned back to me, a sympathetic smile on her face. “I know you probably have a lot of questions for us. What I can tell you is that your baby boy is a sweet little thing.”
I gave her the best smile I could muster, trying desperately to keep my eyes open. I needed to see both
the baby and Julien with my own eyes, if only just to reassure myself.
When the door to the specialized obstetrics room opened and Julien came in holding a small wrapped up blanket, tears leaped out of the corners of my eyes. It wasn’t the ideal situation that I had been dreaming of, but we were all three here together, safe and sound at least for now.
Julien still looked haggard, his face in desperate need of a good shaving, but other than that’s still as handsome as ever. He being down at the small bundle he was holding carefully in his arms, pulling back a corner of the soft blanket to reveal a lock of curly, dark hair.
“Hello again, ma chérie. I’ve certainly missed you. And I’m not the only one,” he murmured to me, as he drew nearer. “I have someone who wants to finally meet his maman.”
“She may not be able to hold him just yet, Mr. Malveaux. She still rather weak from the medicines. Miss Jackson, are you able to talk yet?”
I tried clearing my throat, taking another sip of my water to help ease the dryness. “A little,” I managed to rasp.
Tears slid down my cheeks again, this time because I couldn’t hold my baby just yet. I knew it would only be a matter of time, but I needed to touch him, and make sure he was real and that I had just imagined the past nine months with him inside of me. Everything else could wait. I needed my baby.
To prove my point, I attempted to pull myself up to a sitting position, Dr. Thibodeau quickly stepping in to help elevate the top part of the hospital bed, so that I could try to hold my baby boy.
Julien looked at me steadily, checking to make sure that I could handle it.
“I can do it, Julien. Please let me see him. I waited for so long,” I whispered, trying not to hurt my throat.
He narrowed his eyes at me, but I knew it was only because he was wanting to make sure the baby was safe. He gently tucked a corner back into its place, before raising his arms to transfer the baby into mine. He was so tiny, but I remembered that I was only thirty-six weeks along when I went into labor. The realization hit me like a ton of bricks.
“Is he . . . okay? There weren’t any problems with him being so early, were there?” The panic was very clear in my voice. Even though he was right there in my arms, I felt the terrible pang of worry.
Dr. Thibodeau patted my forearm again, helping to brush a piece of Alain’s hair back. “He’s perfectly healthy. He was a big boy for only being so far along, so he has that in his favor. There’s nothing to worry about with him.”
I held back the cry that was desperately trying to rise up my throat, when I saw my son’s sweet face. He was just as I had imagined, only more beautiful if that were even possible. His soft hair was wispy in some places and in thick clumps and others, making me chuckle. His eyes were closed at the moment, and he was sucking on his thumb, making the sweetest of noises. I could already tell that he had Julien’s dimpled chin, and my round cheeks to go with it. It would be fun to see what else he had inherited from both of us.
And now that I knew he was okay I could let out a sigh of relief, the aching that had been in my bones for so long finally starting to ease up.
I looked up at Julien, seeing the love he had for him reflected back in his eyes to me. I had never felt more at peace in my whole life. I had no idea what was going on outside of the room, but at the moment it just didn’t matter. All I had ever wanted was right here within arm’s reach. I finally had my family.
“You know… We still haven’t decided on a name,” Julien said, looking down at us.
“Alain… I want to call him Alain.”
–
Much later in the evening, once I had a chance to get up and move around and even shower properly, Julien filled me in on what had happened. I braced myself in the hospital bed, gently tracing a finger along Alain’s tiny foot.
According to Julien, the men who came to the house were Toli Balducci and his cousin, Bruce Cassamasina. They had been sent from not the Verdicci clan, but the Balducci family, surprising everyone that had been handling my case so far.
They had managed to find the place based on information from an inside source, and Julien was adamant that they were hard at work on finding out just who this source was. He said he thought he knew, but he had to have better evidence to make the proper accusation, whatever the hell that meant.
Dr. Thibodeau left to go check on another patient for a little while, giving Julien and me some space with our son Alain. I thanked her as many times as I possibly could, so happy that we had been blessed with such a kind and caring doctor.
I sighed as Julien began to rub just under my shoulder blades as I rolled forward on the bed, hunched over one of my pillows in my lap. It felt so good to feel his touch again, however exhausted the two of us may be.
A few minutes into the impromptu massage, I could tell something was off with Julien. He kept pausing to wipe something off his face.
“What’s wrong, sweetheart?” I asked him, slightly alarmed.
He shook his head as if he were actually going to get away with not answering me. No way.
“Julien please tell me. We’re supposed to be honest with each other, right? Or was that you just talking out of your ass?”
He snorted, even through his anguish. “You’re right.”
I waited as patiently as I could for him to continue.
“I just . . . I shouldn’t have left the two of you. This is where I’m supposed to be, and I wasn’t here for you. I planned on surprising you… I was coming home early. I almost lost you…”
“Shhh,” I hushed him, bringing his head down to mine. I looked him right in the eyes, shaking my head from side to side. “There was nothing more you could do. You were here when we needed you, and that’s what matters. There’s no point in worrying about what might have or could have happened. We’re safe now.”
It was hard to see him in so much pain like that. I wished I could have taken it from him and held onto it myself.
“There is something I wanted to talk to you about. We might as well hash it out now, while everything is still quiet,” I said.
He sat back into the chair beside the bed, running his hands through his hands and looking over Alain who was sleeping peacefully in his little bassinet.
“What’s that?”
I took a deep breath. “Now that we know that these people are serious about wanting to find me . . . what are we going to do?”
“You’re going to want to hear what Agent Wilson says about that…”
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Chapter 40
I smile as Alain grasps the shovel with his chubby hand, giggling as he flings sand everywhere when he picks it up.
“Careful Alain! You don’t want to get sand in your eye, baby!” I call out to him, catching his attention only for a moment before he goes back to it.
I roll my eyes, grinning at his silliness. He is going to do what he is going to do. Têtu comme un mulet, as Marie says.
Julien slips in behind me, somehow fitting himself between my back and the lounge chair. He pulls me up against him, his hands tight across my abdomen as he leans in to kiss my cheek. I smile contently as he does.
It’s hard to believe that a year had passed, and harder to believe that I could be out here in public without a worry on my mind.
For that, I could thank the good old boys at the FBI.
This whole trip was a bit of a celebration for us. A way to put the past to bed. The attack on Julien’s estate had been the puzzle piece the Feds needed. The man who’d killed Angelo Verdicci had seized power over all of the families, but he was so secretive nobody knew who he was or what he looked like.
I was the only one who knew his face.
He’d come to take care of a loose end. With me out of the picture, the entire case against the Five Families would have fallen apart. You need evidence of collusion and top-down management to press racketeering.
With the boss dead, the police had cause to search his palatial home. They foun
d everything they needed. Names, numbers, drugs, they had everything they needed to crack the whole system. The families fell apart from the top down, resulting in the biggest crime family war since the sixties… Anyone left standing was dead or in prison.
In the end, nobody cared who I was or what I’d seen. I didn’t even have to testify.
It was over. Nobody wanted me dead, nobody even knew who I was.
And Julien had taken things one step further.
I smiled at our son, looking out over the waters surrounding Réunion island. We had moved to this little French paradise not long after the baby was born. It was Julien’s idea. We would start our new life here, far from the troubles we left behind.