by Dale Mayer
He walked over to the bed and sat down beside her, gently stroking her shoulder, and said, “It’s okay, Vanessa. It’s all right. Just sleep. You’re safe. I will stay here to look after you. Get some sleep.”
He could see tears rolling down her face. He reached up and brushed the moisture off her cheeks. Her eyes flew open and she stared up at him, comprehension quickly coming into her gaze. “I wonder if I’ll ever sleep again,” she whispered painfully. “The nightmares are getting worse.”
“You will,” he whispered gently. “I’m going to grab my laptop and bring it up here then I will sit on that side of the bed so you can sleep, okay?”
At the barely veiled gratitude he turned and quickly ran down to the kitchen and collected his stuff.
By the time he made it back up to her bed she was curled up into a ball facing the wall – a pillow tucked under her head. But she wasn’t sleeping.
He plugged in his laptop, made himself comfortable, then reached over and patted her shoulder. “Relax. You’re safe.”
“Thank you,” she whispered.
Heavy breath escaped from her chest and she sank deep into sleep. He settled back to carry on working. After a few moments he could feel her body jerk again. He gently squeezed her shoulder. Instantly her movement stopped and she relaxed further. He had to do that a couple more times over the next few minutes, but soon she relaxed at the merest touch.
Good. She was learning to trust him.
Good timing as he was starting to realize he wanted a hell of a lot more.
Chapter 10
She woke to peacefulness in her heart that she hadn’t felt in a long time. Hearing an odd sound at her side she twisted to see Chase still working on his laptop. He gazed over at her – that look in his eye that set her heart racing.
“Hey, how you doing?” he asked in a gentle tone of voice.
She assessed his question. In truth she felt marvelous. She threw off the covers and stood up saying, “I feel great. Thank you so much.”
“You’re welcome,” he said, adding in a quiet serious voice, “Sleep is one of the most important things we need on a daily basis.”
“I’ve been shortchanged in that department for a long time.” She gave him a lopsided grin and excused herself to the bathroom. She stared in the mirror and realized that although she felt better she didn’t look a hell of a lot better. When she was done and drying her hands, she opened the door and asked, “Do you think it would be okay if I had a shower?”
“Absolutely,” he said. “Brett would be insulted if you didn’t make yourself at home.”
With a grateful smile she closed the door and stripped down to her skin. She turned on the hot water and stepped inside, realizing that although the sleep had done a lot the shower was going to help that much more. There was nothing like an intruder to make you feel dirty – violated. Thank God he hadn’t actually entered her apartment. Neither had Ronnie. But he’d been at her doorway and that was almost as bad.
She shampooed her hair twice and finally turned off the hot water. She didn’t want to empty the tank in case Chase wanted a shower too. By the time she dried off and actually redressed she was wishing she’d brought clean clothes into the bathroom with her. Foolish. Then again what did it matter? She wasn’t planning to do anything special that afternoon anyway.
Once back in the bedroom she noticed Chase had taken his laptop and had left the room to give her privacy. She took the opportunity to get changed then walked out to the landing at the top of the stairs. She could hear him on the phone. Even from where she stood the fresh aroma of coffee reached her. She ran lightly down, pulling a tie out of her pocket and looping her hair up into a high ponytail. Her dark hair was thick and would take hours to dry. As she walked into the kitchen she heard Chase’s sharp intake of breath.
“What do you mean he’s missing?” Chase shot her a wary look but never said anything to her as he paced the kitchen.
“Did he go to a friend’s house?”
She froze – her hand extended, reaching for the coffee pot and closed her eyes. Dear God, please let that not be Amrit they were talking about. With her hand shaking she poured a cup of coffee – her mind screaming questions that rattled uselessly around in her head. She had to wait for him to get off the phone before she could get answers.
“So he didn’t show up at the mall where he was meeting his brother? He’s not at home? No one knows where he is?” Chase threw up his hands and glared at the ceiling. “Do we know anything then?”
There was silence as Chase listened to the voice on the other end of the phone. Vanessa leaned against the counter and waited. Chase had calmed down somewhat so the information funneling his way was helping him to understand something. She just hoped it was nothing to do with those two little boys. They were innocent. They’d also been through enough already.
“Okay. Fine. I think I will still take a walk over – maybe take a route from his place over to the mall and see if we can see any sign of him. Vanessa knows him and Amrit knows her. So if he’s scared he won’t run away from us. In fact, she’d be a welcome friendly face.” Chase ran his hand through his hair then added, “Keep me in the loop.”
He put his phone into his pocket then turned and said without wasting any time, “That was Markus. They’ve been setting up surveillance, but apparently Peter stayed with friends last night and arranged to meet Amrit at the mall. But he didn’t show. And he’s not answering his phone. Peter just contacted his mother who then contacted one of the other men in the unit.”
“But if they had surveillance would they not have seen where Amrit went?”
“They haven’t seen him. He likely slipped out before they were set up.” Chase pinched his nose and said, “Nothing is perfect. But these guys are good. So they are doing a sweep of the apartment building.”
“But so many of those people are refugees, and they’ll be too scared to talk to Markus.”
“Which is also why we’re going to head over there, taking a route from the mall back to Amrit’s house to make sure he’s not playing somewhere along the way. And then we will go and talk to the people in the building ourselves.”
She already had her keys and jacket in her hand, waiting for him impatiently at the garage door. “Come on. We can’t let anything happen to that little boy.”
“I’ll drive.”
She didn’t give him any argument. She tossed her keys his way and raced out in front of him. Within minutes they were in the vehicle, buckled up and driving down the highway speeding toward the boys’ home.
*
They parked at a midpoint and walked back to the mall. He’d checked in with Markus but there was no sign of the boy so far. Walking steadily they strode from the mall toward Amrit’s home, quickly realizing that the park was less than a block away.
“What do you think?” Chase asked her.
Once in the parking lot they headed toward the playground.
“Would he go there without permission?”
“Absolutely. The boys pretty much did what they wanted to at home.”
“What about his mom, how is he explaining his absences to her or is she used to this?” Chase asked.
She shook her head. “She’s somewhat used to it from their old home life. I’ve only spoken to him about it briefly. He wants to protect her, to keep her safe. He knows she will feel pain if she understands how afraid he is.”
Chase mulled that over. He understood. He’d been the same. In his case he wasn’t trying to protect his mother from worrying because she was already too far gone. He’d been lawless for a while too. The last thing he wanted was to see that young man head down an equally bad path. He’d done the right thing before, and Chase was doing the right thing same thing now. And protecting these boys was at the top of the list. Everyone deserved a second chance.
Vanessa was almost racing toward the park. He grabbed her arm and tugged back slightly. When she looked at him in surprise, he said in a low tone, �
��Let’s not bring any attention to ourselves. If he is in there we don’t want to send him running away.”
Immediately her footsteps slowed. He grasped her hand and they walked slowly in the light breeze and sunlight.
It was a beautiful afternoon and there were people everywhere but not great crowds of them, just couples moving gently through the park, walking together, enjoying the moment. He could hear children’s laughter on the playground ahead.
Chase smiled. That’s the way it should be. He’d already checked out the area where they were and had seen nothing suspicious. But he didn’t want to go racing into the playground area and scare anyone. At the entrance to the slides and the swing area they stopped by the big gate and studied the kids.
“I don’t see him,” she whispered. He squeezed her fingers but his focus shifted from face to face searching for Amrit.
“There he is.” She gasped in joy. “On the bench by the washrooms.” And she pointed to the far left. His gaze tracked her finger movements and saw the young boy sitting with his elbows on his knees and his chin resting in his hands.
“He looks so sad,” she whispered.
He nudged her in the direction that would take them in a roundabout way over to where Amrit sat. “I’m not sure sad is quite the right word.”
He felt her sharp look but didn’t take his eye off the boy.
“What would you call it then?”
“Troubled. As if he’s trying to solve the ills of the world and realizes the job is too big.”
Still holding her hand, and for all the world who watched they appeared to be a happy young couple, he searched, looking to see if any of Ronnie’s men were here. It wouldn’t be a good idea to have Amrit be seen with them again, but they needed to get him home safe.
As they approached him he still didn’t move.
Chase released Vanessa’s hand and she sat down on one side while Chase sat down on the other. Amrit bolted upright but it was Vanessa who murmured quietly, “It’s okay, Amrit, you’re safe.”
At her choice of words Chase looked at her sharply. Did she understand he’d used those words on her while she slept? Amrit saw her then turned to see Chase. And instead of a happy smile, tears collected in the corner of his eyes. He opened his arms and Chase tucked the young boy up close for a hug.
“It doesn’t matter what’s wrong,” Chase said. “We’ll fix it.”
“You can’t fix this,” Amrit said. “You can’t bring my father back. You can’t take me back home. And you can’t make my home life the way it used to be.”
Chapter 11
Vanessa’s heart cracked as she heard the young boy cry out his laments of the life he found himself in. She also knew it did no good to wallow. He needed to grieve and to move on. “No, we can’t make any of those things go back to the way it was,” she said quietly. “All we can do is try to make you see how good this life can be now.”
“But you have parents. I love my mom but my dad loved me and I miss him.”
Chase reached out and rubbed the little boy’s shoulder. She looked at him, her heart in her eyes. He smiled. “Amrit, just because we look like we have everything, doesn’t mean we do. I don’t have a mother or a father.”
Amrit turned to look up at Chase. “Really?”
“Really?”
“I don’t have a mother or father either, Amrit.” She felt more then saw Chase glance her way. That they had something else in common was unsettling, but also comforting.
Amrit’s face crumpled. “That’s no good. I at least have my mother.”
“And that’s important. You’re very blessed,” Chase said. “You need to focus on that good stuff, not spend all your time feeling sad for the loss of your father and for the loss of your life before now. You need to move forward.”
Amrit slouched against the back of the bench, his bottom lip trembling.
She reached over and clasped his hands. “It will get better.”
“Promise?” he asked, his voice quavering.
“I promise.” She looked over at Chase and frowned. He’d disappeared. That man moved like a panther he was so damn quiet and stealthy. She didn’t want to draw attention to the fact he’d left but couldn’t help glancing around to see if she could find him. There was no sign. They were, however, close to the washroom so maybe that’s where he’d gone. She looked back down at Amrit. “We need to get you home. Your mother is very worried.” He nodded and stood up. “I just wanted to be alone.”
“And did you mean to make Peter worry so much? Why didn’t you answer your phone?”
Amrit turned to look at her with a frown on his face, and then a dawning realization hit him. “Oh no, I was supposed to meet him at the mall.”
He spun around as if looking for the fastest way to the mall when she grabbed his shoulder and stopped him. “It’s too late to meet them there,” she said. “Both your mom and Peter are waiting for you at home.”
“I need to go.” He was almost dancing on the spot now, wanting to run home. He pulled out his phone. “I’ll call mom and let her know we’re on the way home.” He glanced around. “Is Chase coming?”
“I’m sure he is.”
“My phone is dead,” Amrit wailed. “I forgot to plug it in.”
She wasn’t sure what to do. She turned around and took another look, but he wasn’t there so she pulled out her phone and sent him a message saying, I’m taking him home.
Then she grabbed Amrit’s hand firmly and walked him out of the park. “Let’s get you home. Chase will follow in a little bit.”
*
Chase watched them go with relief. He hadn’t had a chance to signal to Vanessa about what he’d seen. He’d had to separate from the two of them. He suspected this older cynical Ronnie would leave a woman and a child alone if he could, but if there was no choice he’d take them both out.
Chase watched his old nemesis stride through the park apparently unconcerned about what he was doing or where he was going.
But Chase wasn’t deceived. Ronnie had always been able to keep track of details going on around him.
As Vanessa and Amrit exited the park toward Amrit’s house, Chase breathed a sigh of relief. There was a good dozen children here with their parents. The last thing he wanted was for the shooting to start in public.
Ronnie continued to stride through the park and out the other way, taking the back exit.
Chase followed carefully behind, keeping to the trees. Ronnie walked toward a large black SUV waiting for him. He got into the back and it took off too fast for Chase to see the license plate. He leaned against the tree for a moment watching the SUV speed down the street and take a left – away from Amrit’s house.
He quickly backtracked around the park and caught up with Vanessa and Amrit just as they were crossing the road onto the block where Amrit’s apartment building was. He called out to them and with a wave he ran to their side.
“Hey, you guys are so fast I almost lost you,” he joked, matching their strides. He smiled at Vanessa, seeing the relief on her face. He patted Amrit on the shoulder and stepped forward to open the doors to his apartment building. “Let’s get you home to Mom.”
Amrit didn’t want to wait for the elevator. Instead they raced up the stairs as fast as they could, laughing and joking and teasing so they arrived flushed from the fun at Amrit’s front door. Amrit threw open the door and cried out, “I’m home.”
Sinja let out a cry of relief. She immediately wrapped her arms around her son. Chase ushered them further into the apartment out of curious eyes. Once inside he quickly explained where they’d found him. Then taking Sinja to the side he explained the little bit Amrit had shared. Afterwards Sinja, crying gently, bustled about in the kitchen making lunch for the boys.
“Food, you need food,” she said. “My boys haven’t eaten. They must be hungry.” Realizing it was a comfort for her, Chase spent a few moments talking with Peter and then with a high five at Amrit he led Vanessa back out to the hallw
ay.
On the way back down she asked, “What happened to you?”
In a low voice he answered, “I saw Ronnie at the park.”
She gasped and the color drained from her face. “Did he see you with Amrit?”
Chase shook his head. “I don’t think so, but I didn’t want to take a chance of us being seen together.”
The elevator doors opened and they stepped out only to realize they weren’t going anywhere. Ronnie stood in front of them, two armed gunmen at his side. All three wore the same gang tattoo.
Ronnie’s voice was low and quiet, but there was no doubt of the steely determination in his voice when he said, “The boy and his family get to live if you come quietly. If you don’t we’ll take them all out today.”
Chapter 12
Vanessa trembled with rage at Ronnie’s threat. How could they threaten that family? She caught sight of Chase’s locked jaw as he assessed the three men. “Let Vanessa go free and I’ll go with you.”
Ronnie laughed. “No way. We know you from old. If we have her you’ll behave yourself. Without her, you’re going to make our lives hell.”
He sure was. But he had to get Vanessa out of this first. “I promise,” he said instantly. “She’s not a part of this, neither are those two kids. They’ve had it tough enough already.”
“My heart is bleeding. We have enough damn refugees in this country now. Why the hell are they importing more?”
“Because we can and we should help other people who are suffering.” Vanessa glared at him. “We have so much more than these poor people. It’s our duty to help them.”
Ronnie rolled his eyes at her and groaned. “A bloody bleeding heart. Jesus Christ, Chase, you haven’t changed a bit.”
As far as Chase was concerned that was a compliment. “Sounds like you have. The Ronnie I knew didn’t target women and children.”