Unbroken

by Riley Edwards

  Fuck it.

  “Honey, I’m gonna pick you up and take you in the house. It’s not safe out here.”

  Before she could answer, I scooped her up, her little arms wrapped around my neck, nearly choking me she was holding on so tight. Something stirred in my gut, the second my daughter was in my arms, I never wanted to let her go.

  “I’m scared,” she cried.

  “I know, baby. Let’s get inside. We’ll figure this all out.”

  I slammed the door and locked it. I ran up the stairs to the master bathroom and yelled through the door, “Ava, it’s all clear. You both can come out.”

  Ava threw the door open, JJ tucked behind her back. The fear in her eyes was quickly replaced with shock, then confusion. “Is that….”

  “Yes. Can you please grab me a tee and my cell, sweetheart? JJ, son, let’s all go downstairs. You can lie on the couch and go back to sleep if you want. I know it’s early, but I want you in eyesight.”

  “Okay,” they said in unison.

  I turned to leave and felt something slide down my back. I glanced down to see JJ picking up a piece of paper. I was halfway down the stairs when I heard JJ.

  “Dad.”

  “Yeah?”

  “Dad.”

  “Right here, son.”

  “Dad!” JJ shouted.

  I stopped to see JJ at the top of the stairs, the piece of paper shaking in his outstretched hand.

  “JJ, son, come down the stairs. Everything is fine. Promise we are safe.”

  JJ walked down the stairs with the paper out in front of him. He looked as if the paper was getting ready to jump out and bite him. He came to a stop in front of me and nearly threw the paper at me. I awkwardly grabbed it before it fell to the floor again.

  I unfolded the paper –

  HERE THIS BELONGS TO YOU.

  WE ALL FALL DOWN

  “Mother fucker,” I growled.

  Melody jumped in my arms and tightened her grip around my neck, and JJ winced at my outburst.

  “Sorry, buddy.” I gave Melody a squeeze and whispered, “Sorry, everything will be fine. You’re safe here.”

  “What’s wrong?” Ava asked as she came rushing down the stairs, my tee and phone in her hand.

  Fuck. I was quickly running through everything I had to do in my head, trying to prioritize what I needed to do first.

  “Sweetheart, please try Valerie’s phone,” I asked

  “What’s that?” She pointed to the note and reached for it.

  I debated not showing her but JJ had already seen it. Reluctantly I handed the note over and watched her eyes scan the words written in red block letters. Her hand came up and covered her mouth, and her eyes flew back to mine, pleading for answers I didn’t have.

  “Ava, I need you to please try and call Valerie, yeah?”

  “Yeah, okay,” Ava answered.

  “I’m scared,” Melody screeched in my ear.

  Something in me snapped, hearing my daughter say she was scared for the second time in the span of a few minutes. I was helpless to help my own daughter.

  “I know, baby. We’re gonna sit down on the couch and talk a minute. Bud come with us okay?”

  “Yeah, Dad.”

  He followed us to the couch and sat down next to me.

  “Melody, can you look at me?” I waited and she lifted her head off my shoulder. “Hi there, pretty girl. This is JJ, my son,” I told Melody.

  JJ smiled at her and raised his hand to wave. “Hi, Melody.”

  She remained quiet.

  “Are you hurt anywhere?” I asked, wondering to myself why the fuck I hadn’t thought to ask her that before now.

  She shook her head.

  “Good. Do you know where your mom is?”

  She shook her head. Fuck.

  “Do you know how you got here? Who dropped you off?”

  She shook her head. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. I wasn’t going to get any answers from a scared little girl.

  “No answer,” Ava announced.

  34

  Amazing Grace

  Ava

  Reid looked positively devastated, he was holding on by a thread. It must be killing him not to be able to spring into action, but with Melody wrapped around him like a baby monkey clinging to its mother, it was impossible for him to do anything but hold his daughter. JJ was plastered to Reid’s side, very obviously scared and confused.

  “I left her a message to call us and gave her my cell number and the house number as well,” I rushed out. “Should I call Mac?”

  “Yes,” he clipped.

  I scrolled through Reid’s contacts and found Mac’s number and pushed send.

  He answered on the second ring, “Reid?”

  “No, Mac, it’s Ava. We have a problem. Can you come over?” I asked.

  “Fuck, I’m on a call out. Whatcha got over there? You guys safe?”

  “Umm, Reid’s here, we’re safe. But…”

  “Spit it out, woman. I am standing over a dead body with some nasty shit coming outta her belly that I cannot even begin to fathom what the fuck this shit is.”

  “Crap, sorry. That’s gross. Don’t tell me stuff like that.” Mac let out an impatient growl, and I hurried into the kitchen so Melody wouldn’t hear what I needed to say. “Long story short, Reid found out yesterday that he has a five-year-old daughter with a woman named Valerie. Yesterday when Reid and Valerie spoke, Valerie said she was leaving town but would stay a few days so she and Reid could talk. A few minutes ago, there was banging on the door, and the little girl was left on the porch with a note. The note said, here this belongs to you. And at the bottom it said, we all fall down. Melody, Reid’s daughter, is scared shitless. Reid is freaked the fuck out, Mac. And Valerie is not answering her phone. I called her three times.”

  “Come again,” he said.

  “Which part? Reid has a daughter?” I repeated.

  “No, you called her three times?”

  “Yes, three times, back to back. No answer.”

  “Motherfucker. You got your cell handy?” he asked.

  Why the hell did that even matter?

  “Yes,” I answered.

  “Good. Hang up. I’ll call you on your cell.”

  Before I could protest why we were switching phones, and how that was going to help find Valerie, Mac had hung up on me.

  My cell began to ring in my hand and I answered, “Great, now that we’ve played round robin with the phones, can you please tell me what I need to do to help Reid. He is freaking out, Mac.” I hissed.

  “Call her again,” Mac insisted.

  “Call who?”

  “Valerie. Call her again, from Reid’s phone. Don’t hang up with me.”

  I quickly unlocked Reid’s phone and went to his call log and swiped Valerie’s number again.

  “Done,” I announced.

  There were a few seconds of silence then an explosion of cursing. At least I thought they were curse words, some I think Mac had just made up on the fly.

  Oh, no. Oh, please sweet baby Jesus. I prayed that I was not understanding what just happened.

  “Did it ring on your end?” I whispered.

  I didn’t need to explain my question any further, Mac would understand.

  “Yeah, honey it did.” Mac’s voice was full of compassion. “But, we don’t know for sure that the phone belongs to the victim,” he said, trying to placate me

  “Brown hair, slim, mid-twenties, pretty girl?” I asked.

  “Honey, without getting into details with you, none of what you just said would help me identify her at the moment. Except for the hair color.”

  “Oh, no. Mac, what do I do?”

  “You don’t do or say anything. Tell Reid that I am handling it, and I will be there as soon as I can. Do not tell him I am on a call out. Do not tell him anything. I will call Austin and Dustin and tell them to get over to your house. I’ll need them to help me lock Reid down when I tell him.”

  “Okay. Please h
urry Mac. I’m scared.” I lowered my voice to a whisper, “If that is Valerie, that means the killer had Reid’s daughter, and he knows where we live.”

  “Yep, and that is gonna fuck with Reid’s head more than anything. That is why I’m gonna need help. This kid really Reid’s?”

  “Yes. She looks just like him,” I answered.

  “Then Reid is gonna go ballistic when he finds out that the person that killed his kid’s mom had a hold of his kid too.”

  Holy shit. Reid was going to tear down this city.

  “Hurry,” I begged.

  “Gotta go. Ava, you have to be strong for your man right now. Find whatever it is you need to be the strong one in that house. Your family needs you.”

  “I’m not strong, Mac. Not like this.”

  “Ava,” Mac snapped. “Wake the fuck up and pull your head out of the sand. You are the strongest woman I know. You got this. No doubt.”

  Ouch. Mac had no finesse when he was trying to give someone a compliment or encouragement.

  “I’m good, Mac. But hurry the fuck up,” I snapped and disconnected the call.

  Ass.

  I needed a second to form a plan of action. I busied myself making a pot of coffee. If my house was getting ready to be infiltrated by a battalion of badasses, they would need coffee. I looked through the pantry and was relieved I had splurged and bought a box of donuts at the grocery store. They could have those, and the leftover cinnamon rolls I baked yesterday.

  I check the time on the microwave, 5:55 am. How long did the killer have Melody? Shit, we left the tattoo shop in the late afternoon and it was now morning. Who knows when he took Valerie and Melody. This was going to kill Reid.

  I walked back into the living room trying to think of a way to coax Melody out of Reid’s arms. As soon as the guys ascended on the house, Reid would have to jump into the fray.

  “Mac’s on his way over. He said not to worry about calling Austin and Dustin. He’d call them for me and have them come by too.” I smiled as I sat next to JJ. “Hey, bud, do me a favor and run upstairs and get Melody one of the new dolls you picked out for her. And remember the blanket that you had when you were a baby? The soft brown one? Please bring that too.”

  JJ looked at Reid, when Reid nodded his head, JJ shot up and raced up the stairs.

  “Hi, Melody,” I brushed the hair off her cheek so I could see her face. Her head was back on Reid’s shoulder, her head tilted in my direction, her beautiful eyes, Reid’s eyes, staring at me. “My name is Ava.”

  She didn’t speak, just continued to stare.

  “How would you like to sit with me and JJ and watch some cartoons?”

  Still nothing. Damn.

  JJ came bouncing back in the room. He plopped back down in between me and Reid, essentially cutting off any further conversation with Melody.

  “Mel?” JJ called out. “Do you want to use my blanket? It’s my favorite. I’ve had it since I was a baby. Mom said she bought it for me before I was born. It’s really soft.”

  Melody looked at JJ for a minute before she reached out and took the blanket cuddling it close to her face.

  “Oh, and yesterday, Mom and Dad took me to the mall, so we could get you a doll. It’s pretty.” JJ held up the doll for Melody to see. “I know it’s not an American Girl doll. But don’t worry, Mom and Dad said that we could go to the store and you could pick one out. But it was too far away yesterday.”

  I really don’t think Melody cared much about a doll right now, but bless JJ’s heart for trying to talk to her.

  “I like dolls,” Melody whispered.

  “I knew it. I told Mom and Dad that you would like it. Do you want to watch some cartoons with me? We have all the Disney channels.” JJ reached his hand out to Melody.

  Then the miracle of all miracles happened. Melody reached her little hand out to JJ and slowly lifted her head off Reid’s shoulder looking at him, “You won’t leave us, right?” she asked. Her voice still barely above a whisper.

  “No, baby.”

  “Okay.” She turned back to JJ. “Can we watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse? That’s my favorite.”

  “Sure. We can watch whatever you want. Right, Dad?”

  “Right,” Reid assured them.

  Reid carefully deposited Melody on the couch next to JJ and grabbed the remote. He turned the TV on, but before he could change the channel, a breaking news alert came across the screen. Lit up in red at the bottom of the screen were the words: News Alert!

  “We begin this morning with breaking news. We’ll get to your morning traffic and weather in just a moment. But first, we have breaking news on the urgent manhunt currently underway for the serial killer, Simple Simon. Yesterday, authorities confirmed several bodies have now been connected, with another possible victim just found early this morning. Let’s go to Paul Wesley on the scene where he’s waiting with the latest.”

  Reid’s body went rigid. And short of tackling Reid and grabbing the remote, I couldn’t think of a reason to get him to change the channel fast enough. Shit, he couldn’t watch this. This was really bad.

  “Thanks, Gloria,” Paul said. “Paul Wesley live on the scene of what appears to be another gruesome murder of the serial killer, Simple Simon.”

  The camera angle widened to show the yellow crime scene tape blocking off a dark alley behind the newscaster. Fire and rescue trucks surrounded the area, red and blue lights flashed on the screen.

  “The police on scene have yet to answer any questions regarding the victim’s cause of death, or if Simple Simon has left his calling card. We have received confirmation Simple Simon is indeed placing food items into the wounds of his victims. Police have not released what those food items are as of yet. News 9 will remain on the scene and bring you the latest when it becomes available…Simple Simon met a pie man,” Paul paused, a snarky smile crossing his face. “Is this an odd coincidence or a twisted take on a beloved toddler’s tale? Back to you, Gloria.”

  “Thank you, Paul. Now, for an update on the Swift Fleet employee who was struck by a car after receiving the call from the killer who dubbed himself, Simple Simon. The dispatcher, who told detectives the caller whistled the children’s nursery rhyme Ring around the Rosy before laughing and confessing to having killed multiple people. Has been released from the hospital. She is expected to make a full recovery.”

  Oh no. Oh, Fuck. Whistling? How many times had I heard that tune whistled in the café? My eyes shot to Reid. His face was a mask of concentration, his features hard, and I swear I could see the wheels in his head turning. This was not good. Not even a little bit.

  “The police chief is urging the public to be vigilant about personal safety. A toll-free hotline has been set up. If you have any information regarding the investigation please call,

  1-888-99-simon. Stay safe Bay area. And we’ll be back after these messages.”

  I didn’t know what to say to Reid. But I better figure it out fast because he looked as if he was ready to blow, and that could not happen in front of the kids, most especially Melody.

  “JJ, honey, you turn on Mickey Mouse for Melody.” I took the remote out of Reid’s hands. Actually, it was more like I pried the remote out of his hands just in time. His grip was so tight the remote was getting ready to be a useless pile of broken plastic. “Melody, I need your da… er… Logan’s help for just one second in the kitchen okay? We’ll be right there.” I pointed in the direction of the kitchen. “I am going to bring back some donuts and chocolate milk for both of you. Okay, sweetheart?”

  She didn’t answer me, but nodded her head. I watched as JJ reached over and grabbed her hand, holding it. “Everything is okay. You don’t have to be scared anymore. My dad will take care of everything. If he promises we are safe, then we are. He never breaks a promise. He is the best, dad. You’ll see.”

  Right then and there I vowed never to bitch again when Mac bought JJ new toys, skateboards, games, whatever. After this, JJ deserved them all. I couldn’t have
been prouder of my son. Damn, I love this kid.

  “Come on, Reid. I need help.” I pulled him into the kitchen.

  He didn’t speak, didn’t blink. What he did do however was grind his teeth and growl a whole lot. Freaking A. The guys better get here quick. He was damn near broken. I didn’t know what to do to fix it. Then a lightbulb went off, I had a genius plan.

  “The garage,” I said.

  “What?” he growled.

  Oh boy.

  “You. In the garage, now.”

  “What the hell, Ava. Why?”

  “You look like you are ready to explode. Go in the garage, and use your bag. Get some of this out. You can’t do anything until Mac gets here. We don’t have any information. You go out in the garage and blow off some steam, before you blow in here and scare the shit out of the kids. I got this, Reid. Oh, and please take the gun out of the back of your jeans and put it on top of the fridge.”

  “I can’t…”

  “Yes. You can. And you will. I’ll push you out there myself, Logan Reid. Go.”

  He grumbled all the way to the door, stomping like a two-year-old. Sheesh. I quickly got the donuts, the milk, and a cup of coffee arranged on a tray and went back to the living room.

  JJ and Melody were both watching TV, holding hands. Melody had JJ’s blanket tucked around her and the baby doll on her lap.

  I set the tray down on the coffee table, and sat on the other side of Melody with my coffee. The funny thing was, as we sat in silence watching Micky Mouse clubhouse, I could almost pretend this was a normal Saturday morning. Lazing on the couch drinking coffee with the kids. Only it wasn’t Saturday, and it wasn’t normal, and this poor little girl was going to get her heart ripped out of her chest.

  I had to hold back the sobs as I thought back to when JJ was about her age and he had his life ripped out from beneath him. At least he had me. He had another parent he knew, one he was bonded to, someone he could fall into every night and find comfort in. This poor little girl didn’t have that.

  “My mom told me that Logan is my daddy,” she said. Her sweet little voice was so soft, I had to turn down the volume to hear her when she continued, “Does that mean that now that I have a daddy, my mommy doesn’t want me anymore?”