Authors: J.K. Hudson
*****
The sound of heavy footsteps running towards us snapped both Erik and me into high alert. He palmed his gun and gently pushed me behind him.
“Sunrise! Sunrise! We’re all clear, the feds are on the scene now,” said Stephan. Erik lowered his weapon at the sound of Stephan’s voice. Stephan emerged followed by John and two FBI agents, with official jackets and insignias. My knees almost gave out with relief. It was all over, but did they have Christopher? Did he get away? The agents started talking at me and to Erik. Erik answered most of the questions as we walked back. He was the coherent one and I was effectively in a daze.
“You should get her checked out by the paramedic. We’ll get a statement from her later.” That much I heard from one of the FBI agents as we neared the house. They disappeared inside along with Stephan. John and Erik stayed with me to get me around to the front of the house. I didn’t even want to see what the inside looked like. There were so many ambulances in my drive, carrying guys out, that I could only imagine the bloodbath on my floors and walls.
“We never shoot to kill. All those guys will get to spend their time in jail alive,” said John. He’d meant that as a reassurance, but I was still horrified that a gunfight had taken place here. Erik led me to an empty ambulance. A paramedic began taking my vitals and directing me to follow his finger with my eyes while he shone a light at me. After he checked me out and I was good to go, I saw Christopher being led out of my house in handcuffs. He was looking down and never once looked up as they led him to an armored van and loaded him inside. He was the only one of his gang who didn’t have a wound on him.
“How many guys?” I asked softly. Erik looked at me questioningly and I repeated myself. “How many guys did Christopher have come here?”
Erik glanced at the scene of brightly flashing white, blue, and red lights. A huge number of personnel walking in and out of the house, milling around the drive and talking about the crime scene.
“It was seven of them against the five of us all in all. Some of them were trained, but not all. That’s what gave us the advantage. We were able to pick off the few unskilled and then weed out the more cunning ones to take them down. We’re all okay, but Nick, he got grazed on the arm. It’s nothing major.” My eyes widened and I glanced around to try and see which ambulance Nick was in.
“He’s fine, really Tanya. His wife is here with him now. Don’t worry you’ll see him later.” I deflated a little bit at Erik’s reassurances. We sat at the back of the ambulance for a while and just tried to decompress from everything.
“So they were able to get all the evidence they needed to put Christopher away?” I asked Erik after a long silence.
“Yeah, the guy is smart, but he’s cocky and not too careful. He left subtle clues that Nick and Stephan were able to pick up on and exploit. Christopher built a network. He’d import guns from Asia and northern Europe, then he’d export them to a lot of underdeveloped countries. To warzones, and known terrorist groups. His deals were always airtight. But he wasn’t too smart in hiding all of his money or importing the weapons, which were often coupled with imported drugs. The FBI will tell him only half of what they have on him and force him to give up some of his sources; a fake plea deal. Then hit him with the other half of their evidence and keep him in jail for good.” I gave a sigh of relief; it really was all over then.
“I hope he rots. Men like that don’t deserve to be free in the world. They’re a virus,” I said. Erik nodded, there was a small smile to his lips as he laced his fingers with mine.
“They are, and we helped catch one.” Erik brought my knuckles to his lips and kissed each one softly. “Your place is going to be pretty much unlivable for a couple of weeks, so I hope you don’t mind staying with me?”
I smiled and Erik grinned boyishly, though I could tell he was actually a bit unsure as to what my answer would be.
“I’d love that. I hope you live far, far away from here.” Erik chuckled and promised me he did.
“Our farm is pretty far off from here. Both of you are welcome to stay to recover from all of this,” said a deep voice from around the corner of the ambulance. The owner of the voice stepped into view and my eyes widened – he was a near spitting image of Erik. This was obviously his father, though Erik’s dad had greying hair around the edges and laugh lines around his eyes and mouth.
“Pop, what are you doin’ here?” Erik’s southern accent became more pronounced when he spoke to his father.
“I saw it all on the news, then Paul called me and I came down here; this
is
concerning our security firm. Plus, the feds said it was helpful that they could get a statement from me soon.”
I smiled at how they interacted. The doting father who still had it, trying to show up his son.
Erik shook his head at his dad and then looked at me curiously, “Do you want to stay on the farm? My mom makes a mean pot pie, and I know you’ll love her hot chocolate. It gets cooler on the farm at night than it does here.” Erik sold me at pot pie and hot chocolate.
“Yes, that sounds wonderful,” I said gratefully. Both Erik and his dad gave me nearly identical warm smiles.
*****
“You know, my family really loves you,” Erik said as he walked into the guest room with a steaming cup of hot chocolate. Erik’s mom, Ann, had given me orders to stay in bed today and let Erik look after me. She was so sweet and motherly that being around her often made me think of my own mom and how much I missed her.
“Really? Already? I mean, we’ve only been on the farm for a week. They are a pretty great family though,” I said while taking the cup from him. The hot chocolate smelled delicious.
Erik climbed onto the bed next to me and took the remote to find something good to watch. He said, “Yeah, what’s not to love? You’re genuine and sweet and kind and smart and gorgeous and sexy and funny and sexy…” I laughed and Erik smiled lopsidedly at me.
“I doubt they think I’m sexy…or gorgeous,” I said with a chuckle. Erik shrugged.
“You are though, it’s one of those things like; when you see a person you automatically categorize a few obvious attributes about them in your head. Two of your obvious traits are sexy and gorgeous. Everyone thinks it, but doesn’t necessarily say it out loud,” Erik explained. I laughed while rolling my eyes.
“That sounded very scientific Erik,” I said. He grinned and nodded sagely.
“Yup, it is a science. Freud would definitely agree with me.”
I laughed again and nudged Erik’s arm. Ever since we came to where he grew up, he’d been acting so silly and carefree.
“So have you decided when you’re going back home yet? Do I have to join the age old fight for the farm?” said Erik. He grinned at me and I giggled, not really catching what he meant under his quip.
“Yeah, I’ve earned more than a couple weeks’ vacation and my job is giving me as much time as I need. So two weeks is good I think. I guess I won’t have to have you guys as my security anymore either…” I said slowly as the realization dawned on me yet again that Christopher was locked up. He wasn’t coming after me anymore and I was free to live my life without fear of him.
“No…I guess not…but I still want to protect you. I don’t want you going home at night by yourself or anything. Some members of Christopher’s gang might be still out there, and they might seek revenge.”
My eyebrows crinkled at that possibility.
“But the FBI said Christopher gave up names like a treasure trove. All his guys are off of the streets,” Erik added. I bit my lip in consternation. Erik shook his head and then nodded, his expression intense as if he was struggling with something.
“I just
want to stay with you,” he said. My eyes widened at his earnest tone. He wanted to stay with me because he loved me maybe? I loved him and there was no denying that. I needed to know for sure though.
“Why?” I asked.
Erik smiled, that little look of nervousness entering his eyes again.
“Because I…I love you Tanya.”
My heart swelled and jumped for joy at his stuttered admission.
“I love you too,” I said shyly. Erik’s smile grew into a breathtaking one. Joy lit up his features and I was almost awed at how beautiful he was, how he could love
me
and want to be with me.
“I swear, I’ll stick with you through anything and everything baby.” Erik pressed a sound kiss to my lips and then another that quickly turned passionate.
“I’m glad you said that…because I kind of have something to tell you.” I put the mug of hot chocolate down and faced him completely. My mind wandered back to the first couple of days on his family farm. Erik and I had been tangled up in each other as we helped each other move on from what happened. It was his mom that pointed it out one morning. She asked me if I wanted tea with breakfast while she was clearly making a pot of coffee for her visiting family. They had come in to see Erik and meet me as we were obviously a budding couple.
Ann casually mentioned that Erik and I seemed ‘awfully romantic’ and she looked at me knowingly. Erik and I were caught up in each other. We never took things easy when we made love and we weren’t careful either. My eyes had widened and Ann nodded sagely as if she knew exactly what I had realized. She took me to go and get a few home pregnancy tests and they all came back positive. Ever since then I had been waiting for the right moment to tell Erik and now he was sitting next to me, looking at me expectantly.
“I’m…The first night we…had sex. We didn’t use a condom…” I paused, to kind of let Erik’s mind churn the information. After a moment his eyes widened.
“You weren’t on birth control…you
aren’t
on birth control…are you?” I shook my head no and Erik gripped my hands tightly. His eyes were glazed with shock briefly, but then the widest grin spread across his face. “Are we having a baby? We’re going to be a family?”
Amazed that he was taking this so well, I simply nodded. “Yes, we’re having a baby!”
He was excited, to say the least. His features brightened and he pulled me into a tight hug.
“I love you so much, I promise we’ll have the best life,” Erik vowed. Tears came to my eyes as my own happiness enveloped me. I knew that as long as I had Erik everything would be okay.
THE END
Shelly steps up to the bar and raises her hand so that the bartender will see her. At least she hopes he will. He is leaning over the bar talking to a younger, skinnier woman and barely acknowledges her wave. She knows that she isn’t skinny or petite like the most of the girls in the bar, but she likes to think that she is attractive enough. “Thick, not fat.” That was what her best friend, Candy, always said to her. The club music pounds from the speakers and for the umpteenth time tonight, she wonders why in the world she let Candy talk her into coming to this club. A night at home with her favorite television show or a good book and a bottle of wine would have suited her just fine. For a full five minutes, she stands by the bar waiting for the bartender to serve her, but he just keeps talking to the same woman at the opposite end of the bar. She is beginning to get discouraged when a handsome man steps up beside her and gives her a wink. As he looks for the bartender, Shelly takes a chance to look him over and likes what she sees. He is tall and judging from his arms, well-muscled. His olive-colored skin looks smooth. So smooth, in fact, that she almost reaches out and touches it.
The man waves to the bartender as well, but nothing happens. She sees anger flash across the man’s face. He quickly suppresses it and throws a smile her way. Another man steps up beside them and Shelly can’t believe her eyes. The newcomer looks exactly the same as the other. She assumes they’re twins. The first man briefly speaks in the newcomer’s ear. The man nods and raises his own hand to the bartender. The bartender acknowledges him and goes back to his conversation. She sees the anger flash across the newcomer’s face, but unlike the other man, he does nothing to suppress it.
His hand darts forward and grabs up a glass off the bar. With a smooth motion, he chucks the glass at the bartender and strikes him in the side. The bartender stumbles to the side and the glass tumbles to the floor and shatters.
“Who the hell do you think you are?” The bartender roars over the music as he runs over to where Shelly and the two men are standing.
“Someone who’s thirsty and wants a drink.” The newcomer’s voice is calm and loud, but not quite a shout.
“I’ll get your drinks in a second!”
“See, that’s the problem. You are under the assumption that you can pick and choose when and who you may serve. That’s not how this whole thing works out. You serve everyone equally. Now I do believe that this beautiful lady was waiting for a drink for some time. I suggest you serve her now.”
“I’m not serving shit. I’m calling security and you three are leaving!”
“I was afraid that you were going to say that.” The newcomer leans across the bar and grabs the man by the front of his shirt. He lifts him clean off his feet and pulls him in close so they are face to face. “You go ahead and call security, but by the time they get here, you’re going to be in a world of hurt. Now I’m going to set you back down and you’re going to choose. Security or pain.”
As soon as the man sets the bartender down, he falls back against the shelves holding bottles of liquor. Many of the bottles rattle around, fall from the shelves, and smash on the floor. One from the top shelf takes a tumble and smacks the bartender squarely on top of the head. His eyes cross and he slumps to the floor. Somewhere, a woman shrieks and the music cuts short. The sound of running feet is the only thing that can be heard.
“That’s not good, Gerry,” the first man says to his twin. “Not good at all.”
They turn to leave out the back, but the first man stops and turns around. He offers a hand to Shelly. “You better come with us unless you want to spend the night in jail.”
Without a thought, she grabs the man’s hand and seconds later, he is dragging her along as she tries to keep up with his long legs. Gerry is in front and he knocks aside anyone who won’t move out of the way. A few scrambling moments later, they emerge from the club. Gerry turns left down the alley, but Shelly knows that to get to her car, she needs to go right. The man tugs at her hand, but she plants her feet and shakes her head when he turns around.
“What?” he asks.
“My car is this way.”
“Alright. Take care of yourself and sorry that we got you into that.”
“Wait.” she calls to the man, but he is already pounding down the alley behind the man she assumes is his brother. “Will I ever see you again?” she asks the night.
On the walk to her car and the drive to the apartment, she shares with Candy she can’t stop thinking about the two identical olive-skinned men and the strange night she had with them. As she unlocks the door and steps inside the apartment, she stops and slaps her forehead. Candy was with her at the club. She was so caught up in thinking about the two men that she forgot her friend and drove all the way home without her. Just as she is about to lock up the apartment and step into the hall, her phone vibrates in her purse. She picks it up and sure enough, it is Candy on the other end, only it’s not a phone call, it is a text.
Don’t look for me. I found a ride home. :)
Shelly lets out a sigh of relief and quickly answers the text by telling her friend to have a good time. She goes to her room and gets ready for bed. As she drifts off to sleep, her thoughts once more turn to the two men at the club.
“They certainly were handsome.” she whispers as she falls asleep.
*****
Monday comes and goes without incident as do the rest of the days of the next week and Shelly slowly forgets about the bar and the two men. Her job as a mortician’s assistant isn’t a glamorous one, but it pays well and in a failing economy, that is all that is important. She makes a habit of not telling people what she does for a living because most of them get freaked out when she does. Most people can’t handle the thought of their bodies being dissected like a frog in high school science class when they die.
Shelly is walking to the back door of the morgue and about to leave for the evening when the phone rings. Her instincts make her turn back, but someone else picks it up before the second ring. She shakes her head and walks out the door toward her car. Putting the car in drive, she pulls out onto the street and heads home.
As she nears the apartment building, she can hear the sound of sirens racing toward her from the opposite direction. As she stops at the last light before her home, she glances up and her breath catches in her throat. Black smoke is billowing into the air from the direction of her building. She slams the gas pedal to the floor and tears through the intersection even though the light is still red. Car horns blare at her, but she pays them no mind. The tires of her small car squeal loudly on the pavement as she turns right at the next intersection. Slamming on the brakes, she jumps out of her car and stares.
Two big, red fire trucks, a couple ambulances, and a police car sit on the street in front of the building where she shares an apartment with Candy. Firefighters rush to and fro in front of the building as they try to contain the roaring inferno that is gutting the building. Fire belches forth from the windows on the fourth, fifth, and sixth floor. In a daze, Shelly walks up the street toward the burning building. She thinks of Candy sleeping on the couch because she doesn’t have to work during the day and breaks into a run. A policeman steps in front of her and says something, but she shoulders past him.
“My friend is in there!”
He nods and follows closely behind her. A firefighter steps in front of her and holds out his hands to stop her. She tries to run around him, but he wraps his arm around her and stops her. She fights hard against his tight grip.
“My friend is in there! Candy!”
“Calm down, ma’am.” He holds her out at arm’s length and looks her in the eyes.
Shelly tears her eyes away from the fire and looks at the firefighter. Her eyes widen in surprise as she sees who he is. “You’re one of the guys from the club.”
“I am.” He smiles at her. “I need you to calm down and tell me your name.”
“Shelly. My friend is in there! We share an apartment together! She’s in there!” She grows frantic again when she thinks of Candy.
“Shelly, my name’s Jerome and I need you to stay calm. Can you do that for me?”
She nods her head. “Yeah, I can stay calm.”
“What floor is your friend on?”
“The fourth.”
“What apartment number?”
“7D.”
Shelly’s heart rises to her throat when she sees the look on Jerome’s face. He looks down for a split second and she knows what is coming.
“I’m afraid I have some terrible news. Come over here and have a seat.” He takes her over to the steps of a nearby apartment building. She looks up at him with tears in her eyes as he rubs a hand over his face. “I’m afraid that the fire started on the same floor as the apartment you share with your friend, Shelly. I don’t know exactly what happened, but it by the time we got here, the entire fourth floor was engulfed in flames.”
“Did Candy get out?”
“No, she did not.”
“How can you know that?”
“We have some eyewitnesses who verified it.”
“How can they know?”
“Just trust me. They know.”
“Tell me how.” She grabs him by the shirt collar and looks at him with pleading eyes.
“They heard her screaming inside her apartment.”
Shelly’s hands fall limply away from his collar and land in her lap. A small ‘oh’ escapes her lips. Looking down at the ground, she begins to cry. Her shoulders shake as she weeps. Jerome sits down beside her and throws a comforting arm over her shoulder. For some time, she just weeps as he holds her. With a shuddering gasp, she pulls herself together and looks up.
“Oh, Candy.” She shakes her head. “She was so bad to fall asleep with a cigarette. I don’t know how many times I yelled at her for it, but she would just keep doing it.”
“Hey, don’t worry about that right now.” One of the firefighters yells from across the street and Jerome raises a hand to him. “Listen, I’ve got to go. Are you going to be alright?”
“Yeah, I suppose so.”
“Do you have somewhere to go tonight?”
“No, but I’ll rent a hotel room with . . . my credit card was in the apartment.” She lowers her head.
“Do you know where the fire house is?”
She nods her head.
“Drop by there in a few hours and I think I might be able to arrange a place for you to stay for a few nights. How does that sound?”
“Okay.”
“See you in a while.”
Shelly raises a limp hand in a half wave, but doesn’t raise her head. All she can think about is her best friend of twenty years being dead. She sits on the front stoop of the building across from her apartment until all the fire and rescue workers are gone. As the people on the street begin to disperse, she strolls over to her car in a daze and climbs inside.
For a full hour, she drives with no destination. She has almost a hundred dollars in her purse, but that won’t even get her a night in the sleaziest hotel in town. Seeing the parking lot of the park, she pulls in and sits for a while as she contemplates what to do next.
“Should I go to the fire house?” she asks her reflection in the rearview mirror. “I really don’t have anywhere else to go so I guess it couldn’t hurt.”
Twenty minutes later, she is sitting in front of the fire house in her car. Earlier, the thought of going in didn’t bother her in the least, but now that she is sitting in front of the building, it is a whole different matter. She is just about to put her car in reverse and sleep in a parking lot for the night when Jerome and Gerry step out of the front door and wave to her. She shuts off the car and climbs out.
As they walk toward her, she tries to think of a polite way to tell them that she can’t stay here, but nothing will come to her. Both men wear solemn looks on their faces as they near her. Jerome steps close and wraps her in a hug. Shelly starts to pull away, but the warmth of the hug and the human contact is just more that she can take. She falls into the hug and begins to weep.
“I’m so sorry for your loss.” Jerome whispers to her as he rubs her back.
“Thank you.” She pulls away from the hug and looks to Gerry.
Jerome catches her look and waves a hand at Gerry. “You remember my twin brother, Gerry. The one who shoved the bartender and almost got all three of us arrested.”
“How are you?” she asks.
“I’m fine. Jerome tells me that you need a place to stay for a few nights.”
“Yeah. I guess I do.”
Gerry nods his head toward a house across the street from the fire station. The house is small and white with a green metal roof. A small pickup sits out front alongside the curb.
“It isn’t much, but it does have two bedrooms and you’re welcome to one as long as you like.” Jerome tells her.
“I don’t know, guys. I appreciate the offer, but . . .”
“No if, no buts, no coconuts. You’ll stay with us until you get back on your feet. I don’t want to hear any more about it.” Gerry, the bolder of the two, tells her as he puts an arm around her shoulders. “Your car will be fine right there for tonight. Come on, and I’ll show you to you room so you can get some sleep. You’ve had a long, stressful day.”