Authors: Casey Clipper
The designer suit Courtney specially ordered for Derrick would be the most expensive piece of clothing he'd own but worth it. Her husband dressed impeccably and took pride in his wardrobe. When she came up with the gift idea, she'd been overly excited. She knew his philosophy‒if he had to escort his beautiful wife to functions then he must look equally presentable at all times. Courtney had fallen even more in love with him with that confession.
As she left the tailor's store, she caught Trent ending a call.
"Was that Derrick?" Courtney asked.
Trent shook his head. "No. Business."
"I should call him," she said. She pushed Caitlin's stroller and tried to hold the garment bag in her other hand. Wasn't happening. She stopped and draped the suit over the stroller. "I'm surprised he hasn't checked on us yet," she said absently.
"We can call from the car," Trent suggested. "Do you need to go anywhere else before we leave?"
"Let's hit the jeweler. I want to find a new wedding band for Derrick," Courtney said. They hadn't had a chance to pick out new ones since they'd married. His birthday was the perfect opportunity to get a new one on his finger.
Trent smiled. "Okay, I'll watch Caitlin while you look."
"Thank you, Trent," she said appreciatively. "You've been so helpful today. I can't thank you enough."
"No problem, Mrs. Murphy. That's what I'm here for," Trent assured her.
***
Courtney decided on the most expensive wedding band the jewelry had in stock. She knew Derrick would love it. His male idiosyncrasies were his ring and watch. He took off the watch when he crawled into bed every night and it was the first thing he put on in the morning. And the wedding band she constantly caught him toying with, spinning it on his finger. She didn't understand his obsession with both items but never question it. She had her own fixations.
Once Courtney finished shopping, Trent, who patiently entertained Caitlin, helped her to the SUV. She placed Caitlin in her car seat then packed the stroller into the hatch of the SUV. She hung Derrick's suit on a hook in the back. Her body went rigid when something hard as steel jabbed into her ribs.
"Hello, Courtney. Motherhood agrees with you," John Marshall growled into her ear.
Her first instinct was to pull away, but at her slight movement, the gun dug deeper into her side. John squeezed her bicep painfully and yanked her closer.
"Don't even think about it," he warned. "Climb in."
"Trent, go!" Courtney screamed. In one non-fluid move, she pushed back, causing John to stumble, pulling her to the ground with him.
Trent didn't leave. He climbed into the driver's seat and closed the door.
"Trent!"
Out of her peripheral vision, she saw John's arm raise in the air....
Courtney
Courtney stirred awake. The sound of her daughter's cries catapulted her upright. Heavy eyes and a pounding headache caused her to moan with her sudden movement.
"I'm coming, baby girl," she rasped.
Slowly her eyes came into focus. No lights.
What time was it? Where the hell was she?
Stumbling off a bed, she landed with a hard thud onto the floor. She scrambled onto her haunches and blindly reached out. To her right she found a nightstand and lamp. Thankfully, there was electricity. When her eyes adjusted to the light, over in the corner of an aged bedroom sat an even older crib with her baby standing, crying out hysterically. She jumped to her feet and rushed to grab her baby girl out of the crib. Once securely in her arms, Courtney scanned the room and found the diaper bag on the floor next to the bed she'd been on. She pulled out a luke warm bottle. It would have to do. Her starving daughter devoured the formula.
While Caitlin ate, Courtney took in her surroundings, clueless where she could possible be. Her body began to shake. Certainly Derrick realized she was missing, right? How long had she been out cold? Derrick wasn't due home until later in the evening. Chills ran down her spine. Her shaking grew worse.
The bedroom door flew open and smacked off the wall. Courtney jumped and squeaked. John Marshall sauntered arrogantly into the bedroom, Trent followed behind. She narrowed her eyes.
"You're both dead men," she muttered. She straightened her spine in false confidence.
John chuckled. "We're dead if we're caught, sweetheart. Don't you worry you're pretty little head about that."
Courtney laughed at him but said nothing in retort. She prayed the nervousness didn't come through. Derrick would die trying to find her and his daughter.
"At least take Caitlin back home," she pleaded. Maybe they'd sympathize for her baby girl and concede to Courtney's wishes.
"No," John snapped. "I wanted you to have my child but you had to go and have Darren's. This is my way of getting what I want."
"What about your job?" Courtney asked. Maybe she could reason with him.
"I was fired after we brought you in. Your current husband and dead husband made sure of that," John sneered.
She winced.
"Oh," John said.
She'd never make a great poker player.
"Sorry, forgot Darren might still be a sore spot since you seemed to have moved onto his brother painlessly. Is that what the Murphy men did, pass you back and forth from brother to brother? Maybe I should have waited to kill them both when they were together."
It took a moment for what he said to register.
"What?" she gasped. "You..."
John laughed mirthlessly. "Fool. I've been in love with you for ages and was sick and tired of watching you moon over
Darren Murphy
. When you lost your first baby, I couldn't have been more thrilled, especially when you left him thinking he cheated on you. I was prepared to replace him but you just had to be sucked back into his web. Then you ended up pregnant, again. I couldn't allow you to be tied to him like that. It was either you or him and since I want you, it had to be him."
"But you almost got me. I was to be in that car," Courtney spat. She looked down at her daughter, who would have died in the car explosion as well.
He shrugged. "My mistake. I had no idea you were there with him. I thought he was surprising you with furniture," John said unconcerned. "Sorry," he apologized insincerely.
Angry tears clouded her vision. What the hell was a matter with him? Was he crazy to begin with? Did the FBI make him insane?
"You're mine now," John stated factually.
"No, John," she countered. "I belong to Derrick, and before him, Darren. You'll never have me."
Two quick, determined steps towards her, John violently grabbed her chin. Pain raced up her jaw.
"You belong to me," John growled, inches from her face. He snapped her head back when he pushed away then stormed out of the room.
Trent petulantly followed.
"You're a dead man as well, Trent!" Courtney yelled after he closed the door behind him.
With a full belly, baby Caitlin's heavy eyes closed and she fell asleep, settled in the crook of her mother's arm, oblivious to the danger they were in.
What was Courtney going to do? She had her daughter to try to escape with. To protect. Quietly, she sobbed, "Derrick, please find me."
She pulled her daughter tight into her body. If she had to, she would die before allowing any harm to come to her baby girl.
***
Derrick
A little after eight in the evening, Derrick arrived home with Jack and Carl. When they walked through the door, the house seemed unusually quiet except for Mary, who bustled about in the kitchen.
He loosened his tie.
"Mr. Murphy, are you hungry? I'm finished with dinner but waited for Mrs. Murphy," Mary asked, typically polite.
"I am...wait, what?" Derrick stopped mid air from pulling a bottle of water out of the refrigerator. "What do you mean you're waiting for Courtney? Where is she?"
"Mrs. Murphy went to the mall earlier today, sir. She said she would return hours ago. I'm assuming she got held up," Mary said. She stirred the pot of whatever on the stovetop.
Jack and Carl stepped into the kitchen.
"Who did she go with?" Derrick asked concerned. He glanced down at his watch. It was late in the evening for her to out with Caitlin. His wife kept an excellent time schedule with their daughter. She never ran late. "Did Russ or Jarrett go with her?" he asked.
"No, no. Both boys had to drill this weekend. They're gone until Sunday, sir. Mrs. Murphy went with Trent," Mary answered, oblivious to the chaos that information would ensue.
His world went dizzy and tilted.
"Fuck," Jack muttered, pulling out his cell and dialing Trent. Jack looked up into Derrick's fearful eyes.
He punched the counter top and screamed, "Find my wife!" He turned to Mary. "Did she have Caitlin?"
Mary turned off the stove.
"Yes, sir," she answered regretfully.
"Shit," Carl snapped, already on his cell phone.
"Mary, go home," Derrick said firmly.
"Can I get you something first, Mr. Murphy?" Mary asked.
"No," Derrick answered.
"Yes, Mr. Murphy," Mary said. She pulled off her apron and quietly left the house.
Derrick turned to Jack. "Call Russ and Jarrett and leave a message that Mrs. Murphy and Caitlin are missing."
"Is that all you want me to say?"
"That's all that'll be needed," Derrick growled. "Those two men will break their backs to find my daughter." He braced himself on the island. "I have to call her cousins."
***
The front door to the Murphy home flew open. Sean and Ryan hurried into the house and were met with guns drawn. They ignored the weapons and rushed to the kitchen where Derrick stood and stared out the sliding glass door.
"Derrick, have you found out anything?" Sean asked.
Derrick shook his head. "Only that she went to the mall early this afternoon, apparently to get me a birthday gift, and took Trent with her."
"Trent?"
"Someone I should have warned her about," he said. "I knew the kid couldn't be trusted. I knew it," he said, rabid with anger. Visions of killing the kid swam through his mind. Slowly. Torturously. Making the kid beg for his life, and when Trent thought he might live, he'd put him through hell all over again.
A commotion came through the front door again. Russ and Jarrett ran into the kitchen.
"Mr. Murphy?" Russ asked. "We received Jack's message. What the hell is going on?"