Picture Perfect

Chapter 53

    When Hayley. And Jameson arrived at Ashlee's house they saw one car and what appeared to be a smoldering car parked in front. They also saw Ashlee's car parked across the street.
    "Holy shit!" Jameson said as she started typing on the computer.
    "What are you checking?" Hayley asked as she looked towards the house. She was looking for any sign of life through the windows but everything appeared still. That was not what she was hoping for.
    "Checking the license plate of the car that's not a pile of burning rubble."
    "I'll make it easy for you, that's Chyler Dutton's car." Hayley said.
    "The ADA? What the hell is she doing here?"
    "I have no idea." Hayley said as she she tried to call Ashlee. She knew it was unlikely that Ashlee would answer but she had to try.
    "You don't think she has something to do with this, do you?" Jameson asked.
    "I hope not. Let's go." Hayley commanded, she couldn't sit still any longer.
    "Shouldn't we wait for backup?" Jameson questioned.
    Hayley was already getting out of the car. She turned back and said, "Yeah sure, you can wait for backup. I'm gonna take a look in Chyler's car and at the wreck of the the car over there."
    Jameson decided to follow. They both approached the blue Ford Escape cautiously and looked in the windows. There was no one in the vehicle so Jameson asked, "Are you sure this is the ADA's car?"
    "Yeah I'm sure." Hayley replied then turned to the other car and saw someone by it. "Stop police!" She yelled.
    The person walked into view, "Don't shoot it's just me."
    "Hi Kayla, who called you in?" Hayley asked, concerned she had missed an update.
    "No one called me. I was home. I came out when I heard the explosion, called it in then went back in to get my kit. Where's Ashlee?"
    Hayley glanced at the house then quickly back at Kayla which said enough, she vocalized the res, "We have a new suspect. One with a limp."
    Kayla quickly closed the gap between them and looked Hayley in the eye. "You get in there and bring them out unharmed, do you hear me?"
    Hayley nodded and signaled Jameson to follow. They walked towards the house slowly, both with their guns in hand.
    Jameson asked, "So do we think Chyler is in the house too?"
    "I'm assuming yes." Hayley replied.
    As they approached the door Jameson spoke again, "So just to review is the ADA a good guy or a bad guy? I know it sounds like a dumb question but..."
    "A valid one." Hayley finished her statement. "Honestly I don't know." She paused at the front door.
    Jameson, feeling antsy asked, "What do we do?"
    Hayley thought for a moment then said, "DOn't shoot Ashlee, Aaron or Sebastian. Besides that I have no idea who is good or bad. We're going in blind so don't aim for those we know are the good guys."
    As Hayley opened the door they heard two sounds that simultaneously made their hearts drop and made them spring into action.

    My number one goal was to get this woman's focus away from Aaron and Sebastian. She when she prodded me to move to another part of
the basement I went willingly. There was a lot of junk down here so I looked around for anything I could use as a weapon.
    "Honestly Ashlee, you have to realize you are not going to survive this. There's no use trying to find something to fight me. If you're good I may even let you say goodbye to your son before I kill you." The woman said with a smirk.
    "Why are you doing this? I don't even know who you are yet. Obviously I already know your name isn't really Tara Winters." I said in a conversational manner. I knew I needed to keep this woman distracted until I came up with a plan. Besides it would be nice to know who this psycho actually was.
    "How rude of me not to introduce myself. My real name is Katie Jones. As I stated before, Aaron is who I am meant to have a family with and you're in the way." She stated simply.
    "I'm no threat to you and Aaron's relationship, I'm queer and prefer women. No interest romantically in any men, especially Aaron." I said as I came to a stop by what looked like a nest of blankets. When I saw a little fuzzy head I realized why Cain was acting funny, she was getting ready to give birth. I didn't see Cain anywhere so I could only hope she had successfully birthed her three kittens before this psycho entered the house. I didn't have time to check on them or Cain, plus I had no idea where Zebbie was either. Right now my focus needed to be on saving Sebastian, Aaron and myself.
    "Oh but you are Ashlee. Having you in the picture makes this family, my family, just as dysfunctional if not more than all those families I dispensed of on my way here. Step parents along equal dysfunction but then add in the fact that you're gay and proud of that, you've created the worst possible situation for your son. And I am here now to save him and my beloved Aaron from you." Katie explained calmly.
    "Really? You killed all those people just because their families weren't perfect in your opinion? What gives you the right to decide which families are dysfunctional and which aren't? The Daniels family were good people, they were our friends and you killed them because they didn't fit your mold? What happens if Aaron and Sebastian don't live up to your standards? Are you just gonna kill them too if they're not perfect enough?" My rant of questions loomed in the air for what felt like an eternity.
    Logically I knew it wasn't smart to antagonize the crazy woman with the gun but I couldn't help it, her ridiculous reasoning had actually hit a nerve with me. My biggest concern was Sebastian's welfare. I was scared to death having a queer mom would scar him for life but by all accounts he was a happy, well adjusted kids so far. Now my biggest concern was keeping him alive and away from Katie.
    As if she read my mind Katie said, "I know you're worried about Sebastian's future Ashlee but I will raise him as if he was my own. He'll grow up with a happy, loving and stable home."
    I was about to make a semi smart ass remark when I heard sirens outside. "Well that's about all the time you have."
    Katie's look turned serious, almost angry. "We don't have much time left Ashlee and there are things I want to tell you."
    "Okay but you know they are going to be barging in here soon."
    "Ashlee shut up or the next sound will be a bullet between your eyes."
    That made me keep my mouth shut and sent my mind searching double time for a way to save my family.