Gathering Roses

14.

The man watched the figures move around the kitchen from the dark sedan across the street. Jed's filth of a child shrieked and giggled, commanding everyone's attention. What a despicable waste of space. The child would, without a doubt, grow up to hate him and threaten his business. He needed to end all threats to his reign, which now included the brat's mother and her boyfriend. Maybe even the old man and his wife. He wasn't picky. He picked up his cellphone and hit the only number on speed dial.

"Jones. They're all here. Move in."

"Copy that, boss." He hung up the phone and smiled slowly. By nightfall, the threat would be extinguished. Life would move on like it was supposed to.

          ~     ~    ~     ~

They borrowed Tina's sedan for the trek to the police station. Tuck's van had had quite enough for a while, and Cass' car was smashed to bits. She had reported it stolen, but her minimal insurance policy wouldn't yield much in way of replacing it. Cass hadn't realized she was jiggling her knee anxiously until Tuck put his hand on it. "Cass, it's going to be fine. Trust me." He turned to look at her, and Cass allowed herself to find comfort in his eyes. She nodded and gave him a weak smile.

"I know. I'm just scared. I've never been away from Emmy this long..." she trailed off.

Tuck squeezed her leg but didn't take his hand away.

"She'll love hanging out with my mom. Besides, it's good for her to be with other people." Cass nodded in response, continuing to watch the houses fly by out the window. The police station came into view and Cass grasped Tuck's hand in her own. "It's okay." He murmured, squeezing back. Cass took a deep breath. It's almost over, she told herself. It's almost over.

          ~    ~     ~     ~

Jones, Jimmy's new right-hand-man, crept along the base of the house towards the back door. Jimmy had followed the woman and the plumber, deciding it would be easier to divide and conquer. That was okay with him. As long as Jones had been with Jimmy, he had been afraid of him. Sure, he had come to terms with the fact that no one in their crew could be considered upstanding citizens, but Jimmy seemed to be above the worst. He had absolutely no regard for human life, and went further than any of them when questioning captives. Jones shuddered as several unpleasant images of the unfortunate benefactors played in his mind.

Jones swung around the corner and ducked as he found the older woman and child playing in the backyard. He was about to train his gun on the woman when she caught sight of him. Before Jones could move, the woman had tucked the child behind the bushes, telling her to stay down.

"Come out from around the house." She called, not sounding one bit scared. Jones slowly peeked around, and almost lost his mind. His eyes popped out of his head at the scene before him— the woman had a pistol pointed at his head.

"Carl?" She asked, confused. "Is that you?"

"Yes, ma'am." He muttered, holding his hands above his head. He was in deep trouble, and he knew it.

"Shame. You were such a nice young boy. I thought there might be some trouble today, so I made sure I had this pistol handy. Now, I don't want to scare this little girl behind me any more than I have to, as I'm sure you agree, so you can either get yourself out of my yard, or I'll be forced to do it myself. I'll give you to the count of three. One."

Jones' mind raced. He now knew there was no way he could go through with this. This woman knew him and probably his whole family. He was not going to be able to kill that little girl, who peeked through the bush at him. She looked scared, but not terrified, as she would have been if she understood the circumstances playing out before her. But Jimmy—

"Two." The woman's finger tightened on the trigger. Jones shook his head wildly and backed away. Nothing Jimmy would do to him would matter if his head was blown apart. He turned the corner and bolted. Jimmy could find a new second-in-command for all he cared. He sprinted around the house, jumped into his awaiting car, and screeched the tires as he drove away.

Tina holstered her pistol. Her heart rate came back down, and she scooped up the now teary Emmy into her arms, hurrying inside. She called 911 and reported what had happened, then called Frank and told him to come home. Cass and Emmy were already family in her eyes, and no one was going to hurt them on her watch.