I'll Never Let You Go

Chapter Two

"I have no words — alas! — to tell
The loveliness of loving well!"
- Edgar Allan Poe

Gomez stepped into the pouring rain and walked quickly toward their car. Ordinarily, he would take his time and enjoy the lovely weather. However, his lovely wife was waiting for him inside, and he was eager to return to her.

He opened the car door and spotted the glittering ring almost immediately. He picked it up, admiring the large black stone surrounded by tiny diamonds. He fingered the clasp holding the poison inside. She had just filled it earlier today with a fresh helping of cyanide. He smiled, closed his fingers around the ring, and turned back to the house.

Just then, he felt something cold and hard pressed against the back of his head. He froze.

"Hands in the air!" a voice behind him commanded. Gomez reluctantly raised his hands. He felt a combination of fear and confusion. What was happening?

"Turn around slowly." the voice commanded again. Gomez obeyed and found himself face-to-face with three large men. The man in the middle had a gun pointed right at his head. Gomez swallowed hard and tried not to look back at the house, where he knew his wife and children were. 

"What do you want?" Gomez inquired.

"This family has riches beyond imagination," the thug stated plainly. "We want all of it."

"I'll give you what you want," Gomez assured him. "But please leave us be. We mean you no harm."

Each of the thugs' eyes widened. Gomez realized that they didn't know that he was an Addams. They hadn't realized that they had the owner of the Addams fortune.

"Show us the money," the middle thug commanded.

"I wouldn't mind him showing us his wife too." one of the other thugs muttered. He was looking through one of the windows at Morticia, who had her back to them.

Fury swelled inside Gomez. He thought as quickly as he could. There must be a way to get help and keep his family safe.

"Obviously, we don't keep it in the house," he spoke quickly. "There's nothing of value in there. The real loot is stored in a secure location."

The thugs looked at one another, clearly trying to decide whether or not to believe him. One realized that Gomez's hand was clutched around something, and forced the hand open. Morticia's ring fell out, and the thug snatched it up. Gomez couldn't stand the sight of the horrible man holding his wife's ring. However, he pushed down that feeling and used the situation to his advantage.

"That's nothing compared to what else we have. We keep it in a vault, far from here. I'll show you." he lied, hoping these men would believe him.

The men looked at one another and nodded their heads.

"Show us," the middle thug commanded. They forced him into his own car at gunpoint. Then, the lead thug climbed into the driver's seat and the car started moving. Gomez couldn't resist looking back on the house as they drove away.

Querida mia, he thought. I will return to you.