Gray Ghost - License to Kill

Chapter 9 - Road to Recovery

I had no idea where to start. I want to kill them all after what they did to her. Dr. Owens, Command and anybody else involved. They had crossed the line and made it personal. The fear of them possibly sending me back to jail was nothing compared to the revenge I wanted to seek.

The thoughts of Kim, Rayna and all the innocent people that had fallen victim to this corrupt unit. Those were just the ones I knew of; I am sure there were dozens more. I needed to find out who was behind this and take it all down.

Thinking of Rayna, I forgot that today was the day that Kim normally picked Rayna up from her after school program. I had to go there for her, part guilt from what I did to her dad and just not knowing if she would be standing there alone waiting for somebody to pick her up that was never coming.

I pulled up and saw her. She was standing on the corner with her pink backpack on. Her backpack matching the pink high top tennis shoes she wore. Hair in two ponytails with pink barrettes on the end. At first, she did not recognize the car. I blew my horn and rolled the window down. "Hey Rayna" I said to her as she looked in the door.

"Hey Mr. Stew, where is Ms. Kim" she said questioning why I was there. "I am sorry Rayna, she could not make it, so I am here for her" I told her. I could not dare break that news to her right now. I did not even know how to tell her if I wanted.

She got in the car. When she got in, she reached across the seat and hugged me around my neck. She held that hug tight. I was taken back by the hug, and when she sat back in her seat, I could see her face. She was on the verge of tears.

"What is wrong Rayna" I asked her. Thinking maybe somebody was bullying her at school. She didn't look at me and just said "Grandma been really sick, they told me she died, I was hoping Ms. Kim would pick me up and I could go stay with her, because I do not want to have to stay in a shelter" she said as she broke down crying.

I reached over and hugged her, as my eyes began to tear. This little girl has been through so much in life already and now this, all on the same weekend.

"You won't have to stay in a shelter" I assured her. She sat back in her seat and just stared out the window. She did not say anything, and this was an extremely awkward moment. I had no idea how to console a little kid.

I called Stephanie. "Hey, I need you to meet me at the lake house, and I may need you to stay there for a while" I said to her. I had rented a house on a lake where I would go to get away. Nobody knew about this house but Stephanie and Kim.

Rayna and I arrived at the lake house and she put her book bag down in the living room. I did not know what to do or say, but I know the water always calmed my nerves. I told her to follow me as I walked out the back door to the dock by the lake. We sat down on the dock looking over the water.

We could see the school of white ducks so gracefully and elegantly gliding across the water. Rayna was fascinated by the ducks.

"Are those your ducks" she asked me. "No, they just live around here" I told her.

"Do they have names" she said. I told her I did not think they had names, but she could name them if she wanted.

There were four ducks and they were swimming toward us, as she threw a piece of bread into the water.

"The first one, the big one, that is Mike" she said. "The others are Delores over there, Kim right there and the little one is Rayna: she said. I was speechless, sad and guilt ridden. Mike, that was her dad's name. Her grandmother's name was Delores and of course there was Kim.

That was this little girl's entire world, and everything was taken away from her. I was partly responsible for that. Then a much bigger duck came from behind us and into the water. He swam off and the other four followed him.