Got Your Six

Chapter 33

Calvin

I wake up to my seven o'clock alarm and find myself on my couch in the basement. Christina never texted me a location last night and I guess I fell asleep waiting for it. I'm surprised Kayla never came down to tell me to come to bed, but I guess we're not on the best of terms right now after our latest argument yesterday. I find her sitting at the dining room table sipping from a red mug when I come up the stairs.
"So, you decided not to go?" Kayla asks, setting the mug down the the table in front of her. I can see the steam rising from the liquid inside.
"She never texted me," I say bitterly, not seeing it as any of her business anyway.
"Where are you going now?" She asks as I continue to walk past her and out of the kitchen.
"To put on some clean clothes," I call out from the bedroom.
I wish she would just quit bugging me about every single move I make. I get it, I've lied a lot recently and probably lost a lot of her trust, but I only did it to keep her from worrying. It was better when she didn't know anything. At least that way I could come and go as I pleased without being interrogated by her. She's standing in the hallway, waiting for me, when I come out of the bedroom.
"I told Captain Bennett about your plan," she says, as if threatening me, except she's already carried out the threat.
I stop in my tracks, stunned by the betrayal of my own wife going behind my back to rat me out to my boss.
"Are you fucking kidding me?" I say in a low voice, trying to keep myself from blowing up with rage.
"I went to see him yesterday and told him exactly what you told me so that maybe he could put a stop to it," Kayla explains to me. She says all of this casually, as if it's just no big deal.
"The only thing you're going to put a stop to is my career!" I say loudly, pushing past her to head towards the door.
"We're all just trying to help you!" Kayla calls out to me as I swing the door open and step outside. "Where are you going now?" She yells.
"It doesn't fucking matter!" I yell back, making my way across the lawn.
I can't tell her where I'm going. She'll just turn around and call up my boss. I can't trust anyone. My boss suspended me, my wife ratted me out, and Christina stood me up last night. It's clear to me now that I'm all alone in my mission, and I won't let anyone else get in my way of finding Gavin.
As I reach to open the drivers door of my truck, a patrol car pulls up and stops in front of my house. What could they possibly want with me now? Did another body turn up somewhere that they want to blame me for? Captain Bennett steps out of the car and makes a b-line towards me.
"Whatever it is this time, I didn't do it. I was here at home all night, ask my wife," I say with a snarky attitude, pointing over to Kayla who's standing on the porch next to the front door. Probably not the best way to talk to my boss but I've just about had it with everybody turning their backs on me lately.
"I'm not here to arrest you," Captain Bennett says, stopping just a few feet away from me.
"Then why are you here?" I ask, ready to get whatever he's here for over with.
"I'm here to let you know that you're being let go for disobeying a direct order," he tells me. I can hear the disappointment in his voice.
"Oh, great. You've got to be fucking kidding me. This day just gets better and better," I say loud enough for Kayla to hear on the porch. She just watches on, as if this isn't her own doing. If she would've just left me alone and not gone off to snitch on me, I wouldn't be getting fired. This is all her fault.
"I know you've been working with your sister to try and track down Gavin. On top of that, there was someone spotted snooping around the crime scene at the quarry earlier this week. Even though I can't prove it was you, I do have my suspicions. You'd better hope I don't find out it was you though, otherwise I'll have to come back here again and then you will be under arrest," Captain Bennett says with conviction.
I stare at my now former boss, trying to think of anything to say. Eventually I decide he's not worth my time and climb into my truck, leaving him standing alone on my front lawn. As I pull out of the driveway, I catch him in my mirror walking over to Kayla. I'm sure they're probably going to put together some plan to track me down and stop me, but it doesn't matter. I won't let anyone stop me from what I have to do. And right now, I need to go confront Christina about standing me up last night.
I whip my truck around into the alley behind Christina's house and throw it in park. It's a miracle I didn't get a speeding ticket on my way over here. It's not that I was speeding on purpose, but the rage inside me has just taken over at this point. Being betrayed by everyone you thought was on your side really takes a tole on you.
My legs almost move faster than the rest of my body as I make my way over to the back door, pounding as hard as I can once I reach it. There's no answer within the first ten seconds and my rage tells me to pound on the door again. It's absolute silence from inside the house. She's gotta be here. Where else could she be? She should be home unless she stayed overnight at the party.
I make my way around the house to the front door and try my luck pounding on that one. Once again, all I get is silence in return. Making my way around the rest of the house, I attempt to look in through the windows but all of the curtains turn out to be closed. I pull out my phone once I make it back around to the back door and dial up Christina's phone. After a few rings, I begin to hear something from inside the house. It's her phone, she's home.
"Open up the door!" I yell, hanging up the call and putting my phone back in my pocket.
Fine, if she won't open the door, then I'll let myself in. I grab the handle of the door and lean back, preparing to ram my shoulder into the door. Before I put all of my force into the door, I realize something. The handle twisted in my hand as I leaned back. The door is unlocked. I twist the handle again and push the door inward, watching it swing open.
"Hey!" I call out, waiting for her to come around the corner.
I figure she's just been hiding in here, waiting for me to go away. She probably didn't even realize the door was unlocked. Well, there's nowhere for her to hide now.
"What the hell happened to our plan, huh?" I yell into the house as I make my way through the kitchen.
As I get into the living room, I can barely see the top of her head poking over the lounge chair she was sitting in the last time I was here.
"Christina?" I say questionably.
I walk further into the living room, slowly making my way closer to her chair. Even if I don't want to admit it, I already know what's happened. There's no other reason for her to just sit here while I pound on her door and then yell in her house. She wouldn't just sit still for all of that, unless she was dead.
My whole body freezes once I step around her chair and get a better look. Her eyes are wide open, as if she's startled, but she's not awake. Her arms hang over the edges of the chair, the rest of her body slouching. The deep red blood has run down her chest from the gash on her throat, soaking her clothes.
I want to wake up. I want this nightmare to end and for everything to go back to the way it was a month ago. I wish I never got involved with this case with Gavin. Then Cameron would've never gotten involved and he'd still be here. Christina would still be here. Even if we didn't talk to each other, at least I knew she was alive. We didn't have the best relationship but I never wanted to see her dead. I just want to wake up from this nightmare.
But I know this isn't a dream. My eyes aren't playing tricks on me. Everything around me is part of a harsh reality. A harsh reality that just keeps on punishing me. But where does it end? Cameron is dead, and now so is Christina. Who will Gavin take from me next?