Uplifted by you

25

Now

Surely, the human mind was one powerful tool. I didn't think it had it in it to take any more of my jumbled thoughts. One second, I was thinking about the children, the things they had been through, the violence they had seen and how I wanted nothing but to protect them from it all and the next, I was thinking about something else.

Was I not putting Andrew in danger myself with what I asked of him?

I told him to secretly get a recording of his conversation with Joe over the phone. We could get something suspicious from it. In addition to that, a recording from his mother's room, hiding the phone somewhere, in a couch maybe. If he could secretly take pictures too or a video, if the opportunity occurred, that would be really helpful. Hopefully, we would get a shot of those drugs and more successfully a shot of him giving her the drugs. However, the chances of getting the latter was very slim. Therefore, I told him to stick to secretly recording alone.

I remembered how his eyes lit up, as if a bulb went on in his head 'Of course. Why didn't I think of that in the first place? I took a picture of the drugs already though and my mom' He said. He was eager. Too eager and that worried me. He had to be really calm to be able to achieve this smoothly. To, by all means, avoid getting too excited or agitated to give himself away to this Joe.

This was a bad idea. I had desperately wanted to put an end to the monster in their lives that I ended up putting the boy's safety in jeopardy. It felt like I was serving him up to him on a silver platter.

Oh no...

"I'm sure there were better ways to handle these things. I should have called Christian for advice first" I chastised myself but there was nothing to be done now. I had planted the idea in his head and even if I were to call him now to tell him to back out and we would find another means, I wasn't so sure Andrew would listen to me. I called anyway.

"Hi ma'am?"

"Hello Andrew" I didn't beat about the bush "About earlier I think we should come up with something else. I don't want you getting hurt in the process. What if he catches on? Let me talk to my husband first, he's a lawyer and he knows people in the departments we would be needing"

"I've been nothing but hurt since I met him. What's the worse that could happen? Besides we can't let the opportunity to nab him already slip us by"

"Don't talk like that. You should avoid getting hurt at all cost. Who knows what he will do if he finds out you were in on him" I shuddered at the thought. I shook my head to quickly ward myself off it.

I heard him sigh "I promise ma'am, I'll be really careful and if worse comes to worst and I get caught by him. I won't stick around to find out what he will do but there's no way in hell I'm backing out of this now. He has to pay"

I scratched at my eyebrow. I knew it. It was just as I thought earlier. He wouldn't back off "Okay Andrew. Just please be careful, like very careful"

"Don't worry ma'am" I couldn't help but worry "I will be"

"I'll call later. On a second thought no, I wouldn't want to call at the wrong time. Text me instead as soon as you get home"

"Okay ma'am"

"And I need you to text me every thirty minutes too, otherwise I know something is up and I'll come running and this time with the force"

"Okay, will do"

"Be safe"

"Yeah" With that, I ended the call. I just had to trust him to push through with this and come out unscratched.