Never Be the Same

Part 27

Stella and Tia were outside planting flowers, in Stella's flower bed. The kids were running around the yard chasing each other and laughing. When Kelly came running out the back door, breathing heavily. "There you are." He let out a relieved breath. Stella looks over at him, his face was flushed, he was sweating, his eyes were bugged out, he looked like he just ran a marathon.

"Kelly, are you okay?" She walks over to him. Worried he was about to have a stroke or something. "You need to sit down." She pushes him into the patio chair. She checked his pulse. "His pulse is racing." She grabs her water bottle. "Here, drink some water." He takes a drink, his eye burning into hers. "Tia, I'm going to take him inside and get him out of this heat. See if I can calm him down."

"Okay, I'll keep the kids occupied." She gives Stella a worried look.

"Come on, let's go back inside." She pulls him up.

"I'm good." He tells her as he stands up.

"Your pulse is racing, Kelly; you need to relax and…

"My pulse always races when you're around."

She smirks. "Now is not the time to flirt with me." She opens the door. "Did you have a dream or something?" She knew something had him in this state. He was sleeping on the couch when she went outside.

"No." He says as she helps him sit on the couch. She straddles his lap. And narrows her eyes at him. He sighs, knowing she knows he's lying. "Yes, I had another dream." He admitted softly. "More like a nightmare." He added with a worried sigh.

Her eyes soften. "Kelly, you got to stop stressing and worrying about us."

"I will never stop worrying, Stella."

"I know." She cups his face. "Babe, it's been three weeks since we got any deliveries or messages from Bo. I told you I think he was just trying to scare us."

"Stella, he had the guy that robbed you killed, and Voight knows he's involved somehow; he found our kids pictures in his cell. I think he is playing mind games with us."

"He hasn't done anything, Kelly....

"That's part of the mind games he is playing with us; he wants us to think he is no danger to us and he gave up on us. So we let our guards down; once he thinks we forgot about him, that's when he's going to attack."

She gives him a lopsided smile. "He's not a zombie, Kelly." She laughs.

"Stella, it's not funny; I'm serious."

Her smile fades. She knows that ever since he went to see Bo, he's been a little uneasy; it got worse after the phone call from Bo. She has this feeling that he's keeping something from her. She thinks Bo said something else when he called him and has decided it was best not to tell her. "I know it's not funny." She rubs the back of his neck. "Are you not telling me something, something he said when he called you? You can tell me, Kelly. You can tell me anything."

He gives her a sorrowful expression. "He said the storm will calm, but when the calmness disappears, the storm will brew bigger and achieve its true desire."

"What the hell does that mean? I know the calm of the storm is an expression that is used to describe a period of peace, tranquility, or relief that follows a turbulent or chaotic event. Is he saying…

"He was warning me, the calm before the storm is a quiet period in which there is little or no activity before a period in which there is a lot of trouble or intense activity. He's planning something, Stella. The last three weeks have been calm. I'm not sure exactly how long the peace will last, but I feel… It's coming to an end." He warns her. "Very soon.