Learning to Live, Again

Chapter Twenty-five

Caleb

I lifted my hands up in surrender. "Why don't we just-"

"Shut up," the man holding the gun snapped. The pistol was shaking, and from the amazing view I had, I could tell it was a Ruger .22 pistol. With my hands still in the air, I straightened up. "Don't move!" I paused, but when he didn't move to shoot me, I finished straightening up. The man was short, and the look of terror on his face would have made me feel bad for him if it wasn't for one tiny detail: the gun pointed at my chest. 

He was much shorter than me, and I had to look down at him. "Here, why don't you put the gun down and we can talk?"

"Shut up," the man squealed, his voice high-pitched and full of fright. "You weren't suppose to be up," he continued, but this time I think he was talking to himself. "He told me you'd be asleep by now."

"Who told you?"

"He said you would be asleep, and I could pretend you were a cat in pain or something. You were suppose to be asleep!"

"Who said?" 

The man's eyes shot to me, and he held the gun tighter and higher up. "It doesn't matter. I have to kill you."

I shook my head. "No you do-"

"Yes I do! You don't understand."

"You don't have to rob me at gunpoint. I'll give you my money willingly. What is your name?"

"You have it so easy," he murmured, his voice reaching a hysterical pitch. "Some lady gets kidnapped, and you win a house. Sure you have her kids, but kids aren't bad. She gets kidnapped and you win a house. You should be begging me to take your money. I mean, we helped you gain all this. We helped you get this house, and her car, and her money. We helped you get all of it. You should be thanking us."

I took a deep breath trying to calm myself. Anger surged hot and dangerous throughout my body, burning up my fear and sending it floating like ashes in the wind. My only thought was, This man is responsible for what happened to Niamh. 

Clenching my teeth together, my jaw beginning to feel painful from the pressure, I let out as normal a breath as I could as I said, "Thank you."

The shocked looked on the guy's face said he wasn't expecting that response. I could see his hand slacken slightly before tightening again. Dropping my hands, I leaned against the wall, my arms crossed over my chest. "I thought I was going to have to marry her and kill her myself. When you guys took her and I gained all this," I gestured around us, "I thought my problem was solved." 

The man looked confused. "But then you guys lost her, and she had doctors around all the time so I never had a chance to smother her. Who's your boss? I'd love to give him some pointers on killing someone so they don't come back." When he didn't answer, I continued. "Fine; then who told you I'd be asleep by now? He's an idiot, and not immersed in what kids these days would call 'the now'."

"I can't tell you who he is, but you know him pretty well. It doesn't matter," he continued. "I have to kill you. He has my kids."

"Who," I asked, beginning to get frustrated. "If you tell me, I can help you. Tell me where he has them."

The man shook his head. "I can't; if I do, he'll scoop out their eyes with his ice-cream scoop."

I shook my head. "Not if you help me. I can give you and your children protection from him. You won't even go to jail; I promise. Just help me find out who did this to Niamh. I lied to you when I said I wanted to kill her."

The man looked up at me, swallowing, and I took a deep breath. "I love her. I want to marry her. I want to take care of her and love her for the rest of her life. Please, help me find who did this to her so she can move on. So we can move on. I promise beyond promise to save your kids."

He raised the gun, and without thinking, I blurted out, "I have three of my own."

The man lowered the gun a bit. "You do?"

I nodded quickly. "Three little boys."

He smiled a little, tears in his eyes. "I do, too."

"Yea," I asked.

The man nodded. "Yea. Jackson, Peter, and Timmy. They're my whole world, and I'd do anything for them."

Smiling, I nodded. "I would, too. Those boys are my life."

"What are their names?"

"I actually have a Timmy as well."

The man looked surprised. "Really? Wow. How old is he?"

"Nine. His birthday's in December."

The shocked look on the man's face made me smile. "That's my son's birthday!"

I laughed. "Wow how cool. Anywhere near the 18th?"

"On the 18th!"

"Holy cow," I said, laughing. "What a freaky coincidence." 

The man shook his head, his brows furrowing. "Yea; what a coincidence. You wouldn't happen to know a Betty Marshal, would you?"

My heart stopped. That was the mother of the son I hadn't seen since he was two months old. Betty had been having to hide him from me, and when her husband found out that Timmy wasn't his, he'd flipped out and threatened to kill them both if she kept letting me see him. She'd run off with Timmy, refusing my offer of protection, saying she had two other children with her husband, and I hadn't heard from her since. "Yea, actually I do. How do you know her?"

"She's my wife." I didn't even have time to move out of the way as he pulled the trigger.

~~~~~

Hello readers,

Here's a second chapter to make up for my lack of updating!

I hope you don't mind the curve ball I threw at you! I kind of have a feeling it came out of nowhere and seems to not fit in with the rest of the story, but I promise it will. When I edit this book for publication (when it's done of course) I'll fit this into it better. I feel like it could have been incorporated better, but I can't think of what "better" would be at the moment. haha

I hope you loved it!

Sincerely,

Jax Nicoles