Primal Gambit

Chapter 29: Renault's Wife Detests

She stormed into the room, pushing the door ajar and watching her husband stuff essential items into a duffel bag that lay disemboweled on the floor before him. His mountaineering pack was already engorged and ready to go. Tears streamed down her eyes as she stared at him and when she took off her glasses to wipe the liquid from her cheeks he looked at her – awaiting her words. Placing the glasses back over her eyes, she began:

"Ren, this isn't the way. It's..."

"It's what? It's the only way, Ellie." He cut her off.

"It's not right. There are other ways we can get enough money to get out." She choked on her words.

He lifted himself from the bed and reached for the closet door, kneeling and spinning the dial on a safe hidden beneath a pile of his wife's shoes. She could hardly make out the words he mumbled while trying to multitask.

"I know it's not right, I know that. But it's a sure-fire way. No one knows the worth behind this guy, and he'll sure as hell be in better care under my watch than that of any other guys that'll try to take him. If I wait too long word'll get out, and then I'm not gonna be the only one after him." He pulled the safe open and retrieved a packed holster with his service pistol. He kept it unbeknownst to his supervisors to protect his family.

"What other guys?" She coughed.

"I don't know," he interrupted before she could finish her question. "Hopefully I won't have to come across anyone with a similar agenda."

"I don't like this. Don't go. Please." Ellie whispered. Neither of them wanted to disturb their sleeping daughter, who already struggled to get enough rest due to the constant fracking of heavy, industrial drilling organizations. The heinous machines worked night and day to break into the crust of the Earth, searching for chance resources the companies weren't sure were there. Renault shoved the shooter into the bag, returning to the safe to retrieve a lone box of ammunition and his service medal.

"I don't like it either – but right now it's looking like our only option. I'm not going back overseas to get shot at for a country that doesn't care about the people that live in it – I'm not. Just stay here and take care of Grace and I'll be back in a week or two. At most." He sat down on the bed, and before getting the chance to take a deep breath Ellie was by his side, holding onto his arm.

"Ren," she whispered. "Stay here, with us." She looked him up and down, and when her eyes returned to his she noticed tears soaring down his cheek as well. Her gentle hand wiped the glistening tears from his face. Renault snagged her wrist and kept her hand on his face.

"We'll figure it out as a family. It'll be safer if you stay." She placed her free hand on his thigh, trying to caress the inner core of her husband.

"How long will we be safe if I don't go? Things are only going to get worse here, you know that – you've said the same thing." He lifted himself from the edge of the mattress and moved for the dresser, rummaging through framed family and wedding photographs in search of things he might need.

"Besides, the wheels are already in motion. I've got a contact out there in The Dark City who has already made travel arrangements. Taxi's gonna be here to take me to the airport in a few minutes. I have to do this." Renault grappled the wallet with his fingers, fitting it snugly into his back pocket.

When he returned from the closet once more he held in his hands a crude looking rifle. He broke the neck of the long stocked sawn-off and made sure it was loaded. Handing it to her, he recalled the amount of joy it brought her when he first took her to the range. That was before, when it was a full-fledged, long barrel shotgun. The first time she shot it she immediately turned to him, mouth agape with coughing laughter.

Now it was the difference between the life and death of their daughter. She struggled to summon more tears – her wells dried up. The heavy weapon sagged in her grip as she looked up at her husband.

"Remember what I taught you; pull back slowly on the trigger unless you want both barrels going off. Keep it by the bed in case someone tries to break in. Don't think twice." Renault moved for his overcoat and gasmask.

"Shells are in the safe, you remember the combination?"

Ellie breathed deeply, nodding solemnly. Her fight was over. There was nothing she could do or say to stop him from going. Was it her words that had driven him to such extraordinary measures? Although she hoped they hadn't, she knew deep down that she had pushed him into this corner.

Car headlights reeled around the room through closed curtains. Renault's time had come. He threw his overcoat on and then reached down – equipping both his mountain pack and duffel. Lifting Ellie from the bed, he grabbed her by the hips and pulled her in.

Their lips met for a time. No matter how long the embrace lasted, his wife would feel as if it were cut short – as though she were robbed of what could have been more. When they separated, he still held onto her.

"Call me every night; I'm sure Grace will want to hear your voice as much as I will." She whispered. He nodded, walking down the hallway – past the bedroom he had grown up in, the kitchen he had been fed in as an infant, and the den, where he shared countless Christmas mornings with his loving parents.

"I'll be seeing you." Renault whispered back. He smiled, covering his face with the mask and leaving the house he had grown up in for what felt, eerily, like the last time.