Claws in the Dark | ✔

XXXIII (Part II)

✫✫✫✫✫

Gina was overlooking the children as they slept peacefully in a corner of the cave. The fire flickered, keeping them warm from the winter's cold. Enrico had managed to salvage four blankets from the storeroom he had searched, and they used the largest one to cover the young ones. George slept snugly between his sister and Nelson, whose right arm was across Rebecca's shoulder so that her head rested on his chest.

Antonio lay across from them, covered in another blanket, though he twitched every so often as a result of the blanket's shortness, which exposed his feet. But, nevertheless, he slept comfortably.

When Miles returned, Gina sprang to her feet. "Did you find the noise?" she asked.

Miles nodded and stepped aside to let Bill through. Gina gasped when she saw the former and tears came to her eyes as she ran towards and hugged him.

Bill groaned at the sudden force she had impacted him with, but, nevertheless, returned the hug, leaning into her with a soft smile.

"I thought we'd lost you back at the hospital," she said after pulling away. "How did you even get out?"

"With a little help," he replied. Landon slowly walked in behind him.

Antonio, due to the commotion, stirred in his sleep before opening his eyes. He groaned as he sat up and when his eyes settled on the detective, he stood immediately, a slight head rush causing him to swoon. He rubbed his eyes, thinking he was dreaming, but when he realized that Landon was not a figment of his imagination, he ran towards him and wrapped his hands around the man.

"I've missed you," Antonio mumbled into his chest, crying with tears of joy.

Landon brought his hands up and tightly hugged him back, closing his eyes and inhaling his scent. "Same here," he returned, then they shared in a momentary kiss.

"The kids are gonna be so glad to see you when they wake up," Gina told Bill, leading him to sit next to the fire and warm up. Landon and Antonio followed, the latter wrapping the former in the blanket he was using.

Enrico came to stand beside Miles and crossed his arms. He watched with keen eyes at the small group. "We've come a long way," he said, "and we're close to making it out here in one piece. We'll just rest until a little while longer until dawn reaches, and then we'll execute our plan."

He turned and watched the detective when he didn't answer. A frown etched onto Miles' face. "Do you think this plan will work?"

"It has to," Miles replied. "I promised my family I would get them out of here, and that's what I'm gonna do."

Enrico sighed, leaning against the wall. "I wanted to take my family out of here...years ago. But we didn't have the finances, and none of our immediate family wanted to help us out."

"Why not?"

"I chose a different lifestyle. To mine for gold and other precious stones. It's all I've ever dreamed of doing, but my family was against it. They wanted me to work in the family business, to sell chickens and harvest crops from the field. They even suggested that I join their drug runnings. But I refused." He glanced across to Antonio. "I didn't want that life for my son."

"I'd say you made the right choice," Miles praised. "He turned out great." Enrico's head snapped towards him and he glared. "Sorry, wrong choice of words. I know you're still adjusting to your son's...lifestyle, but at least he's still here."

"What would you say, Miles?" Enrico asked. "What would you do if your son walks up to you and tells you your worst fear?"

Miles looked at George, then sighed as he shook his head. "I don't know."