Long Road Ahead - Deckard Shaw Fanfic

6 -- Blocked Caller

I roll over the to sound of the baby crying. Looking at my phone clock, I see that it is about 4 in the morning. I suppress a groan as I quietly pad over to the bassinet Conner sleeps in. He is squirming around, fussy, and I pick him up. Hoping not to wake our generous hosts, I bounce him lightly as I get out a fresh diaper. After changing him, he settles down and falls back asleep soon after laying back down. 

I try to sleep for a little while, but soon I'm hopeless I'll fall asleep again. I get on my phone in bed and start to surf. Before long, I find myself searching. 

Deckard Shaw.

Born in London, one brother, all things I knew. It was after the events of high school that I wanted to uncover. 

Digging deeper, I see he enlisted into the military when he was 20. Not surprised, he was always talking about doing that. A small smile creeps up onto my lips as I see he had worked his way up the rank of Captain. I'm further impressed when I see a few years after that, he was made a Major in the Special Air Service. After a while in that position, he was offered the Victoria Cross award, something very difficult to attain. I'm confused as I read this, but I get further confused when I see that he declined the award. All it says after that is that he was arrested a few years ago for...

For...

For third degree murder, theft, arson, and about a dozen other criminal charges. 

My hand flies over my mouth as I muffle a sob that burrows itself into the back of my throat. I see mugshots, security camera footage, and police reports. 

I don't know what to think. This man I thought I loved is a monster. I look for more on him, too shocked for words, but can't find anything else. I tell myself over and over again that there is a reason for this, he had a motive or an explanation. The Deck I fell in love with wouldn't just do these things. 

A whole other string of thought comes up when I look over and see the baby sleeping peacefully. Why would this criminal care about the welfare of a child that isn't even his? 

I lie awake in bed for hours, a million thoughts going through my head. 

There's definitely no way I'm getting back to sleep now.

~~~~~

"Good Morning, Sophia! I hope you slept well!" Mia says cheerfully to me as I saunter out of the guest room with the baby balancing on my hip. It was now a little after 8am, and I pretended that I had not just been crying in bed for the past 4 hours.  I sit down at the table after putting Conner in the empty high chair and Mia puts a plate of eggs and toast in front on me. I thank her profusely before answering. 

"Yes, absolutely wonderful. I still have no idea how I can thank you." I blush slightly, still feeling a little guilty for crashing in a stranger's home. 

"Seriously, it's no big deal! I grew up in LA and we constantly had people staying over and I have always loved playing hostess." She replies with a slight wink. I smile back before digging back in.  "So, Jack has school today down the road a little ways, so Brian left about ten minutes ago to walk him down. He should be back soon." 

Finishing my breakfast, I give some of my eggs to Conner along with some baby snacks. I then get up and start to help Mia with dishes. Soon, Brian walks through the door with a big smile on his face. 

"Good morning, ladies!" He says cheerfully while giving Mia a peck. 

"How was Jack doing?" Mia asked, prepared Brian his own plate of food. He immediately starts shoveling it into his mouth. 

"Great, he can't stop talking about his baby sister." He replies between bites. Mia smiles broadly while resting a hand over her belly. "He says he's he gonna protect her from boys and he's gonna share his toys and play with her. I think that kid is more excited for this baby that you are." He continues, smirking as Mia lightheartedly swats him on the shoulder. 

"So, Sophia, maybe we could go back into town today and get anything you need. You are welcome to stay here as long as you would like, but I know you had mentioned finding your own place sometime and I thought we could show you around a little." Brian says as he brings his dishes to the sinks and sits Mia down. 

"That would actually be great. I have no idea how long I'm going to be around here, but I think for the sake of all of us it would be better if we settled down and found a place for ourselves." I say, cleaning Conner up with a rag. 

"Ok, well Brian and I talked about it, and we don't feel super comfortable with you being out there all by yourselves," Mia started somewhat hesitantly.

"Especially after what happened yesterday," Brian interjected. 

"Yes, especially after yesterday, so we were wondering if you would accept our help in your hunt. We want you and the baby to be in a safe place where things like that hopefully won't happen again."

"I would really appreciate that, thank you." I say, taking Conner and excusing us to go and pack our things. 

I put on a light sundress that I had packed in my suitcase long before any of this hiatus started and cleaned up everything around the guest room. 

After everything is packed up, we pack into Mia and Brian's car and head into the outskirts of town. The area they bring me to is a few blocks away from the market where someone tried to take Conner yesterday. My head is still reeling from finding out about Deck, from almost losing the baby, heck from even being left with the baby a few nights ago, even though it seems like an eternity has past. 

"So this place is super cheap, close to us, and close to the market. We have ties through the owner, so we know you'll be in good hands." Brian says, snaking an arm around Mia. 

"Thank you guys, literally. Please, let me know if there is anything I can ever do to start to pay you back." I say with a wide smile. Conner is in a good mood in my arms, and we both feel more hopeful than we have in the past few days. As we are walking down the street to get to the entrance of the building, I nearly jump out of my skin as a pay phone we walk past starts to ring. 

Oh gosh. 

I'm about to ignore it, but Brian and Mia notice it too. I look at both of them hesitantly, and Brian gives a slight nod of his head. I slowly inch over to the ringing phone and put it against my ear. 

"Hello?"

"Sophia?"

"Deck?"