In Need of You

Chapter Thirty-Five

At least his family was safe... for now at least. Elisha ran his fingers through his hair and sighed. There wasn't going to be any sleeping for him any time soon. He glanced at Sabrina and Madeline snuggled together on the bed. Soon it was going to be four of them, he thought. He smiled for a moment before frowning again. Soon Dad and Kevin were going to force themselves back into their lives again; they were going to tear his family into shreds.

He rose from the chair sitting next to the bed and scooped up his t-shirt from the pillow where he pretended to get some sleep. Pulling it on, he glanced at his cellphone. He noticed a text from Edward, telling him to come downstairs. Either Dr. Morgan finally made it to the house or he couldn't sleep.  

He glanced at his wife and daughter before leaving out of the bedroom. When was this shit going to end? No matter what he did to keep his family protected, some fucking body wanted to play the game of life and death and see how long they actually last. They should have been in their own bed in their own home holding onto each other while they slept. Instead, they were running from his dad. Sabrina should had had the bakery opened by now. But she couldn't do that without someone trying to kill her because of the color of her skin. 

This shit was too much to handle now. Elisha wiped a rolling tear from his cheek and exhaled. All of this would have never happened if Dad would have just given him up when he was a child. He would have been so much happier if it were just Mom and Amber. He turned his attention to the gun sitting on the desk in the sitting area of the bedroom. Elisha reached for it. Maybe if he were... he walked out of the room and pulled the door close. He pressed his back against the wall and slid to the floor. Tears streamed from his eyes. To Sabrina and Madeline, he was their rock. But at that very moment, Elisha was nothing more than the teenage boy his father pointed and laughed at for being too weak, for being too dumb, for being too worthless. 

Pulling his knees to his chest, he rested his arms on both limbs and allowed his head to droop between them. Where was God when he needed him now? If only he could talk to Grandpa and Grandma one more time, he would have--.

"Daddy," Madeline said, tapping him on the shoulder. "Why are you crying?"

Elisha looked into Madeline's eyes and tried to muster a smile. "Daddy's okay, little one," he said. "Daddy's just tired."

"Are you sure, Daddy? You don't look tired to me." She sat next to him and glared into his eyes. "Whenever I get really sad, I just think about all the things that I have, and I tell God thank you. I really think he hears me too because you saved me and Aunt Jennifer from that car."

She placed her head on his arm, then snuggled closer to him. Her purple and white My Little Pony pajamas stood out against the black jeans he still wore. He scoffed, then smiled. "Thank you little one. I really needed to hear that."

Hearing her snore, he glanced at the child as she slept. He couldn't wallow in his own pitty. He didn't have time for it. But what Madeline spoke to him did more than just make him smile, it made him realize that he wasn't alone in his mess. He wasn't without help nor was he without love. Out of the mouths of babes, Elisha thought. 

Elisha picked the sleeping child up as he stood to his feet and walked her back into the bedroom. He laid her next to Sabrina, who had wrapped her arms the pillow he once rested his head upon. He pressed his lips against her forehead and Sabrina's and made his way out of the room. Dad didn't deserve his tears. Not a single drop. What he did deserve, though, was forgiveness. It wasn't going to be easy to forgive a self-righteous asshole who thought he owned every living, breathing soul that walked in his direction. But Elisha had to start somewhere if he was going to reclaim his own happiness. 

As he walked into the dining room, he saw Edward sitting at the table, shuffling through several pictures scattered about on the table. Sitting at the table, Elisha glared into Edward's eyes. From the looks of the dark puffy circles, he hadn't been sleeping either. "You okay, Eddie?"

"Yeah," Edward said, nodding his head. "This was a good call you made. Captain Alders said that there were several cars passing by the log cabin by the time your folks and I arrived here at Mr. Preston's vacation home."

"I know it won't buy us much time, but at least he can breathe for the moment."

Edward glared into Elisha's eyes as he passed him a photo of a man and woman. "I know you don't know who this couple is, but according to Daniel, this guy can tell us everything we need to know about this shit we're in."

"Who is he?"

"His name is Zander Hadar," Edward said. "The woman standing next to him is his wife, Jasmine Hadar. While you were asleep, Captain Alders called me and said that Daniel was a key witness to everything your father has done. And whatever Jonah did, Sabrina isn't the first woman he has done this shit to."

Elisha frowned. "What?"

"Yeah," Edward said. "Captain Alders said that Zander lives in this area."

"Does Daniel have contact info on this guy."

Edward smiled. "I'm one step ahead of you, bro."

Elisha glared at Zander's picture. Madeline was right. He needed to tell God thank you.