Forgive or Forget

Chapter 29

-Cheryl-

Reed and I had just entered our destroyed home when we heard the door slam behind me. Someone, TODD, grabbed me from behind and put a knife to my neck. I could feel the sharp edge of cold steel pressed against me. My eyes went wide, and I knew this was it; this was the end.

I could see Reed trying desperately not to lose his cool, trying to remain calm. As he tries to talk Todd down, I see his hand slowly underneath his suit jacket and know what he's doing. I don't even listen to the two of them talking. I'm waiting for my cue and realize the knife has moved away from my neck. I watch Reed as he continues to go back and forth with Todd. He gives me a slight nod, and I know that it's time.

When I see him pulling his arm out of his jacket, I duck down as far as possible and hear the shot; Todd's grip on me is still tight. We both go down. Todd breaks my fall.

I hear Reed screaming my name, "CHERYL!"

"I'm okay, Babe. I'm okay." I pull myself out from under Todd's arms, and not a second later, Reed pulls me into his.

We sit and cry tears of relief for several moments. Reed gets his phone out to let Detective Riggs know our current situation. After he hangs up, he takes me back into his arms.

I'm so thankful that Reed is a licensed concealed gun owner. When he started traveling so much, he had got it for protection. He went to the shooting range at least once a week to keep himself confident in its use. Thank God we had discussed what we would do in this scenario.

I hear sirens approaching. Reed kisses the top of my head as he stands, then offers me his hand. I take it, and he pulls me up. It was the first time I could look down at Todd. I shivered as I thought about sitting close to his body for the past fifteen minutes.

We can't open the front door because Todd's body is blocking it, so we go out through the garage to meet the police. As the garage door opens, we can see the police cars pulling in around our house. The last one to arrive was Detective Riggs. He comes right over to us.

Reed pulls me close. "Detective."

"Mr. Westerly. What the hell happened?" he asks with concern in his voice.

I stand there silently, listening to Reed recounts the entire incident.

"So, you have a license to conceal a weapon?" the detective asks Reed.

"Yes, sir." Reed pulls his license from his wallet.

Detective Riggs takes Reed's license and inspects it before returning it to Reed.

"As you can see by Cheryl's neck, that fucker had a knife to my pregnant wife," Reed said, not even trying to hide his anger.

I gently place my hand on his arm. He looks at me, and his stern face softens.

"I understand how you feel, and off of the record, I see your position, but I need to document everything that led you to kill Todd Matthews. It's not as easy as saying he was going to kill your wife," the detective tries to explain.

Reed's voice raises, "He WAS going to kill my wife!"

Detective Riggs tries his best to calm down my husband. "He was, Reed, but I want to do my best to keep you from even the slightest bit of doubt."

I can see that Reed is getting angry again, which is the last thing that I want. I squeeze his arm again. This time, I'm not so gentle. It's enough to get his attention. As soon as his eyes find mine, they instantly lose their intensity.

"Babe, Detective Riggs is just doing his job." I attempt to defuse his anger.

Reed takes a cleansing breath. "I know, but I'm not the murderer here."

We wrapped up with the detective without Reed getting any more upset. Detective Riggs still wants us to come into the station tomorrow to give him a formal statement.

Not until everyone finished processing our home, now a crime scene, could we return inside. Once I saw the destroyed house and bloodstain by the front door, I made a decision.

I turned to Reed, tears welling up in my eyes, "I want to leave here and never come back."

Reed does not even miss a beat. "Grab your drawings, and let's get out of here.
***

Three Months Later

"Here are the last two boxes, Babe. Where do you want them?" Reed and Tank enter our new home with the last of our belongings from the house we now refer to as "the crime scene."

I quickly check what I marked onto the boxes. "They both go upstairs into the bedroom."

Reed looks over at Tank. "Of course they do."

"Sorry, Babe. Look on the bright side. After you take those upstairs, it's pizza and beer time." I give him an encouraging smile.

Reed and Tank both take off for the stairs.

I walk into the kitchen, where a six-month pregnant Kandie puts my dishes into cabinets. I love her adorable baby bump. I reach down to my abdomen to my more minor three-month baby bump and smile.

True to his word, I never had to take one step back into "the crime scene." Tank and Reed packed up and delivered everything to our new home. We bought a beautiful brownstone three doors up from Kandie and Tank.

The open floor concept is was what sold me on the house. The front door opens into a spacious living area with vaulted ceilings. An eat-at-counter separates the living room from the top-of-the-line kitchen with granite counters and white cabinets that go to the ceiling. All of the appliances are stainless steel. My favorite thing is the deep farmhouse sink.

The kitchen flows right into the dining area, where French doors open onto a beautiful enclosed sunroom with floor-to-ceiling windows around the enclosure. A sliding glass door leads to a stamped concrete patio with a fire pit and a small yard with a tall white vinyl fence around the entire property for privacy.

After pizza and beer for the men and lemonade for the mothers, Kandie and I finish getting the kitchen together while the men go upstairs to put the bed together. Because Todd destroyed our living room furniture, we had to buy new furniture that would arrive tomorrow.

The men come back downstairs, and Kandie and Tank get ready to leave. Reed and I walk them to our front door.

"Thank you for opening up your home to us till we found this place and for all of your help moving. You guys are the best." I hug them both.

Reed adds, "What she said."

Kandie slightly frowns. "I'm going to miss my roomies."

Tank smirks. "You know that I love you, buddy, but I look forward to having my wife where and how I want her."

Kandie smacks Tank's arm. He rubs his injury while looking at her innocently. "What?"

We all laugh. My eye catches Reed, knowing he feels the same way as Tank. I wink, and he wiggles his eyebrows with a smirk.

Kandie sees our silent communication. "Come on, Tank. Something tells me these two want to christen their new home properly."

We hug out our goodbyes. When Reed shuts the door, he turns to me, picks me up, and heads to the stairs.

I giggle. "Christening?"

Reed kisses my neck. "Hell yeah, we're christening our new home. As Kandie would say, properly."

*****