Sixty-Eight

Everything happened too fast after that. Someone moved. Velasquez sprang to the next table, pulling a woman to him, and pointing the gun to her head. The entire place went crazy, people screaming, trying to flee just like a cattle stampede. The only ones left in the scene were Velasquez, holding a desperate crying blond to him at gunpoint, Hank and his crew, now uncovered. It was a tense moment, and Hank put his shades up over his head. They would need to communicate, and his only option was his eyes.

“Man, let her go. It’s over. There’s no place to run.” Hank’s voice sounded calm in the middle of all that fire.

“Tell your dogs to stay put. I’m leaving with her!” It was a long, menacing growl, and an anguished yelp came out of her mouth. “Shut the fuck up if you want to live. Not a peep!”

Silence was the only noise for the moment, and it was horrendous. Darryl and he had five of his people there, but only four pointing guns to the asshole. Hank’s pupil dilated when he peeked at one of his men behind the short wall of the terrace, behind Velasquez. Even though the dim-witted man was staring everywhere, he couldn’t see Sam aiming a gun at his back.

Hank slightly turned to Darryl, and he pursed his lips. Tough call. He didn’t want the situation to get messy, but there wasn’t a way out of it. It would get messy anyway. He only hoped not for the girl in his grip. Sam had been a sniper before, and although not having the proper gun for it in his hands, he needed to believe the man would get a clear shot at the bastard.

Sam was just waiting for the signal, and once his boss fixed his eyes on him and blinked, his finger pressed the trigger. The asshole didn’t have a chance as the bullet flew like a missile into his head. Velasquez bucked forward, stilling. Brains and blood splattering all over the girl, who couldn’t take it anymore and fainted, pulling the big man to the floor with her. For a few scant seconds, no one breathed, then everybody moved.

*****

“But Socks, why is daddy crossing the ocean to fight the monsters again? He found me already!” Evangeline whined, staring at the cats from behind her thick glasses.

“Well, you were asleep when he came by last night…” Socks was acting weird as he faced Lina, who gave him a hard stare.

Melina came home only a few minutes earlier and was dying to see Eve, hold her and squeeze the soul out of her little girl, but her conversation with the cat made her stop in her tracks.

“What are you hiding from me?”

“I think your dad is leaving you again…”

“Why Lina? I miss him, I miss mommy.” Now the little girl was crying, and Melina’s heart sank.

“Girl, yesterday he said a lot of stuff to you while you slept.”

“I know Chops, he said he had to go, because he couldn’t fight monsters if he was one of them.” She sobbed, and Melina just dashed to her. “The monsters were here, Chops.”

“Muffin!”

“Mommy!” She squeaked. Melina scooped her up from the floor, bringing the girl to her chest and holding her tight.

Lord, it was the best feeling ever! Eve’s arms around her neck, her little hands playing with her hair, trying to bring her closer. Melina’s tears flowed down her cheeks in thick streaks, and she couldn’t stop kissing and squishing the little girl, but Evangeline’s anguished yelp on her arms made her go cold. She got seriously agitated, which told Melina the madness of the last few days was about to blow.

“Daddy, I want daddy, mommy. The monsters came!” Evangeline sobbed hard in the crook of her neck as she embraced her, cooing nonsense into her ear, trying to calm her down, but how could she do that if uneasiness was eating her up, making her stomach lurch, and a bitter taste came to her mouth.

The two most important people in her life were suffering, but she was only one, and Eve needed her. With a heavy heart and not even daring to reckon what her stubborn man was up to, she inhaled and took the girl to the couch. They needed to talk, and Evangeline calmed down enough to make sense of her words, and only then took action into her hands.

“Muffin, tell me. Was daddy here last night?”

“Yes.” She whispered.

“What did he tell you?”

“I don’t know, I was sleeping.” The way she whined brought a smile to her lips. Yep, she was her father’s daughter alright. She had seen this same behavior on Henry a couple of times.

“Muffin, you were talking to the cats about it. Tell mommy now.”

“Chops heard him say he was going back home, to the other land.” Exhaustion was taking over her little heart and body, and she was getting drowsy with sleep. “Please, Mommy…”

“Eve, what else did Chops hear daddy talking to you?”

“The monsters chased him here, and he needed to keep me safe.” Eve raised her head, staring at her mother, her eyes red with all the crying and face washed with tears. “And you too.”

“Listen to me, Eve. Do you trust me when I say daddy is going nowhere?” Melina cupped both sides of Eve’s face, and the girl gave a long, loud sigh, nodding right after. “Daddy had a rough time. He is confused, and sometimes when grown-ups get confused with their feelings, they say or do things they didn’t mean. Trust me. Daddy destroyed all the monsters, and he will stay with us.” She hugged Eve tight and kissed her cute button nose, showing a calm she was far from feeling. Standing up, Melina walked with Eve in her arms to her room and put her down for a nap.

Outside Eve’s door, she found Yiayia with warm eyes and comforting arms to give her the solace she needed, but time was running fast and her heart was growing heavier by the second. She didn’t want to pull away from her grandma, but her anxiety was escalating and threatening to implode her chest. Melina trusted Eve to Yiayiá as always, kissed her cheek, and rushed out of the house.

Uncle Linus didn’t bring her back right away. He held her with him and tried to explain how everything played out at the end. Only when he got a green flag from Henry, Linus dropped her off at home. Son of a bitch. It was all part of his plan. Stall Melina enough to bail on her. It was already early evening when she stepped into his house. Everything was dark except his room. A soft light illuminated the place, bringing her attention to an enormous suitcase by the armchair, and her heart dropped to her feet.

“So, that’s how it’s gonna be? You’re really taking the coward’s way out?” She voiced as soon as he left his closet. Only God knew how she was holding herself still and not running to him. The entire time while she was in captivity, the only thought crowding her mind was him, and he was there, packing!

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He didn’t spare a look in her direction, busying himself with some papers, laying them on top of the little table by the window. What else could he say to her? She was right, not that he’d admit that. But he didn’t know what else to do. He almost lost her again. Once more, she was in danger because of him, because of his fucking life. He should have never come after her. It was a huge mistake he intended to correct.

He was trying his best to keep quiet, and not even peek at her, because one look at those chocolaty eyes, his plans would sink. He wouldn’t have the strength to do what needed to be done. They will need to sit and talk, since there were so many things he had to explain to her before he went. He didn’t want to, but it was the best he could do to keep them safe.

Melina’s eyes followed his robotic movements. She crossed her arms above her chest, biting her bottom lip, as a grimace slipped on her face while staring at him. Anger, frustration and hurt ran thick in her veins in face of his dismissal. The thundering of her heart was so loud into her ears she guessed if he could hear it resounding in the room. She didn’t have a clue what had gotten into him, but that wasn’t the way she dreamt of coming home to him. Whatever he was planning, he wasn’t getting a way with it. Observing him showed Melina how tense he was, and if his posture meant something, he wasn’t happy, either, but staying by the door watching him throw their lives down the drain wasn’t an option.

“I expected more from you. For six years, I ran away from a man I thought to be a cruel, cold-hearted monster. My life would have been much easier if I had figured out back then that you were not more than a fucking coward!” Melina yelled at him full lungs, and when those pools of honey fixed on her, cold as two icebergs floating in the ocean, she had struck a nerve, but it was too late to regret.