The Born-Again Man

The Born-Again Man
NICOLE
I'm so shocked at the sight of him standing in front of me that for several seconds after I have said his name, my mouth is wide open and I don't know what I'm waiting for. 
Dan keeps his eyes on my face while he wipes the barrel with a cloth he removed from the pocket of his jeans. He's wearing gloves, too. I can't read his expression.
It suddenly occurs to me that I got out of one nightmare only to find myself in another one. 
"Are you alright?" he asks me after many long beats of silence. "Do you know where the key to the handcuffs is?"
I don't answer him. It's like my mouth has forgotten how to form words. 
"Nicole," he says urgently. "We can't stay here for long. Do you understand? There are dead bodies outside and one in here. I can't be caught here."
"I don't want to go anywhere with you," I retort. "Just leave me here. Or do you plan on killing me, too?"
"I think that was pretty clear," he answers. When he sees the look on my face, he adds, "I meant I thought it was clear that I'm not going to do that. I won't kill you."
I scoff and more tears make my vision blurry. "Do you really expect me to believe that?"
"I know you saw me that day at the mall," he claims before pocketing his gun. "And I know what you're thinking, but things are more complicated than they seem and—"
"I know Angus is the one who organized all this," I interrupt. "I know what he planned to do."
"Good. Then you know the whole story?"
I shake my head at him. "Haven't you ruined my life enough? You ruined me, Dan! You made me lose my baby! I can never have children again! Then again, I suppose none of that matters if you kill me right now."
Dan lowers his gaze for a moment. I take note of the changes in him with one sweep of my gaze. His head is shaved, and he looks thinner. "I'm sorry."
I scoff. "Fuck you and your apology!"
"I know I did some things that I'll never be able to take back. I do regret hurting you, Nicole. I wasn't in the right state of mind, and I was so convinced by my love for you that it made me blind, you know? I couldn't stand the thought of you with someone else. I was sick. But the time I spent in prison has taught me a lot of things. I'm a man of God now. I was born again."
I stare at him wildly. "You just killed someone right in front of me!"
"Out of necessity, not pleasure," he explains calmly. "I had a deal with Angus, your biological father, that's true. He wanted me to get rid of your husband. I don't know the reason behind it and didn't ask. Our deal was very simple. I finish this job for him, and I'm set free. I have the money now. He paid me in advance. Of course, he told me not to run without getting anything done because he'd catch me easily, and I believed him. I didn't want to take the chance."
"So, that's what a born-again man does? He goes around killing people's husbands!?"
"He told me that he wasn't good for you, and that he hurt you all the time. It wasn't until I saw you two together that I...that still didn't mean he wasn't good for you."
"Angus was crazy. And you're crazy, too, no matter what you think! If you hurt my husband—"
"I won't do that," he states calmly. "That's the only reason why I'm here. I was following you, and I saw you being taken away. I gathered that something bad was happening, so I followed, too. And here we are."
I stare back at him, unsure of what to make of this. 
"I'm really sorry about the things I did to you," he begins, "but this is me trying to fix something. I know it won't bring your baby back. It won't heal you. But let's do this—I saved your life, and I won't kill your husband. Now, we're even. Angus is dead. He won't come after me, I think. Nobody else knew. You'll never have to see me again. That I promise you."
More tears roll down my face. He starts looking around for the keys to the handcuffs, and when he doesn't find them on Leonardo, he goes outside. 
He returns five minutes later and frees me. I sit on the floor, rubbing my sore wrists. He tosses the keys aside, where they land on the ground. 
Then, he starts backing away. 
"Dan," I say to him. "You were wrong about one thing. We'll never be even."
"I'm sorry about that, then. But I have to go." He tosses me something that lands on my lap. I'm too weak to catch it, as my wrists hurt way too much. "Goodbye, Nicole."
He walks out the door. I realize that he's thrown me a phone. It's really old-fashioned, but it'll do the job. After he walks away, the house becomes really silent. 
I easily unlock the phone and put Roman's number into it. Then, I press the phone to my ear and wait for him to answer. 
"Hello?" 
"Roman."
"Nikki!" he practically yells. "Where are you, baby? Tell me where you are!"
I look around at the mess. Leonardo's blood is so close to touching my foot. I inch away from it. I give Roman the address and ask him to come quickly, but not with his license plates. He needs to remove them so we're not connected to this mess at all.
He stays with me on the phone the entire time. 
As we talk, I have a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that I'm alive. I'm still here. Things turned out so differently when I thought that there was nothing that could save me.