Breath Of Life

I ignore the urge to roll my eyes at her snippy tone. “Yes, he had lunch about an hour ago.”

“Good. Come on, Rolly. We’ll be in touch.”

I kiss his forehead and ruffle his hair. “I had so much fun with you today. We’re going to do it again real soon.”

“A few more weeks, Daddy?”

“That’s right, bud. Then dad will be as right as rain.”

It hurts my heart to see him so glum and defeated as they leave. Rolly is usually a pretty happy kid. He holds his mother’s hand loosely as he drags his feet. Her back is ramrod straight and anger radiates from her like heat from the sun. I’m going to be hearing about Quinn for days. She’s not used to me putting any woman who’s not my mother before her. She needs to get used to it.

I shut the door and return to the couch.

“I’m sorry about that. I didn’t mean to screw things up.”

I laugh. “Oh no, you don’t get to take credit for that. We’ve been on the ring of disaster for a while. Now we’re recovering from the atomic blast. It’s bound to be rocky.”

“Yet you sound happy about it.”

“Eventually the pain will stop. Things will settle, and we’ll be able to find our way. It’s better than living a lie. It’s like driving a vehicle that keeps breaking down, so you patch it up instead of replacing it. It’s a short-term fix, and I’m ready to think long-term.”

I sink down beside her. “Now you want to tell me more about what happened today?”

“I found who the robbers were and choked. If I was freaked out before, I’m terrified now.”

“Has anything off happened?”

“That’s tangible and not in my head? No. Not even a crank phone call.”

I sigh, reminded of my mini meltdown in the grocery store. “I wish I had advice to give, but it’d make me a hypocrite. All we can do is wait and see what happens, and I hate saying it. But it’s true. They’ve probably moved on to some other crime.”

“Are you going to tell them what you know?”

I don’t want to tell her it’s not as much as she does, except for the gunman. His face will be forever etched in my brain. I owe it to myself and everyone that cares about me to try to get the men who damn near put me in a coffin.

“Yeah. I’m going to head in tomorrow. I’m up for it. They took a statement in the hospital, but I was nowhere near as lucid as I could’ve been.” The first couple of days were a blur full of pain, faces I didn’t recognize, and the voices of my loved ones. The meds they had me on were potent.

“You had serious trauma. I think they understood.”

She sounds better. I glance at her. Her muscles are no longer tense, and her eyes have a sparkle to them again.

“How are you feeling?”

“A lot better since I’ve been here. Thank you for letting me hang out. I hope I didn’t ruin your time with your son.”

“Nah, you enhanced it. You have a little fan I think.”

She laughs. “Once you told him I made monsters I think he was sold.”

I nod my head in agreement. “True. So, we finishing Nemo, or what?” I grab the remote.

“I’m always down for a good animated flick.” She flashes me a mischevious smile, and I hit play as I pretend to relax on the couch. She needs the downtime. Her news has my mind racing. This complicates thing. It feeds my paranoia and lends validity to my feelings of being watched and followed. My chest tightens and a slow, creeping fear invades me. I need to get to the station and find out how I can protect myself and my family. I glance at Quinn out of the corner of my eye. Somehow, she’s made her way into my tight circle of people who matter.

I HAVEN’T SEEN THE inside of a police station since I was in my early thirties, and me and my crew got hauled in for disorderly conduct after a brawl broke out at a local watering hole in Australia. That was my wake-up call. At thirty-two, I was no longer a young man, I missed my family, and my best friend was about to have triplets and start up a business I’d invested heavily in. I wanted to go home. So I did. I made that tour my last. I was never going to be a Tony Hawk, but I held my own in the middle ground and saw a lot of the world. It was good while it lasted.

Shoving my hands in my pockets, I make my way to the front desk.

“Can help you, sir?” the tall, blonde officer with blue-gray eye asks.