Reed's Reckoning

I struggle harder against the restraints, needing to get free and protect my family. It’s only a matter of time now that Reed knows she has us that the police and everyone in the area will be on their way. I can’t let her kill us. My eyes meet my grandma’s and they are full of rage and determination. I don’t know what she is thinking, but I’m pretty sure it’s the same as me. Protect my son.

“Alex? What the fuck are you doing? If you hurt my family, I will personally kill you.” Reed screams through the speaker phone.

Davis starts to cry and my blood boils. He is scared out of his mind and Reed’s rage pushes him over the edge.

“It’s not polite to threaten a woman with a gun, especially when Ari is the first target. I want you to hear her beg for her life.” She mocks him.

“Why, Alex? What the fuck did I do to you? Why are you punishing me? If you have a problem take it out on me. They didn’t have anything to do with you.”

“You think you can do what you did to me and not pay for it? You’ve stripped me of everything—my dignity, my future, my plans.”

“Put the gun down, we can talk.”

I hear the roar of an engine and know he is on the way here. Voices in the background tell me he is not alone.

“The time for talking is over. Anything you want to say to your precious fiancée?” she sneers at me and points the gun.

“Ari, Angel, hang on. We are on our way!” he yells into the phone. “Fucking Alex, don’t you dare. This is between us, leave her alone!”

“I love you!” I scream and watch her face contort in anger. The horror washes over me as she moves the gun and points toward Davis. Sirens sound in the distance and I know this is it.

“No, no, no! Shoot me! Leave him alone. He’s just a child! Please don’t hurt him. He’s innocent! SHOOT ME! SHOOT ME! PLEASE!”

Reed is yelling in the background but I can’t hear him because absolute fear takes over my body. If she shoots my baby, I will never survive. I scuffle the chair trying to move in front of him. I see a flash behind her but all I can think of is protecting Davis.

Shots ring out and everything happens in slow motion. Katy flies out of her chair and covers Davis with her body. I let out a blood-curdling scream hoping someone will hear and help us. My chair tips over and my head bounces off the tile as pain shoots through me. I scoot over as fast as I can. Silence falls over the room and I look up to see Alex lying in a pool of blood. Above her stands a tall figure with a gun. Beside him is a small woman. I blink a few times to clear my vision.

“Luke? Cara?” I whisper.

She runs to me and cuts the ties on my wrists. I don’t say anything else but crawl over to Davis who is covered with Katy’s limp body. I cry out immediately when I see him soaked in blood, but realize it’s not his. Cara cuts him loose too and Luke moves Katy to start CPR.

I hug Davis to me closely rocking back and forth. Cara sits behind me, wraps us both in her arms, and holds tight. The buzzing in my ears is so loud I don’t even realize the house is now filling up with police and paramedics. There’s a lot of shouting and I tuck Davis’s head into my neck to try and shield him from the dead body lying on the floor a few feet away.

The EMTs push Luke aside and start working on my grandmother. He moves to me and practically smothers me with his big body. I feel him trembling against us. We watch as the medics start IVs and load Katy onto a stretcher shouting orders.

Elderly woman, late-sixties, GSW to chest, bullet still lodged in cavity, get wings ready in case of air flight…

Time stands still as everything happens around us. It takes a while, but when they get Katy into the ambulance, they roar away. The paramedics fill the small space. A team is working on Alex, but I turn my head. After a long time, they try to talk to me and look over Davis but we refuse to let go of one another. Luke tells them what he knows and thinks we are in shock. They look at me sympathetically and give me some space. Cara brings me some water and helps me try to pry Davis enough to see his little face.

There’s a commotion at the door and I hear Reed shouting my name. Davis squirms against me when he hears his daddy’s voice and struggles to break out of my hold. Reed burst into the room with Bobbie, Darius, and Granger behind him. When he sees us, relief flashes on his face but the fear is still there. I let Davis go and he runs right into Reed’s open arms. I try to get up and Luke and Cara help me from behind. My legs don’t cooperate and I fall back to the ground.