That One Time by Aja Foxx

Chapter Twenty Two

~ Henry ~

 

"You're very good at that."

Frank frowned. "At what?"

I smiled. "At taking care of children."

Frank glanced back toward the bed. When he turned toward me again, his cheeks were flushed. "I didn't want them to get cold."

Frank probably didn't realize it, but simple little things like that were what made good parents. Granted, I hadn't been doing this very long and I was no expert, but it seemed pretty straight forward to me.

"What did you want to talk to me about?"

Frank nodded to the door. "Let's go talk out in the hallway. I don't want to wake the kids."

I turned and headed for the hallway then stopped and turned as soon as I was through the doorway. Frank stepped out and closed the door behind me. I expected him to start talking. I didn't expect him to draw me into his arms.

I wasn't against the idea.

I heard his heartbeat when I laid my head against his chest. It was a steady beat, rhythmic. I liked it. Not only did it tell me that Frank was alive, but it told me that he was holding me close enough to hear it.

"We're going to make it, you know," Frank whispered against the side of my head. "Here pretty soon, we're going to announce our engagement to the world and then start looking for a house and—"

I leaned back. "Start looking for a house?"

"Your life is here, Henry. Eva's life is here. I don't want to take you away from that."

"But I thought your work was on the East Coast?"

"Technically, it is, but remember that meeting we had when I first got here?"

I nodded.

"We're expanding our business to this coast." Frank shrugged. "Someone has to run it. Might as well be me, especially since I have family here."

"So does Martino."

"Yeah, but I'm not sure he's ready for that yet."

"And you are?"

Frank's grin was deliciously sexy. "I'm ready for anything and everything you could possibly throw my way."

"Then you'd better be ready for the pregnancy test because we didn't use protection last night and your little swimmers seem to be quite potent where I'm concerned."

I felt Frank's quick intake of breath more than I saw it. I was too busy watching his eyes widen. I chuckled. "Bet you weren't thinking about that, were you?"

"Actually, I've been thinking about it a lot," Frank admitted. "I missed so much with Eva. I don't want to miss anymore."

My eyebrows lifted in surprise. "You want more kids?"

"Yeah, don't you?"

I'd actually never thought about it. I'd always been too busy taking care of the one I already had to consider having more, but I wasn't against the idea. "So, a positive test wouldn't be the end of the world?"

"No, amore mio. It would not. I'd just like us to do it together this time, and that means getting married and finding a house to live in for all of us."

I wasn't against that idea either.

"So, what did you need to tell me?" My stomach clenched when the happy smile on Frank's face faded. "I'm not going to like it, am I?"

"Well, the good news is that Trevor was shot, but he's alive. He's at the hospital, but he's been taken into custody."

"Trevor?"

"Looks like Stewart shot him in a fit of rage when he found out Trevor released the kids. The police were able to trace the last phone call. When they got there, there was some shots fired and they think one of them nicked Stewart."

I purposely widened my eyes. "They think?"

"He got away."

"And went where?"

"We don't know, baby." Frank's hand brushed over the side of my face. "The police will find him and in the meantime, I had my father call in some of his security guys to keep us all safe. They should be here soon."

"Did you think to put someone on Ryan?"

Frank stared, his expression showing complete surprise.

"You might want to do that since Ryan is as involved in this mess as the rest of us. Remember, Stewart was the one who took pictures of us five years ago and tried to convince you we were having an affair. He also knows Ryan is injured and most likely to be in the hospital or dead. It wouldn't be too hard to find him."

"Fuck!" Frank pulled out his cell phone and dialed. "Papa, I need you to put a guard on Ryan Jones' room. He's at—" Frank frowned. "What's the name of the hospital, baby?"

"Harborview Medical Center."

"Did you hear that, Papa? Harborview Medical Center." Frank nodded. "Yes, okay, I'll let you know if we hear anything." He hung up and slid his phone back into his pocket. "Papa is going to have someone sent to watch over Ryan until he comes home from the hospital."

"Thank you."

"We'll make sure everyone is protected until Stewart gets caught."

"Are you hungry?" I asked. "I could cook you something."

"I could order something." Frank glanced down the hallway toward the living room. "There are a lot of people here. We should probably feed them, too."

I hadn't thought of that.

"Pizza?" I asked. "There's a really great pizza joint a couple of blocks away."

Frank pulled his wallet out of his pocket, opened it up, and handed me his credit card. "Why don't you order for everyone? Whatever you think they would like. I'm going to go talk to the detective about putting someone on Ryan until security gets there."

"Okay, anything specific you like?"

"Meat."

I chuckled. "Somehow I knew that."

Frank seemed like a meat kind of guy.

I took his credit card and walked into the kitchen to grab the house phone and the take out menu for the pizza place. I quickly counted the number of people in the house and calculated how many pizzas we would need and ordered several different kinds.

Frank was standing talking to one of the officers when I walked back into the main room and handed him back his credit card. "Where's Martino?"

The man wasn't in the room.

"He went up with the officer assigned to Ryan's room to sit with him," Frank said. "I think he's worried about him."

Huh. It was going to be interesting when those two finally sat down and talked to each other. Unlike me, Ryan had gotten in touch with Martino when he found out he was carrying. After Martino told him he was lying and the kid wasn't his, I couldn't blame the man for being angry.

You didn't entice a man, sleep with him, and then inform him that there was no way they could ever be together because you were married and you were just doing this to get back at your husband and then deny your child.

I would have kicked Martino to the curb, too. If Martino wanted Ryan to have anything to do with him, he was going to have to do some serious kissing up. Ryan was going to be extra pissed when he found out that Martino's ex-husband had been the one to shoot him and then kidnap their son.

He might not ever speak to Martino again.

"I'm going to go sit with the kids. Call me when food gets here."

Frank smiled at me. "Okay."

I leaned up and kissed Frank. It was a light kiss, but it had been a long time since I'd been able to kiss him simply because I was leaving the room, or even felt as if I had that right.

When I got to the kids' bedroom, I carefully let myself in and then shut the door behind me. Something warm spread through my chest when I saw them curled up together. They might be cousins, but they were closer than most siblings.

I nodded to the officer sitting in the chair in the corner and then walked over and stretched out on the side of the bed next to them. I couldn't believe they were back and they were safe. I never wanted to experience the kind of fear I'd felt as I did when Stewart had them.

Between the relief I felt that the kids were safe, the stress of the last twenty-four hours, and the knowledge that Frank was there to keep us safe, I felt my eyelids start to drop. I didn't fight it. Frank said he'd come wake me up when the pizza got here.

 

* * * *

 

Something jerked me awake. I inhaled slowly and then lifted my head to peer at the kids. Eva and Arty were both still asleep. I sat up and glanced around, trying to figure out what had woke me up. The room was dark and the officer who'd been sitting in the corner was gone.

I brushed the hair back from my face. I guess when Frank checked on me, he decided to let me sleep. I probably needed it. Hopefully, they had left me some pizza.

I made sure the kids were still asleep and covered and then got up and walked toward the door. I pulled it open and stepped out into the hallway, but before I could take another step, I stopped. Something was off.

It took me a moment to figure out what it was. The lights were out in the hallway and in the room beyond and there was no sound coming from any part of the house. That set off alarm bells in my head.

I became increasingly uneasy as I crept down the hallway toward the living room. The lights being out I could accept, but it was the total lack of sound that really bothered me. I don't think this house had ever been this quiet.

I heard the floor creak and I froze. I'd lived in this cottage for five years. I'd gotten used to where the loose floorboards were located. With two small babies in the place, I kind of had to. The hallway was carpeted. No floorboards, which meant that creak had to come from somewhere in the main room.

A suffocating sensation tightened my throat when I peeked around the corner into the living room and saw everyone passed out. I would have thought they were sleeping, except some of them were on the floor.

I tiptoed back to the bedroom as quickly as I could and let myself back into the room. My eyes darted around the room as I looked for a place to hide the children. I couldn't let them be taken again.

My gaze settled on the large wicker toy box in the corner. It was round, with tall sides, big enough to hold all the toys and several stuffed animals. The first thing I had to do was get rid of the toys.

I pulled open one of the dresser drawers, grabbed the stuffed animals and set them aside, and dumped the smaller toys into the dresser drawer. I shut the drawer and then hurried over to the bed.

I shook Eva awake first and then Arty. I held my finger up to my lips. "We're going to play hide and seek." I motioned for the kids to come with me and then walked over to the basket. One by one, I lifted them in and then gestured for them to sit down.

"Listen to me, if you can be absolutely quiet and not get found, I'll take you all to the burger corner for lunch tomorrow. But you have to stay quiet. You can only come out when I come for you. This is our secret. Okay?"

Eva and Arty nodded.

I grabbed the blanket and a couple of pillows off the bed. I gave the pillows to the kids and covered them with the blanket. I stacked the stuffed animals on top of them. "Don't move," I whispered. "Don't make a sound."

Once I was sure that the kids were hidden, I walked over and opened the window. I thought about sending the kids out the window, but where would I send them? I had no idea who might be waiting out there for them.

I even thought about the three of us sneaking out the window and going for help, but Frank was in the house somewhere and I had to find him. I just prayed this wasn't the stupidest move I'd ever made in my life. It could get the kids killed.

I let myself out of the bedroom again and started down the hallway. When I reached the main room, I squatted down to the first officer I came to and checked his pulse. Thankfully, there was one, and it was strong and steady.

I started to grab his radio off his belt to call for help when I realized whoever might be in the house would hear me as soon as I started speaking. I wasn't about to take the officer's gun. I honestly didn't think I could ever shoot anyone, but I could taze them.

I grabbed the tazer off the officer's belt.

The living room was clear, so I suspected whoever was in the house was in the dining room or the kitchen. I started to slowly move in that direction, stepping over another officer on the floor.

I heard the very distinctive sound of flesh hitting flesh. It was too far away to be the dining room. That left the kitchen...and maybe the laundry room, which was on the other side of the kitchen. It led into the garage.

I cleared the dining room, which meant I could see into the kitchen. It was empty. That left the laundry room and the garage. Fear slid up my spine as I crept through the kitchen, making sure I stayed on the left side of the room. The right side—the side by the sink—had loose floorboards.

I heard someone talking, their voice becoming louder the closer I got to the laundry room entrance. When I reached the entrance, I flattened myself against the wall, drew in a bolstering breath, and then peeked around the corner.

There was no one there.