Badge by K.L. Savage

 

We watch as Tongue sketches the woman Braveheart saw who handed him a baby. A sweet little girl who can’t be more than a few hours old. She is just perfect. She has a dark mop of hair on her head and bright blue eyes, but lots of babies have blue eyes when they are born and then they will turn to the color they are meant to be.

“That’s impossible,” Badge mutters from behind Tongue, watching the man who barely knows how to read and write draw with such precision.

“No. I’m telling you, that’s who I saw. Her eyes were a bit bigger, like almost too big for her face.”

Badge’s phone rings and his face has turned ashen. “Hey, Utah.” He turns around to have a private conversation, but it doesn’t last long. “Thanks. Yeah, I know.” He hangs up the phone and runs his hands over his face, a pained expression pinching the sides of his eyes as he blinks up at the ceiling.

“So, were the eyes like this?” Tongue turns the sketchpad around.

Braveheart nods and snaps his fingers, staring at all of us as he points to the stranger on the pad. “That’s her. That’s the woman that gave me the baby.”

“She is gorgeous,” I notice. “Tongue, you are an amazing artist.”

Tongue’s cheeks blush and his shaggy hair falls across his forehead as he ducks his chin. It’s cute to see the big, tongue-cutting man get shy.

“I wonder who she is,” comments Daphne.

“Doesn’t look familiar to me,” admits Reaper.

I look over to Badge, wondering what he’ll say, but he’s quiet.

“I know who she is,” he finally announces, but his voice is anything but loud. It’s full of regret and sadness. So much sadness.

“That’s Haley. My ex-wife.”

A gasp ripples through the room. Badge takes the sketchpad in his hands with a small shake of his head that’s so subtle, you can only see it if you’re paying attention. I’m always paying attention to Badge. He tosses the sketchpad down on the table and rubs a hand over his face.

“Are you sure? That seems far-fetched,” I try to offer some hope. “Maybe it is just someone that looks like her.”

“The rattle came back with her fingerprints. It’s her doing this. God, this is all my fault. All those babies. All those women. It’s my fault.”

“Your wife? When were you married?” Tongue asks. “I know about your baby, which I’m so sorry for, but you were married?”

“I was eighteen. Young. I thought I was doing the right thing when she got pregnant and we got married. After our daughter’s death.” Badge swallows. “I divorced her. I blamed her for so much. And now… she’s turned into this. She thinks she’s saving children from their mothers.”

“And going after mothers who are putting their babies up for adoption is like her punishing the mother. She thinks it’s terrible for a mother to give up her child. Braveheart, you said she said she had to continue her calling, right?”

He nods.

“So she is kind of reliving her moment as a mother. She’s saving the children from them, like she would have Amber if she had the chance. Even though it ends up killing the baby in the end,” I finish, and Badge clears his throat, then walks away, slamming his fist into the wall.

“Badge—”

“—I need a minute. I just… I need time.” He vanishes into the bedroom and closes the door.

“Damn, poor guy,” Braveheart sighs. “I wouldn’t have described his ex-wife right in front of him if I knew that. What is she doing here, anyway?”

“I don’t know. She had to have found out about Badge being here. I don’t know how. She doesn’t talk to Badge and Badge doesn’t talk to his parents.”

“You’re sure about that?” Reaper asks. “You’re one hundred percent sure?”

I open my mouth to say yes, but it doesn’t come out. The bedroom door opens, and Badge is standing there, looking guilty and ashamed.

“She’s right, I don’t talk to my parents. They email me every Sunday to tell me they replaced the flowers on Amber’s grave. I don’t usually message back, but a few months ago I did and I gave them the address here just in case they wanted to… visit? I don’t know. I had hoped, is all. And recently, I emailed them and told them I planned on moving Amber out here with me from Oklahoma. They were pissed and planned to fight me on it. I can only guess they told Haley my address in order for her to be here. So no, I don’t talk to them. I can’t remember the last time I had an actual conversation with my parents.”

“You realize when we find her—”

“—I’ll do it,” Badge says. “Just let me do it.”

“No,” I stand and slam my fists on the table. “This isn’t on you. Her mind broke. You didn’t tell her to get high while she watched your daughter. She spiraled because of her own choices, not yours. You shouldn’t have to kill your ex-wife. You loved her. She’s the mother of your child. That won’t be easy on you.”

“No, it won’t, but I’d rather me do it than any of you. And then when Amber gets here, I’ll want her buried next to her mother. I should have known when Haley and I were married that she was fucked up in the head, but I was young and heartless. I should have done more. I—I need to go for a ride. I’m sorry. I need…” Badge doesn’t finish his story. The door slams shut with his departure, but I can’t let him go alone.

“Someone take her please,” I say, holding the little girl with one arm.

“I’ll take her.” Braveheart holds out his arms and grins when I place the tiny, red−lipped bundle in his arms. “She kind of looks like you, Hope.”

“That’s the… oh my god.” A realization hits. “This is the little girl from the last victim. What if Haley knows about me and that’s why she targeted the last victim?”

“And what if she’s telling Badge that you’re her next and final target?” Braveheart asks out of the blue while staring at the little girl. When everyone falls silent, Braveheart rips his gaze away from the baby and pops his lips together. “Well, I didn’t mean to say that out loud.”

“You did and it makes perfect sense.” I run out the front door to see Badge waiting for the gate to open, and I’m thankful it takes a minute because it gives me a chance to get to him.

The air is sticky and a sheen of sweat coats my skin. I hate running. If there is one thing I do not and will not do regularly, it’s run. When Badge sees me, he turns off his bike and shoves the kickstand down.

“What is it?” The light from the post beams off his bike and nearly blinds me. “Are you okay?”

“We think—she’s gearing up for—one final kill,” I tell him through broken breaths as I try to catch my breath. It wasn’t even that far of a run. I’m pathetic.

I plan to explain to him what I mean, but it doesn’t take long for him to piece it together.

“Get back inside, now, Hope. Get inside!” He grabs my arm and drags me back to the front door. “I’m going to find her, and you aren’t going to leave this house until I come back and she is taken care of.”

“Badge! You can’t do this on your own.”

“I can and I will, and you can hate me later if it means keeping you safe.”

“And where are you going to look for her? You can’t just ride around all day and night, hoping to get a glimpse. That isn’t how it is going to work.”

“I know, but I know I’ll be able to focus more on the task if I know you’re safe. I don’t know what has gotten into her, but I won’t let her hurt you or any of the kids we have somehow come to have. I’ve gone from being alone and pretending to hate kids, to loving you and having three of them. I can’t risk losing that. She is a threat. I’ll take care of her, I promise.”

“I think it’s better if we have a plan,” Reaper tells him as he brings me back inside.

“A plan? What plan?” Badge asks, frustrated.

“She wants pregnant women, right? Well, what if we give her one?” Reaper stares out the door and Mars and Sunnie come in, Sunnie holding her belly protectively.

I shake my head and Badge becomes so angry a vein throbs across his forehead. “You cannot be serious,” he sneers, standing toe-to-toe with Reaper before backing down.

He already has one mark against him. He doesn’t need another.

“I don’t mind,” Sunnie offers. “I know you guys will watch over me. Plus, I look pretty big, and I’ll be on her radar if she sees me. Imagine how pissed she will be when she finds out I’m having three.” Sunnie yawns, fresh out of bed, but Mars has dark circles under his eyes since he hasn’t been asleep.

“I can’t have you do that. Sunnie, I appreciate it—” Badge places his palms together, a gesture that reminds me of a prayer position, but I know it’s a motion of gratitude instead. “—but I’ve lost one of my own, which I’m responsible for, and I won’t be responsible for yours too if anything happens.” Badge takes her hands in his. “You have three.”

“And so do you,” she points out, her voice gentle and comforting. “You have three little ones now too.”

“Yeah, but I’m able to hold mine. Yours are still growing.” Badge puts his hands on her belly. “Please, don’t.”

“I think it’s an option we need to look into before any other women die. We will not take our eyes off her. Everyone will have a post and she won’t be alone. Sunnie will go to the adoption center and act like she is going to give all three up for adoption—behind your back, Mars. I’m assuming that is where she is meeting the women. We go there, we stake it out, and we wait. Badge, when you confirm it is her, we bring her here.” Reaper has a lot of confidence, and he doesn’t seem worried at all, but there is sweat building along Badge’s brow.

He isn’t so sure.

“This can go south and if it does, it will be on everyone here.”

“It won’t go south, Badge, but she has to be stopped. We can’t keep taking in every baby she decides not to keep, and women can’t keep dying.”

“I know that. I just don’t want anything to happen to Sunnie. I don’t know why none of you aren’t more concerned.” Badge kicks the side of the sofa and places his hands on his hips.

“Because those other women didn’t have anyone else by their side. But we do. Sunnie won’t ever be alone. Mars won’t let anything happen to his family and I know we won’t either. We are in this together, which is more than I can say for the poor souls that have already died.”

“I can call Utah and have him bring some gear, I guess,” he states unhappily.

“Good. We will do this as soon as possible. Badge, you said there was someone at the adoption center? Call him and let him know what’s going on. Keep him in the loop.”

“Unless he’s a part of it,” I offer, the thought coming to me out of nowhere.

“What was that?” Badge freezes getting his phone from his pocket.

“I’m saying, I think he might be a part of it too. What if he feeds her the information? The women that don’t have a support system. And then Haley makes her move.”

“You’re fucking brilliant.” Badge grips my face and smothers my lips in a hard kiss. “No woman would give up her story to a stranger, but they would to the adoption center. It seems to me we have two people to track down.”

“Can I cut out his tongue? Can I? Please?” Tongue asks as he bounces on his feet.

“You said I could try next,” Porter hisses.

“I changed my mind,” Tongue huffs.

“Okay, guys, whoever gets there first, wins, okay?” Badge diffuses the sibling rivalry quickly, but there is still a sadness to his face even through the triumph. “Well, let’s go get my ex-wife, shall we?”

I can’t imagine being in his position. Granted, they didn’t end well, but there was love there at one point. They made a baby together and buried her together. Those feelings don’t just go away. Badge is doing what he has to do, but I’m worried about what it will do to him in the long run.

Love doesn’t die, but as with everything else, it can get buried under pain and hate, jealousy and rage. It’s how love gets forgotten. Sometimes it will never see the light of day, but sometimes, it finds its way back to the light.

When Badge sees her, will their love be renewed?

Will it be me who is forgotten?