Page 120 of The Reborn

But I was done. I was going to end this one way or another. The SEAL in me began to take stock of the details. She’d called him Al. I narrowed my eyes and took in his features. This was the same punk that had hit on Olivia at the dance club. I knew from Sofia’s interview she had a brother that had a history of mental problems who had disappeared for a while. Looked like he was about to have a bigger problem in me if he hurt Elizabeth.

I silently thanked the girls for keeping him talking, as they went back and forth, letting him bitch and complain about how sad his life was after his parents’ divorce, and blaming Olivia for their breakup. Apparently, Daddy Dearest had hired a PI to find out the truth about Elizabeth, and the kids found out about it. Sofia was curious, Al furious.

I kept my eyes on the scene as I crept on my belly to a more strategic position to make entry into the water for a takedown. As I slipped into the pond, I tuned out Olivia’s hoarse cries and Elizabeth’s whimpers. I couldn’t concentrate if I let them infiltrate my brain.

I sank my body down, letting only enough of my head show to breathe, as I slid along like a crocodile, gliding up behind him slow and silent.

“What do you want from me?” Olivia pleaded.

“Nothing.” He took a step back in my direction.

“Alonzo,” Sofia cried. “Let’s talk about this. You know you don’t really want to hurt her.”

It was silent for a moment just before a dove’s coo filled the air. Maybe it was a sign, a premonition, a symbol. I don’t know. I just moved on instinct at the same time as he raised his hand with the knife, its glint the only indication he was going to act, done speaking after all that bluster.

I grabbed his wrist and wrenched his arm behind his back, yanking him backward.

Shock made him flail and release Elizabeth as he sucked in a lungful of air and began to fight me. I had to make a split-second decision. I couldn’t use my gun and risk shooting the baby, so I used every bit of strength I had to hold him under the water, forcing him into submission as I dove under and searched for Elizabeth.

Eyes wide, I looked for her in the murky depths until my lungs burned. I offered up silent prayers to the God I’d long ago abandoned, and thought had abandoned me, hoping I’d been wrong.

I kept forcing Alonzo down as I swam in rapid circles, my other arm reaching frantically, until I finally, finally brushed against the softest of skin.

I reached again, stretching my fingers and gripping until I had ahold of cloth and yanked, pulling her to the surface. We came bursting from the water like a cannon and she coughed, then burst into tears, clinging to my neck.

“It’s okay,” I said. “I’ve got you, sweetheart. You’re okay now. You’re okay.”

“Bad man hurt me,” she said, crying harder.

“I know,” I said, swimming toward shore with the sheer force of my legs, dragging Alonzo along with my other hand, determined not to let him get away, even though every muscle in me was burning like fire. “But the bad man won’t hurt you now because I’m here.”

“Justin!” Olivia screamed, rushing into the water, swimming over to meet me and reaching for Elizabeth. “Oh my God!”

I let her have Elizabeth and concentrated on moving as fast as I could with Alonzo’s dead weight. We collapsed onto shore, where I pounded on his chest until he began to violently cough up water and breathe again just as police sirens sounded in the distance.

Kade had gotten my text and sent in the cavalry.

I glanced over at a sobbing Olivia who had Elizabeth clutched to her chest, then over to Sofia who was kneeling next to her brother with a mix of sadness and remorse in her eyes.

“I’m so sorry,” she whispered.

“I know you are,” I said, tilting my head toward Olivia. “But you need to tell her that.”

Thirty-One

Olivia

Elizabeth was safe.

Justin had come, and my baby was safe.

I was shaking and we were both crying, but I’d never felt a sweeter relief in all my life.

“I love you so much,” I said, pressing kisses all over her head. “Are you okay?”

“He was bad man,” she cried into my neck as she clutched me tight.

“Yes, he was.” I held her close, shivering in the breeze as I glanced over her shoulder at Justin, who was keeping close to Alonzo as the police made their way to us.

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