Page 86 of Single Mom's Firemen

“I don’t care about any of them,” he roars. “I have my wife and my kids. We’re gonna be a family again, and none of you fuckers are going to get in our way!”

“You don’t have your kids,” Chase cuts in with a flat tone. “We got them out a minute ago. They are safe and out of your reach.”

Colby stares at him for a moment. “How did you find us? Nobody knows about this place.”

“Your mother,” Chase answers. “Did you think she’d cover for you forever? After what you did? Honestly, I can’t blame the woman for giving up on you. It must’ve been hard for her, raising a narcissistic little psycho, having to always clean up your messes because you never had the balls to own up to your mistakes.”

“What are you doing?” I whisper and give my brother a worried look. We’re supposed to calm the fucker down, not piss him off. Chase knows that.

“Trust me for once,” he whispers back. He sounds sure of himself.

“My mother,” Colby gasps, the truth settling in with clear irritation. “She told you I’d be here?”

“She most certainly did,” Chase replies. “Because she is fucking tired of paying for your reckless mistakes, for your over-inflated ego. You’re a serial arsonist and you’re a spineless sack of shit who beats the woman he claims to love.”

“I don’t—”

“Look at her!” Chase snaps and cuts him off. “Just fucking look at her.”

Colby blinks a few times, as if he’s waking up from a bad dream. He glances down at Halle and seems to finally become aware of the cuts and bruises on her face. “I… I didn’t mean to,” he mumbles.

“But you did it anyway,” Chase says. “Look at her! Your wife, as you call her. Is that how a real man treats his wife?”

Halle knows to keep quiet at this point while we try to figure a way out for her. But why am I being so quiet? Why is the blood so quick to freeze in my veins while my finger tightens over the trigger? Why am I so calm, so eerily detached, as I look at her? I can no longer feel myself; I can no longer hear the heartbeats drumming in my ear. Where is my fear? Where is my consciousness? Why does everything feel like a movie I’ve seen before? A movie with a familiar ending.

“Stay away!” Colby shouts when Chase tries to step forward.

The echoes of police and ambulance sirens swell in the far distance. We only have a few minutes left, and we have to find a resolution before it’s too late. Colby is so unhinged and out of his mind he can barely deal with the two of us. He’ll flip out when he sees the SWAT teams coming in. I can’t risk Halle’s safety like that. I can’t lose her, or I will lose myself.

“I’m not moving,” Chase says. “Look at me, Colby. Look at me.”

“Get the fuck out of here,” he replies. “You’re not taking her away from me.”

“It’s over,” my brother insists. “Can’t you hear them? They’re coming. They’re coming for you. It’s done, man, you’ve got nowhere to run. Your own mother sold you out. Your children have run away from you. Nobody wants you. Look at Halle. She’s fucking terrified of you.”

He looks at her with a softness in his gaze that has me confused. “She’s not terrified of me. She’s terrified of all these guns.”

“No, Colby, I’m terrified of you,” Halle confirms. “You’re scaring me.”

“You don’t have to be afraid,” he says, his tone suddenly sweet. “We’re gonna have a baby. I’m not gonna hurt you.”

“What the hell did you just say?” Chase blurts out.

Halle glances our way and I see it. The revelation. The truth shimmering in her big, smoky blue eyes. I see the truth trembling on her bruised lip. “She’s pregnant,” I whisper.

“That’s my child she’s carrying! Mine!” Colby yells while pointing the gun at her womb. It’s meant to be an innocuous gesture but the mad man forgets what he’s pointing with. “My child. Not yours! You had your fun. Now, get the fuck out of our lives. I’ve got a family to take care of.”

Chase gives me a sideways glance. There is genuine fear in his eyes. I know that fear. I know it all too well because I feel it too. Halle is pregnant. One of us is the father. That’s our baby growing inside her while Colby has an arm locked around her neck and a Colt aimed at her belly.

The stakes just changed altogether.

35

Halle

My body won’t move.

I’m paralyzed under Colby’s control. His arm tightens around my neck though I don’t think he’s doing it on purpose this time. He’s scared. He has every reason to be scared.

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