Page 128 of Theirs to Take

“No problem,” Luke said, “let's get in there and hopefully find Evan.” She said a little prayer that they would find him inside, alive and well, but she had a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach. If she had lost her chance to tell Evan how she truly felt about him, she’d never forgive herself.

Carrie followed Luke into the garage, sticking close and staying behind him as he ordered. He pointed to some drops of blood on the kitchen floor, and she covered her hand over her mouth to keep from crying out. He put his finger to his lips as if telling her to keep quiet and she nodded.

She noticed the light coming from the basement and pointed to the door. Luke nodded and started to pull it open when maniacal laughter filled the kitchen. She would know that laugh anywhere. “Alastair,” she breathed, turning to find him holding a gun pointed right at her belly. Carrie covered her hands over her tummy as a sob escaped her chest.

“Drop the gun,” he said to Luke, “or I’ll kill both her and the baby.”

“Luke,” she sobbed.

“It’s okay, Carrie,” Luke assured.

“How about you do as I’ve asked, Luke, and we’ll all walk out of here unscathed?” Alastair offered. Luke dropped his gun and Alastair told him to have a seat in one of Evan’s kitchen chairs. He pulled out a pair of handcuffs and handed them to Carrie. “Chain him to the chair,” Alastair ordered.

“You won’t get away with this,” Carrie spat.

Alastair chuckled, “I’d really love to say that it’s good to see you, Carrie,” Alastair taunted, “but you did run away from home and took my unborn child with you.”

“I did what I had to do to keep my baby safe. You’re not the man I thought that you were,” she sobbed.

“I’m exactly whom you thought I was. You just couldn’t change me, and that’s why you left,” Alastair insisted.

“What do you want from me?” she asked.

“I’d like for you to come home with me. You, the baby, and me—we can be a family,” Alastair said.

“You don’t want me,” Carrie said. “Once the baby comes, you’ll find a way to get rid of me.”

“That’s not true,” Alastair insisted, “our baby will need his mother. As long as you cooperate, you will be necessary, and I’ll allow you to stick around.”

“And if I don’t cooperate?” she asked.

“I’ll have to find AlastairJr., new Mum.” The thought of anyone else raising her child made her sick. There was no way that she’d allow her baby to be alone to be raised by Alastair.

“What happens if I don’t agree to your terms?” she asked.

“I’ll kill Luke there and then; we’ll head downstairs where I’ll finish your new boyfriend off. He’s been waiting for you, honey,” Alastair taunted.

“What did you do to him?” she whispered.

“Oh, he didn’t cooperate, so I had to rough him up a bit, but he’s still alive if that makes you feel any better.” It didn’t, but she wasn’t about to tell him that. All she wanted to do was go down to find Evan in the basement, but she was sure that Alastair wasn’t going to let that happen.

“So, what’s it going to be?” he asked. “Will you be coming home with me willingly or do I need to leave a few extra bodies behind for your cousins to find?”

“They won’t let you get away with any of this, Alastair,” she said. She knew a little something that her ex didn’t—her cousins were standing behind him and they were both armed. She liked her odds of being right about Alex and Rod never letting her ex take her anywhere.

“Well, they’re not here to stop me, so there’s that,” Alastair taunted.

Alex cleared his throat behind him, and Rod pushed his gun into Alastair’s side. “Surprise, asshole,” Rod hissed. “How about you drop the gun so that we don’t have to leave your body behind?” he asked. Carrie felt as though she was holding her breath waiting to see what Alastair would do next. It came downto if he wanted to die or live at this point and she really hoped he wanted the latter.

“You won’t stop me from coming back here for my baby,” he said to Rod, handing over his gun to Alex.

“Sure we will,” Alex said. “You see, the local authorities are on their way here and they’ll be wanting to talk to you about shooting one of my security guards and holding my cousin and two business associate’s hostage. I’m betting that you’ll be staying in America for a while—but it will be behind bars.”

“Evan’s down the basement,” Carrie said as Rod uncuffed Luke and the two led Alastair out into the garage to wait for the cops. “I don’t know if I can go down there. What if he’s hurt, or worse?”

Alex nodded, “I’ll go down first. You stay here.”

“Where’s my father?” she asked.

---