Page 6 of Come For Me
“This is Dain. Leave a message. Unless you’re Livie; then come find me, wife. You know what I’m waiting for.”
The message had begun as a joke the first year of their marriage. Dain had told her he didn’t want to talk to her on the phone; he wanted to hold her in his arms, kiss her senseless, and then take her over and over until neither one of them could talk. One day she’d dialed his number, only to have that same voice message greet her. It had been there ever since, every time she called. Sometimes she called just to hear it, in fact. This time, though, tears of frustration pricked her eyes.
She managed to wait for the beep without giving in to hysteria.
“Dain?” His name came out shaky, and all she could think was that he’d be worried, then do something stupid like charge to the rescue. Which she wanted desperately, but she wouldn’t risk him. He’d given her enough basic training to find weapons around her, hide, stay safe. That’s all she had to do, stay safe until help came.
Clearing her throat, she forced her next words to be steady. “Dain, there’s something wrong here.”
The door to the employee kitchen/break room came into view, just up and to the right. She crossed her fingers as the other hand tightened on her phone. “Stan’s— Stan’s dead. There’s blood.” God, what did she need to tell him that would help? She was fumbling around in the dark as much as she was in the harshly lit hallway. “I can’t find everyone else. I’m going to the kitchen. I’m in the kitchen, okay?” He’d understand that. Lots of weapons to protect herself with in a kitchen.
She needed to get to the kitchen, get off the phone. She had to call the police. But though her feet kept moving, she didn’t want to let go of Dain, even if all she could get of him was his voice mail. “I’ve got to go. I’ll call your office after I call the cops, okay? I’m all right. I am…”
And that’s when she remembered it wasn’t just her here, creeping down the hall, trying to stay safe. It was her and their baby. A baby she might never get a chance to tell Dain about in person.
She had to keep their baby alive. But first, “Dain? Listen, I need to tell you, just in case. I know I’ll be fine, but just in case…”Stop repeating yourself, Livie.“Dain, I’m pregnant. Do you understand? I’m pregnant, husband.” Her voice went soft on the nickname even as she laid a hand flat on the cool surface of the kitchen door. “I’m having our baby, so you come get me, damn it. Come get us.” A scared, shaky sigh escaped. “I love you, Dain.”
She clicked End, took a deep breath, and shoved the door open in front of her.
