Page 78 of Nobody Wants Me
“He is?”I asked.
“All you have to do with The Grid is wait, and they start to show through the cracks.You have to learn to read their patterns, and after this long, I have finally figured out the way they move.”There was a smile on Ivan’s face.
“Care to divulge this information?”
Ivan nodded.“They create a diversion.Sometimes it is a crash, or a mass shooting, or something, and while people are looking at the chaos, as people cannot look away, that is when they move.”
“Are you telling me they’re going to attack me?”I asked.
“They have multiple hits out at the moment.Freya is just one cog.Wherethey hit is the tricky part.I have increased my men around your property.However, there is some kind of politician who is talking about bringing the crime numbers down, and I have reason to believe he is a target.I’ve got everything covered.All I’ve got to do is wait.”
I looked at Ivan.“I want to be there when we get Harris.”
“You’re going to be needed here.”
“I want to bring that son of a bitch down,” I said.“He has ruined Freya’s life for the last time.This can be my gift to her.For her to finally be free.You said so yourself, my house is going to be locked tight.”
Ivan looked at me, and he nodded.
“Fine, I will make arrangements for you to join us.But you follow my orders, and if I feel anything is off, we take off.Got it?”
I knew Ivan wouldn’t get this wrong.
Taking a long hard sip of my whiskey, I feel like everything was finally falling into place.Leaving Ivan, I go and find my wife.Umberto told me she had taken more ice cream and disappeared.I didn’t have to go far to find her leaning up against a wall in the dining room.She was sitting on the floor, spoon in the melting ice cream, staring straight ahead.
“Hey, baby,” I said, sitting beside her on the floor.
She turned her head toward me.“What if I’m a bad mother?”she asked.
“That’s not possible.”
“How is it not possible?”she asked.“There are a lot of bad mothers out there.People hurt their kids.I’ve been scared about dying and leaving, but what if my baby is better off?I had a bunch of horrible nannies.There was only one or two nice ones.”
She let go of the carton of ice cream and I took it from her.Lifting the spoon, I took a spoonful and was not shocked to see it was double chocolate.One of my favorite flavors.
“You’re not going to be a bad mother,” I said.
“How do you know?”
“Because you’re kind and sweet, and I don’t think the moment you give birth, all of those things are going to change.You don’t just change overnight, babe,” I said.“You’re who you are.”
Freya looked at me and I saw the fear in her eyes.
“I could be a bad dad.My dad set me up for torture to make me a strong man.I killed my dad.”
“You’re going to be a good dad,” Freya said.
“None of us know that.None of us know what is going to happen.”I reached out and cupped her cheek.“So long as we have each other, and Ivan, and everyone, including The Butcher, everything will be okay.”
“I want The Butcher to be our baby’s godmother,” she said.
I was expecting this.They were close, after all.
I blew out a breath.“Are you sure about that?”I asked.
Freya laughed.“Stop being so mean.She’s a good woman.”
I didn’t know how to respond.The Butcher was very loyal.She had my wife’s back, and for that, I couldn’t fault her.
