Page 58 of Jeremy
“Ilove you, babe. We’re mired in this shit right now, but not for much longer.I’m going to take care of everything. We will be happy. Because we fuckingdeserve to be.”
“Whatare you going to do?” she asks, sitting back to watch my expression.
“I’mgoing to kill them. The First Men.”
There’sno shock in her reaction, only concern. “But the people?”
“We’realready working on that. We’re returning their money to them. They’ll be free.”
“Jeremy…”
Icup the back of her head. “Don’t ask me to spare them after what they did toyou.”
“No,but I don’t want to lose you. You could get caught. I want Calvin to have youfor a father.”
“Hewill. I don’t take risks. I can’t tell you the plan, Mel. This is something forISH to handle, but I swear to you, everything is going to be okay.”
Shecuddles against me. “I know we have more to talk about, but I’m exhausted.Tomorrow?”
Idrop a kiss on her cool lips. “Okay. Let’s get some sleep.”
Wemove to her bed, and she’s asleep in seconds. She doesn’t budge when I grab myphone and call Dare.
“Yeah,”he says, answering in his usual curt way.
“Arrangefor three at the disposal site. I don’t know when yet.”
Hesighs into the phone. “Jeremy—”
“Theyraped her, Dare, like fucking animals. This isn’t negotiable. And look into anOfficer Henreid. He’s one of them.”
“Understood,”he replies. “We just finished draining the accounts, but only the secondaryones. We have access to their primary, but we don’t want to siphon it yet.They’ll know something is up. They don’t check in on the others very often.”
Oncewe hang up, I strip down to my underwear, crawl back in bed, and stare at thedark ceiling. It seems like some sort of miracle, like the universe broughtthis all together. Calvin and Melissa needed to be loved as much as I needed tolove. To heal. Calvin won’t have to grow up under the shadow of a serial killerfather. No one but Melissa and I ever need to know his true roots.
Twenty-twopeople lost their lives, leaving a path of countless loved ones with apermanent hole in their lives. So many families torn apart by three psychoswith assault rifles. There isn’t a bright side to something like that.
Still,some tiny bit of hope rose from the tragedy. A family that never would’ve been,has found its way together. It’s going to be hard to reconcile that in theyears to come, that what I have was brought about by Frannie’s death, but I canjust hear her scolding me now.
“What’sthe matter with you? Have you always been this dense? You didn’t kill me orwish it this way. It doesn’t matter what you want. You get what life throws atyou, dumbass.”
Iwrap my arm around Melissa, bury my face in her soft hair, and fall asleep witha tiny smile on my face.
#
Thesound of running water wakes me. The bathroom door is open just a crack, enoughfor me to get a glance of Melissa, up to her neck in a bubble bath. A faintscent of vanilla hangs in the steamy air. She turns and smiles when I tap onthe door.
“Abouttime you woke up.”
“IfI’d known you were naked in the next room, I’d have fought my way toconsciousness.”
Thedoctors told her she wouldn’t be able to resume sex for four to six weeks, andthat the first few times may be uncomfortable. Not as bad as if she’d had avaginal birth, but still. It’s been four weeks, and I’m dying to get inside ofher. We don’t even have to worry about birth control since she had an implantput in after the birth. I went and got tested for everything as well, so we’dknow we were both clean. I don’t want to rush her if she isn’t ready, but Ican’t resist touching her.
Iwalk over and sit on the edge of the tub. Her tongue darts out to wet her lipswhen I grab a little poofy thing and run it up her smooth leg. “Do you have anyidea how beautiful you look right now?”
“Notas good as you in those boxer briefs. Are you very attached to them? Becausethis tub is pretty big.” She doesn’t have to ask me twice. Her giggle fills theroom as I make quick work of my underwear and slosh water onto the floor in myeagerness to join her.
“Thisis one of the reasons I love this house. This tub could hold three people.”
