Page 28 of Grace's Redemption
I pushed the hair out of his eyes.
“We’re going to go find Mase.” He said.
My insides flipped.
“Really?”
“Yeah, I need to take care of some things before we go.” He took my hand. “Pack a bag and meet me at the clubhouse in the morning, early. Bring the truck."
I nodded.
“You tell anyone else about the baby?” He asked.
“No. Just you.”
He placed his hand on my stomach.
“I’m going have a nephew.” He tickled my stomach.
I giggled. It seemed more real now that someone else knew about it.
“Or a niece.”
“Naw,” Mattie placed his hadn’t flat on my stomach again. “Scott men don’t have daughters.”
Mattie kissed me on the cheek and took off.
I packed at duffle bag of essentials. I went down into Papa Scott's office and took the painting off the wall behind his desk. I opened the safe and stopped. Papa Scott has showed me the safe, given me the combination in case of emergencies. This qualified.
I grabbed as many stacks as I could fit in the duffle bag and zipped it.
Before sunrise, I took off towards the clubhouse in Papa Scott’s truck.
* * *
When I arrived,the clubhouse was empty. The normally bustling place even at five am was a ghost town. I parked the truck near the side entrance and punched in the code to enter the building.
If anyone found me here, I had no good excuse. I climbed the stairs two at a time. I grabbed some stuff for Mattie and put them in a bag. It wouldn’t be his priority. I opened the bottom drawer, looking for his socks and found a handgun sitting on top.
I ran my fingers over the chrome. It was new. The guns were kept downstairs. If the firearm wasn’t on them, they were kept in a walk in safe. The gun in the drawer was strange, and more than a little suspect. I grabbed a couple pairs of white socks and shut the drawer.
When his bag was packed, I dropped it at the top of the stairs and proceed down the hall to Mase’s room. I pushed open the door. It looked the same. The bed was made. The room appeared pristine, waiting for Mase’s return.
I sneezed. The smell of settled dust and emptiness tickled my nose.
It didn’t smell like him anymore.
I frowned and walked over to his closet. I punched in the code to his safe. It was Mattie and my birthdates switched around. The seal of the safe popped open with a whoosh.
I grabbed a small bag from the floor of the closet and dumped his remaining stacks of bills into the bag. We would need all the money we had on hand to survive.
My hand touched the edge of more metal. I pulled my hand out. I pressed the flashlight feature on my phone and peered inside. It was another gun. Identical to the one in Mattie’s bottom drawer. I palmed the handle in my hand and pulled it out.
I had been around guns all my life. I didn’t like them because they were loud, but I wasn’t scared of them. I pulled one of Mase’s sweatshirts from a hanger and pulled it on. I placed the gun in the pocket and shut the door. As I passed by the window, I stopped.
Mattie was in the courtyard talking to someone. I heard muffled sounds, so he had to be yelling.
I reached up and cracked the top window open.
