“No, I called her, texted, even sent a deputy by her house and nobody seems to be home.”
FUCK! A rogue ex-wife, not on the top of my priority list to deal with today.
“Okay, Jefferson, what do you want me to do?”
The phone in my pocket begins to sing. ‘Butterfly kisses’. It’s Emma’s ringtone.
Why is she calling me?
“Well I—”
I interrupt him, “Hold on Jefferson, my daughter is calling me.”
Hitting the answer button, I hold my phone to my ear.
“Hello? Emma? What—”
“Daddy! Daddy! Daddy! Bad lady is downstairs. She has a gun! Daddy! Daddy! Help me. Daddy!”
Emma is frantic, bawling profusely into the phone. Her voice is scratchy, like her mouth is on the receiver.
Not wasting a precious second, I end my call with Jefferson without saying goodbye.
“Daddy!”
“Calm down, baby. What’s going on? Are you okay?” I’m trying to stay calm, although on the inside I’m freaking the fuck out!
“Daddy! No, no. Bad lady has good mommy, downstairs. She has a gun!”
“Who’s the bad lady?” I calmly ask. Fuck this is hard! My daughter is terrified.
“The evil lady who hurt me.”
“Melissa, your mom?”
“Yes! She’s downstairs. She is pointing gun at her, Daddy. Help Lex, Daddy. Help her. Bad lady came to take me and Lex said no. She told me to hide in my bedroom. I’m in my closet. I got my phone from my backpack just like you taught me.”
“Good girl. You’re not hurt?”
“No….n…o…” Her tiny voice breaks, cracking my heart along with it.
“I’m calling the cops, baby, daddy will be there soon. Don’t cry. Mommy is taking care of it. She would never let you get hurt.”
“I know, Daddy, but I don’t want my mommy to die.”
I swear to fucking God, if my woman dies at the hand of my ex-wife, I will kill that stupid, self-righteous cunt with my bare hands.
“Keep talking baby; tell me about your ponies. Tell me about what you did today. Daddy is going to call Lincoln on his other phone.”
I set Emma on speakerphone down on my desk. She listens to my instructions and begins to talk, telling me about her ponies. Her voice quickly evens out.
Dialing my work phone, I put it to my ear.
“That’s great baby, keep telling daddy.” I encourage Emma in the calmest tone I can conjure up.
“This is Lincoln.”
“Lincoln, it’s an emergency. Melissa is at Lex’s house, with a gun. Emma is upstairs hiding in the closet. She came to take Emma but Lex stood her ground. I’m not sure what’s going on there. But I’m calling you before I leave. You can call the cops, but I don’t want Melissa to shoot her. She’s unstable. Highly unstable.” I spit it all out a hundred miles an hour in one breath. Inhaling a big gulp of air, as the last word passes my lips.
Loud huffing and the sound of something brushing up against the phone is all I hear through the phone. “Lincoln you there?”
“Yeah! I’m running, I’m only three blocks from Lex’s. I have my dog with me, was out walking her. Call the station; tell them to get to Lex’s, hostage situation. I’m going in unarmed.”
The phone call abruptly ends. FUCK!
Lex
“Listen you stupid bitch, get on the fucking floor.”
“No, you need to put the gun down and go home Melissa.” I speak evenly, my hands held in the air.
For the last ten minutes, Melissa has tried to get past me to go upstairs. I’ve blocked her way. She may think she’s a badass, carrying the gun. She’s not used it as a weapon, only for intimidation tactics. My father did that to me a few times when I was a teenager, held me at gunpoint. I was more afraid of him, than I am of Melissa and she’s got the bigger gun. If she were to use it at point blank range, I would be dead in minutes. A shotgun slug isn’t something to trifle with. It’s not because I’ve used one before. My all-adoring best friend, who’s at work today, happens to hunt.
Lincoln
Tying up my tame pup on the railing attached to Lex’s back steps. I hear a loud commotion coming from inside. Wish I had a weapon, but I left it at home. I’m off duty today not the best day for that. I’m a master at hand-to-hand combat. However, it being a woman, I’d be going up against, I’d rather have a gun. Not a circumstance I’m very comfortable with going in unarmed. I’m not particularly happy about hitting a woman skin-on-skin. It’s not the same as when I do it inside the safe consensual confines of my playroom. But it’s Lex’s safety at stake and I will do anything for my girl.