Saving Us(61)

It wasn’t just that he took Amy. He had my child too. If I lost one, I knew it would be both of them. The chance of my child surviving would be slim to none. I couldn’t believe that I was thinking all of these terrible things. I needed to be optimistic and keep telling myself that they were going to be alright. I had to.

When we got closer to the house, I noticed that Lucy’s little car was still parked around the side. She had to be somewhere and just couldn’t hear us when we were calling. John and I got to the front door. “I’ll go find her and meet you back here. I’m sure she’s in the laundry room or somethin’. She can’t hear worth a damn anymore.”

John agreed and stayed on the porch while I made my way in the house. Just like all of the time lately, the house was quiet. I walked through the dining room area and then into the kitchen. The house was spotless. I checked the laundry room and then headed upstairs. When I couldn’t find her at all, I headed for the family room, before meeting John outside. While going in that direction, I picked up my phone and dialed Lucy’s number. The ringing was coming from the family room. I started running toward the sound and stopped dead in my tracks. Rick was standing there with Amy’s gun in his hand. Lucy was tied up on the couch, while Heather was on the floor close to her. As I walked toward them, he turned around and noticed me. As he did it, I saw Amy on the floor behind him. I went running toward her, but with one wave of the gun, I froze.

Rick had the gun pointed at Amy’s stomach. “You take one more step and I kill everything you love with one squeeze of this trigger.” He turned and looked at Amy. “Your knight is here to save his damsel. I guess you can both die together.”

“The only person that’s goin’ to die is you. Touch her again and see what I do to you.”

Rick paid no attention to my threats. He aimed that gun right at Amy’s stomach. As soon as he turned his head to look at her, Heather came lunging at him with her hands still behind her back. The gun went flying across the hardwood floor and I didn’t waste any time going after that bastard myself. My body rammed into Rick’s. I swung hard, hitting him right in the jaw. His head swung around and he started to lose his balance. I grabbed the collar of his shirt and hit him again, right in the same place. Blood went flying and his eyes started to close. I held onto his shirt tighter and slammed his head against the floor. I wanted him to bleed. I wanted him to die watching me saving Amy.

I laid his knocked out body down and reached over to free Amy’s hands. She wrapped her arms around my neck and started to sob. “You’re okay, darlin’ Oh my God, I thought I lost you. You had me so damn scared.”

“I thought I was going to die.” She continued to cry.

I picked her up and carried her over to the couch Then I started to untie Heather and Lucy. Just as I was getting the last loop loosened on Lucy’s rope, I heard the girls scream. Rick had woke up and took a dive to obtain the gun across the room.

I sprung forward trying to get to it faster than him. Our hands met at the base of the gun. As I attempted to punch him in the face, he jerked his hand, with the gun, away from me. He pointed it right at me and then laughed as he moved it to face Amy. “As much as I’d like to kill you, I think it would be more fun to let you watch her die. If you have anything you want to say to her, you better say it now. You have about ten seconds to get it all out.”

I had one chance to save Amy and the baby that I already loved so much. They could live a good life, even without me in it. My family would take care of them. They would keep them safe and make sure that they never had to worry about anything. My mother would love her grandchild and they would be able to remember me through that child.

They were my responsibility, my only reason for living. I had to try and give them more time on this precious earth. In all of my life there had been one constant. It was my love for the land. I wanted Amy to have the chance to appreciate the small things in life. I looked toward her. She was crying so badly. In a few moments she would be crying even more, but hopefully she would have a chance to get free of this evil man. “Darlin’ you are the only woman that I have ever loved. You know that, right?”

She nodded. “I love you, too. I love you so much, Conner. I wanted you from the first moment you saved me. No man has ever compared to you.”

As she said it, Rick looked her way. It was enough to give me a window to make my move. “No matter what, you take care of our child, Amy.” I lunged my body toward Rick. “Run!” We went rolling on the floor. I saw Amy out of the corner of my eye. She got up and started running out of the room.