As they predicted, within ten minutes of my arrival, I got a call from an unknown number, just like I had before.
When I answered, the man on the other end said, “Come in and keep your hands up so I can see them.”
I made sure I hung up before speaking to the inspector again. I told him what was said. “Okay, wait a moment while we have the deputies come around the building. You’ll be able to see them, but the perp won’t. Trevor, you’ve got this, but if anyone tells you to drop or run, you do it, okay?”
“I understand,” I said
When I saw the deputies dressed all in black come around the front of the building, I got out of the car.
I put my hands up and began walking toward the building. I’d only walked a short distance when a loud gunshot echoed through the air, followed by the screams of an infant.
It was the baby’s cry that caused my brain to misfire. Instead of ducking for cover, I ran toward the building and was tackled by a large man in black… apparently one of the officers. He held me down and told me not to move, but I was fighting against him. “I need to get to Luka! I need to get to my baby!” I cried, but the man held onto me tightly.
Within seconds there was chaos. Lights were flickering every which way, and after what seemed like ages, I heard a tinny voice coming from an earpiece the officer who was holding me down had in his ear. He slowly released me but told me to stay put. Everything was under control. The baby was safe.
The second I heard that I was struggling to get out of his arms.
“I need to see Luka,” I said, and then a voice above us said, “Let him go, I’ve got the baby here.”
The officer let me go, and I jumped up and moved toward the voice. He handed Luka to me, and I all but swooned at having him safely in my arms. Someone was holding us up and moving us toward a chair closer to the barn.
“An ambulance is almost here. They’ll check you and the baby out,” he said.
No one said anything about who’d been shot or where the shot had come from, but it was only moments after the ambulances arrived that I saw them taking stretcher after stretcher out of the barn. I recognized my mother as they rushed her out. She was clearly unconscious or dead, and like with my father, I couldn’t bring myself to care. Luka was in my arms… that’s what mattered.
Finally, the last person to be taken out was Lisa. She was seriously hurt, and I reacted. “Lisa?” I asked, and she turned toward me. I could see the tears slip down her bruised and bloodied cheek. From where I stood, I don’t think she could do much more than look at me. She was in really bad shape. I stood to go to her, but the officer next to me placed his hand on my shoulder and said gently, “No, they need to get her to the hospital… you can see her later.”
I nodded and stayed where I was. A paramedic came over and checked Luka, telling me they needed to take us both to the hospital. I nodded, and they helped me up and loaded us into the back of an ambulance.
Luka was lethargic. I’d never seen him that way, and it terrified me. They took him from me and hooked him up to IVs. “He’s really dehydrated,” they told me. “It appears like he hasn’t eaten in a while. The IV’s will help him recover.”
I began shaking uncontrollably at that point, and the paramedic started working on me. They laid me down, but I resisted. I wanted to be close to Luka.
I knew enough to know I was going into shock, but I’d been without Luka for too long. I wouldn’t let him be anywhere without me, ever again.
They talked me into lying down until we got to the hospital, and as long as I could see Luka, I complied.
The shaking had lessened a bit by the time we pulled into the emergency room, and when they were unloading Luka, I got up to go with them.
“We need to treat you, Mr. Kovachich,” the paramedic said.
“No, I’m not leaving Luka!” I cried and got up to go with them.
They didn’t try to stop me this time and I followed them into the ER. A paramedic was walking beside me to ensure I didn’t collapse.
A team of nurses met us at the door and took over from the paramedic. Luka was rushed into a room, and I was allowed to stay with him. They put me in a chair, elevated my feet and gave me a blanket. Every so often, a nurse would check my pulse until I finally told them I was fine and to focus on the baby.
Luka’s color improved, even as we sat there. My stomach was rolling, wondering how the hell this had happened. Who would take a baby and not feed him properly? Then I thought of Lisa. How was she involved… why would she be a part of this?
The thought made my shaking return and not wanting to be separated from Luka, I tried to calm myself, putting Lisa out of my mind.
About an hour after we arrived, the team felt comfortable enough with Luka’s recovery to let me hold him. Just having him back in my arms did more to stop my shaking than anything they’d given me. I’d just dozed off when I felt a hand on my face. I glanced up to see Peter and the tears I’d somehow managed to keep under control until then started flowing.
“We found him,” I said. “We found Luka, he’s going to be okay.”
Peter kissed me, and Aunt Doris came around him and drew me into a hug. “Don’t you ever scare me like that again,” she said loud enough to cause Luka to rouse.
When she looked down at Luka, she fell back onto the bed, and the tears flowed from her. “Oh, Trevor, you scared us so much. But Luka is okay. Thank God he’s okay!”
The nurses kicked Peter and Aunt Doris out saying they were transferring us to a room, and when we were settled, we’d all be able to be together.
Good to their word, within an hour, Luka was transferred to a room on the pediatric floor.
The hours were agony as we waited for Luka to wake up. The doctor came in and assured us it was a good sign that he reacted to noise, but he was so severely dehydrated when he came in that they were concerned about organ failure. So far, he was showing improvement.
I was too numb and out of it to even know what questions to ask. As long as Luka was in my arms, nothing else mattered.
Peter
When we arrived at the hospital, they initially refused to let me go in, saying only close family were allowed. But the inspector who’d followed us in told them they needed to make an exception. Luckily, the woman behind the desk seemed to understand, and both Doris and I were able to go back to check on Trevor and see Luka.
We’d been warned we wouldn’t be able to stay long. As soon as Luka was considered stable, they wanted to get him up on the floor where the pediatric doctors and nurses could work with him.
Before we were escorted up to his room, the press had begun to arrive. Luckily, they had a back entrance into the main hospital, and we were taken that way to avoid them.
Trevor wasn’t well. I could tell from the moment I saw him in the ER that he wasn’t the right color. I was worried about him, and when I asked the nurse, he told me they were keeping a close eye on him for possible signs of shock. I nodded and thanked him.
The entire next day, we took turns sleeping in the waiting room. Trevor refused to leave Luka’s room and even refused to use the restroom unless we were there to guard the door.
He was traumatized, and I could tell he expected at any moment Luka could disappear again.
Finally, the inspector arrived with a man in a sheriff’s uniform. They stood at the foot of Luka’s bed and told us the story.
“Lisa’s father didn’t know she’d been pregnant. He found out just before she gave birth, and demanded she give the baby up for adoption. He was afraid her having a baby out of wedlock would hurt his chances of remaining a deacon. Lisa didn’t tell her dad you were the father, and he just assumed she’d done as he asked until your father and mother came to him asking him to help them fight to take the baby away from you.” The inspector cleared his throat. “They told him you were gay. Since he was afraid of losing ground with the congregation, he and your father planned to kidnap Luka and give him to a religious family here
in Alabama. Everything was going to plan until you came on the news and pleaded your case. When they saw the news and you begging, it struck a nerve with your mom. When the newscaster said something about your lifestyle. That somehow convinced your mother of your willingness to change. She and your father were going back on the plan and were going to take Luka home, so basically, Lisa’s father shot him and beat your mom up, breaking her legs so she couldn’t move.”
Trevor shook his head. “I don’t understand. Why…? How did they think they’d get away with it?”
“They realized they wouldn’t. Lisa’s parents had decided to kill everyone and commit suicide. They called you because they wanted to kill you too.”
Trevor sighed, stared at Luka for a long moment. “What stopped them? I heard a gunshot.”
The sheriff that had accompanied the inspector chimed in at that point. “Luka’s mother had been seriously beaten, and her dad must have thought she was dead or almost dead. He’d shot his wife earlier in the day, and apparently, he’d planted the gun he’d used to shoot her in Lisa’s hand to make it look like she’d killed her own mother. Lisa spent the day in and out of consciousness, but she was able to tell us enough to know that when she realized her father planned to kill you and the baby, she came up with a plan to save you both. When he called you, it must have woken her up because she waited until he lifted his gun, then she shot him, killing him instantly.
“Lisa killed her father?” Trevor asked.
The sheriff nodded. “Apparently, she saved your life.”
The tears fell from Trevor’s eyes.
They glanced at each other, nodded, and took their leave. “We’ll let you know more as we find out.”
“How’s Lisa?” Trevor asked before they left.
“She’s not out of the woods yet. She’s had several surgeries and will need more, but they’ve stopped the internal bleeding.”
“I want to see her,” he said, shocking all of us.
“I’m afraid that’s not possible, at least not yet. She’s still unconscious. As soon as she recovers, they’ll need to repair the fractures in her arms and legs.”
The sheriff seemed to hesitate. “She’s also not cleared of the kidnapping or the murder of her father. When she wakes up, she’ll have to answer a lot of questions.” He looked at Trevor and then down at the baby. “If we can make it happen, I’ll let you know.”
Then he turned and walked out of the room with the inspector behind him.
Luka recovered long before Lisa did, and we were allowed to return home with him. The press was insane. They lined the sidewalks around the house. Finally, I hired a couple of off duty police officers to stand guard at the door to prevent them from trying to get a picture of us through the windows.
The events had become national news. Now Luka was home, the press was in a frenzy outside the house clamoring for more information, or just to get a picture of us all.
I was not immune. Thanks to the irresponsible news reporter we’d trusted to interview Trevor, my face was associated with the family. When I tried to go shopping for everyone, I was caught by several reporters. I ended up going home without the groceries. Joshua was a godsend during that time. He delivered what we needed to the house, and the off-duty officers brought it in for us.
Luckily, the press didn’t put it together that Joshua was a friend and not just a delivery person.
A few weeks later, Lisa recovered enough to speak to the police about what had happened. The inspector came by to tell us first before the press got wind of the news. “She told us how her father imprisoned her in the basement to keep her from warning us. The night they kidnapped Luka, they drugged her and kept her drugged most of the way to Alabama. Her version of events was consistent with her medical report. When everything went down, her father stopped drugging her long enough for her to, and I quote, ‘see what she’d done’. He wanted to punish her for destroying his life. He beat her repeatedly until the night she texted you with the clues. She got hold of your mother’s mobile phone, which she’d bought for that purpose. They didn’t want to use their own phones, apparently, which is why you didn’t recognize the number. Her father found the text and beat her to the point of her having internal injuries. That’s when her parents figured out they weren’t going to get out of it. So, they planned to kill everyone, including you and the baby, and then commit suicide. Her father called you right after he beat Lisa, so she was conscious enough to hear their plan. When her father shot her mother and put the gun in Lisa’s hand, she acted like she was still unconscious. Apparently, he even kicked her once or twice before he did just to make sure. I don’t know how she didn’t react, but she must have put on a good enough show that he thought she was dead or almost dead. You already know the rest. She woke up in time for you to arrive and somehow found the strength to shoot and kill him.”
“What’s going to happen to her now?” Trevor asked.
The inspector shrugged. “If her story continues to hold up, she’ll likely be released.”
Trevor nodded. “Thank you, inspector.”
__________
When Lisa was released, the press disappeared almost instantly, giving us freedom again to regain some of our lives.
Trevor guarded Luka like a dragon guarding treasure. The first few days after we’d arrived back at his house, he refused to put him down except to let him sleep. When Trevor began to fall asleep in his chair, his aunt took matters into her own hands and told him to lie in his bed while one of us sat with Luka. Even then, Trevor refused to let Luka outside his room. So, we took turns sitting with him.
Trevor would wake anytime we moved. His hypersensitivity couldn’t be good for him, but none of us dared to suggest he take anything to calm himself. The trauma of losing Luka and the reality that he came so close to dying, wasn’t something anyone would be able to overcome without time.
I think it was my mother who finally made the difference. She took lunch up to Trevor one afternoon, and when she came back downstairs, she had Luka in her arms.
Doris and I stared at her. She put Luka in the bassinet that had been returned to the parlor after Luka arrived home. Then she went about the chores she’d taken on since arriving at the house.
Neither Doris nor I had the nerve to ask what had happened for fear it would somehow disrupt the change. About an hour later, Trevor came downstairs. It was clear he’d been crying when he walked into the room. He looked at the bassinet, clearly wanting to go to Luka, but instead, he walked over and sat down next to me.
He waited, staring at the bassinet until Mom came in and sat across from him.
“I…” he started then drew in a deep breath. “I’m afraid all the time,” he admitted. “I close my eyes, and I see monsters stealing Luka or worse. I realize I’m paranoid. Nothing seems to be helping so, with Matilda’s advice, I’ve decided to have a social worker and therapist come to the house to help me.” He looked around the room. “To help us overcome what happened. Matilda’s right, it’s not healthy for Luka to grow up in an environment of fear. He needs us… me… to get back to normal as soon as possible.”
At that moment, Luka made gurgling noises in his bassinet, almost as if he were agreeing with the plan.
We all laughed, including Trevor.
We sat quietly together, all of us wanting to reach out to the baby, all of us knowing we needed to stop hovering.
Finally, Trevor interrupted the silence. “I would’ve died if it wasn’t for you. You saved me. I’d thought of several ways to die after Luka was taken, and the longer it took for them to find him, the more I wanted to.”
“You being here, it’s what kept me alive and…” Trevor looked at each of us, embarrassment tinting his cheeks. “I hated you all for it,” he chuckled. “I know I was a total ass, and I still have no idea why you all stayed…”
Doris went over and knelt in front of him. “We love you, Trevor.” She glanced up at me and then over to Matilda. “We all love you, and we lov
e Luka.”
I cleared my throat. The emotion welled up and kept me from being able to speak.
“I thought several times…” I cleared my throat, trying to regain my composure. “I thought I should go and leave you alone, especially when you were telling the truth about how I’d…” I drew in a deep breath, and Trevor leaned over against me.
“I was really angry with the world, Peter. I blamed everyone for what had happened, but I blamed myself the most. But, Peter, you aren’t to blame. Neither am I or anyone else in this room.” He looked at his aunt in a meaningful way. “My parents and Lisa’s parents... they’re the bad guys in this story, and they are never going to be a threat to Luka or us again.”
Doris glanced over at Trevor, and he nodded. “Yes, my mom’s still out there, but her attorneys think her psychological state is never going to be right again. She hasn’t stopped ranting and raving about nonsense since that night. Besides, one of her legs had to be amputated because of infection, and the other is always going to give her trouble. Even if she gets a light sentence, she isn’t going to be a threat to Luka or me ever again.”
Doris lowered her head as a tear fell from her cheek.
Trevor put his hand on her shoulder. “Aunt Doris, she’s your sister. You love her in a way I never have and never can. I’ll never begrudge you any attention you give her, as long as we both agree it should never involve me or Luka.”
She stood up and hugged him. “Agreed.”
“I need to get my life back in order,” he said. “That means I need to be able to function here without all of you.” When he glanced around the room, he laughed. “You guys look like I just punched you all in the stomach.”
“Trevor, honey,” Mom chimed in. “I agree you need to get back to a normal life. I said so myself just a while ago, but are you sure you don’t need help for a bit longer?”
“Mrs. Reed…” Trevor hesitated. “Matilda, if the truth be known, I’d move the two of you in full time and hide away in fear for the rest of my life. But, if I do that, Luka will never be a normal kid. I’ve got to learn to trust that he isn’t in danger from everyone in the world. Besides, you all have your own lives. Peter, you have to find another job and Matilda, you have a home in Austin. Aunt Doris and I also have to get back to living our lives. And she has to reconnect with Leonardo.”
Another Chance With Love (Chance Series Book 2) Page 17
