by Debbie Zello
Aiden was banging around in the kitchen, placing dirty utensils, pots and odd items in the sink. He looked over at Briah lovingly, feeling that even the small distance between them was too much for him. Their time apart had taught him just how precious their time together was to him.
Aiden had made a makeshift table on the floor for them to eat on. Four sofa pillows with the plate-glass top from her end table covering them. He added a red tablecloth he had found artfully folded to cover the items underneath. He was going to use her candlesticks but felt the construction wasn’t stable enough so he went with tea lights to help set his quixotic mood.
Within a few minutes, Aiden had the lovely dinner on their table and the two of them were enjoying their first Christmas Eve together. “This is absolutely delicious, baby,” Briah said, licking the juice off her lips.
“Thank you,” Aiden said watching her intently. He had all he could do not to push their dishes aside and make love to her right there.
“I made an appointment with the wedding consultant for lunch on December 26th to finalize our plans. I figured with Pete, Clair and the kids, Ryan and Cindy, Stu, and my friend Carla, that’s eleven for dinner. Is there anyone else that you want?”
“No, that’s fine with me. As long as you are there. That’s all I really want.”
“I’ll be there. You can count on it,” she said smiling. “Can you meet me at her office in the lodge around eleven-thirty?”
“Yes, I can. Just remind me where to meet you, that morning,” he said getting up to clear the plates. If he didn’t get going on the dishes, they would never get to the best part of the evening, at least as far as he was concerned.
“Do you need some help in the kitchen?” Briah called from her cat-like curl in front of the fireplace. He smiled back at her, unwilling to allow her to move, and shook his head.
“You stay right there, baby, and enjoy the fire. I’ll be back in a few minutes.
Briah closed her eyes feeling the warmth cover her. The Christmas music playing softly in the background soon had her half way to dreaming. Then she felt the strong, hard body lay down behind her. His muscular arm curled around her and pulled her close to his chest. “This is what I have been waiting for all day,” he whispered in her ear.
“Mmmm, me too,” she whispered back, dreamily. Aiden moved her so she was lying on her back. He kissed her sweetly. She cracked open her eyes and noticed all the lights were off. The only light was from the warm fireplace. She looked at him and he was naked next to her.
“Should I make love to you right here? Or should I carry you to the bedroom?” She considered his soft beautiful eyes. The eyes she hoped she would be looking into for the rest of her life.
“I think we won’t be able to make it that far. Right here…is perfect.”
They made love all through the night, finally moving to the bedroom when the fire died and it got too cold on the floor. Aiden covered her with his body, as he moved gently, at first, inside her, then feverishly to the finish. Briah arched her back into him and smiled as they reached their joined climaxes. So complete was their love that they both felt if they died now, it would be all right.
In the morning, Briah woke to Aiden saying, “Merry Christmas, sweetheart and Happy Birthday, Jesus.”
“It’s not really his birthday. You know that, right?” she said sleepily.
“It’s not? How do you know that? It’s always been his birthday.”
“It’s the pagan belief that the sun was born on December twenty-fifth. Since Jesus was the son of God, it is likely a compromise between the early Christians and the pagans to make his birthday that day.
“Think about it. In scripture, it states the shepherd’s were keeping watch over their sheep in the fields. December in Jordan is very cold, well below freezing at night. Shepherds would not be sleeping out in the open, in their freezing fields. They and their sheep would be inside where it’s warmer.
“A document was discovered that was written in AD 243. It says that Jesus was born on March twenty-eighth. That might be too early in the year. Scholars figure he was born somewhere between the end of August and early September.”
“Well we can’t have back to school and Christmas sales at the same time,” Aiden said kissing her.
“No, we can’t,” she said kissing him back. “As much as I hate to leave this warm bed and you, I have to get going. It will be busy today with everyone trying out the new equipment and clothes they got for Christmas and Hanukkah.” She reluctantly got out of bed and went into the bathroom.
Aiden got up and went to the kitchen to make Briah and himself some coffee. He made her a quick omelet and placed it on the plate just as she walked into the kitchen. “Thank you, baby,” she smiled as she sat. She took a forkful and ate it. “Mmmm. This is so good.” Aiden chuckled. He loved her little moans and mutterings.
“What time will you be done today?”
“Somewhere around five, I hope. I’m going to stop here and change and then I’ll be over. Plan on six. If it will be any later, I’ll call to warn you.”
“Okay. I’ll keep an eye out for you. All those condominiums look alike. In the dark, it might take you a minute to find us. I guess if you look for my car that might be best.”
“I will. I bought some presents for Pete, Clair, and the kids. They’re in my trunk. Do you want to take them with you?”
“No, you bought them, you bring them.”
“Okay. I gotta go or I’ll be late. I love you,” she said kissing him good-bye at the door.
“I love you, too. Don’t work too hard today.” He waved to her as she drove past the house. As he was closing the door, he noticed the black car that followed behind. For a split second, he thought it was odd that the man driving had his arm resting by the window effectively blocking his face. It wasn’t as if the sun was shining in his eyes. Aiden shook off the thought, thinking his cop-sense was working overtime again. They were in Vermont, cow country, not where the bad-guys lived.
Briah arrived at the mountain giving everyone she passed a cheerful Merry Christmas greeting. Even though the mountain was operating on their regular schedule, she doubted there would be many people until the afternoon. She guessed the store would be busy with returns and exchanges so she had an extra person on all day.
Briah was getting her equipment ready when Tom walked in. “Merry Christmas, Cherie.”
“Merry Christmas, Tom. Was Santa good to you?” Briah asked.
“I don’t know yet. Everyone was still sleeping when I left. I’m staying until noon unless it’s god-awful busy here.”
“Even if it is, go home. One person more or less won’t make a difference,” Briah said.
“I’ll remember you said that next week when I make you take the weekend after your wedding off,” he said smiling.
“Oh my God, a week from today I’ll be already married!” she squeaked, looking shocked at the sound of her words.
“It kinda sneaks up on you! I’m married fifteen years and it doesn’t seem that long,” he said walking away.
Briah went for her morning run. With the overnight addition of another inch or so of beautiful, fluffy, dry snow, conditions were near perfect. There should not be any complaints this week over the skiing situation. She breathed a sigh of relief over that.
Around noon, the mountain was alive with humanity. Everyone was up, fed, and on their new skis. Briah watched from mid-way lodge as a tiny little boy got off the lift with his parents. He couldn’t have been more than two-years old. She wondered if that might be her, Aiden and their child in a few years.
By four-thirty most of the skiers were done for the day, choosing to have Christmas dinner with their families. Briah and her team took one last run to make sure there were no stragglers left. She was thrilled she would be getting out on time. She was excited to spend some time with Aiden and Pete. She loved the way they busted each other.
As she locked up the store, she called Aiden. “Hi, baby. I�
��m just finishing up. I’m going to stop home and change. I should be there in about forty minutes.”
“Okay. I’ll be looking for you. I love you.”
“Love you, too. Bye.”
Briah got home jumped out of the car and ran into the house. She already knew what she was going to wear to dinner. A pair of black slacks with a red and white sweater she’d found on sale in November.
She took a quick shower, making sure not to get her hair wet, as she had no time to dry it. She got dressed and fixed her make-up. She combed her hair as she ran to put her boots on. Back out the door in twenty minutes flat.
The ride to the Trapp Family Lodge was so pretty with the homes decorated for the holidays. Stowe looked picturesque and peaceful. Briah tried to notice every detail of her first Christmas in Vermont. The first of many. Her first with Aiden.
What she didn’t notice was the dark colored car following directly behind her. She didn’t notice the car pull into the condos when she did. Nor did she observe the car turn exactly when she did through the property.
Briah was looking at signs and house numbers and not behind her. She slowed further and finally pulled into a driveway on the left, parking behind Aiden’s rental car. She put the car in park and turned it off. She felt around her door for the button that popped open her trunk. Pressing it, she then opened her door and stepped out.
Briah didn’t notice the car parked but still running in the street, nor the man that stood next to it in the shadows. “Briah Spencer, I presume,” a voice in the night said. Briah turned to look in the direction of the words.
“Who is there?”
“You don’t know me, Briah, but I sure do know you,” he said stepping out of the dark and much closer.
“I think you have the wrong person. My name is Cherie Ames,” Briah said as every hair on her neck rose in fear. Something about his voice and stature scared her. She looked around quickly for somewhere to run or a way to get away. All she could see were piles of snow and an icy road in front of her. There was no means of escaping him.
“I’ve been watching you, Briah. You in your cute new house. Driving your cute new car to your nice new job. All the time you were thinking that you were all alone in the world. Isn’t that right?” he spoke softly but with an underlying menacing tone.
“I don’t know what you are talking about. I’m going inside to my friends. They are all waiting for me. I suggest you go on home to your family,” she said, beginning to walk away. She stopped when she heard the click. She had heard that same noise twice before. Once in the closet of Dan’s office. The second time in the backseat of the car after she testified in court. His feet crunched in the dry snow as he walked up closer to her.
“You know I have to do this, don’t you? You can’t go around testifying against the wrong people and get away with it. We would have no discipline if we allowed that to happen. We simply can’t have that, Briah,” he growled.
“I haven’t done anything. I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said, her voice shaking. He walked around her and stood in front of her. Roland was a murderer but he only shot cowards in the back. This woman was no coward. She took on the Denver mob and up to this point, she had won. He rather respected her.
“Well, I have a job to do and I’ve already spent more time on you than I have on anyone. Jeanette learned her lesson and now it’s your turn to learn yours. It’s been a pleasure getting to know you, Briah. You’re actually a nice lady. It’s a damn shame I have to waste you.”
For the first time in her life, Briah felt desolate with no options before her. She looked up at the stars and whispered, “Aiden…” As the shot rang out through the peaceful Vermont night.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Aiden stood out on the balcony leaning against the black wrought iron railing, as he looked at the snow-covered mountains. It was very early Christmas morning. The very first Christmas morning, after the worst Christmas night of his life. Shortly after that night, he’d been whisked out of the country and deposited here, in Switzerland, for his own protection.
He was watching one of the birds picking at something in the bushes below his balcony as his mind drifted back to the terrible night a whole year ago…
“Would you guys do me a favor and watch out the front windows. Let me know when you see a car that looks lost? The car will be driving very slowly and looking for the house numbers,” Aiden asked Pete’s kids.
“Sure, Uncle Aiden,” Pete’s oldest son, Pete Jr. said. The three kids took up their positions in front of the window arguing about who would see the car first.
“I’m sure we’ll be sorry soon that you did that,” Clair said listening to her children arguing.
“They have been good all day. It was bound to end sometime,” Pete quipped. The three adults were involved in finishing the preparation of the dinner. Pete was making cocktails. Clair was tossing the salad and Aiden was setting the table.
The opened presents from Santa were all strewn around the living room. There were still a few unopened presents left. Most of them were for Aiden and Briah. “I probably should ask you, what do we call her? Briah or Cherie?” Clair asked.
“I call her Briah unless someone is around. Luckily it was only when her friend stopped by. If we stay here, I should get used to Cherie. I’m bound to slip up with Briah if I don’t.”
“This will probably be the last time we see her, so I don’t think that’s a problem for us,” Pete said, as he tasted his concoction. “Mmm, that’s good.”
“I see a car coming real slow down the hill, Uncle Aiden. It’s turning in the street. It’s stopping. It’s pulling into the driveway. It’s stopping,” Pete Jr. said, giving a blow-by-blow description.
“Thanks Pete. Wave out the window and let her know she is at the right house, please,” Aiden said, glad that she finally made it safely there.
“We’re waving but I don’t think she sees us.”
“You should go out through the garage, Aiden. Those front steps are probably frozen over by now. I don’t want you or Briah to fall. That’s no way to start a marriage, in a cast,” Clair said from the kitchen.
“Will do, thanks. I’m going to get my coat. It’s damn cold out there. I know she had a few things to bring in,” Aiden said. He walked to the closet to retrieve his coat. As he stuck his arms in the coat, he walked to the garage door and opened it.
Aiden could barely see into the darkened driveway. A small light from Briah’s open trunk held little light as the trunk was wide open and blocking his view. As he walked past Pete’s rental car he thought he heard a man’s voice. He stopped to listen more closely to what was being said.
He couldn’t make out the words but something in Briah’s voice told him she was afraid. He took one-step and went for his shoulder harness where his gun usually was. Shit, he didn’t have it. Who would need a gun on Christmas?
The driver’s window was down on Pete’s car. Please, Pete, please have your gun in the side pouch like you always do. Aiden kept thinking in his head. He inched his hand through the open window. Sticking his head in to give himself a longer reach, he felt the side pouch. Sure enough, his hand felt the cold metal of Pete’s gun.
Having no idea if it was loaded or not, and having no way to noiselessly check it, Aiden silently walked out of the garage and onto the driveway. He walked in the darkness towards the two voices.
Approximately thirty feet in front of him, Aiden could make out the silhouette of a tall man. But it was what he heard that made him frightened… “You’re actually a nice lady. It’s a damn shame I have to waste you.”
“What are you doing out here in the cold? Come back to bed, baby,” Briah said shivering under the blanket, she had wrapped around herself.
“I was just thinking about our last Christmas. I’m hoping this one is far less exciting,” he said placing his arm around her shoulder.
“I certainly hope so. It isn’t every day a crazy hit man finds you, holds a
gun on you and your Knight-In-Shining-Armor shows up and saves you,” she said kissing him.
“I wouldn’t go that far. It was a lucky shot. If Pete hadn’t accidentally left his gun in the car, loaded, both of us would probably be dead.”
“I guess baby Jesus was watching out for us,” Briah said taking his hand to walk back inside. She climbed back in the bed and snuggled under the covers while Aiden locked the balcony door behind them. He turned to look at his lovely wife all burrowed under the quilts.
“Is there room for me in there?”
“Always,” she said throwing back the covers for him. He got in next to her and covered up.
“I find it so funny, what he said as he lay dying in my arms,” Aiden said.
“What did he say? With all the commotion of Pete coming out and calling the police and ambulance, I don’t think you ever told me that he said anything.”
“He said, “I see the angels. Rapture. The rapture begins when the pain finally stops.” And then he died. I found it so strange that a man who’d killed so many would believe in the hereafter.”
“Maybe he wasn’t so bad after all.”
“I wouldn’t go that far, my love,” Aiden said tightening his arm around her.
“I’m glad the whole investigation was over so we could get married on New Year’s Eve. It was funny having Brice and Blain there.”
“And Chief Wesson and Ernie March. It was our small wedding that turned into a much larger one once everyone found out where we were.”
“That was funny. Now we’re here under yet another name and life. Still running from David Slater and his family of murderers.”
“We’re out of the country. They’ll never find us here. You’re safe with me forever…
Acknowledgement
The Author acknowledges the trademark status and trademark owners of the following wordmarks mentioned in this work of fiction:
