Safe On Base

by Sandra R Neeley

  “What is it?” she asked.

  “Lucas just informed Riley he needed to dig a grave or six, because whichever ones I didn't kill, he planned on taking out because of the way you were treated,” Basilio said.

  “Oh my gosh, he doesn’t have to kill them. I don’t want anyone in trouble or risking themselves or their futures for me.”

  “You don’t have to worry about it, love. I can promise you Lucas won’t kill them.”

  “Are you sure you can stop him?” Renata asked.

  “Absolutely,” Basilio answered.

  “How?” she asked.

  “Because I’m going to kill them,” Basilio said.

  “No, I’m going to kill them,” Roman said, coming out of the kitchen, wiping his hands on a dish towel.

  “Nobody’s going to kill them. I don’t want anyone to end up punished or having to pay for protecting me. I just want them to leave us alone,” Renata said.

  “You don’t understand how we work, Renata. We’re human, but we’ve never bred out that wildness. You hurt ours, you pay. He’s racked up a hell of a bill,” Roman explained.

  “Besides, what makes you think he’s just going to stop chasing you and leave you to your life? If you don’t want to know, I’ll make it so you never know what happened or when. Make no mistake about it, he’s going to pay, so will anybody he brings with him. Your safety is the only thing I care about. The end of that bastard is the only thing that guarantees that. Understand?” Basilio explained.

  As much as she hated it, Renata did understand. “I do.”

  “Good, now go put on your suit and let’s join the party. Kaiser is waiting for you, I’m sure,” Basilio said.

  “Yep, I’m going to put mine on, and then I gotta make a quick call and we can head over,” Roman said, walking toward his bedroom.

  “This is all just surreal,” Renata said as she allowed Basilio to lead her to the bedroom they were staying in.

  ~~~~~

  A week later…

  “That’s impossible. They can’t have vanished into thin air,” Spencer said, talking loud enough to be clearly heard via the Bluetooth speaker set sitting in the center of the large conference table.

  “I know. I can’t explain it, but there’s been no activity coming or going to or from the stadium, or Lyakhov’s home. We still aren’t sure where Renata lived, but we’re close. We believe we’ve got it narrowed down. We’ve been watching Lyakhov’s bank accounts for any activity, as well. There has been none.”

  “Renata’s employers can give no information?”

  “It appears she was a contract worker, paid in cash, and worked only on a day-to-day basis if they needed her. It makes tracing her more difficult.”

  “What about Lyakhov’s vehicles? Is one missing?” Spencer asked.

  “No, sir. They are all accounted for. Three at his home, one at the stadium.”

  Erick sat at the head of the conference table, pinching the bridge of his nose between his thumb and his forefinger. “Then he was apparently picked up from the stadium. It’s been a week. While I’m sure he spends a good bit of time there, he cannot live there. Has anyone bothered to review security footage to see what manner of conveyance arrived at the stadium to collect him?” Erick demanded, his voice getting louder with each word spoken.

  There was silence on the other end of the line, before finally a hesitant voice answered. “No, sir. We’ve not reviewed security footage.”

  “Are you, or are you not linked into their computers?” Erick demanded.

  “We are, sir.”

  “Then use your damned brains. Access their security feed and determine how he left the facility!” Erick bellowed.

  “Yes, sir! Right away, sir!”

  “Do not hang up!” Spencer ordered.

  “We’re here, sir,” a voice answered.

  “What date are you looking into bank transactions?” Spencer asked.

  “From the date you notified us you first saw her on television, sir.”

  Erick and Spencer shared a look. Then Erick spoke the words that had been playing on his mind since this phone call began. “They’re idiots, and far too inefficient to be a part of my organization. They have twenty-four hours, or they’ll be replaced with IT people who can perform as requested.”

  “We can complete the job, Prime!” a voice was brave enough to respond.

  Erick gave a single nod to Spencer.

  Spencer nodded back. “The first time we saw Renata via the footage we sent you was a rerun. It was not live footage. Go back to the original day of the broadcast and review records from the day before until now.”

  There was silence on the other end of the phone. “On it right away. Our apologies for the inefficiency. We’ll be in touch before the end of the day.”

  “See that you are,” Spencer directed.

  ~~~~~

  Renata and Kaiser took their time walking through the trees, collecting leaves and blades of grass, little stones and sticks as they spent a relaxing morning wandering through the woods over the rise behind the trailer park. From time to time they’d stop so Kaiser could try to climb a tree, but Renata only let him get so high before she’d call him back down.

  They’d just made it to the private stream tucked away behind a thicket of really dense shrubbery and undergrowth, when they heard Basilio calling out to them. “Renata? It’s me, love,” he said, announcing himself so he’d not startle them. Moments later the dense foliage at the opposite end of the little secret oasis was brushed aside as his arm pushed small branches out of the way so he could enter.

  “Did I startle you? I tried to let you know I was here,” Basilio said.

  “I knew you were coming already,” Renata answered, smiling at him.

  “I told Mama you were following us,” Kaiser said proudly. “I could smell ya,” he finished on a grin.

  “Maybe I should stop wearing aftershave,” Basilio mumbled.

  “I’d still smell ya,” Kaiser said, sitting down on the small bank of land beside the creek to take his tennis shoes off so he could wade in the creek.

  “Is there a problem?” Renata asked, her ability to tell when he had something on his mind at full force. It unnerved him, that though she was human, she could read him that well.

  “No, not a problem, just…” he stumbled on his words, not sure how to say what he wanted to say.

  “What is it?” Renata asked, walking toward Basilio.

  “Couple of things. I spoke to Coach. He fed the media and the bigwigs at corporate the story that I’m injured and recovering. It bought us a little time, three months or so.”

  “That’s good, right?” Renata asked.

  “It is. But I still have the rest of the season on contract. The way my contract reads is that if I miss any extended period of time, I have to make it up during the next season and see that season through to the finish.”

  Renata thought about what he’d said. “So, even though you’re excused for at least the next three months, you will have to go back and finish out the season, then instead of it being your last, you’ll have to complete next season, too.”

  “Exactly.”

  “How do you feel about that?” Renata asked.

  “I’m not sure. I love baseball, always have. But I know you aren’t interested in being part of that world, and I don’t want to be away from you. You and Kaiser are my world now.”

  “I like baseball. I think I should get to play,” Kaiser announced, standing at the edge of the trickling stream and dipping his toes into the cool water.

  Basilio smiled at the little boy that had come to represent so much to him. “We can see if we can find you a team,” Basilio promised.

  “Really?” Kaiser asked, looking up with a huge smile on his face, his eyebrows raised and nothing but hope all over his face.

  “Really,” Basilio answered.

  “Well, we need to decide where we’re going to live first. Maybe the county will have a local ball pa
rk or something for baseball or tee ball,” Renata added.

  “That’s the other thing,” Basilio said.

  “What’s the other thing?” Renata asked.

  “I have something I want to show you both. If you don’t mind cutting your morning short and coming with me, that is,” Basilio said.

  “Am I gonna like it?” Kaiser asked.

  “I think you will. I hope you will,” Basilio answered.

  “Will I?” Renata asked, watching Basilio suspiciously.

  “I certainly hope so,” Basilio said sincerely.

  “Do I have to put my shoes back on?” Kaiser said, still standing in the water, wiggling his chubby little toes.

  “Nope. In fact, you don’t have to walk at all. How about,” Basilio said, striding toward Kaiser where he stood in the stream, “you ride the whole way back?” he said, sweeping Kaiser up to sit on his shoulders.

  Kaiser squealed and laughed when Basilio jogged a few steps, intentionally jostling Kaiser as he gripped Basilio’s hair to keep his balance on Basilio’s shoulders. “Okay! Let’s go see what you want to show us,” Kaiser agreed, still laughing.

  Basilio started toward the shrubbery he’d come through to get to the stream he knew Renata and Kaiser were headed to as he tracked them. He realized that Renata hadn’t moved from the spot she’d been in. He turned and looked at her and found her standing there watching him with a smile on her face and her eyes wet and teary. “Renata?” he asked, taking a step toward her. “What’s wrong?” he asked, clearly concerned.

  Renata shook her head. “Nothing. Not a single thing,” she answered, walking toward them with her smile still in place. When she reached Basilio, she reached out, placing her hand on Basilio’s stomach, then ran her hand up to his chest and smiled up at him.

  Basilio looked down at her, finally leaning over just enough to press his lips to hers while using his right hand to hold Kaiser in place on his shoulders.

  Renata cupped Basilio’s jaw tenderly and kissed him again.

  “You ready?”

  “I am,” Renata said, reaching up and patting Kaiser’s leg. “You happy, buddy?” she asked.

  “Yep. I like ‘Silio,” Kaiser answered.

  “Me, too,” Renata agreed, following Basilio back through the underbrush, then through the woods back to Roman’s house.

  Chapter 12

  “Where are we going?” Kaiser asked, sitting in his car seat, strapped in nice and safe.

  “I’m showing you something, remember?” Basilio asked.

  “Yeah, but where is it?” Kaiser persisted.

  “I can’t tell you. It would give away the surprise,” Basilio said, chuckling.

  “It’s really pretty out here,” Renata said, sitting in the passenger seat, watching all the farmland and trees go by.

  “It is. I love the way the land rolls,” Basilio said, reaching for her hand and moving it over to his leg to hold it there. A while later he slowed the car and put on his blinker.

  Renata looked to the right, not sure where they could be going. There was an expanse of green grassy land, a white gravel road leading into some trees, and not much else could be seen from the old two lane road they were on.

  “Where are we going?” Renata asked.

  “Now you sound like Kaiser,” Basilio said. “Trust me.”

  “Where are we going?” Kaiser immediately piped up from the back seat.

  Basilio glanced at Renata and grinned. “You see what you did?” he teased.

  Renata chuckled, then returned her attention to the trees they were approaching as they followed the unmarked white gravel driveway. As soon as they drove past the tree line, the road turned first to the right, then the left. About one hundred feet later the trees began to thin, exposing the fact that the road was actually a driveway that led to a house. Renata leaned forward looking left and right, trying to see everything she could at once. There were huge oak trees so big she and Basilio couldn’t have reached around them to join their hands together if they tried, dotting the landscape to the left and the right. There were several of them toward the back of the property as well, and just after where they stood, the tree line began to get thick again far behind the house. There was a huge pond in the middle of the property. The house sat on the top of the highest rise to the left of the pond, and what she thought was a barn sat on a rise to the right of the pond, which sat between the two rises in a natural low spot between the two rises.

  “This is so beautiful,” Renata said reverently, as Basilio drove them up the meandering white gravel drive toward the house.

  He brought the car to stop on what looked like a parking pad just in front of the house and got out.

  Renata opened her door and slowly got out of the car, her attention still on the house, the trees, the pond.

  Kaiser released the harness on his own car seat and went into Basilio’s arms the minute Basilio opened the back door to get him. He looked around just like his mother did — almost spellbound by the feel of the place.

  “Listen, Mama. You hear the birds?” he asked.

  Sure enough, the air was filled with an array of birds calling, toads croaking, the breeze blowing through the trees.

  “What do you think?” Basilio asked, walking toward the pond with Renata following him.

  “It’s gorgeous here. And the feeling I get just being here… It’s so peaceful,” Renata said.

  “Look at that frog!” Kaiser shouted. “Let me down so I can catch him!” he insisted.

  “You don’t have shoes on!” Renata chided him.

  “So?” he answered, still struggling to get down.

  Basilio was carrying him, and turned Kaiser to face him. “Listen to me. I’ll let you down, but if you get one toe in that pond, one toe, you will wait in the car for your Mom and me. You understand?”

  “Yes, sir,” Kaiser answered dejectedly.

  “He’s okay, it’s soft grass, and it’s been cut recently, no little beasties hiding in it. Okay?” Basilio asked, looking at Renata.

  “Okay,” she answered. Then her attention drifted over to the house. It was an older two-story farmhouse, but meticulously well maintained from the looks of it. It was painted pale yellow with white trim and shutters, and a wraparound porch that encircled the entire house.

  “I love that house. I can just imagine the happy memories that it’s seen.”

  “And will see,” Basilio added.

  Renata nodded, then turned in a circle taking the whole place in, while Basilio watched her.

  She actually seemed to breathe easier here.

  “Riley told me about this place, so me and Roman came to see it the other day when we were out. It was so beautiful and just had such a feel about it, I had to bring you back to see it. To see if you felt the same standing here as I did,” Basilio explained.

  “It’s beautiful. Thank you for bringing me here. It’s this kind of place, with exactly this peaceful feeling that I hope to have in our own place someday,” Renata answered.

  “I’m glad to hear you say that,” Basilio admitted.

  “Why’s that?” she asked, smiling as Kaiser picked up small pebbles at the edge of the pond and tossed them.

  “Because I bought it,” Basilio answered.

  Renata spun and looked at him. “You what?” she asked.

  “I bought it. It’s ours. This is our home, Renata. This land, the pond, the trees, all of it from the main highway all the way back to the fence line around the perimeter and the same to the left and right.

  Renata was speechless, she just looked at him with her mouth hanging open.

  “Say something, honey,” Basilio encouraged. “Isn’t this exactly the place you described? It’s what you wanted, right?” he asked.

  “Yes, but…” she said, feeling all kinds of conflicting emotions. The turmoil inside her was keeping her from putting sentences together.

  “Don’t you like it? You said how beautiful it is, how peaceful it is,” Basilio sai
d.

  “But… I…” she struggled to make him understand what she was feeling, though even she herself wasn’t sure. “I don’t need fancy and flash, I told you that.”

  “This is not fancy and flash. This is an investment in our future. It’s not tossing our money around and making a statement to try to impress anybody or show that we’ve made it one way or another. It’s home. It’s where Kaiser can run and play without having to worry about anyone seeing him. It’s where I can shift and run with him without worrying about anything at all other than seeing our son smile and become the young man he’s meant to be. It’s where we can raise our family, fill that house with kids, invite our friends for birthday parties and barbecues, put in a pool like Riley’s and spend the days swimming and loving and laughing.

  It’s close enough to Roman and Riley that if we need them, they can be here in about twenty minutes. It’s also far enough away that we’ve got our privacy. It’s home, Renata, it’s not to impress anyone. It’s different than that. I thought that I had to flaunt those things and accumulate those things to impress my mate when I found her. I had no idea that all I had to do was look into my heart and let her do the same. That’s all this. A reflection of the life I want with you and with Kaiser.”

  “And my frog!” Kaiser yelled, poking at a huge frog with a stick he’d managed to find.

  Basilio and Renata both laughed. “And Kaiser’s frog,” Basilio added.

  “Can I have a horse?” Kaiser asked. “We got a barn already,” he said, pointing his stick at the barn.

  Renata stood there, her eyes glued to Basilio’s, and he stood perfectly still, not looking away from her, waiting for her to respond. Finally, she walked toward him, and took his face in her hands. She pulled him down to her level and pressed her lips against his. “I love you,” she whispered, between peppered kisses to his lips.