Hannibal is at the Gates

by David Kershner

  Startled by the slamming door, Katherine ran over and yanked on the handle. “Daddy, NO!” she screamed into the evening air.

  With the exception of Heather and Basilia, the house immediately emptied and went in pursuit of Josh. On his way out, Evan checked for his boss’s Beretta.

  It was gone.

  As the search party began exiting, the barn doors burst open. Josh and his Rhino quickly filled the void. He turned the wheel hard over to start heading toward the forest trail. The abrupt command put the vehicle up on two wheels. He deftly regained control and in a flash, before most were off the porch, the tail lights disappeared into the wilderness.

  The group scrambled into the Sheriff’s Blazer and Juan’s truck and went in pursuit of their father, friend, and employer. The four-wheel drives made quick work of the gap in distance and arrived at Javy’s location just as Josh was exiting his ATV.

  Josh began marching steadfastly toward the semi-conscious Javy. His daughters watched in horror as he drew his weapon level. Before the Blazer came to a complete stop, Evan jumped out and sprinted towards Josh.

  Continuing to close the distance between the two, Josh flicked the safety off and started directing it at his target. Tunnel vision was forming as he zeroed in on the pronounced welt from Layla’s pistol whipping.

  Die you little son-of-a –…

  Just as the powder in the cartridge was being ignited, Evan slammed into his employer and disrupted Josh’s careful aim. The bark above Javy’s head exploded from the impact of the discharged round as the two tumbled to the ground. The crack of the weapon echoing through the forest made the girls scream in protest.

  Josh actively resisted being restrained and continued to do so until the Sheriff cuffed him. Through it all, Josh could hear the bound man taunting him.

  Javy was inciting the rage of his executioner, “I can’t believe you missed! Some Carlos Hathcock you are! If they had sent you instead of Lee Harvey, JFK would still be bangin’ movie stars and cocktail waitresses. Maybe it would be easier for you if I was hanging in a warehouse!”

  No sooner had Josh been brought to his feet as he took off running toward Javy. He managed to get a boot to the side of the taunting man’s head before he was dragged down by Evan again.

  Josh screamed out in anger and pleaded to be un-cuffed. The Sheriff drove his knee into Josh’s spine until he relaxed.

  When Javy caught sight of the Jim in his uniform, he upped his ante. “You sissy bitch! You brought the ‘man’ with you? What’s the matter Mr. Macho-Marine, you afraid to go mano-a-mano with me?” the scrawny malnourish addict asked. Then he started signing, “Bad boys, bad boys...”

  Once calm, Josh was helped to his feet and dragged back to his Rhino, Javy just kept singing. The prisoner bound to the tree couldn’t resist and switched his tune, “Na-na-nah-na, na-na-nah-na, hey, hey, hey, goodbye...” as his assassin was removed.

  Unable to bear her father’s agony, Katherine walked over to Javy and provocatively straddled his immobilized legs. She had experienced enough of life at this point to know what made men tick. Javy lost interest in his taunts as she slowly and seductively lowered herself down to just above his groin. She could tell he was becoming excited by their proximity.

  In a low sultry whisper she said, “Hey, Javy.”

  The man that had haunted their restless nights for over a decade became very still. His singular focus now was to satisfy his urges. Katherine was batting them around like a kitten with a ball of string.

  “When you’re sitting in your jail cell, I want you to think about only one thing,” she began as she drew closer to his ear.

  “Ooo, I’m gonna enjoy this. What should I dream of, sweet little Katherine?” he cooed.

  “He may have missed you, but I sure as hell didn’t,” she said as she jammed her thumb in one of his bullet wounds. When she stood up, she forcefully added, “Now shut up!”

  The lawman and Evan placed Josh in the passenger seat of the Rhino as Heather and Basilia arrived in the farm truck.

  “Take him back to the house, Juan,” Sheriff Watson commanded. “And make sure he stays there.”

  He then turned and looked at his friend. “That was stupid, Josh,” he said as he exhaled. To ensure that he was paying attention, and to let Josh know he was serious, he said, “This isn’t a warehouse. You catch my meaning?”

  Josh shot back a glare that screamed murderous intent.

  “If you leave the house, I will arrest you. There is no double jeopardy law to save you. Am I clear?” the Sheriff asked.

  “Crystal,” Josh growled in reply.

  * * *

  After Juan returned Josh to the cabin and uncuffed him, the protective father was unable to just sit idle and simply wait for them to return. Josh spent the next hours cooking in an effort to divert his aggression and anger. The two men barely said a word.

  With all of the cars, trucks, and ambulances coming and going up and down the driveway, the wired alarm system was constantly chiming and dinging. In a fit of madness and frustration, Josh had ripped the device from the wall.

  Once the girls had given their statements to the Sheriff, and Javy had been unceremoniously shoved into the ambulance under heavy guard, they were returned to their father. Heather was gratefully relieved to hear that her manager was still alive. Her friend was bruised and battered, but conscious and en route to the hospital.

  After being released by the Sheriff, the three girls, without so much as a peep, walked through the front door and immediately headed upstairs to find warm dry clothes. The girls were cold and wet from the rain, but no one was tired. The adrenaline was keeping them going for the time being. Basilia started a fire in an attempt to take the chill off of the girls and the cool fall air. The Martinez family took their leave for the evening when it became apparent that Josh needed to be alone with his daughters.

  Josh asked the trio downstairs. They came when called, but rebuffed his enticements of food. After enough glares had been flashed his way, he asked the three to take a seat on the couch. Without uttering a word, Josh produced Amanda’s letter.

  For Josh, trying to find the right words would have only generated a long drawn out debate. The letter would explain their intertwined histories far better than he could. The only person that could provide the answers that they each were seeking was his ex-wife.

  He handed the letter to Layla, walked to the kitchen, and began fixing a plate of food. His girls sat huddled, with a fire crackling in the fireplace, and read word for word, how the events and their lives had been thrust together by time and circumstance.

  My Dearest Josh,

  Hi, my name is Amanda and... I am an addict. I guess the secret’s out on that one. I’ve said that to absolute strangers in a hundred AA and NA meetings, but I never said it to the one person that I should have... you.

  FACT: If you are reading this, I am dead. Doesn’t much matter why or how, dead is dead.

  Layla and Katherine flipped page after page and read as their mother detailed the path and life choices that led to her dark addictions. Most of it was already known to them from their aunt. Amanda’s next item of business was to explain why she had regressed back into her dependencies.

  I cleaned myself up and became a nurse, your nurse actually. Remember how we met at the VA? We were happy with two beautiful daughters living the American dream. Then the cards came crashing down when Jessica’s daughter appeared on our doorstep. Decades of sobriety went out the window in an instant.

  She said her name was Heather, and she seemed like a very nice young lady. I’m sure she meant well. After all, she just wanted to meet her father. Unfortunately, what she didn’t know was that I was sworn to secrecy by her grandfather. He came to visit you in the hospital when you were in the coma. Brent took one look at you and all of those tubes and machines, read the doctor’s prognosis, and he knew. Well, I should say he figured you’d never be the same man he had entrusted with his daughter.

  “W
hat a cruel bastard,” Katherine said under her breathe. “No offense, Heather.”

  “None taken, I have my own issues with that man. Don’t worry, we’ll be talking.”

  He never lost hope in your recovery though. You may not have known this, but he was the anonymous source that provided your military records to Giuseppe during the trial... not that he’d ever admit it of course. In the end, it looks like he saved you as much as you did Jessica.

  “Well at least he redeemed himself by keeping Dad off death row,” Heather offered.

  “I wouldn’t be so quick to sing his praises just yet. Wait til you need the next paragraph,” Layla replied.

  Unfortunately, for my side of the bargain, he asked me to do whatever it took to prevent any of the media coverage from reaching you. He didn’t want you to hear a single mention of Jessica or the child you two had created. So, I did as promised. I broke TV’s, abruptly changed channels, and cancelled subscriptions. I did everything I could in order to keep my promise.

  “That son of a bitch,” Heather said incredulously.

  I didn’t do it for him though. I did it for me. I thought that if I kept you from all of that then I could keep you for myself. I thought I could hide you away from the rest of the world. You were, and are, a good man who would do anything for his family, and I blew it. When Heather showed up, I felt everything crashing down around me. I was convinced if you ever knew that she existed you’d leave me and the girls to fend for ourselves.

  “Hey, Dad?” Layla called out to her father.

  “Yeah?” he replied eagerly as he poked his head out of the kitchen doorway.

  “You wouldn’t have left us if you knew, would you?”

  “No sweetie. I took a vow. It would have been difficult, but I would have done everything in my power to make it work so we all knew Heather and Jessica. I –,” he said as he tried to provide a thorough answer.

  While he was answering, she continued to read. “Never mind, mom answered it,” she said cutting him off.

  Undeterred, Josh lingered in the doorway. He knew more questions were coming his way.

  In hindsight, you’d have never done that, but how was I going to compete with a movie star? The simple answer was that I couldn’t, or, at least I didn’t think I could. So I had a drink. That led to another, and another, and another, and that’s when I met Emil Bedford. He eventually reintroduced me to an old friend, heroin.

  “Holy crap!” Katherine exclaimed. “That was mom in the warehouse!”

  Once I started using again, the affair started and it all went sideways. I told him about your uncle’s wealth and we hatched the plan. I swear, the girls were never supposed to be hurt. The ransom would be paid, the girls would be released, and Emil and I would split the money. I was convinced you were going to leave me and I didn’t want to be left with nothing. I thought I could control the addiction. I was a misguided fool, but the heroin took me further down the rabbit hole. I couldn’t get out. Those two lecherous bastards in the warehouse deserved everything they got from you and then some. I wanted you to know that. Unfortunately, one got away. I wish I could tell you who he was, but I honestly don’t remember.

  “That dirty bitch sold us to feed her addictions because she was afraid of being alone? What kind of mother does that?” Katherine said to no one.

  I know you knew. I think I told you when you were in jail, but I can recall so very little about those days, weeks, and months. Even if you did manage to make sense of what I’m sure was incoherent drug induced babble, you never told the girls, and for that I am grateful.

  “So all this time, when one of us would mention trying to forgive her, you would always say you could never do that. Her confession in the jailhouse, is that why?” Layla asked her father.

  “Something like that,” he said briefly so as to not be cut off again.

  “It either is or it isn’t. It is not ‘something like that’,” she scolded.

  “You want full disclosure?” he asked, annoyed at her tone.

  “I think we are entitled to it now, don’t you think!” she shot back.

  “Yes, she confessed in the jailhouse, but it was damn near incoherent, like she said. As a result, I never knew if it was her or the heroin doing the talking. When I got this letter from Kristin at the funeral, I lost it all right,” he answered.

  “So this is what sent you on a bender? Why didn’t you just tell us?” Katherine asked.

  “Because you guys had just lost your mother. As screwed up as she was, I didn’t know how you two were going to handle that,” he replied.

  “So drinking yourself silly was your answer,” his youngest replied flatly.

  “Seemed like a good idea at the time,” her father answered sheepishly.

  “And your clandestine trip to California?” Heather asked.

  “When the booze ran out, I finally realized what she had written and why she went back to the drugs. She had been successful at keeping Jessica’s pregnancy from me. I didn’t know a thing about you other than what was in the letter. Then when I saw your mother had been killed in a car crash, I knew I had to try and find you. When I got there though, I chickened out. You had just lost your mother and I wasn’t entirely sure how the whole ‘Hi, I’m your long lost Dad’ thing was going to go. On top of that, Brent had successfully lied to you for your entire life. He was there too and I wasn’t prepared to deal with him, so I dropped some subtle clues and came back home praying you understood.”

  Satisfied with his answers, the girls returned their attention to the letter and dismissed their father back to the kitchen.

  I understand that in the end, the girls have witnessed far too much of my addiction for there to ever be a substantial relationship between us. I am responsible for that.

  I am so very sorry for everything. Please tell them I love them with all my heart. Each of you deserved better. I stole you for myself when I know with every fiber of my being that all three of those girls should have been Jessica’s children to bear.

  For what it’s worth, Brent was wrong by the way. You did make it back. Watching you with the girls and listening to the never-ending JD stories tells me you did.

  If you do ever meet Heather, please tell her I am sorry for keeping her father from her all these years. I don’t need a blood test to know she’s your daughter, Josh. You can see it in her eyes. Big and hazel and just like yours.

  Promise that you’ll remember me for the good things I did. Layla and Katherine were the greatest gift I could have ever received. They deserved a better mother, but they at least got the father they needed.

  Amanda

  As each of the girls completed the letter, they tearfully removed themselves from the couch and made their way to the kitchen and their father. Heather was the last to join her new family.

  When she reached the kitchen she handed the letter back to her father and said, “I’m so sorry.”

  Before Josh had a chance to reply, Layla said, “Sorry for what? You didn’t do anything wrong.”

  “I destroyed your entire family. You two were kidnapped and abused by that lunatic and his brother as a result,” Heather continued.

  “You didn’t have anything to do with that, Heather,” Katherine intoned. “Our mother was an addict. It could have been anything that sent her back down that path. Her own secrets and demons and paranoia did all of this. You didn’t do anything either one of us wouldn’t have done.” Then she turned toward her father and said, “You still should have told us about this.”

  “I wanted to tell you guys a million times. Every time I was about to, there was always a reason not to,” he answered.

  Heather wandered toward the stove and began investigating the various offerings.

  “Hungry?” her father asked.

  “Starving! What have you got?”

  “Pork tenderloin stuffed with spinach and cheese, sautéed grape tomatoes, and homemade red skinned mashed potatoes,” Josh said as he ticked off the menu items. />
  Her sisters quickly jumped in to explain her father’s coping mechanism.

  “This is completely normal. Dad cooks when he’s working things out or becomes agitated. It’s really good. You should have some,” Layla said.

  “Heather,” Josh started to say as he fixed her a plate. “I have to ask, how did you find out I was still alive? When we met in California, you said your grandmother told you?”

  “Yeah. Papaw and Nana attended some military ball or function and he had a few drinks. She says she made a comment about how sad my mom still seemed. It was like she never got over you or lack of closure or something. According to her, Papaw simply replied, ‘He’s not dead’. No preamble, just bam. There it is.”

  “Nice,” Josh said sarcastically then added, “That sounds like Brent.”

  “Nana asked him for details and he told her what happened when you were abducted. He described all of the wounds and the doctor’s reports and declared that you’d never be the same Marine or man he knew. He was trying to spare my mom a lifetime of dealing with the recovery.”

  “And what did she tell you about my time as a POW?”

  “I was sixteen and touring the country for my music at the time, but all of them always babied and protected me. She kept the details PG and omitted what I’m sure were the more graphic things.”

  After a brief pause, all Josh could think to say was, “I see.”

  Josh and his daughters continued with their meal for a few minutes in silence when Heather couldn’t resist any more.

  “Dad?” she asked.

  “Yeah, hun,” he answered reflexively.

  “What do I call you?”

  Laughing, Josh answered with, “Dad, Josh, either is fine.”