Elodie turned to show off how her butt looked in her skin-tight dress. Molly pretended she was a flirty guy at a bar and walked up to Elodie from behind—pelvis forward and chin towards the ceiling.
“Hey honey, are you an alien? Cause you’re ass is outta this world.” Molly grabbed one of Elodie’s cheeks and squeezed.
“Alright, mister, I’m going to have to ask you to calm down!” Elodie playfully covered her mouth, acting as if she was shocked by Molly’s come-on.
Molly rolled her eyes and took one final glance in the mirror, stroking her stomach.
I can’t wait to meet you, little one. Your Aunty El is going to spoil you rotten, and your Uncle Johnny too.
“Come on, you’ll have plenty of time to spend with your baby once it pops out. Tonight’s about you and me, sister.”
Chapter 84
“So where are we going anyway?”
Molly took forever getting in to the car, forgetting something each time she went to leave the house.
“If we make it on time, I booked us a table at this cool new oyster bar on Fourth. Sound good?”
Sounds like one of us will be eating something off the fish menu.
Molly nodded, not wanting to upset Elodie by telling her that seafood was one of the things that made her feel nauseous.
It’s the thought that counts.
Elodie reached across the driver’s seat and opened her glove compartment, searching around for their favorite burned CD.
“El! Keep your eyes on the road! You make me so nervous, and you don’t even have your seatbelt on. Here, I can get it.” Molly opened the case and slid the CD in to play.
Never having been much of a singer herself, Molly usually left the higher notes and longer verses for Elodie to belt out, only joining in for the chorus.
“I wanna walk on the sun, I wanna tell everyone to lighten up…”
Elodie looked over at Molly, frowning when she saw that Molly wasn’t singing along. She turned down the music until it was only playing faintly in the background.
“Forget the lyrics, Mol?” Elodie held a pretend microphone to Molly’s face, but Molly’s head turned to look behind them.
“Sorry, El, it’s just… at first I thought I was going crazy, but I think that car really has been following us. It’s a pretty secluded road and I’ve never seen that model drive down here before.”
Elodie looked in her rearview mirror and saw that there was an all-black McLaren driving closely behind them.
“Do you really take inventory of the cars on this road? If you’re that spooked, I’ll slow down and see what happens.”
Elodie put her foot gently on the brake, slowing down to a snail’s pace.
The McLaren slowed down, too.
“Maybe if I tell him to go around us?” Molly rolled down her window and waved her hand, signaling the driver behind them to pass.
“He’s probably just worried about passing—wait, that doesn’t make sense,” Elodie said, as she took in their surroundings. There were no other cars, and they were driving through a section that had dotted lines on the pavement.
Front headlights flashed, and the McLaren’s engine revved. Molly held a hand up to shield her eyes from the bright lights.
Who the hell is that? What do they want? Is this some kind of sick joke?
As the lights dimmed, Molly lowered her hand, at the same time squinting her eyes to see if she could make out who was behind the wheel. Before she could turn around to tell Elodie, the McLaren’s tires squealed and Molly felt the jolt, hitting the dashboard as the car rammed into the back of Elodie’s car.
“What the fuck! Molly, are you okay?” Elodie quickly reached out to help Molly turn around in her seat after getting the car stopped.
Molly grabbed the back of the seat and brought herself to facing forward, pointing at the road ahead of them.
“Just keep driving, El. Fast!”
Chapter 85
The fighters in Tommy’s gym fled when they heard him flying into a fit of rage. Most of them were accustomed to seeing Tommy fly off the handle from time to time, but not to this degree. Shortly after his lawyer had given him the bad news about the case, or lack thereof, Tommy took to smashing everything in his office that he could get his hands on.
He took his bottle of scotch that was already half way empty when he stormed out of his office, yelling obscenities at anyone who crossed his path.
“You were all in on this, weren’t you!? Are you gonna leave, too? What about you?” Tommy pointed his bottle at a couple of the fighters still packing up their things to leave.
“Get the fuck out of here! All of you! Get out!” Tommy charged, slamming the doors of their lockers shut before they could grab the rest of their things.
“And tell Xander I’m comin’ for him! Tommy is comin’ and he ain’t gonna stop!” Tommy slurred, spilling scotch all over the gym mats.
Once the gym was emptied, Tommy grabbed the keys to his new McLaren and left without locking the doors behind him.
Fuck this place. Someone can come in and steal all of my shit if they want to, I don’t care anymore. There’s nothin’ left anyway. Nothin’ but amateurs and ass kissers. That bitch and her unborn child ruined everything. Xander wouldn’t have done any of this if it weren’t for her… and her illegitimate brat.
Tommy started his car and pulled out of the parking lot, speeding down the road toward Xander’s house.
Tonight we’re gonna see who’s the bigger man. One on one.
When he reached the driveway, Tommy turned down the music and sat in his car outside the house, polishing off his bottle of expensive scotch and smoking a Cuban cigar. On the passenger seat was the photo of his brother—one of the only things left unscathed after Tommy’s outburst.
This shit ends tonight, brother.
Tommy quickly lowered his seat. A car was leaving Xander’s house, the gates opening and closing as it drove down the driveway. As the car passed by, Tommy peeked his head up to see who was driving. Two women, one with hair as black as night and the other with a belly as round as a beach ball.
It’s Molly and her little girlfriend.
Losing all track of who he had come to visit, Tommy raised his seat and turned on the car, making sure to leave the headlights off.
Let’s give them a little scare, why don’t we?
Tommy veered onto the road. He kept his distance, carefully navigating his way around each turn without swerving too much.
After a little while, the girls slowed down almost to a stop. Molly’s hand waved out of her window, motioning for Tommy to pass.
This isn’t over yet, sweetheart.
Chapter 86
With trembling hands, Elodie quickly put the car in drive and laid on the gas, turning on her emergency flashers as she drove.
“Molly honey, hold on! I have to get onto a main road. Holy shit! Who is this asshole?”
Molly grabbed the door handle for support and put another hand to her stomach.
This is just a bad dream. Everything’s going to be okay, baby.
The car vibrated as Elodie tried to maintain their speed. The McLaren was gaining on them again, and a straightaway was coming around the next corner. Their car suddenly lurched forward as the black car bumped into them, again and again, pushing them further each time. Molly feared that Elodie’s Oldsmobile couldn’t outrun the flashy sports car.
They finally reached the main road, and Molly prayed that someone would come to their rescue. An intersection was ahead of them, but there were no other cars in sight.
Elodie kept her eyes on the road, determined to get them to safety, although she knew her car was nowhere near fast enough. Taking the hand from her belly, Molly placed it onto Elodie’s lap.
“If something happens, El…I just want to say—”
Molly had turned to tell Elodie that she loved her, but stopped as she saw the face of their chaser laughing maniacally behind the wheel as he came up beside them.
/> “El—it’s Tommy!”
Elodie looked in time to see Tommy aggressively turning his wheel toward their car.
It was a clash of metal on metal as Tommy smashed into the side of their vehicle. Elodie tried to keep her hands on the wheel and the car on the road, but the force was too great. Tommy sent them skidding off the pavement, turning like a spinning top.
Their world blurred before them as they spun, Molly still clutching the handle and now her stomach, while Elodie leaned over with outstretched arms to protect Molly and the baby.
Molly’s life flashed before her eyes—visions of her parents pushing her on a wooden swing outside her childhood home, the first spelling bee she ever entered and won, the day she graduated, laughing hysterically with El, the day she met Xander.
I’m sorry we never got our happy ending, my love.
The car came to a brutal stop as it hit a steel post. Molly crashed into the inflated airbag—her stomach pressed against her thighs as she folded forward.
Elodie. I have to see if Elodie is okay.
A sharp pain ran across Molly’s abdomen and down her leg. She clutched her stomach as she looked over to see if Elodie was hurt.
“No, no, no, no, no!”
The front windshield was smashed open and blood was splattered across the remaining glass and into the car. Elodie was nowhere to be seen.
Chapter 87
Xander tried Elodie’s number, but it went straight to voicemail … again.
The guests were now running out of free drinks, and the food was either cold or getting soggy.
Where the hell are they? They were supposed to be here like an hour ago.
A loud cry came from the far corner of the patio where a crowd had now gathered. Xander ran over to see what was going on and found Johnny on his knees, sobbing.
Xander pushed everyone away so he could get to his best friend.
“Johnny, what happened? Did anyone see what happened?”
Johnny was hysterical, unable to answer.
Everyone was silent—wondering what had made Johnny so upset. After a few long seconds, one of Molly’s friends from the university stepped forward.
“I think he just got a call about a car accident. Molly and Elodie… I’m so sorry.”
Xander felt the blood drain from his face. His hands started to tingle and a deep, sinking feeling ran through his whole body. Everything felt like a dream, the worst kind of dream.
“No, that can’t be. Johnny? Is it true?”
With red eyes and tears streaming down his face, Johnny looked to Xander and nodded.
Xander pulled him to his feet.
“We have to go.”
Chapter 88
The emergency room looked like something straight out of a horror film. People were yelling and screaming, children were crying. Johnny sat in shock—unable to move or speak.
Xander was at the front desk, speaking to one of the nurses.
“I need to see her! For fuck sake, I’m the father of our baby! Where is she?”
The nurse was mid-sentence before Xander heard another moan coming from across the room. He turned to see a police officer and a doctor standing in front of a devastated Johnny.
Xander ran over and heard only the tail end of what they were telling Johnny.
“…I’m so sorry for your loss.”
The policeman and doctor looked at one another and prepared to leave, but stopped when they saw Xander standing behind them.
“What happened? Are they—?”
Xander’s hands were shaking uncontrollably, and the pit of his stomach made him feel like he was going to vomit. His mind flashed to thoughts of Molly and their child—how different his life would be if they were gone. He imagined his first dance with Molly at their wedding, looking into the eyes of his wife and seeing beauty in the whole world. He would never get to see his child’s first steps, or the steps they would take down the aisle on their own wedding day.
“You must be Mr. Delgado? If you’d like to take a seat…”
The officer waited for Xander to sit.
“Just tell me what happened! Are they alive? My baby?”
What kind of sick world is this if I have to bury my own wife and child?
The doctor nodded.
“Yes, Mr. Delgado. We have some good news and bad news. The good news is that Ms. Tompkins was saved by the passenger-side airbag and her fastened seatbelt—she is undergoing surgery right now to remove the baby and save both of their lives. The bad news is…”
Xander listened in horror as the doctor told him of Elodie’s death. She had been declared dead on arrival, after the police and firemen showed up at the scene to find her sprawled on the pavement, twenty feet from the vehicle. She hadn’t been wearing her seatbelt, and the impact from the unknown vehicle sent her flying through the windshield when they hit the post.
The world around him became muffled. Everything seemed to be in slow motion now as he walked over to Johnny. He grabbed onto Johnny’s arm as he cried. Johnny mumbled something Xander could only barely make out, and got to his feet, pushing past Xander on his way to the exit. Xander couldn’t find the strength to chase after him.
Wait, did Johnny say he was going to see Tommy? It couldn’t have been him… Tommy would never… Would he?
Chapter 89
The lights were on in the gym, and only one car was parked in the lot. Johnny pulled in beside Tommy’s vehicle, examining the severely scratched paint and dented body of his McLaren.
I knew it was you, Tommy. You killed my baby girl. The police say they don’t know who it is yet, but I fucking know, and soon they will, too.
Johnny grabbed his baseball bat from the trunk, expecting to have to break a window to get into the gym.
He ran to the front door and to his surprise it was unlocked. Inside, Johnny could see that Tommy had pulled the blinds down in his office, but kept his door wide open. Johnny tapped his baseball bat along the walls as he walked toward Tommy.
Stepping over broken glass and pieces of dismantled furniture, Johnny stepped into the office to find that Tommy was crouched underneath his desk, rocking back and forth.
“You fucking coward. Stand up and fight like a man! Get up!” Johnny yelled, but Tommy only sat there, still rocking.
Johnny grabbed him by the collar with both hands and pulled him to standing position. Throwing Tommy against the wall, Johnny cocked a fist and pulled back.
“You killed her!”
Chapter 90
Two hours had passed and Xander was still pacing back in forth in the waiting room. Doctor after doctor walked by, each time Xander hoping it would be the one with news on Molly and their baby.
Giving up hope that he would hear from anyone soon, Xander finally sat. He lowered his head between his knees and wept.
I just wanted to have a family. Someone to love and care for. What did I do to deserve this? What did Molly ever do to deserve this? And Elodie?
“Mr. Delgado?”
Xander sat up.
“Yes, how—did she? The baby?”
The doctor put a hand on Xander’s shoulder and smiled.
“Would you like to see them?”
He followed the doctor down a long, brightly-lit hallway until he reached a private room. Curtains were closed around the bed where Molly lay, and Xander could see a tiny baby laying in an incubator not far from her bed.
“Is that… is that my baby?” Xander wept again, this time tears of joy streaming down his face.
“Would you like to meet her?”
The doctor opened the door, and stepped aside while Xander entered the room.
He walked over to where his baby was lying—tubes and electrodes on every part of her body, monitoring her vitals as she breathed steadily, in and out. Xander watched her chest expand and contract, her arms and legs wiggling around in the enclosed space.
“Isn’t she beautiful?”
Xander turned to see the curtains had been pulled
back.
“Molly—oh my God, Molly.” Xander rushed over to her bedside. He kissed every inch of her face, brushing her hair away from her eyes and taking in her bruised and beaten body.
“I’m so glad you’re alive. I don’t know what I would do without you.”
Molly wiped the tears from Xander’s eyes.
“Shhh, Xander, I’m here.”
Xander saw how Molly was straining to smile. Parts of her face were black and blue, and most of her body was bandaged to conceal stitched wounds.
Elodie. She has to know about Elodie.
“Molly. Honey, there’s something I have to tell you.”
Xander tried to look into Molly’s eyes as he told her about Elodie, but couldn’t muster the strength to see how painful it was for Molly to learn of her best friend’s death.
Molly wailed, grabbing onto the bedsheets, then Xander. He tried to calm her as she gasped for breath between sobs. The nurse came in when he heard her cries, and administered a sedative into Molly’s arm.
“She can’t be stressed out like this right now, not while she’s recovering. Let her rest, now.”
Xander slept in a chair beside her bed. Every time he closed his eyes, he imagined a million different ways the car accident could have taken place. He would wake in a cold sweat, relieved when he remembered where he was, and could see for himself that Molly and the baby were okay.
The next morning, Xander awoke to see that Molly had been put into a wheelchair and was now sitting beside their baby. Xander walked over and put his hands on Molly’s shoulders.
“I want to name her Elodie, Xander. Elodie Marie.”
Molly put a hand to the glass.
Xander turned Molly’s wheelchair to face him. He put his hand into his back pocket and pulled out a small, velvet case. Lowering himself on to one knee, Xander stared into Molly’s eyes.
Beauty in the whole world.
“Molly Tompkins, when I was told you were in an accident, I thought I had lost you. My whole world came crashing down around me and all hope that I would get to have the family I dreamed of disappeared before my eyes. And then they told me you were going to be okay. The love of my life was going to live. I know Elodie won’t be here with us, but we can honor her by giving baby Elodie Marie the best life we possibly can.”
Lieutenant Commander Stud Page 44
