by Mallory Kane
Serena stepped inside and Martin walked out, pushing the door closed.
Paige looked around frantically. There was an old railroad car in the center of the room, and a lot of piled-up wood and debris. The smell of rotten fish was overwhelming. Over to one side was a battered wooden crate. She stared at it in horrified fascination. That was where they’d held Johnny.
“Where is my child?” she shouted. “Katie!”
“You’ll be with her very soon,” Serena said. “Soon and for eternity. As soon as Johnny gets here. And by the way, throwing the phone away was a very stupid move. It almost got your little girl killed.”
“What is the matter with you?” Paige cried, pain creating a haze through which it was hard to think. “You’re a mother! How can you stand there and talk about killing my little girl when you have a child of your own?”
“Leave my son out of this. Now where is Johnny?”
“I told you I don’t know.”
Serena sighed. “I suppose I gave him too much credit. I can’t believe it took him this long to figure out that his daughter was being held in the same warehouse he’d been in.”
Paige recalled Johnny’s description of his prison. The rough wood walls, the sounds, the darkness.
The darkness.
“Katie!!” she screamed, and broke away from Leonard to run toward the crate. “Katie! Answer me!”
“Hey!” Leonard overtook her and grabbed her arm again.
Pain stole Paige’s senses for an instant and she stumbled, but she kicked out blindly, and was rewarded by a grunt of pain. “Let my daughter out of there!”
Serena laughed. “She’s not in that nasty crate. I wouldn’t do that to a child. Besides, I’m saving it for my stepson. Leonard, let poor Paige see her daughter. They can have a nice little reunion before Johnny gets here.”
Paige tried to break away from Leonard again, but this time he was ready. She couldn’t break his hold.
He dragged her over to the car and turned the crank that unlocked the door. “You two can have a nice long visit, before the building accidentally burns down.”
Paige sent a disgusted glance at Serena. “You wouldn’t put a child in that awful box, but you’d burn us alive?”
Serena sucked on her cigarette and waved away the smoke. “One has one’s limits,” she remarked.
Metal creaked as Leonard slid the boxcar door aside.
Paige held her breath, her heart pounding in her throat, her arms aching for her child. Thank God! Her daughter was on the other side of that door.
“Hello, Serena.”
It was Johnny!
He stood just inside the door of the boxcar, looking like a swamp creature, his gun leveled at Serena.
Paige felt all the blood drain from her head. Was she seeing things? Where was Katie? Her legs gave out from under her and her vision turned black. She fought to stay conscious as she collapsed to the floor.
Johnny stood on the balls of his feet, gun ready. He was aware of Paige’s limp body sinking to the floor, but his attention was concentrated on the shotgun in the man’s hand.
Before the man could recover from the shock of seeing him, Johnny jumped, kicking at the gun and knocking him to the floor, banging his head on one of the steel rails. He punted the shotgun halfway across the warehouse.
“Johnny! Look out!”
Paige’s voice alerted him in time to whirl and grab Serena as she reached into her purse.
He flung the purse containing the little handgun toward Paige, sparing a glance at the dazed man, then leveled his gun at Serena.
“Hello, Stepmother,” he said. “Been a while, hasn’t it?”
“You bastard!” she screamed, curling her fingers into talons and scratching at his face. He stepped backward, out of her reach.
“How did you get in there?” she shrieked. “Where is that little brat of yours?”
Johnny’s finger itched on the trigger. He took a long breath and suppressed the urge to take revenge for what this woman had done to him and his loved ones. “You probably should be careful, Serena. I’m a little upset about how you treated my daughter.”
“You have no right to even speak to me. You always were a spoiled punk.”
“Oh, I have a right to do a lot more than just talk,” Johnny said, glancing sidelong at Paige, who was trying to crawl toward the railroad car.
“Paige,” he called without turning his back on his stepmother. “Katie’s not here. She’s safe.”
In his peripheral vision, he saw her go limp.
He heard sirens wailing in the distance, getting stronger. Paige had called the police. Good for her!
Serena heard them too, and her face blanched. “Listen, Johnny. I never meant to harm you. My brother forced me—”
“Save it, Stepmother,” Johnny snapped as police kicked the door open and swarmed inside, yelling at him to put the gun down. He complied. “You married my father for his money and did everything you could to turn him against me. I remember how you goaded him, telling him he was too lenient on me, that if he encouraged my drawing, he was just encouraging the weakness you said I’d inherited from my mother. You wanted him to despise me, but it didn’t work. In fact, he ended up despising you, didn’t he? He would have divorced you if it hadn’t been for my brother.”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about.” Serena jerked her arm away from the policeman who tried to restrain her.
“You’d be surprised what I know. And you can be sure I’ll be asking the police to take another, closer look into my father’s death.”
When an officer approached him, Johnny held up his hands, knowing he’d have some explaining to do.
With a bansheelike scream, Serena lunged at him again, and the officer grabbed her. “Your father hated you,” she shrieked.
He smiled and shook his head, the words from his father’s letter echoing in his heart. “No. You’re wrong. It was you who hated me. My father loved me.”
SOMEONE WAS HOVERING OVER Paige, calling her name. It was a familiar, beloved voice. She opened her eyes and looked into dark-blue ones.
“Johnny?” she croaked.
“Hey, Tiger.” He smiled and touched her face. “How are you feeling?”
“What happened? Where’s Katie?” Paige was on some kind of cot. She moved to sit up, but her head was still fuzzy and something was holding her down.
“You’re in an ambulance. You fainted.”
She blinked. “I did not.”
Then memories flooded her and fear choked her throat. “Where’s Katie? Where’s my baby?”
Johnny moved backward a bit. “She’s right here. Come on, Katie. It’s okay.”
“Mommy!”
That precious voice, that beautiful little face. Paige reached for her daughter, but screaming pain in her shoulder stopped her. She cried out.
“Sir, we need to be careful. Her shoulder is almost certainly broken.”
Paige strained to turn her head. An emergency medical technician sat at the head of the cot, out of her line of sight.
Johnny nodded. “Be gentle, Katie. Remember what I told you? Your mommy’s shoulder is hurt. We have to be careful with her until the doctors can fix it.”
“Can I hug her?”
Paige laughed and cried at the same time. “Oh, sweetheart, you can hug me as hard as you want. Come here and give me a big hug and kiss.”
Her little girl’s arms went around her neck and she planted big, wet kisses all over her face and neck. Paige put her right arm around her little girl and hugged her back, ignoring the pain. She sobbed with relief to have her child back with her again, safe and whole and beautiful.
After a moment, she opened her eyes and looked over Katie’s head at Johnny.
He was watching the two of them with an odd look on his face, a look almost of sadness.
“What happened?” she whispered, kissing her daughter’s hair. “How did you do that? Get inside that railroad car?”
&nbs
p; Katie kissed Paige full on the mouth and then sat up. “Mommy, this is Johnny. He saved me. I helped him be brave.”
Paige stared at them both. “You did?”
“Uh-huh. He came up in the floor and we had to go under the water to get away from the villains. He was scared, but I had courage.”
Paige had no idea what her daughter was talking about, but she did know Katie had courage. She kissed her again. “I know you did. You are so brave. Are you okay?”
“Katie’s going to be checked at the hospital too,” Johnny said. “Just to be sure.” He tugged gently on Katie’s hair. “You want to come sit on my lap and let your mom rest?”
Katie clung to her mother for a few more seconds, then to Paige’s amazement, she let Johnny pick her up and set her on his knee.
“Johnny?” Paige said, trying to move into a position that wouldn’t hurt. She moaned.
The EMT put his hand on her right shoulder. “Try to move as little as possible, ma’am. I’ve given you something for pain, and you’ll be more comfortable real soon.”
Johnny wrapped his arm around his daughter and kissed the top of her head. Paige’s heart turned upside down to see the tenderness with which he treated the child he’d only just met.
“What happened to Serena?” she asked.
“You surprised Serena’s brother when you collapsed, and I was able to kick the shotgun out of his hand.” He raised a brow. “Do you remember warning me to watch out for Serena?”
She shook her head.
“Well, you did. She was reaching into her purse for her gun, and I was able to get it away from her. Right about then the police arrived.” He shrugged. “That was pretty much it.”
Paige doubted that was it, but before she could ask any more questions, the ambulance turned into the hospital emergency entrance and there was a flurry of activity while she was transported into the emergency room.
After they’d cut her clothes off and started an IV and given her a sedative, they let Johnny and Katie see her again.
When Johnny walked in with Katie in his arms, Paige realized he was wet and dirty, his bandage was filthy and unraveling, and his hair was tousled and damp. Her entire being was flooded with love for him.
He had done what he’d promised. He’d brought her child safely back to her. She realized her daughter’s life, and her own would never be the same again.
Her daughter had her father. It was obvious Johnny loved his child, and Katie adored him.
The nurse spoke. “You only have a few minutes. Ms. Reynolds is on her way to surgery, to have that shoulder set.” She smiled. “She’s been sedated.”
Johnny held Katie over Paige so she could kiss her. Katie giggled at being held suspended in the air. Paige kissed her daughter on the nose and on the mouth, then Johnny swung his little girl back up into his arms.
Paige laughed sleepily at Katie, who was nearly swallowed by a blue scrub shirt. “Where did you get those clothes, Katie?”
“The nurse let me have it. Mine were all wet.”
Paige blinked. It was getting harder to hold her eyes open. “The nurse wouldn’t let you have new clothes?” she asked Johnny.
He shook his head, a small smile on his face. “I said I’d wait until you two were taken care of.”
“Johnny, I can’t—”
“Paige, I’m sorry—”
They both spoke at once, then stopped.
Katie looked at her mother and then at Johnny. She put her hand on the side of his face and made him look at her. “Are you my daddy?” she asked.
Paige’s heart stopped for an instant. She held her breath. What would he say to his child?
He swallowed, and in the bright emergency room lights, Paige saw wetness glittering in his eyes. He blinked.
“How would you feel about that?” he asked, his voice raspy with emotion.
Paige bit her lip and waited.
Katie looked at him solemnly. “I think you have to be my daddy, because you came under the water to get me even though you were scared.”
Paige suppressed a sob and tears leaked out of her eyes.
Katie looked at her. “Mommy, if he’s my daddy, he should come live with us, right?”
“Katie…” She looked helplessly at Johnny, her mind hazy with the drugs they’d given her. She couldn’t find the right words.
Johnny sent her a sharp look, then smiled sadly at Katie and touched her cheek.
Paige couldn’t interpret the expression on his face. Apprehension took hold of her throat, squeezing the breath out of her.
“Katie,” he said. “Sometimes mommies and daddies don’t live together. But I will always be your daddy.”
Paige’s very soul ached. She moaned involuntarily.
Johnny put Katie down and leaned over the gurney to whisper in Paige’s ear. “We need to talk. But not here. Not now. You’re about to go to sleep on me.”
As if on cue, the nurse threw back the curtain. “They’re ready for you, Ms. Reynolds.”
Johnny pressed a kiss to her forehead as an orderly came in and unlocked the gurney.
“Katie,” she cried.
Johnny picked up Katie again so she could see her mom.
“Say goodbye quickly,” the nurse said. “Mommy’s got to get her shoulder fixed. You stay here with Daddy.”
Paige smiled sleepily at her daughter. “Stay with Daddy, Katie. He’ll take care of you.” Johnny held Katie so she could kiss her mom one more time.
“Bye, Mommy,” he said with a smile.
Paige struggled to speak through the growing haze of the drugs. “You’ll be here when I get out of surgery, won’t you?”
Johnny glanced down at the top of Katie’s head then back at her, his gaze guarded. “I have some things I have to take care of. But I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
Paige tried to read the expression on his face, but she couldn’t. Why was he avoiding her gaze?
The last thing she saw as the orderly wheeled her out of the room was her daughter putting her arms around her father’s neck and kissing his cheek.
SERENA’S LUXURY TOWN HOME in Diamondhead was impressive, from the high stone walls that surrounded the community to the manned security gate. As Johnny walked up the steps to ring the doorbell, he took in the manicured lawn, the Mexican-tiled walk-way and entry, the beveled glass and mahogany door. He considered the amount of wealth represented in the exclusive community.
He had once been a part of this kind of life. Even though his memory was almost fully returned, it seemed so foreign to him now. Foreign in more ways than material.
The door opened and a uniformed housekeeper looked at the identification papers he carried. “Child Services has talked to you, right?”
She nodded and stood back to let him in.
“Where is Brandon?” he asked her.
“He’s in the media room, watching television. Right through here.”
He followed her through the richly appointed hall to the media room that was large and plush, the indirect lighting and strategically placed and expensively designed speakers adding to the luxurious, hushed atmosphere.
A little boy with black hair was watching cartoons on a giant TV screen recessed into the wall.
“Brandon?” The child turned around. His blue eyes were striking under the shock of black hair.
“Hi, Brandon, I’m Johnny.”
“Hi,” Brandon said shyly.
Johnny went over and knelt down in front of the leather couch where his little half brother sat.
“Do you know who I am?”
Brandon nodded. “The lady told me.”
“Did she tell you we’re brothers?”
The boy studied Johnny. He waited without moving, until Brandon could get used to his presence.
“You’re old for a brother.”
Johnny smiled. “I know. But I have a little girl who’s not very much older than you. Would you like to go meet her?”
“When will I get to see my m
ama?” Brandon asked.
Johnny sighed. Hadn’t the social worker told the child about Serena?
“You’ll get to see her soon. Right now why don’t you come with me? Katie is staying with some nice people who have puppies.”
“Puppies?” The child’s eyes lit up.
“Yeah. Want to go see them?”
Brandon jumped off the couch and ran to the door. “Mrs. Carter, can I go with Mr. Johnny to see some puppies?”
The housekeeper came down the staircase with a small suitcase. Her eyes were glistening. “Sure you can. You be a good boy, okay?”
She handed the suitcase to Johnny. “Please take care of him. He loves his mother very much.”
“Thank you, Mrs. Carter. He’ll be fine.” Johnny leaned down and picked up Brandon, then took the suitcase in his other hand as Mrs. Carter opened the door for him.
“I like you for a brother. You’re big and strong.”
Johnny smiled and kissed the top of the five-year-old’s head. “I like you for a brother too,” he said, his voice cracking.
JOHNNY SHIFTED THE bouquet of flowers from one hand to the other as he waited for the elevator to stop on Paige’s floor. He’d taken Katie and Brandon to stay with Miss Aileen while he dealt with the police.
He’d spent the last twelve hours going over the events of the past days, as well as the events of three years before with police detectives, crime scene investigation teams, and lawyers. He’d identified the two men who’d chased them and tried to kill them. He’d spent hours answering questions about his kidnapping and about his stepmother. And he’d been fingerprinted and grilled to prove his identity.
Now he finally had a few minutes to see Paige.
The last time he’d checked on her she’d still been sedated from her surgery.
It was late, and the lights were dim on the orthopedic ward. He stopped in front of her closed door, took a deep breath, and pushed his fingers through his hair.
He had no idea what he was going to say to her, other than I’m sorry.
He had so much to be forgiven. He just hoped she could find it in her heart to give him another chance.
He knocked lightly on the door, then pushed it open. The room was dim, only the recessed light above the bed was on.
