The Baby Shift- Tennessee

by Becca Fanning

  A sudden chill ran down Angel’s spine; the kind of sensation one would get when being watched. He turned around and with the superhuman eyesight of a pureborn werewolf, he narrowed his vision on an open window on the top floor of the building. He saw her clearly -- even from fifty meters away. She had been staring at him from the window.

  Almost as soon as he turned, Lea ducked her head into the room and out of sight. This only happened within two seconds, but it was enough time for Angel to see the fresh red marks on her left cheek.

  “You can’t be serious, Maggie.”

  “Well, I’m dead serious. I can’t do this no more.”

  “What do you mean you can’t do this no more? It’s the cushiest job in the neighborhood.”

  "Slinging dope is never cushy, Michael. What if I get caught again? What happens to my ten-year-old son?"

  Through the keyhole of his bedroom door, Angel watched his mother argued with the man dressed in a red sweater and blue jeans. They have been going at it for quite some time, and for some reason, his heart kept beating faster with each passing minute. He wondered why this man would not just leave his mother alone.

  “So, what if you got caught last time? I got you off the hook in a day didn’t I?” The man said.

  "Yes, you did, but you are can't always have a friend ready to cover things up every time your dealer gets slammed." She replies.

  He shakes his head. “It’s a risk. I know. But it’s a risk worth taking.”

  “Is it? Because I can’t think of anything more important than being there for Angel right now. I mean his father never even acknowledged my baby before he died. I’m all he’s got.”

  “Well, I hope you enjoy being there for him -- broke, starving, and craving your next fix,” he sneers.

  “I’ll be fine. I just got a job at the drug store, and as for my addiction, I’ve been clean for three weeks.”

  He chuckles. “I know how much you love the coke you earn from working for me. We’ll see how long you can last without it.”

  “I guess we will.” She said. She had that look on her face now, the one she gives me when she has made a final decision and expects Angel to be okay with it.

  “So long, Maggie. It was a pleasure having you on the team.”

  Her face relaxed a little. She smiled slightly. “Same here, Michael.”

  “I’ll take my leave now.”

  “Let me see you to the door.”

  He finally headed for the front door, and she walked beside him. Angel can no longer hear their conversation vividly. He reached the door and placed one hand on the handle. He suddenly stopped, turned and pointed at something in the direction of the kitchen. She spun around to see what he was pointing at, and that was when it happened. Angel watched him throw his hand in and out of his jeans pocket, and in a millisecond, an object appeared in his hand -- a syringe. Before she could turn around to face him, he threw one hand around her head and covered her mouth with it. The other hand stabbed the small needle into her right arm. Angel knew he should scream, but something within him also knew he is as good as dead if he does.

  She struggled with the man for the first few seconds, but soon as he was done injecting the content of the syringe into her, she stopped struggling, and when he released her, she didn’t seem to be moving at all, and although her eyes were open, they look starry and unfocused. Angel had seen her look this way many times, every time she locked herself in her room and came back out an hour later.

  As the man carefully let her slump to the floor, he took a furtive glance around. Satisfied that no one had seen him, he placed the syringe back into his pocket, opened the door and walked out of the apartment as if nothing happened.

  He rolled off the bed and took a sitting position on the edge. Sweat trickled down his forehead as his breath came in short gasps. The nightmares had become more frequent since he started the night he saved Michael Hendricks' daughter from the assassins he and Gale hired. The closer he got to Michael, the more intense they became. That night fifteen years ago was still embedded in his brain, manifesting itself through his dreams. Angel reached for his bedside table and lifted a photograph from the top.

  It was a picture of his mother, Margaret Hamilton and him as a five-year-old boy. She looked so happy here. He knew this was probably the last time she was really happy before her death five years later. Before she met Michael and his drug running thugs.

  “You tried to get out,” he said, clinching the photograph. “I watched you struggle to get out. I watched you succeed, and I watched him take everything away from you that night. You were never the same after that. I watched you fall back into that hole and never got out until it quenched the life out of you. I watched you die, mom. That was the night you really died, wasn’t it? He killed you. And I did nothing to stop him.”

  “I’m a man now, mom. And I have powerful friends. I’ll make him pay. I promise you that, mom. I’m going to make him pay if it’s the last thing I do.”

  “Are you sure you weren’t followed?” Gale asked when Angel entered the car and took a seat beside him at the back. It was a limousine, and the only other person in the car was the driver who Angel was sure could not hear them.

  I pulled back the hood I had over my face. “I’m not stupid. I made sure of it,” Angel said.

  “Good. I know how smart you are. Why do I you think I chose you to help me take down Michael?” Gale said. He was a handsome man in his late forties, tall, with short dark hair that was grey at the sides.

  Angel gave him a slight smirk. “I’m sure it has nothing to do with the fact that you knew how much I hated Michael, and no-one else would be vengeful enough to try to take down the most dangerous drug dealer in Tennessee.”

  Gale laughed. "You think you are the only one whose life he has ruined? Don't be silly, lad. Michael has been destroying lives even before you were born. No, I chose you because you were special, and you know it."

  “Special? My own father abandoned me even before I was born. My mother died when I was ten, and I spent the rest of my childhood in foster care. How does that make me special?”

  “You know pain. You know loss. That’s not easy to find.”

  Angel nodded. “Neither is a pureborn werewolf.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  "It means after we are done, I'm aware that I would only have replaced one selfish drug lord with another. Frankly speaking though, I don't give a fuck, but when all these are over, I don't want anything to do with you. I'm not going to be your lap dog. Are we clear?"

  Gale smiled. It was a smile that could have meant anything. “You’re overthinking this. Let’s focus on the plan, shall we? Good. Then I guess we are on the same page. Our plan remains the same, find a way to get undeniable proof of Michael’s involvement in his drug cartel.”

  “I’ve been in his home. I don’t think he’ll be stupid enough to leave any evidence around,” Angel said.

  “Then we move to plan B.”

  Angel nodded. “I’m not sure when his next big drug deal would happen, but once I do, I’ll let you know.”

  "Good. For now, stay in his good books. Don't ruin this, Angel," said Gale.

  “I won’t. See you around.” Angel made to open the limousine door when a thought suddenly came to mind. “Gale?”

  “Yes?”

  “How did you know Lea would try to ditch her guards after the party?”

  Gale smiled. “I’ve been keeping tabs on Michael and his family for years. She’s been known to be a bit...rebellious.”

  “Why is she like that?”

  Gale sighed. “Why this sudden interest in Michael’s daughter?”

  Angel frowned. “There’s no interest. Only curiosity.”

  "Well, you need not know everything. Now go. We have to be careful. You've been around me long enough already."

  “I’ll let you know once I find anything new,” Angel said. He opened the door and got out of the car and stepped into the darknes
s of the night.

  Chapter 3

  Angel was still in the middle of telling his colleagues some of his most obscene werewolf jokes when the door to the Strong room swung open, and Lea Hendricks walked in. The Strong room was more like an armory than anything else.

  On paper, the large hall had been built to serve as a permanent post for all the so-called guards in the compound. Angel remembered how he had really felt the first time he walked into the hall. It had been like walking into the weaponry of a gang. There were guns and explosives scattered all around and weapons that had no business being used by guards. And it was in this room that Lea walked in on him gyrating his hips excitedly in front of an attentive audience.

  "To what do we owe this visit, ma'am?” Rick, the head of security asked when she was close enough. He had a frown on his face, and Angel suspected he had still not gotten over her last mishap which led to the attack on her a few days ago. There was no telling what Michael Hendricks meted on him as punishment for losing his only daughter.

  "I'm leaving for the mall two hours earlier than scheduled. Please prepare my security detail for today," she said. From the moment she entered, she did not so much as glance at Angel. Neither had she spoken a word to him in the six days since he started working for her father. He found this strange because she had been so open with him when she visited at the hospital.

  That wasn’t the only thing Angel found worrisome about her behavior. She spends most of her days locked in her room upstairs. A whole day could pass by without him setting eyes on her. She had withdrawn no doubt, and he felt a burning urge to know why. If only he could get to spend some time with her.

  Rick said. “Tim, Hansen, and Jamal are the guards assigned to you today. I’ll inform them of the change.”

  "Thank you," she said and turned to leave.

  As she turned around, Angel stared at her, and for a split second their eyes met. He felt his chest tighten. She averted her eyes and walked away. Something wasn't right. Either that or he was unconsciously looking for an excuse to continue his inexplicable obsession with this woman. If only he were part of the guards assigned to her outings. If only.

  Leah slid into the backseat of the car, and let out a heavy sigh, Her heart was racing as she thought of what she was about to do. This was possibly the most dangerous moment of her life -- perhaps even more dangerous than the attack by her father’s rivals. She placed a hand on her stomach.

  “I can’t let him hurt you,” she whispered to herself. “I won’t let him.”

  She watched as Jamal and Hansen walked around to take their seats in the driver and passenger seats at the front. She knew them well enough. They weren't the brightest of her father's men, so losing them would be easy. Once she was out of their sights, she would take a taxi and head for the airport. She had a lot of money hidden in her handbag. Florida. She would run off to Florida and never return.

  Someone opened the car door and sat down beside her. She turned to look at him, and a gasp escaped her lips when she saw who it was smiling at her.

  “Angel? Why...what..where’s Tim?”

  “He suddenly fell ill, so I had to take his place,” Angel replied.

  Although his expression was stern, she found it hard to believe his story. But there was no way she could protest without raising suspicion. Having a pureborn guard around could ruin her plans to escape. What if the rumors about shifters who could read thoughts were true? Lea decided she'd play along while biding her time.

  The car began to move. A few seconds later, Lea and her three escorts were on their way to the city mall a mile away from the Hendricks’ home. As they drove, every person in the car kept mute and appeared to be busy with one thing or the other. Lea patiently scrolled through her phone in an attempt to avoid making eye contact with Angel. That had happened in the Strong room, and she was still unable to explain the feeling that had come over her. What was it about this man that fascinated her so much? Because he saved her life or was it something else?

  She raised her head and saw they were passing a grocery store she was well familiar with. This was it. The most critical point of her plans to escape from the hell she was living in.

  “Jamal?”

  “Yes, ma’am,” the man replied.

  “Please make a stop at that store. I need to pee.”

  “Okay, ma’am.”

  The car pulled to a stop at the parking lot of the store, and she got out as casually as she could. However, none of the men, including Angel, seemed wary or surprised by her request. Lea walked into the building, exchanged pleasantries with the storekeeper and headed straight for the back where she knew another door existed. She bought groceries from this store countless times for her father; hence there was hardly any part of the building she was not familiar with.

  The door was unlocked, so when she turned the handle, it immediately opened to reveal the open space that was the back of the grocery store. It opened into another street that, although it was not as busy as the one on the other side, it still had cars passing by every few seconds. She stood on the side of the road, waiting patiently for a taxi.

  Lea had to wait only two minutes before a taxi drove in her direction. She hailed it, and the cab came to a stop in front of her. She had taken only a single step forward when a firm hand grasped her shoulder.

  “Going somewhere?” Angel’s came from behind her.

  Lea’s heart was in her mouth. She closed her eyes and trembled more in disappointment than fear. She hung her head down while she felt his hand leave her shoulder.

  She was so close. A few seconds more and she would have been riding to her freedom. She heard the sounds of a car door swinging open and looked up. Angel slid into the backseat of the car furthest from her and beckoned for her to sit beside him.

  The cab driver hollered, “What are you waiting for?” You comin’ in or what?”

  Confused, Lea held her breath as she stepped into the car and sat down beside him.

  Angel said to the driver, “take us to Greenwich.”

  Their first destination was a restaurant in Greenwich. Lea found it a strange place because it wasn't fancy, but it was serene and peaceful.

  "My mom used to bring me here as a kid whenever I was having trouble at school. We'd eat and listen to music from the speakers. They only play rhythm and blues here. None of that hip hop stuff that trends on TV," Angel said as they ate a meal of pancakes.

  “It’s nice,” she said.

  “But...” he said.

  She feigned confusion, but he seemed to see through her disguise because he said, “you have something to say.”

  “Why did you bring me here instead of taking me back to my father?” Lea asked.

  He said, “perhaps I’m still trying to come to terms with why you’d want to run off after what happened to you the last time. I mean, your dad is doing all he can to keep you safe.”

  “Keep me safe? Or keep himself safe?”

  “What does that mean?”

  At that point, she felt an intense urge to spill everything out. To let out all the stories and hurt she bottled up inside for most of her life. But something stopped her as soon as she opened her mouth to speak. Instead, she said, "it's a family issue. You'll never understand."

  “Try me,” he said.

  “I’d rather not.”

  His sigh seemed to let the issue go. They continued their meal for the next few minutes, and once they were done eating, Angel said, “wanna spend some time at the park?”

  And again, even though her instincts told her otherwise, Lea said, “yes.”

  They spent the rest of the afternoon at the park watching kids play in the grass and sand. Angel was good company. He told her about the fun things he used to do as a kid in Greenwich, Blue Lake City and how he used to get in trouble every other day. She did notice though that he kept referring to the years he spent outside of Tennessee as the period when he "went away." Lea wondered if he had been in prison during that time and st
ill could not talk openly about it.

  By 9:00 PM they were on the roof of a church that stood over a hundred meters tall. The view of the city from there was breathtaking. Lea could see thousands of lights all around. Some were small and others large. There were stationary lights and some lights that moved around the dark streets.

  “I still come here sometimes when I need to think -- to plan,” he said.

  “It’s beautiful.”

  “I know. That’s my house over there beside the fountain.”

  “Doesn’t seem too big,” she said.

  “A small house for a small man,” he said and chuckled

  Lea felt his arms curl around her shoulders. They felt big and strong, and even though she was alone on a rooftop with a man she hardly knew, she could not remember the last time she felt safer. Lea placed her head on his shoulder.

  “What happened to your mother?” She asked before she could stop herself.

  “What do you mean?”

  “You only mention her when you are talking about your childhood but never when referring to you as an adult. Where is she?”

  She felt him stiffen. Just when she was about to apologize and change the subject, he replied, she passed away. In a car accident.”

  She raised her head to look at him. “I’m so sorry. I really am.”

  “It’s fine. That was a long time ago.”

  And in that instant, Lea felt something unlock within her. She blurted, “I was going to run away and never return today. I know it’s absurd, but I have to do it. I have to do it to save...my baby.” She placed a hand on her stomach and watched as his eyes widened.

  “You’re pregnant.”

  “Yes. Only a few weeks.”

  "But why would you want to run off. Your father has the best means of protecting both of you."