Eilea pushed away from Paul, “the kids, the kids!” she frantically pulled herself up.
Paul grabbed hold of her and yanked her down, “Stay down Eilea. He may still be about, the kids are fine!” He placed both hands on either side of her face and looked deeply into her eyes, “We’re on top of it, I promise you.” She literally sagged into his arms.
“I can’t lose them, Paul, I can’t lose them! They are my world, they are everything! I can’t let him hurt them.”
“His intent was either you or me, Eilea. He didn’t fire a single shot at either one of them. They have been whisked away and we’ll meet up with them shortly.”
Paul got the all clear and they rose and he assisted others nearby to their feet. “It’s safe now, you can get up.” He assisted a few mothers and children to their feet and spoke calmly and gently to each. A swat team moved in and rounded everyone up and ushered them to a less open location.
Wrapping his arms around Eilea he led her to an undercover car instead of his vehicle which the team was going over with a fine tooth comb in case he’d managed to visit it before taking the time to set up.
“Where are you, Paul, where are they? I need to know!”
“We’ll be there momentarily.”
Before the vehicle stopped at Paul’s house she was out of the car and racing into the house, “Christine, Andrew! Christine, Andrew!” she kept calling until they emerged from their bedroom.
“Mom, what’s up, we were just changing cause we were soaked.”
Racing to them she wrapped an arm around each, “Thank god, thank god!”
“What, what happened?”
It was only then Eilea realized they didn’t know what had happened. “Oh my god!” Turning to stare at Paul she turned back, “I needed to know you were ok. There was an incident at the park.”
“Paul, what happened?” Christina quickly asked.
“He was somewhere on the grounds, took a pot shot at us. Thankfully he missed. Your mom was afraid he’d gone after you too.”
“Mom!” Christina’s eyes nearly fell out of her head. “Your ok right, he didn’t hurt you, right?” her hands raced all over her mother turning her around.
“No, he missed. We’re not sure if it was me or Paul he was aiming at, but thankfully he’s a poor shot!”
Sitting she stated, “That safe house is looking a lot more appealing at the moment.”
“I was afraid you’d say that.” Paul dropped his head.
“You don’t think so, Paul,” Christina said.
“No for the aforementioned reasons. He’s on a roll, he’s not going to stop now, he’s leaped right on over the top into full blown insanity. Moving to a safe house will only postpone the inevitable.”
“Mom, we need to see this through.”
“I adore you, baby girl! Ok, my lovely young lady.” She paused thoughtfully. “Yes, I agree. We see this through. I don’t want this hanging over us forever, I want it over and done with and this asshole in prison locked up forever, WITH no access to the internet for life! That is my only stipulation. I don’t want him able to reach us in any way shape or form! And I want a new unlisted number.”
“Done!” Paul squeezed her tight. “All for one and one for all?”
“Couldn’t have put it better,” Andrew agreed.
Covert Novelist 