He reeled backwards into the hall with a barrage of curses and I took my chance. I ran.
He reached forward and grabbed my ankle as I tried to pass him, the floor met my fall, and I hit the wood with a thud. Ethan pulled himself on top of me, his face contorted in anger. I tired as hard as I could to push him off, but he was stronger and heavier than I was. His fist came down hard onto the same spot he had hit me earlier and the pain spread through my cheek sending lights into my eyes.
It must have hurt Ethan just as much; he winced and clutched at his shoulder. His white shirt was a haze of red. I didn’t know where I had shot him and frankly, I didn’t care. I lifted both my arms and hit him with the sides of my fists into his chest. He yelled and fell back. I saw my chance and pushed him off completely. Picking my gun up, I ran as fast as I could down the stairs.
Funny enough with all Ethan’s security and locks his front door was the easiest thing to open. I slammed it shut behind me. If he was somehow following me, I wanted to put as many obstacles in his path as I could.
I pulled Melody’s keys out of my pocket as I ran along the drive to her car.
Keller’s car was in his driveway when I pulled up. I sighed with relief. God knows what I would have done if he hadn’t been there. I stopped the car outside his neighbour’s house and literally fell out of the car in my haste. I cursed under my breath as I untangled the seatbelt from around my ankle.
Tears were pouring down my face by the time I reached his door. The blood on my hands and clothes from Melody had dried, my face was sore from where Ethan had hit me, my cheek felt like it had been replaced by a football. And I had a headache.
I rang the bell, banged with the knocker, and smacked the door with the side of my fist. I didn’t care if I woke the whole street up. I needed to get Keller up and out of bed. I didn’t know who else I could turn too.
The hall light came on and even through the glass of the door, it nearly blinded me. I pressed my face up against glass; it seemed to take him for ages for his silhouette to appear at the top of the stairs.
I banged again, even though I had seen him, but I didn’t know what else to do. The door flew open as I raised my fist and Keller lent back to avoid me hitting him instead of the door.
“Whoa.” His eyes went wide when he saw. “My god Vanessa.”
I caught familiar sight of red over his shoulder and felt my chest go tight. Macey’s jacket hung on the coat rack behind him. I put my hand over my mouth and ran to Keller’s car. Leaning on it, I tried my best not to throw up. I crouched down; my stomach trying to heave, but I held on, wouldn’t let it out.
“Vanessa? You ok?” asked Keller from behind me.
“Just give me a sec,” I said between gulps of air. “I’ll be alright in a minute.” It was hard, but I managed to force the words out. “Macey’s jacket?” I asked not sure if I wanted and answer.
Keller as usual didn’t leave me alone; he lowered himself, kneeling beside me. His hand on my back. “I was going to tell you about Macey. I didn’t want you to find out like this.”
“It’s ok Keller. You’re not mine; you’re free to see who you want. Its just a little hard letting go of you that’s all.”
“I’m not sure I’ll ever let go of you.” He said his eyes meeting mine, “but Macey is different.”
“Yeah she is.”
I turned to Keller slowly; I could feel his eyes on me, taking in my appearance that he had obviously missed before.
“S*** Vanessa…”
“Don’t worry it’s not my blood.”
“And that’s supposed to make me not worry? What's happened?”
“They’ve got her Kel. They took my little girl.” I was crying now. Big loud sobs shook my body as I let it out. “They’ve got Mark too.”
“Who? Vanessa what are you talking about?” He asked grabbing hold of my arms and making me face him properly. “Vanessa, talk to me.”
I paused, how the hell was I going to explain this?
“Vanessa?” he tried again.
I closed my eyes and swallowed, I felt my eyes glaze over and once more I was crying. My body began to shake with it. Keller put his arms around me and walked me into the house.
“Come inside and I’ll get something to clean you up.” Said Keller as he sat me down on one of his dining chairs. What did I say to him? I rubbed my hands over my face, the blood smearing everywhere with the moisture from my tears. Great.
“Vanessa.” Said Keller. “We were going to tell you. We just weren’t sure when to. You seemed so….”
“Weird?” I added.
He smiled. “Yeah something like that.”
“Kel it’s ok honestly. I’m shocked, but hey, you’re two of my most favourite people. If she can make you happy then I’m pleased.” I tried to smile as I said it. Any other time and I probably would have been able to do it a little better… On second thoughts it's me I’m talking about, I probably wouldn’t.
What was I doing? My baby was being held somewhere and here I was sat waiting for coffee and discussing my ex seeing my best friend. What kind of a mother was I?
I had to go. I had no idea where though. Back to the barn? I doubt they would have gone back there. They weren’t at Alex’s house that was completely deserted. My house? No. Oh god. I what a f****** idiot I am. They were at Mark’s house. How could I have missed it? Ethan had been giving me enough hints.
I stood up quickly sending the chair crashing to the ground. Keller stopped where he was.
He looked at me as if I had gone totally mad, which I probably had.
I pulled the gun back out from the back of my jeans. God knows what I was looking for. I had fired one shot, but I had no idea how many bullets this gun held. In the movies, guns normally hold six bullets, but this gun had one of those clip things in the bottom and I had no idea how many that held.
I hadn’t noticed Keller move, but suddenly he was in front of me.
“Bloody hell Vanessa.” He said. “What's going on? And what's with the gun?”
It suddenly dawned on me, with him looking at me. S***. They had Macey, he didn’t know.
“They have Macey too, Keller.” I said finally meeting his eyes
He stopped his hand resting on the gun I was holding.
“Vanessa?” He was waiting for answers and I had no idea where to start. The beginning was probably the best option, but even in my head, it sounded so out of this world.
“The break in at my gallery?” I said making it a question and he nodded. “It was a set up. They’ve taken Robin. They want two million or they will kill her. They have Macey too.”
I slumped back on the chair. It didn’t sound real. Keller stayed stood where he was, his eyes not leaving mine as he tried to take it all in.
“Is this some joke Vanessa?” he asked. “Some twisted game?”
“No. I’m sorry. I didn’t know where to go. They have Mark too and the rest of my family seems to be missing.”
“Who has them? You’re not making any sense.”
“It’s Ethan, Kel. F****** Uncle Ethan.” I spat the name out. Just saying it disgusted me. I hated him more than I had ever hated anyone before.
“Have you called the police?” he asked.
“No. They said if I did that Robin is dead. I’m shouldn’t even be telling you, but I didn’t know where else to go.”
“Where’s all the blood from Vanessa?”
“What is this? An interrogation?”
“You want my help. I need to know what I am dealing with. So the blood?”
“Oh. I….” I couldn’t say it. I could see it perfectly in my head, but I couldn’t bring myself to actually say aloud that I had killed someone and worse still, that I had no regrets. The only remorse I felt was having to admit it to Keller.
“Answer me Vanessa. Whose blood is it?” He said the last part slowly. Making each word jab out at me. This was a side of Keller I had never seen.
“Melody’s.”
“Melody?”
“Yes, the girl, woman, from my mother’s diaries. She’s part of all this. She is…..”
“She is…?”
“She is my mother’s sister. Apparently, my Grandma had a son and a daughter before she had my mother. Luke and Melody. They were put up for adoption and now they’ve decided my mother owes them a debt and I’m the one who has to pay up.”
I could see he was clenching his jaw as he tried to understand. His temple looked like it was pulsating as he ground his teeth together.
“Is she dead?”
“Yes.” I said keeping my voice quiet.
We were wasting time here. Time wasn’t on our side and it defiantly wasn’t on Robin's, Mark or Macey's side. Yes, I had killed someone, but if we stayed here discussing it then three more people would die, and their lives meant more to me than the one I had taken.
Harsh maybe, but we could deal with my own humanity later. Right now, all I wanted to do was save those that I loved and send Ethan and Luke to meet their sister.
I stared at Keller, pleading with him, without talking hoping that he would help me. His eyes met mine, but neither of us spoke. I wished somehow that I knew what he was thinking.
"I have to go." I said. He hadn’t moved, or even spoken. He wasn’t going to help me. His job came first. I should have guessed that. He couldn’t just go chasing the bad guys knowing that what ever happened someone was going to end up dead.
It was hard walking out of there. I wanted to walk back and drag him out with me. I had no idea how I was going to do this alone. Ethan was stronger than I was when he was on his own, and he had Luke. That was assuming that Ethan was alive. Knowing my luck, he would be. There was no chance I could count on Mark to help me. If he had seen me sleeping with Keller on that video then I guess I was just going to have to face that him and me were over, forever.
Fear and dread filled me up as I walked slowly out of Keller’s house and back to the car. I had envisaged that I would be walking out with Keller, but on my own, but I had to save my daughter and the man I loved. I didn’t have the same choice that Keller had.
I put the key in the ignition and paused without turning it. The lights were still on in Keller’s house, but I couldn’t see any movement behind the closed curtains.
Keller was so different to Mark and I. When we saw something we wanted or knew when something needed to be done, we did it, but not Keller. Keller was a wait and see kind of person. If something were meant to happen, then it would happen. That’s was his philosophy. This unfortunately was not one of those times. If I left it to fate, then Robin, Mark, and Macey would die. Not that I thought he would just leave them.
Keller the man, not the officer of the law, would have gone to the police. I was honestly surprised he hadn’t when I had told him what was going in.
I took one last hopeful look at Keller’s house before turning the key. I might have been just one person, but I was a mother. The strongest bond is between a mother and her child. I was going to do everything I could to save mine. Even if it meant the rest of us would died.
