Caleb held Taylor’s hand as he leaned over to watch the video. Owen pushed play, and the lens swung around until it landed on the cottage garage.
The video was from a fair distance away, so the details were a little fuzzy, but it was clear that Taylor was standing beside her car and a man who was about six feet tall stood behind her with his arm around her.
Caleb squeezed Taylor’s hand as he watched. He hated that he wasn’t there to protect her. It was killing him. If anything had happened to her…
“Watch, watch!” Owen pointed to the screen when Martin moved around to Taylor’s side, which meant she was now blocked from the camera view.
All you could see was the back of a man with a black hoodie on, standing next to the trunk of the car.
Then Arthur came into the frame. He was walking with his cane, and Caleb noted it wasn’t at his usual pace; he washustling.
There was movement in the garage. It was a little difficult to make out exactly what happened, but from what Caleb could see, Taylor tried to juke and move around her ex to escape thegarage, and he blocked her from leaving and then slammed his fist on the trunk. There was no sound on the video, but when his fist made contact with the trunk, Taylor flinched beside him.
Feeling his wife’s knee-jerk reaction to justseeingthe fist slam made Caleb want to commit homicide, or, in Martin’s case asshole-cide. He put both his hands over Taylor’s, hoping she felt safe now, and continued watching. He was doing his best to keep his emotions in check, at least while he was sitting beside his wife. He didn’t want to upset her; he just wanted to go through the screen and rip Martin’s throat out with his bare hands.
Caleb continued watching helplessly as Taylor noticed Arthur and then waved over Martin’s shoulder as she said something. Since there’s no audio, he has no idea what she said.
“Wait, watch!” Owen excitedly instructed again, and from his son’s enthusiasm, Caleb would bet there was a payoff coming soon.
Martin still hadn’t acknowledged Arthur; his back was still to him. Arthur was still engaging with them, though. He lifted his cane and pointed it to Golden Years. There was some movement from Martin. It looks like he put something in the waistband of his jeans, turned around, and stalked straight toward Arthur.
Caleb had seen Martin in a few of the photos Taylor had shared with him of Owen growing up. The man in those photos didn’t look anything like the man in this video. That man was clean-cut; he looked healthy and well-groomed. This man had a shaggy beard, dark circles under his eyes, and disheveled clothes.
Martin stopped in front of Arthur, reached up, and pulled the rope to close the garage door. Arthur lifted his cane and shoved it in the track to stop it from closing.
Then the two men look like they are having some sort of staring contest, and Martin is trying to intimidate Arthur witha menacing look. Caleb couldn’t see Arthur’s expression, but if he had to guess, he would say Arthur probably looked more bothered by dirt on the bottom of his shoes. Arthur tilted his head to the left and stretched his neck in that direction. Caleb noted that in doing so, he drew Martin’s attention to that side while Arthur adjusted the grip on his cane on his right.
Whatever Arthur said pissed Martin off because he reached for his gun, and hell broke loose. The next three seconds were crazy. Taylor jumps in the air. At that same moment, Arthur did something with his cane. While all that is happening, there’s a bright white explosion. When the dust clears, Taylor and Martin are both on the ground, and Arthur is standing over Martin with his foot on his chest and his cane to his throat. And then blood starts coming out of Arthur’s shoulder.
“Whoa!” Jonah shouted.
“Shh, we’re in the hospital,” Adriana reminded him.
“Whoa!” Jonah shout-whispered.
“Wait, now slow motion. It’s even better!” Owen pressed play on the next clip.
Caleb wasn’t sure he wanted to see it in slow motion. It made him sick knowing that Martin had a gun and he could have hurt Taylor, or Arthur, or worse.
The next clip started the moment Martin reached for his gun. It showed him reaching and then Taylor’s hands and body being propelled forward. She jumped on him like a spider monkey. So far, it was about what Caleb expected. But that was because he hadn’t known Arthur’s part in the incident, because he moved so fast.
In the frame-by-frame replay, as Martin reached for his gun and pulled it out, Arthur used the grip of his cane to basically knee Martin, or cane him, in the balls and then the gut before sweeping his legs out from under him with the same cane. The exact second his feet leave the ground is the exact second Taylorgrabs Martin’s arm, and the gun goes off and flies in the air. This was where Arthur really pulled out some Matrix-level badassery. He interlocked his arm with Taylor and shifted his body weight, pulling her back so she didn’t get shot; instead, he took the bullet for her in the shoulder. As Martin lands on the floor and his head bounces twice on the concrete, Arthur grabs the gun midair before it hits the ground, which could have caused it to go off again and hurt or maybe even kill someone.
The third time Martin’s head hit the floor, he tried to sit up on his forearms, but Arthur turned his cane around with ninja-like speed and efficiency and pretty much used it to punch his forehead with the grip, which knocked him right back down.
“Wow, Mr. Santino!” Adriana clapped. “Youarea hero!”
“Yes, he is!” Caleb joined her in applauding.
Jonah, Owen, and Taylor all cheered, and Caleb kept it going even though knew he knew Arthur hated every second of it.
“You’re like John Wick in a cardigan!” Owen exclaimed.
“That is high praise,” Caleb assured him.
Arthur mumbled something and put his reading glasses on, then picked up his book, indicating the conversation was over.
“Okay, you guys ready?” Adriana asked Jonah and Owen.
