Shit.
I looked down to see a little boy standing beside me.
“Micha.” Louis walked down the hall to scoop up his son. After which he shot me a dirty look. “You should be in bed.” Then disappeared into his room, with a slam of the door.
Dr. Creswell shook his head at me and walked off in the other direction.
I felt horrible. I should’ve been distracting Micha instead of watching them. Poor child. As if he didn’t have enough to deal with. And still, I couldn’t stop staring at the room down the hall.
Before I knew what was happening I found my feet carrying me there. With every step I told myself to go back to work, until I was standing in a dark room, staring at a woman lying on the bed. The ventilator hissed as I looked down at her.
It seemed wrong that she was here. Why should she get to live? This woman tried to kill her babies. For the rest of their lives, they would be scared of the one person who should’ve loved them unconditionally. They shouldn’t have to see her face ever again.
My eyes shifted over to an empty syringe laying on the supply cart.
It all happened so fast. I picked up the syringe, sucked in a bubble of air, and injected it in her veins. There was no hesitation, or sadness. No regrets or anxiety when the bubble hit her heart and she seized.
The only thing I remember thinking was that I couldn’t raise my son, but I could protect his brothers.
7
Louis
4 months ago
Idid the best I could with my boys but there were moments when I wished my sons weren’t who they were. More so for Micha than Mason. Sometimes I worried that the weight of the responsibilities on his shoulders were too much for him. My eldest son was never a child. He didn’t play in the park, or get happy over a toy. He was born an adult.
Don’t get me wrong, I was proud of him. Micha knew what he wanted, but he had no idea what he needed. He needed someone to test him. Someone who would make him question his motives. A conscience so to say. This might finally give him that.
“Why are you here, Louis?”
I sat back and took a moment to inspect the sheriff. “You know why I’m here.”
He wasn’t a stupid man. Although I would argue that his honor got him into trouble. However, I did respect him for it. Derek Adams was the first man I met who couldn’t be bought. We couldn’t bribe him to look the other way, or distract him.
He was a good cop who followed the letter of the law. But even men like him had a weakness. For him, that was family. We used it to break him ten years ago, and I would break him with it again today.
“Your daughter is sixteen now.”
His navy eyes sparked with rage. “Get out.”
My brow arched. “We had a deal, Derek.”
“Take your deal and shove it up your ass.”
That was ride. “We can do this here, or we can do this at your house, with your daughter.”
He lifted his hand and pointed at me. “Stay away from my daughter.”
“You know that’s not going to happen.”
His hand dropped down to the holster on side as he leaned back, making his chair creak.
Marco instantly reacted, taking a step forward, but I held up my hand to stop him.
“Shooting me won’t do anything. I have all the paperwork I need to take Riley out of your care.”
My death wouldn’t solve his problem. Riley belonged to Micha. He was the one with custody. That was the contract he signed. His wife paid the price for that. That was the problem with honorable men. The people around them got hurt so they could uphold their morals. If he would’ve played ball, then Riley’s mother probably would’ve never started drinking, and they might be still married.
