Sonny
had never hated anyone…even Deke…the way he hated the
man who dared to hold a gun on his child right in front of him.
For a moment, he allowed himself to be bathed in the hatred, the
violent surge of it that coated his stomach like bile. Then, like
the flick of a light switch, he extinguished all the emotion within
him. That old familiar wall came down in his mind, effectively shutting
him off from any touch of compassion or morality.
That instant, he knew with certainty that this man would die tonight.
Even if he begged and pleaded for his life, the man would die. Sonny
would make sure of it.
“Your guns, please,” Johan ordered. “Slowly…put
them down then kick them over to me.”
Johnny shook his head. “No way in hell.”
“Johan, you better be good enough to drop us all with one shot,”
Luke said, his voice deadly calm. “Cuz if you shoot one of
us the other two are coming at you till you ain’t breathing
anymore. You should know that going in so there are no misunderstandings.”
Johan’s smile was as icy as Helena’s, but Sonny thought
he detected a tremor in the grin. “You won’t kill me,
gentlemen. You won’t even brandish a weapon. I have the prize
in my hands. No one wants this precious little girl hurt or killed
in some gun play, do they?”
Luke’s smile in return was just as icy. “Oh, I don’t
think you’ll hurt her. See I know the Queen of the Damned.
She doesn’t want Kristina dead. What fun would there be in
that? She‘d have nothing to torture Alexis with. A dead child
would displease Helena. And you know what she does to the boy toys
who displease her? Exterminates ‘em like bugs.”
The thought of Helena’s wrath did give the man pause. His confident
masked slipped.
“Nevertheless,” he said, his voice breaking a little,
“you must admit you are giving me no choice. If I do not walk
out of here with this child, Helena will kill me. So I have no choice
but to fight you if it comes to that. The best scenario is to let
me leave. That way the child lives and you can work to find her.
If we fight, the child dies along with us. No one wins.”
Sonny’s throat worked convulsively. There was no way his daughter
was going anywhere with this maniac. Period. The only options
Sonny was considering were attack scenarios…whether to rush
Johan from the front…whether to take him out by the knees and
let Luke grab the baby…whether to cause a distraction and then
try to…
Sonny smiled a cold, little smile as a “distraction” crept
right through the front door of the little house…Prince Nikolas.
Luke launched into an instant diatribe about Helena so easily that
even Johnny glanced at him in faint surprise and respect. The man
was a master of distraction. His sudden speech confused Johan enough
that the man didn’t sense anyone behind him. Meanwhile, Nikolas
stealthily crept forward, picking up a heavy looking lamp in his
right hand. Sonny and the prince locked eyes in one telling moment
of perfect understanding, and Nikolas nodded his head.
There was a blur of color as Nik moved to deliver the hardest blow
he could to the base of the assassin’s skull. That same moment,
as if in a choreographed dance, Sonny, Luke, and Johnny rushed towards
the man with the speed and force of linebackers. It was no surprise
to anyone that the gun went off. The only surprise was who the bullet
hit.
***
The loud angry pop rang through Alexis’ prone body and forced
her eyes wide open. Heedless of the pain, she sat straight up. That
had been a gunshot; she knew it with every fiber of her being. It
had come from upstairs and her baby was there…unprotected and
alone except for that madman.
He didn’t hurt her, she told herself fervently. He
didn’t shoot my little girl…
There was nothing…just an awful silence now. Not a sound from
the upper level. What had happened?
Oh God, Alexis prayed silently, her body stiff with panic.
Please let her be alright. I’d give my life. Please just
let her be all right…
Just then, a piercing cry split the stillness. It was the cry of
a child, her sweet angelic little girl. The mother in her knew that
it was a cry of fear, but not of agony. Alexis heard it and wept
silent tears of relief.
She heard a man’s voice, speaking softly in what sounded like
Spanish. Sonny…he was comforting his child…and his words
were slowly getting through to Kristina. Perhaps not their meaning,
but the love in the tone of his voice, the strength, the surety…He
was speaking to her heart. Eventually, the child’s anguished
cries subsided as Sonny soothed her.
For only the second time in her young life, Kristina was enfolded
in her father’s arms. Alexis smiled through her tears knowing
that the act was just as momentous for the father as it was for
the child. She only wished she could see it.
It was over. Finally. And now they would be all be okay. They would
all…
“Ms. Davis? Ms. Davis, what is it? Are you okay?”
Alexis registered that Nadia’s voice was full of concern, but
she couldn’t reassure her. The room was suddenly spinning with
such violence that she had to close her eyes to gain equilibrium.
The pain in her head, which had temporarily abated in her earlier
panic over Kristina, now came back with savage vengeance. Alexis
sobbed out loud and brought her clenched fists to her temples.
