Authors: Chelsea Heights
It took Delaney a while to find the keys in her bag.
She promised herself she would organize it tomorrow.
Finally finding them, she unlocked the door and grabbed the cooler.
Heading back down towards the water she turned when she thought she heard someone say her name but no one was there.
It must be the wind carrying their voices from the sail boat, she thought to herself.
Suddenly there was a deafening sound, a flash of blinding light and then a searing pain going through her right shoulder.
She felt a flood of hot fluid splashing down on her body and fell face forward into the sand.
She opened her mouth to scream but the words wouldn’t come.
“What the heck was that?” Cecily asked.
Before she knew what was going on, Fetch had jumped from the boat and was running up the beach with Mike and Jake on her heels.
Delaney lay in the sand, feeling a hot puddle form around her.
Opening her eyes she could see a dark shadow crawling toward her.
She tried to scream more, but only gurgles would come out.
Suddenly there was barking and growling, followed by a heart-wrenching yelp.
She knew whoever shot her just shot Fetch too.
Closing her eyes, she hoped this was all a horrible dream.
The dark shadow was getting closer and closer, dragging itself along the beach before reaching her.
She felt the shadow lay over her, but couldn’t see anything but darkness.
Then the shadow whispered, “Don’t move, someone is shooting at us, you have to stay under me.”
The shadow was Mike.
“Gun … bag …” was all that would come from her mouth.
Mike dumped the Coach bag in the bloody sand and found her gun.
She could hear Mike’s heavy breathing and what sounded like people fighting.
Mike released the safety and took one shot.
Delaney’s eyes started to focus and she saw the shadows of the wrestling men collapse, then said, “Jake,” as the screeching of sirens was becoming louder in the distance.
“He’s down, he’s down!” Jake’s voice echoed on the beach.
He looked at Joseph and saw the gun laying in the sand.
He picked it up and saw he had taken a bullet to the head, half of his face was blown off.
Running across the beach he found Mike using his shirt as a tourniquet on Delaney’s arm.
Jake fell to his knees and sobbed.
“Wake up!
I love you, Delaney!” he shouted and laid his head on her chest.
“She’s still breathing!”
Cecily was running up the beach now, yelling in her phone to the 911 operator.
Within minutes every cop in the county was on the scene.
Lights and sirens were everywhere and the New Jersey State Police were overhead with a spotlight shining down on all of them.
Jake climbed in the back of the ambulance with her and watched as the paramedics worked on her.
Jake sat in the waiting area for three hours before the surgeon came out to see him.
Trying to read the look on the doctor’s face was impossible; he gave no clues to whether Delaney was dead or alive.
He buried his face in his hands, attempting to hide from the potentially heartbreaking news.
Hearing the surgeon clear his throat, he finally looked up.
“She’s lucky.
The bullet made a clean entry and exit.
She’ll make a full recovery.”
He let out a gasp, and covered his face in his hands, this time feeling a wave of warm love fill his heart.
He had never experienced such raw emotion like this and it was overwhelming.
The intensive care nurse took him to her room.
There she was, the most beautiful woman in the world lying unresponsive in a hospital bed.
“When will she wake up?”
“I can’t give you a time, between the anesthesia and morphine she’s pretty knocked out.
Try to get some rest, there’s a chair in the corner and a pillow in the closet.”
Jake curled up, watching her take every breath.
The low humming of the monitors continued through the night.
He couldn’t take his eyes off of her.
The ringing of his cell phone startled him and Mike’s number appeared on the caller ID.
“How is she?” he asked before Jake could even say hello.
“The doctor said she’ll make a full recovery.
I’m waiting for her to wake up.”
“Thank goodness.
Cecily and I put Fetch in the bed of your truck and took her to the emergency vet hospital.
The bullet grazed her and she’ll be okay.
She’s spending the night for observation.
Just let me know what I can do to help out.”
“Mike, I owe you.
You saved our lives.
I don’t know how you got that head shot.”
Mike spoke up, “I’m an ice cream man who happens to be a trained sniper; it’s called cross training,” and he let out a laugh.
Suddenly Delaney started to wake.
“Mike, she’s waking up.
Talk with you later.”
“I’m right here, Delaney, I’m right here.”
He held her hand and brushed her hair away from her face.
“You’re going to be okay.
Joseph shot you.”
Delaney opened her eyes. “I love you too, Jake.”
Softly he pressed his warm lips against hers and whispered, “I want to spend my forever with you.”
Delaney could feel her heart warm and felt a tear sliding down her face.
She had never felt so loved before.
Then she remembered Fetch. “What about Fetch?” she asked.
“A bullet grazed her but she’s all right.
Mike and Cecily are okay too. You’re going to be fine.
The doctor said you’ll make a full recovery.”
She looked up at him and said “Good. I don’t want my name on a bench.”
Jake had no idea what she was talking about and was baffled.
“You don’t know what you’re saying; you’re probably confused from the morphine.
Go back to sleep, you need to rest.”
Then he kissed her forehead.
Her vision was too blurry to notice Jake’s tears.
Chapter Twenty Two
Jake went through his briefcase and found the information he printed out on Joseph.
Margaret Wu was listed as his only next of kin.
He had no doubt she had Andrew.
Her address was in Manchester, Vermont.
Quickly he packed his bag and called Mike.
Then he called the vet.
Jumping in his truck he started the five hour drive to Manchester.
Speeding north up the Garden State Parkway he made it to the New York Thruway in one hour.
The highway seemed to go on forever.
Stopping once for gas, he finally made it to Albany and crossed over into Hoosick, Vermont.
He bounced along for another hour listening to the Steve Miller Band.
He couldn’t take his mind off of Delaney and how he almost lost her.
The whole night seemed surreal.
Joseph must have been following them and waiting for the opportunity to kill them.
He had to get Andrew back to Caroline.
Pulling into Manchester he saw nothing but tourists carrying designer bags from the shopping outlets.
They seemed to be everywhere.
He noticed pedestrians had the right of way and they didn’t hesitate to walk out in front of moving vehicles.
A couple times he wanted to blow his horn but decided he didn’t want the attention.
Coming up at a stop sign, he turned right onto Main Street.
A quarter mile later he passed the home of Margaret Wu.
Immediately he noticed the swing set and sand box in the backyard.
A white picket fence surrounded the red farmhouse.
A little yappy dog was chasing squirrels and a blue swing hung from a low branch.
Jake parked across the street and watched the house for several minutes.
He used his cell to place a call to the local police department requesting back up.
Walking up to the front door he could hear people inside, and the sound of a giggling child.
Before he had the opportunity to knock a man stepped out onto the porch.
He was young, maybe late twenties.
He was wearing a mechanics suit and had jet black grease under his fingernails.
The red stitching on his uniform said “Jason.”
“Can I help you?” asked Jason.
Jake held up his identification and his badge. “I’m looking for Margaret Wu.
Is she home?”
Jason gave him a perplexed look.
“This is her house. But she’s not here. My wife and I have been renting this place for over a year.”
Jake quickly asked, “What contact information do you have for her?”
“Sorry, I’d like to help you but since her stroke her son Joseph handles everything.
We mail the rent check to him, it’s a P.O. box in Jersey.
I can get it for you if you’d like.”
The door flew open and out bounced a little girl with a shock of black hair pulled into lopsided pigtails. “Daddy, come play in the sand box with me!”
Jakes heart sank. “Do you know if a child lived here with Mrs. Wu?”
“Oh, no way.
She was a diabetic and was on dialysis.
She suffered a stroke last year that left her partially paralyzed and she had nurses here round the clock caring for her.
Her son said the second stroke was even worse and she can no longer speak or eat.
She’s staying in a nursing home now.
I just built this swing set and sandbox for my daughter when we moved in.
The rent is cheap and it’s quiet here.”
The little girl was now wrapped around her father’s leg and impatiently tugging on his shirt.
Jakes heart sank.
Using his cell he called off the backup patrols from the local police department, “false alarm” he told them and left it at that.
Walking back to his truck he couldn’t help but think maybe Andrew really did die and ended up in a landfill somewhere.
This whole thing just may be a wild goose chase after all.
Dr. Wu carrying a bulky bag out of the hospital and returning empty handed less than three minutes later didn’t prove anything.
He climbed into big red and rested his forehead on the steering wheel before calling Delaney.
The sound of her voice was refreshing and he hated to tell her the disappointing news.
She was getting her strength back and was transferred out of the ICU onto a regular medical surgical floor.
“I don’t understand.
I was certain Dr. Wu had kidnapped Andrew and gave him to his mother to raise so she wouldn’t be lonely when he passed.
We missed something.
I know that little boy is out there, I can feel it in my bones.”
Jake felt defeated.
Twenty-four hours had gone by since he had any sleep.
All he wanted was to crawl into her arms and forget about this nightmare.
“Delaney, he’s not alive.
You need to let this go.
I can help you find a good therapist for Caroline so she can begin to move on with her life.”
He heard silence on the other end followed by the unmistakable sound of the phone being slammed down. Pulling onto Vermont US Route 7 he threw the phone and floored the gas.