Lee Christmas stepped inside the tattoo shop, looked around and spotted his six-month pregnant sister, Kenzie, sketching at her drafting table. Swallowing nervously, he walked towards her.
Kenzie looked up as he approached. "Hey, Bubbles." She called, her smile faltering as she saw his sober expression.
"Hey Squeak." Lee replied, stopping across from her, staring at his feet.
"What's up?" Kenzie asked, becoming concerned.
"That guy from Yale, that asshole who abandoned you...what was his name?"
"Ted Ramsey, why?"
"Ted, like Theodore?" Lee asked, a note of eagerness in his voice, looking up.
"No, Thomas. He thought 'Ted' was edgier, I guess...why, Lee?"
At the name 'Thomas', Lee's hopeful expression fell and he looked back down at some papers folded in his hand.
"Lee Christmas! For Christ's sake! What?"
With a sigh, Lee held out the folded papers. Kenzie took them cautiously and unfolded them. It was a copy of a San Francisco newspaper article from yesterday.
'FORMER TOP ART APRAISER ESCAPES FROM PSYCHIATRIC HOSPITAL'
Thomas Ephraim Ramsey, former West Coast bright star of the Art Community, escaped from the maximum security Hearst Hills Psychiatric Hospital late last night, killing two guards, one nurse and injuring four more...
Kenzie looked up at Lee with wide, disbelieving eyes then continued reading. The article outlined Ramsey's psychotic break fifteen months previous, involving a violent attack on his gallery owner, his being deemed insane and then becoming incarcerated some eleven months ago. The article warned that Ramsey was considered extremely dangerous.
"How did you find out about this?" Kenzie asked, looking back up at Lee.
Lee shifted uncomfortably. "Ever since you told me what he did to you, I've been kinda keeping an eye on him."
"Keeping an eye on him?" Kenzie echoed. "Why didn't you say anything sooner? The article said he snapped fifteen months ago!"
Lee sighed. "Apparently his family's got money. He didn't kill his boss, just maimed him, and they were able to keep it all quiet. They couldn't hide the escape though."
"What do you mean, 'maimed him'. How bad? What did he do? Is he completely off the deep end?"
"I'd say he's fuckin' lost it." Lee agreed. "He, uh...attacked his boss and tore out his throat."
"Jesus, Lee!"
"With his own teeth apparently."
"Holy shit!"
"Yeah, baby. This is serious." A new voice called. Lee and Kenzie turned to see Gunner walk into the shop and stride quickly towards them. Reaching Kenzie, Gunner put his hand on her shoulder and continued. "We're not leaving you alone until he's captured or killed, there's always going to be at least one of the team with you at all times."
"That's a little extreme, you two." Kenzie replied, shaking her head.
"Not up for discussion." Gunner replied with finality. "You don't agree to that and you're under house arrest. I'll tie you to a chair myself if necessary."
"Gunner! Come on!"
"No!" Gunner said sharply. Taking a deep breath, he dropped down on one knee to Kenzie's eye level, his eyes lowered. When he spoke again, his tone had softened. "Please, baby." He said lowly. "I'm not taking that chance, not with you and the babies." Gunner tenderly touched Kenzie's belly, his hand gentle. "Let me do this, please." He met Kenzie's gaze and she inhaled sharply at the barely leashed panic she saw in his eyes.
Kenzie reached out, touched Gunner's cheek with her palm and he leaned his face into it. "You're really convinced he's going to come after me?" She asked soberly.
"Yes." Gunner replied. "I am."
Kenzie took a deep breath. "Okay, but I'm showering myself, surely I don't need one of the team in there with me for that?"
Gunner grinned, some good humour returning. "That's my shift." Relief evident in his eyes, he pulled Kenzie into his arms and buried his head in her hair. "Thank you, baby." He whispered, so quietly Kenzie almost missed it.
Lee spoke then. "The team's on its way over, we're having a meeting and figuring out a game plan."
Gunner pulled away from Kenzie and stood, pulling her gently to her feet beside him.
"Um, was his escape really violent then, too?" Kenzie asked, still reeling from the news that her arty, hipster little tool of an ex had really done these acts.
"It seems he has a thing for throats." Lee replied grimly and Kenzie paled, stepping closer to Gunner who shot Lee a look.
"He's not getting anywhere near you, baby; we won't let him." Gunner assured her, rubbing Kenzie's back.
"Jesus, I can't believe he'd do this." Kenzie said, shaking her head.
"After how he reacted to you that time, I'm not surprised." Lee replied. "Sounds like he was on his way out then. The article says he's been diagnosed with a whole laundry list of shit, including narcissism, being a psychopath AND a sociopath. He's crazier than a shithouse rat."
"Yeah, well, rats get exterminated." Gunner muttered, his arms tightening around Kenzie. She jumped slightly, causing both men to look at her curiously.
Smiling widely, Kenzie touched her hand to the left of her navel. "One of them kicked." She explained. Taking Gunner's hand, she rested it over the spot. "Feel that?"
Gunner was silent for a moment, then grinned broadly. "Hey, little one." He crooned softly, dropping to his knees, moving his head right beside his hand. Another kick answered him. "Lilla du." He murmured. Resting his cheek against Kenzie for a moment, he closed his eyes, a look of perfect contentment on his face.
Lee shook his head, smiling. He was still getting used to the fact that not only was his kid sister going to have a baby (babies), but Gunner was going to be a dad.
After a pause, Gunner opened his eyes again and stood. Smiling down at Kenzie, he leaned down and kissed her, murmured to her too quietly for Lee to hear. Lee rolled his eyes with a grin, amazed yet again at the changes he'd seen in Gunner since Kenzie had come into his life. You'd be hard pressed to believe, unless you'd known him before, that Gunner was a fearsome and efficient killer, brutally capable of berserker rage and merciless acts, and he'd been in real danger of losing the more human parts of himself until Kenzie had reawakened his softer side. Heaven help this nut job if he got within 200 miles of Gunner's family, Ramsey's own throat would be the one torn out.
The door was thrown wide and the team began to filter in, laughing and talking loudly. With one last kiss to the top of Kenzie's head, Gunner strode over to Thorn, who had a large folder in his hands.
Kenzie moved back to her drafting table and sat. Picking up the pencil, she began to sketch idly, her mind racing. Ted? A murderer? A psychopathic, sociopathic murderer? Kenzie had made peace with that time in her life, realizing that she had gotten out of what had been, in hindsight, most definitely the wrong path and had steered her into meeting her soulmate and love of her life, Gunner. Although Gunner and Lee's certainty that Ted would try to hurt Kenzie was unsettling, she nonetheless had perfect faith that she was 100% safe under the Expendables watch, that no harm would come to her as long as they were around. She only hoped that this was resolved soon, with Ted recaptured; or, as a last resort, killed; before her and Gunner's twins made their debut.
"Hey!" Caesar yelled, waving some money. "I'm adding another guess to the baby pool!"
Laughing, Luna hurried to a black dry erase board on the wall, marked chaotically with neon markers. Gunner and Kenzie had decided to not learn the sex of their twins, and consequently, the team had gone hog wild with guesses, putting together a huge and complicated baby pool of wagers on sex of the babies, and their due date, as well as birth order. Luna and Toll were the main brains behind the chart, and claimed it made perfect sense, but Kenzie saw only lines and arrows and squiggles. She shook her head, smiling, at Caesar's enthusiasm, as he pointed at a specific squiggle and elaborated on it, watching Luna carefully as she added to the lines, supposedly including his new guess.
Gunner and Lee, having flipped quickly through the folder Thorn brought, and who looked to be co-chairing this meeting, raised their voices and told everyone to sit down and be quiet. The team complied, sitting and turning their attention to the two men standing in front of them. Barney moved over to Kenzie's side, squeezing her knee reassuringly as he sat down beside her.
"Alright," Lee began. "Gunner and I have just learned of a major threat to one of us, specifically Kenzie."
The team shifted in alarm.
"This man, Thomas Ephraim 'Ted' Ramsey," Lee held up a mug shot of Ramsey, "just escaped from a psychiatric hospital in California where he was incarcerated due to a violent attempted murder." Lee handed the picture to the nearest person, Toll, to study and pass on. Lee turned his gaze to Kenzie. "I'm not sure how much you want to elaborate on how you know him."
Kenzie nodded and stood, addressing the group. "We were together for a little over two years at Yale. After learning I was pregnant, this man broke my nose, cracked my cheekbone and left me. He transferred to the west coast and became an art appraiser like myself."
"You were pregnant?" Smilee asked hesitantly. "Will he try to go after the child?"
Kenzie smiled sadly at John. "I lost the baby a few months later, I don't know if Ramsey is aware of that or not." Slowly, she sat down again beside Barney, who patted her knee.
A gloomy silence fell over the group for a few moments before Gunner broke it.
"Regardless of what he knows, we believe he will try to harm Kenzie based on her history with him. We're not going to let that happen."
The team rumbled assent, shooting Kenzie reassuring smiles and nods.
"Are we going out looking for him?" Smilee asked.
Lee shook his head. "We're not splitting the team's resources right now, Gunner and I want to form a watch schedule and make sure that Kenzie is always protected that way. At least one of the crew with her at all times. We're not forcing you guys to do this, it's voluntary, and we'll set up a random schedule based on how many of you are willing to help."
"Shit, Lee, this is Kenzie. Of course we're all in." Smilee said emphatically, the team agreeing loudly around him. "What are doing when we get him?"
Gunner and Lee traded a glance, and Gunner answered. "Shoot on sight. We can't risk him getting locked up and escaping again."
Kenzie started beside Gunner and he dropped down beside her instantly. "It's the only way, baby. Please understand. We don't want him showing up in six or seven years and going after the twins." His hand pressed gently to Kenzie's abdomen and a fleeting look a fear raced over his face. The expression was so alien to Gunner's normal appearance that Kenzie couldn't stop a small shiver. Misinterpreting, Gunner leaned his head and murmured soothingly in her ear. "That will never happen, baby. We're stopping him now."
"I know you are, Gun." Kenzie murmured, "I just don't want anyone of you getting hurt."
Gunner pulled his head back to meet Kenzie's eyes and grinned. "Only one person's getting hurt in this."
"Yeah, a permanent kinda hurt." Lee added, throwing his own reassuring grin at Kenzie.
Gunner pressed a kiss to Kenzie's forehead before standing and speaking to the whole group again. "Now this is going to be a little different than flying off somewhere and getting rid of someone that we've been paid to dispose of. This piece of shit's still an American citizen and there might be witnesses or bystanders. Try to get him alone and avoid that and make sure that your weapon is untraceable back to you. We don't want the long arm of the law fucking this up with 'justice' for the 'victim'.
"We can 'Jimmy Hoffa' him pretty easy." Toll remarked, earning a whoop and fist-bump from Caesar.
Lee nodded. "The less that leads back to us, the better. And if the FBI or anyone comes around asking if we've seen this guy, the answer is 'no'. Got it?"
The team answered affirmative.
"Alright, give us a few to make up a preliminary watch schedule, and thanks guys." Gunner said.
Barney took Kenzie's hand. "Don't worry, Kenz. We'll deal with this asshole and then it'll be over."
Kenzie tried to smile confidently at Barney, but knew that she wasn't truly going to relax until Ramsey was dead. It saddened her to think of that as the end, but, if it came down to any one of the Expendables or Ramsey, Kenzie would pull the trigger herself until she heard 'click'.