It has been awhile since I've put up a story….am never sure when I write one if it will be good enough. Money has been buried on the land where Jane has built his family a house. The only one who really knows where the money is Casey their four year old daughter….and isn't sure where she found it.
A young child with black hair, curls running down her back, walks slowly through a house. She has a stuffed pony in her hand, and she is walking with her head down. She walks into a kitchen and looks at the man who is busy cutting up potatoes and carrots. She just stands there and puts her thumb in her mouth. After a couple of minutes she sighs and takes her thumb out of her mouth.
"I'm sorry Daddy….can I go out play now?" She blinks trying to make tears. The man turns around and looks at his daughter, he remembers the night of his marriage to Lisbon, and the wonderful gift she had told him about that night. That gift is now standing in the kitchen looking at him, with the same green eyes her mother has. She even pouts like her mother does when she is upset with him.
"I'm happy that you said you're sorry, Casey, but you still have to wait until the timer goes off in the living room for a time out."
She stamps her foot "I said I'm sorry, and I cleaned up my room like you told me Daddy."
Patrick goes over and sits down at the small kitchen table and motions for her to come to him. She goes up to him and stops in front of him. "You know that Uncle Kimball, Uncle Wayne and Aunt Grace will be here for dinner." She nods yes her curls moving around. "You saw me cleaning up the house and starting a roast for dinner. I asked you to go and clean up your room didn't I?
Again his daughter nods her head. "I did clean my room," she says almost yelling at him. Patrick looks at her and frowns. "That is going to cost you another ten minutes." He sees tears coming from her eyes and hands her a hanky from his coat. "When I went to your room, what did I find…?"
"I was playing a game and I didn't really clean up my room like you asked me to do." More tears are coming down her face.
Patrick can't take her crying, but he can't take her in his arms yet.
"I'm really sorry Daddy and I will go back to my room and clean it real good."
Patrick opens his arms and she rushes in to hug him. After a couple of minutes he sits her on his lap, takes the hanky from her, wipes the tears off her face and has her blow her nose. He gives her a kiss on her forehead.
"I'll be in your room to take a look as soon as cut up the rest of the carrots to put in the slow cooker with the roast. All you really need to do is put your dolls away where they belong and your books in the bookcase."
She gets down from his lap with his help. "I love you Daddy."
His heart fills with love for this carbon copy of his wife. "I love you too Casey."
She runs out of the room leaving her pony on the floor. He picks up the toy and lays it on the table and goes back to cutting up the carrots.
He has just finished turning on the crock pot and is cleaning off the counter when he hears his daughter run into the room. "Daddy, there is a man getting out of a car out front. He has a gun like Mama does and he is holding it in his hand. Is he a friend of Mama?"
Patrick feels the blood drain from his face. He rushes over to Casey and kneels down to her level. "Casey this is very important and you need to obey me. I want you to go hide in your rabbit hole for me. Don't come out until I call you."
Casey had been trained to go into a small safe room in her bedroom. They called it her rabbit hole, and there was a small table and mirror hiding it. It was big enough for her to crawl under and open the door and crawl in and bolt the door. When she bolted the door a small lamp lights up for her. There are dolls in the room and pillows on the floor.
Casey knows that when one of her parents says to go there, she doesn't ask questions. She runs out of the kitchen and goes to her safe place.
Patrick stands and takes a large breath as he walks to the front door, hearing someone knocking. He opens the door to a man holding a gun.
"Can I help you officer?" hoping that the man was police officer, who would be taking his ID out of pocket soon
The man just smiles and shoots Patrick in the foot. Patrick yells and grabs hold of a chair to keep from falling. He looks shocked as he sees blood coming from his shoe.
"You tell me where the money is buried and I'll leave you in one piece." The man yells out at him.
"I don't know what money you're talking about." Patrick says trying to figure out what this man wants. He and Lisbon never keep much money in the house.
"Guess you're not hearing me correctly, I want the money that was buried here seven years ago. I drove by the other day and I saw your little girl playing by the drive way, throwing money up in the air. She must have found the bag…. So where did you put it, and where is the brat?"
"She is in pre-school….and maybe I can help you find the money."
The man shakes his head and aims his gun and shoots Jane in the thigh. Jane goes down yelling out in pain as he puts his hand over the wound. The man goes over and starts kicking Jane in his ribs. As Jane rolls over to get away, the man starts kicking him in the back. Then he kneels down by Jane and rolls him on his back. He starts hitting Jane with his fist, stopping and asking where the money is again and again. When Jane passes out the man stands and starts going through the house room by room. He looks under the bed and closet in the master bedroom and then into a room that looks like a study, pulling open the closet. He goes down the hallway to another room. It is a little girl's room. He goes over and tosses the bed to see if she is there. He goes to the closet and moves all the clothes around to look on the floor. He stands there breathing hard and then rushes out of the room. After the man slams the front door the house is quiet except for timer on the living room coffee table that goes off with a buzz.