"I love you guys. Be safe." Safe, that's what it's about. That's the reason that they are going away for a few weeks. Isabelle had to be pulled out of school but she'll have a tutor going to New York while they're away so she won't miss anything. I step back watching them board a plane that is going to take them thousands of miles from me but it's for the best. I stayed in the airport until it was announced that the flight took off. When I got back in the car it was quiet. The house was the same. No baby babbling or Isabelle reading out loud. Lina wasn't in the kitchen listening to music. Just me. Well George was with me so that was something.
Fucking dog practically saved them. I knew he would come in handy one day but I wasn't expecting this to be when we would need him. Maybe I should get another one. Their plane was early so now I have to stay awake all day. It's 7am their plane was at 6 I'm suppose to go to Christian's to try to figure this shit out but maybe it's too early. Yea right the man never sleeps he's always busy going at it with Ana. Poor woman never has a break. I get a bag ready to head to Christian's gym for a few hours. Taylor buzzed me in so I won't wake them and it's not like they'll care, well Ana won't. Plus I'm not even bothering them till later. After three hours I take a shower and head to the kitchen where Gail is.
Thank fuck she's making food because I'd be stuck with a cereal and I'm starving. Get used to it, I think to myself. Teddy is in his chair and squeals when he sees me.
"Good morning Elliot." She says when she sees me.
"Hey Gail. My brother still having sex?" She tries to contain her smile.
"No he and Ana went to buy groceries. Ana forced him into it." That's a first, Mr. CEO at the super market?
"Are you gonna feed this kid?" I put my finger next to his mouth and he turns to try to find food. He's cute little fucker that's for sure it just makes me miss my kid.
"Yes I was right after I make your breakfast." She knew I'd ask so shes making me a spinach omelet which is the only thing I eat when I'm here. Not because Gail isn't a good cook but that just happens to be my favorite.
"I'll take that Gail." I take the food for Teddy she has out and start feeding him. Once she sets my plate I tell her to relax and I'll take care of Teddy. She smiles leaving me alone. "You might be the only one that I have right now kid." He just opens his mouth waiting for food. Fuck this is messy he has a bib but he isn't even eating anything. Lina made it look so easy when she did this last week but she makes everything easy. I miss her already. Their flight will get there in another few hours so I'm just waiting for her to call.
"Elliot you're early." Ana comes in setting bags on the counter.
"Sorry I had nothing to do so I thought I'd hang out with this kid for a bit."
"It's fine he's very fond of you. Did he eat?" She looks at Teddy's messy face giggling.
"Not much he kept pushing it out."
"That just means he's had enough." Shit I'm force feeding the kid, great.
"My mistake I didn't know."
"It's fine. Christian does that too, he doesn't understand the idea of a baby not finishing a full meal."
"Where is my baby brother?"
"Carrying in groceries." She points and my brother has a shitload of bags and is bitching about them not being Eco friendly. A waste of material in his eyes.
"Gail told you about the other bags but you didn't want to take them so now you're stuck using plastic." Ana says annoyed.
"I can see shopping is a very enjoyable task for you both."
"Do you know how long we waited in line? Ten fucking minutes. What kind of fucking service is that. They didn't even open another line. Everything would have been faster if they did. What if someone has an emergency. If my parents are at the hospital I'm expected to just wait."
"Bro I'm pretty sure if Grace was in the hospital you wouldn't be grocery shopping. And that isn't a long time. You're just not used to all that normal people shit. Just because you're a millionaire doesn't mean we all answer to you."
"Oh yes because you are not a millionaire." He has a point but not to his extent.
"Anyways is Taylor here?" I need to get down to business. The sooner we find this guy and turn him in the sooner they can come back. He comes close to me hinting that he wants to talk about this elsewhere.
"We have some business to take care of. We'll be ready by the time we need to head to Bellevue." Ana agrees saying she's going to work on some things with Teddy. I love how she just goes with it.
"As far as I'm concerned no one knows about the break in. I told Ana about the fire but everything has been kept to ourselves. No one needs to worry more than they already do. I would like to keep it this way my wife doesn't need the stress." He's right the less people know the better we can deal with this. I follow him to his office where Taylor, Luke and Barney are already sitting. Why is Luke here. Christian hates Luke. I mean he's isn't such a dick but to have him in his house is kind of a stretch for the olive branch Christian extended after Mia talked to him.
"How's Lina?" Luke asks as I take a seat. He set the room up to look like a conference room so it has a full length table.
"She's okay. She's still shaken over what happened Friday but it's getting better. Her plane left this morning."
"Have you called her?" Christian asks.
"No she's still in the air. She'll call me when she lands."
"It was a good decision, sending them away. It's easier to look for him when Isabelle isn't a sitting duck in Seattle. Also Lina and Evan won't be in the way should the worst happen." If he gets them he'll kill Lina, Evan along with anyone else that is in the way.
"Have you seen the security tapes?"
"No I had made the copying then sent them to the detective without looking at them. I've been too busy trying to get Lina to agree about getting on the plane. She agreed two days ago. I would have put her on the next flight but she wanted one last day so the kids could spend together."
"She's stubborn but she cares more about her kids than anything." Luke said. He knew her well, they often spend time together when we are at family dinners.
"We have someone watching her in New York so there is nothing to worry about." Christian fills them in. I didn't tell her but the driver is going to be her CPO while she's away. That was a last minute precaution. "Elliot are you sure you want to see the tapes? Watching it won't matter, nothing affects how we look for him." Christian asks me.
"Listen bro I get you like to keep things in line and safe which is fine but this is my family. Keeping them safe is my job. Not in line because Lina would..." Lina would bitch about how they need some freedom, I think to myself but that doesn't matter. They don't need to know how pussy whipped I am. "Anyways this is my job I'm asking for help not for you to do it for me. So what ever is going on I want to know, you won't get to keep shit from me or hide it or not tell me what ever excuse you're going to use just shove it. If all you're going to do is keep shit then I can figure this out my way." I'm not about to be treated like a little bitch by my little brother because he needs to be in control of everything. Control went out the window when this bastard broke into my house and lit it on fire.
"Elliot I just want to make sure you do. You're in charge here." He assures me.
"Then play the stupid tape." It's not a tape. It's just a DVD that was edited by Barney so that it would play the 30 minutes that the he was in the house. Lina didn't want to talk about it so this is the first time I'll know what the fuck happened.
I watch to see that he went it through the gate by punching in our code. How he got it is beyond me. As far as I know just our family knows. Then he goes around the house until he finds a spot to stand. "From that angle you can see into Isabelle's room." Taylor tells me. How the fuck can I fix that? He stands there until the DVD shows a clip of Isabelle running down the hallway to Lina's room. A few seconds later Lina appears holding her hand. Just as she walks in Rick steps into the living room sliding door. Goes back to Lina who walks to our bedroom with the kids. He walks around a bit looking at things. He goes into my office and takes out a paper. "We zoomed in on that." Taylor says just as I'm about to ask.
"We have a clear picture of what he wrote i have not seen it." Christian says.
Just then Lina walks out of the room. What the fuck is she doing. Why is she leaving? I want to call her just yelling for something so stupid. My anger subsisted when I hear what he says to her. "So he wants her as a prostitute?" Luke asks taken back. "She's just a kid. She just turned six." Because this would be more appropriate in a few years. But now I understand why they didn't want to show me.
"Elliot?"
"Keep it playing." He really thinks that I would blame Isabelle for his shit? That's fucking crazy. She's a kid none of this is her fault. But if I ever see that fucking bastard-
"Elliot!"
"What?"
"The paper was things regarding her adoption and some details on Evan's birth. Nothing was relevant. I'm guessing it pissed him off so he went looking for her upstairs. Did he take anything? Anything of value."
"A watch in my office." Lina was upset when I told her but she could replace it. It's just a watch. "He took some credit cards from Lina's wallet she had it in my office from the night before."
"So we track them. Have you canceled them?" Taylor asks.
"No I thought about that too so I was going to tell you. She took mine to New York. So if it's being used in Seattle it's him. I'm sure someone as desperate as him will use them."
By the end that was our only lead. We just had to sit hoping that he would be stupid enough to use the cards. Lina still hadn't called me when we were leaving to Grace's which worried me but she had her hands full so I couldn't complain.
"Elliot how are you dear?" Mom says walking up to me.
"I'm fine mom. What's for dinner?" Everyone beat me here so I was the last to arrive. Everyone was seated around waiting for dinner. I knew this wasn't going to go over well because mom had set two other plates.
"I made Isabelle's favorite. For her anyways. Where is she. Are Lina and the kids almost here?" She looks at her watch slightly frustrated. She hates when people are late for dinner. Christian and Luke both look at me expecting to say something. Everyone is looking at me.
"They aren't coming mom." I say pulling on my hair.
"Where are they? Did something happen?" She asks worried. Christian must not have thought things out well because I wasn't sure how I was suppose to explain how I sent my wife away so she wouldn't get killed by some murderer who is after my daughter to force her into prostitution. I raise my eyebrows at Christian letting him know there is no fucking way out of this. I guess I'll just give them a watered down version of things.
"Someone broke into our house. We think it's a plan to get to my family so I sent them away to New York for a few weeks. They left this morning." I lean back waiting for her to yell.
"You sent them away without letting us even say goodbye? Elliot how could you? How could you send them away in general? If anything you should stay close together now. How could you not tell us about the house. You could have come here, you know that Elliot. We are your family all we want is to help you instead you throw her into a new city alone with two kids."
"I didn't throw her anywhere. I want her safe. You're house is practically down the street. I don't want this house to be added to the list of houses this guy has gone into. I especially don't need to add you and dad to his kill list. I'm doing this for their safety. I'd love going there with them but I have to stay here so they can find that piece of shit. Mom I did what I think is best for my family. I wasn't... It's done." I look down. I don't want to be mad at her but I can't have her thinking I'm sending them away for my benefit.
"Elliot I just think that-" I feel my phone vibrating in my pocket. Fucking finally. I walk out to the back porch ignoring whoever is calling me.
"Lina?"
"Hey I just wanted to let you know we have arrived at JFK. I found the driver but now we are waiting for the luggage"
"Good. I'm glad it all went well. How are the kids? Were they okay to travel with?"
"Yeah we sat next to this old man in first class who wouldn't stop talking except when Isabelle was talking. She made a new friend on the plane. Evan fussed at first but once we took off he was his usual babbling self. How's everything over there?"
"It's fine. We have a plan. I'll tell you later so you can get settled."
"Okay well I love you. I'll call later tonight. Or I'll Skype." She says sadly.
"I love you too." I sit outside thinking that I should go back inside but I'm not sure I want to deal with mom right now. I'd go home but there is no one there.
"You okay son?" Asks dad walking out. He hands me a beer but I don't drink it. If I drink then I can't drive and I might have to leave suddenly but I won't drive buzzed. "Who called that made you run off without a word?"
"Lina she called to tell me they're in New York."
"You're mom is upset that we didn't get to say goodbye. Don't be so upset with her." He says defending her. I get it but they don't know what's going on.
"She's coming back. It's not like you'll never see them again. I don't have to explain myself to you anymore. I think I'm old enough to know what I'm doing without having to ask permission. You guys can still call her any time I just don't want them here."
"What's going on with you? Everything was going fine a few weeks ago. Did something happen with you and Lina?"
"No our relationship is going well."
"Then talk to your mother Elliot."
"I'm just going to get home. I told Lina ill call when I wasn't busy. No offense but I have work to do so I'd like to get it done early so I can call them." I stand up heading inside. I consider just walking past everyone but I can't do that to mom. I tell her goodbye hugging her but walk away before she says anything.
I was going to stay there a while but turns out I'm not good company. I start working on the plans to fix the part of the house that was burned last week. I'm thinking that I can fix it then sell the house. I'll end up selling the place in New York too, it's not like I ever go there anymore. Last time I went was over a year ago so it's just been sitting there.
I'm surprised to see her call me so early but still happy.
"Baby hey." God I sound so eager.
"Hi we're just about to go to bed so Isabelle wanted to say good night."
"Already?" I ask surprised.
"Yes with the time difference it's past her bed time already." Shit I forgot about that. Good thing she called or else I would have woken her up.
"Right well let me talk to her then." I'm glad she's happy to talk to me. I throught she'd be mad but she's just excited to show me the apartment so we get on Skype form Lina's iPad.
"Look daddy, look. Look at my bed it's so big and look," she sets the iPad down so I can watch as she climbs on the bed and begins to roll around. "It's so big and I never fall. Doesn't that look super fun? It's almost like moms new bed." She takes the ipad again walking to the living room. "And it's so pretty outside with all the lights. Mommy said that we can go the park maybe tomorrow or the next day. I forgot the name of the park." She stops to think about it.
"Central Park?"
"That one. And we are going to get Evan a stroller so we can walk a lot because cars are so slow. In the street there was like a million cars. Mommy said there was traffic but I didn't see anything called traffic."
"Traffic is when there is a lot of cars in the streets."I explain to her.
"Oh yes that was traffic. What are you doing?"
"I'm sitting in my bed talking to my little princess."
"Where is she I don't see anyone?" She moves the device so she can see me from a different angle but only succeeds in moving her camera around.
"You are my princess. I'm talking to you." She starts giggling. "Want to see my room again?" I nod.
She shows me what will be her room while she's there then moves to what's her aunts room even though Virginia won't arrive until tomorrow. Lina had to buy something for Evan to sleep in so she shows me that. It works well for Lina because while I keep Isabelle entertained she has time to bathe and change Evan.
"But I'm not finished." Isabelle wines when Lina takes away the ipad.
"Isabelle you can talk tomorrow it's bed time."
"Good night baby."
"Can I call you when I wake up?" She asks yawning.
"You can call anytime. As long as you don't wake your mom to call. I told you anytime. I love you baby."
"Love you too daddy." Lina sets the iPad down so I can watch as she tucks Isabelle in bed.
"So she's in bed. Hopefully she sleeps through the night. Evan has been asleep for a while because he doesn't care about time zones so I'll be up early. It's a nice place by the way. Just hold on while I change." I lay in bed staring at the screen waiting for her to appear again. Being alone in bed waiting for her to talk to makes me really regret making her go. I don't want Evan to forget me. It could be like when someone new holds him he starts to cry, what if that happens to me when I see him again. There's also the possibility of her meeting someone there which means she'll leave me, probably take the kids with her. Right now I have full custody of Isabelle but there is no way she wouldn't fight me for her. She loves the kids more than she loves me. That's a good thing because it shows what kind of mother she is but I don't want to lose her. If I do though it would be completely my fault.
"Hello?" She says snapping me out of it. I see this woman smile at me through the screen and I'm brought back to the fact that she still loves me now. Maybe it will change but she's mine now. "Where'd you go? You seemed out of it." She says as she positions her self in bed.
"I was thinking. I like your shirt." She took some of my shirts before she left.
"They smell like you. In a good way, plus it's not like you use them." She's right I don't, not to bed anyways. I'd much rather feel her skin.
"You sleep naked too."
"Because you take my clothes off in the middle of the night." That's true.
"You've never complained. Except that one time."
"I was asleep and you were ready to have sex with me. You were having sex with a corpse."
"You were moaning."
"I thought I was dreaming." She sheiks but then covers her mouth looking at Evan.
"Still sleeping?" She turns the camera so that I can see that he is still sleeping peacefully in his new crib. "A very hot corpse." She scrunches her nose the same way Isabelle does and it makes me laugh. "Tired?" The last thing I want is to keep her up when she could be resting.
"No my body is still on Seattle time."
"Your body." I say slowly. Lina's always been very innocent and traditional when it comes to things, sex. Very vanilla as Christian would call it. It doesn't bother me but sometimes I want to see how far I can push her.
"My body misses your body." She whispers.
"I know the feeling." Now seems like a good time to test it. "Take of the shirt."
"What?" I caught her off guard.
"Take it off." I repeat.
"Evan is in here." She looks to where the crib is. Shit I guess not tonight. "You know I'm still mad that you sent us all the way here away from you. I think that you can wait for release until I get back. Consider that your punishment for sending us away."
"Is that what you think? That I sent you away from me?" I ask seriously.
"Isn't that what you did?" She says smiling.
"No... I." For some reason hearing it from her really pisses me off. She knows that's not the reason yet she continues to think that I somehow enjoy being away from them. She might be joking but it isn't funny. This fucking asshole running around isn't funny. Her looking for him when he could have easily killed her isn't funny. "You're tired. I'll let you sleep. Goodnight Carolina." Fuck I didn't want to call her by her full name. I don't do it on purpose, it just slips out when I'm pissed off like I am now.
"What? No Elliot I want to talk. Please don't hang up."
"Night baby." She says something but I've already hung up. I change into some shorts and a hoodie so I can go on a run. I need to think and get all this fucking sexual frustration out of my system. Not that it will help but maybe I'll be exhausted enough to sleep. I'm not sure how far or for how long I ran but I know that it was a long ass time. I have my phone but it's off. As soon as I turn it on then I'm sure I get a fucking load of messages and missed calls. I'm not ready to feel guilty for hanging up on her. I must have been gone for over two hours. Later I find out that I was right, over two hours. It felt good though to just be away from the quiet house.
After taking a long cold shower I get something to eat and check my emails. Everything is pretty normal which is good because outside of work my life is a mess. I miss the days when it was normal with my family. When I could go to the fucking store and not worry about someone hurting her. I know if we'll get back to that life soon but for now we'll have to settle for this long distance. For conversations on Skype and phone calls.
I should call and apologize. She deserves that. She does what I ask her to, yet I act like a dick. It's around 12 in New York now but I can't wait till morning because if I do then she'll think I'm still mad so she won't call me. Not that she should, if anything I'm the one who should be calling her asking for forgiveness. I turn my phone back on waiting for the angry messages but there aren't any. Instead I find 13 missed calls and a few messages from her. The last one was sent an hour ago. I start reading them from the first she sent after I hung up.
Don't be mad at me it was a joke. -C
I love you, please call back. -C
Answer the phone. -C
I'm sorry. -C
Getting worried here. Just let me know you're okay. -C
I miss you. Please talk to me. -C
The last message is a long one.
I know why we are here. I agreed for a reason. But you promised me the night I agreed that you wouldn't blow us off yet here you are not answering me. What if something important happens and I NEED to talk to you? You know I was joking so just answer the phone. I don't want this to be why we dont work out or for this distance to be the start of a bigger fight that we may not come out off. I didn't want to come here because I thought that if we were away from you then you would stop seeing us as important. But these are your kids and I love you. We are a family. Just please talk to me Elliot. I miss you. Call me back. -C
I'm definitely the biggest douche of the year. She shouldn't feel that way ever. "She's scared to lose you. In anyway possible." Andy said once. She was talking about something physically happening to me but now I see that there is more to this. She won't lose me but she doesn't know that. As far as she's concerned I'm here in Seattle having a vacation from my family when in reality I'm miserable.
Another text message comes through.
Going to sleep. Hope you're okay. Please at least just call Isabelle tomorrow. You know how she gets. Good night Baby. -C
I can just imagine her upset right now. If she was here she would have cornered me until I talked to her but for now I'll just keep quiet. I hate that she worries though. She shouldn't. I'll call tomorrow. I go to bed thinking about how quiet this fucking house is. Even though it's night the only noise is coming from me breathing. Lina moved a lot during the night and when she does she usually is groaning but now it's just me. And George who's in the room. I felt like a little pussy for bringing him here but I thought it might make me feel better but the damn dog snores. I'm sure if I call she'll answer but I don't want to wake her.
Somehow sleep finds me.
Sorry for the last chapter being so short. I've been trying to do Mia and Luke's next chapter before changing things to their new story. That's for reading and reviewing. And the Rick situation will be solved soon so we can get back to all the good times for Elliot and Lina. I'm thinking we will expand their family a bit. Or the wedding not sure which first.
