Chapter Six
Crews moved so fast he was nearly a blur as he grabbed Dani by the hand and dragged her toward the elevator. "Trouble at home" was all he said, diverting at the last minute for the stairs. He did not have the time for elevators today. He took the stairs two and three at a time, leaving Dani to scramble hard to keep up with her longer legged husband/partner.
Knowing he would not leave without her, she tossed him the keys as he reached the top of the stairs and he sprinted to the fast car parked nearby. She heard the throaty growl of the Maserati as it sprung to life and the squeal of the tires as Crews edged it out of the parking lot quickly. He stopped beside her beckoning for her to get in and snapping her head back with the force of his acceleration, and simultaneously slamming her door shut as he sped away.
Dani was winded, but already dialing. Sam answered on the second ring, crying and Dani could hear Ripley growling and snapping in the background, but close enough to the little girl to drown out her voice at times. Dani asked what happened, which got no meaningful reply. She then tried a different tack "Where's Gramma?" This only produced harder crying from Sam.
Dani shrugged unable to elicit anything meaningful from her daughter, took a deep breath and willed herself to be still and calm. Crews gift to her - Zen in moments of chaos. Dani's calm, clear voice belied her own fears and lent strength to her scared daughter, Charlie was incredibly proud of her in that moment.
"Honey, calm down." she said "Are you okay?"
"Yes" came the simple response and the tightness in Dani's chest eased. Crews was watching her while traveling at insane speeds.
"Crews watch the road" Dani ordered in a whisper with her hand over the phone, wondering why it seemed like only women multi-tasked well.
"Is anyone hurting you?" She asked
"No. He's just standing there, but Gramma and Ripley…" her daughter trailed off.
"Who's just standing there?" Dani questioned quietly and with more calm, patience than any human being should be able to muster under these circumstances, Crews thought.
"Jack" Sam said. Jack Reese chose that moment to try to gently put his foot under Ripley and move the dog with his foot and get into the door and assist his wife.
"Don't you kick my dog!" Sam shouted loud enough for Charlie to hear over the engine's whine.
"It's my father. Go faster" Dani said to Charlie quietly, but unnecessarily.
Crews heart raced with the energy of a rabid dog. He drove the little Italian racecar like it was a rocket ship. Two things Charlie Crews absolutely could not take, the first was Dani in any kind of distress and the second was fear in his daughter's face or voice. Right now, both readings registered in the red as he dropped the car into a higher gear and raced toward his house.
"We're coming baby, just stay calm, everything will be alright" Dani promised her daughter.
Jack heard the car before he saw it. It sounded like it was traveling at just under the sound barrier as it climbed the hill to the house, hurtling through turns and coming to rest inches from the door.
"My mommy and daddy are coming and you are going to really get it" Sam turned from crying to taunting once she felt safety was at hand.
Crews exited the vehicle like he was shot from a cannon rounding the car and there was no stopping the blow that was coming. He hit Jack Reese with twelve years of fury knocking the man to the ground. Ripley chose this precise moment to seize upon Jack's pant leg and begin to shred it. Jack Reese raised his arm to fend off what he knew was going to be repeated blows and Charlie Crews was prepared to pick Jack Reese up and throw him off the side of a cliff, when Dani stayed him with a word.
"Crews" she said sharply and he looked up.
Dani nodded at Sam who stood red-faced, her little face tear streaked, struggling with the door, which now that Jack was flat on his back, was sliding closed. Charlie's right arm reached out to the door as he moved forward with his left and scooped his daughter up from the ground. She threw her tiny arms around his neck and cried into his shirt collar. Charlie Crews backlight by the sun, appeared as if his red hair was on fire. He looked like a man about to do dark and dangerous things and he was absolutely, irrevocably furious.
Dani scrubbed her face with hands, as her mother appeared at the door, recovering from her earlier shock. "Dad" she barked "what are you doing here?" she demanded, now knowing there was no real danger, just confusion, she began to sort through what had happened.
Ripley emboldened by backup from Charlie was now giving Jack serious hell as he kicked and thrash at the spry collie who was still energized. "Ripley, stop that" Dani said sharply and the dog stopped and cocked it's head at her. "Come're" she said patting her leg. Ripley cut a wide berth around the sprawling body of Jack Reese and slunk over to Dani certain he was in trouble. She bent down to pet the small dog telling him "good boy" and his tail began to wag furiously, wagging the rest of his body with it.
"See Mommy I told you Ripley was a good dog" Sam pronounced from her position of relative safety under the father's chin. Charlie's eyes were an amazing almost electric blue as she approached, his free fist still clench and entire body taut like a cable.
"Breathe Charlie" she spoke quietly only to him, but Crews seemed not to hear, until she touched his face. "Crews? You here?" she said to him.
"Hold her" he said trying to give his daughter to Dani.
"No. Charlie, you hold her. It might be the only thing that will keep you two from killing each other right now." Charlie shot his wife a dirty look that said he's got it coming for making my kid cry, but remained still, coiled, but unsprung for the moment.
Dani's mother said nothing, but moved to help her husband up with Dani's help and into the house. Roya was silent as she went to get the first aid kit, while Dani wet some towels in the sink. Crews stood glowering over Jack Reese, who was only just beginning to appreciate the young man's hatred and his own limitations brought on by age. In a fair fight, Charlie Crews would likely kill him Jack realized.
Crews spoke under his breath so Dani couldn't hear him, whilst rocking his daughter back and forth by twisting his torso slightly, "I warned you Jack. On a gurney" Crews repeated his promise from the night before with glittering, angry eyes.
Sam was tucked neatly under Charlie's chin, her tiny frame draped over her father's chest, watching Jack with her dark eyes narrowed, from a position of complete safety, but said nothing.
At Charlie's feet, Ripley continued to occasionally show his teeth in a silent growl Dani wouldn't notice, demonstrating the count was current three to maybe one, but Jack wasn't entirely sure Dani was on his side.
"Take off your pants" Dani directed.
Jack looked at her like she'd sprung three heads. "What?"
"I need to see if the dog bit you" she said studying him.
"I'm fine and I am not taking off my pants." Jack said firmly. "Not in front of my daughter and my granddaughter" he countered stubbornly.
"Fine" Dani said throwing the wet towel at him. "Mom can deal with you".
Dani left the kitchen, catching Crews hand on the way past and taking him with her into the living area, where they sat on the couch together. Sam disentangled herself from the father and migrated to her mother's lap. Dani gently brushed the hair back from her daughter's face examining her closely for any sign of injury or discomfort. Crews' hand stroked his wife's back, neck and shoulder.
After Dani satisfied herself Sam was fine, she allowed Crews to gather her into his embrace and leaned against him relaxing. Crews was watchful and protective, as stroked his wife's hair and kissed the top of her head. Their breathing began to match and Sam stilled, her eyes fluttering sleepily. Too much excitement had done the little girl in and she was ready for a nap.
When Jack turned back, his wife was standing there with the first aid kit still looking as if she was seeing a ghost. "It's me, Roya" he said gently. "It's okay" he said limping towards her.
She set the first aid kit on the table, as he approached. Her head dropped to her chest and Jack used a knuckle under her chin to lift it "hey" he said and her tears began to fall. Jack shushed her as he gathered her into his arms.
Roya clung to him like a drowning man does a life raft and Jack Reese felt tears prick the corners of his own eyes. He had two immediate thoughts: God he had missed her and this was what home felt like. He considered his morning and decided that a pair of destroyed pants, a few puncture wounds and a bruised jaw were a small price to pay for having her back in his arms and despite all that had happened, Jack Reese smiled for the first time in many years.