Chapter 16
Sitting on the floor of the living room of the beach house, Emma stares at a photo from her childhood. It's her holding Sammy on her birthday. She places the photo back into the double infinity box on the tap. The sound of helicopter blades echo in the distance. She looks up towards the door and then back down at the table. She hears the door slam open.
"Freeze! Don't move! FBI!" A man's voice shouts.
Emma moves to slam the box shut as a man grabs her. "Let me go!" She shouts as she twists her torso trying to release herself from the hold.
"Stop resisting!" One voice shouts. "Check the upstairs" Another shouts.
The man turns her to face the back door of the beach house. Regina strolls in wearing a black bandage dress. She is wearing a grin on her face.
"Emma Nolan, how long did you really think you could fool me? You must be as stupid as your father." Regina tells her as the grin spreads wider on her face.
"Get on the ground" The man holding her shouts as the throw her towards the floor.
Emma shoots up from the coach panting. That was one intense dream. She has prepared too long for this to fail and her subconscious is trying to scare her. She turns as she hears light footsteps outside. She gets up off of the couch and closes the infinity box which she left open on the table. She gets up and walks over to the small chest near the stairs and places the box back in its hiding place. She takes the gun out of the chest and releases the safety. It's late at night and she isn't taking any chances.
She walks towards the back door slowly while raising her gun. When she reaches the door, she hears whining and see Sammy by the door. She lowers her arms and releases the breath she had been holding. It's just Sammy. She walks towards the table near the patio door and place the gun in the drawer before opening the door.
"Sammy. What are you doing here?" She asks as she leans down to pet the dog. It's too late for her to return the dog to Killian so she decides to let Sammy spend the night with her before returning him in the morning.
\*****/
Regina woke up in a less than pleasant mood. She grabs a black lace robe from the chair beside her bed and her cellphone before walking over to the balcony overlooking the Hamptons. She walks out and looks towards the beach house Ms. Swan is currently renting. She see Emma on the porch with a dog. She pulls out her phone to make a call.
"Ciao, Margaret. How's Italy?" She says into the phone. She cuts right to the chase. "Weren't you on the landmark preservation committee last winter with Will Scarlet? Yes, just before he split with Lydia. Do you remember a lovely woman named Emma Swan? She paid obscenely for the Scarlet cottage next door, and you know how I can be about that kind of thing."
Regina watches as Emma walks Sammy down the beach and fades from view. She turns around to go sit on one of the chairs on the balcony. She notices a box and small note from Robert on the table. Saw this and thought of you. It's flawless.
"No I don't want to keep you. You run. All right, darling. Bye." Regina says while hanging up the phone. She places the phone on the table and picks up the small box. She opens the box to find a necklace from Robert. She sighs. This is his way of trying to shut her up. Well, his attempts are futile and she will get back at him for the whole Belle Scarlett, only in a matter of time.
\*****/
Henry sits at the bar of the stowaway staring at a photo of him and his father. He cannot believe that this is happening.
"I made you breakfast." Killian's voice says from behind him. He hears him come around behind him and place a plate of food next to him.
Henry wipes his cheek and replies "No. Uh, I'm not hungry."
Killian sits beside him at the bar, "You have to eat, Henry. Did you get any sleep?"
"Barely." He responds in a raspy whisper. "Uh, you know, every time I drifted off Dad was there and I'd get up to tell you the good news."
Henry watches as Killian forces himself to smile. He sees his eyes are full of tears. Killian sighs.
"I stayed up until dawn looking over Dad's will. The Stowaway's all ours now and he didn't want a funeral. He just wanted us to scatter his ashes at sea." Killian tells him.
"You know the last thing Dad heard was me calling him a loser?" Henry tells his brother, his voice cracking at the end.
"We both had a lot of fights with Dad. He knows you didn't mean it." He tries to reassure him.
"Yeah, I did mean it" The tears welling in his eyes. "Scatter him without me." He gets up abruptly from the bar stools, turns, and walks across the bar and up the stairs.
Killian watches as his little brother storms off. A knock at the door pulls away his attention. He turns and walks over to the door and opens it to find Emma and Sammy standing there.
"Good morning" Emma says with a smile on her face. In this light, Killian swears she looks like an angel.
"Hey" Killian replies surprised to see her standing there. He moves to let Emma into the bar.
She step inside. "I found this old timer at my door last night."
"Oh wow." He says as he chuckles. "I didn't even realize he was gone. I'm a little distracted. My dad just passed away from a heart attack."
"Oh, my god."
"Yeah"
"That's awful." She turns a looks at the bar to find photos scattered all across it. "Is this him?" Killian nods in response. "I lost my dad suddenly, too. I'm so sorry."
"I appreciate it." He tells her with a small smile. "Let me make you some breakfast. It's the least I can do."
"No, I would, I would love to, um, but I have this thing that I have to go do." She responds with a forced smile.
"Maybe next time." He offers.
"Yeah." She sighs. "Take care of yourself."
"You, too." He tells her. He watches as she turns and walks out of the bar. He wonders if he will always feel like she is the one who got away.
