Angel With A Shotgun
The next time Kevin was out of town on a case, the tense and wary mood shift at the Riley household was palpable. Bobby stood beside his mother in front of their locked safe, watching her hands tremble as she reached for the knob to twist it open. "Do you remember the combination?" he asked cynically. "I can't believe this is happening."
"Where else is a gun going to materialize from?" said Melissa in a tight voice, the stress radiating off her not helping Bobby's nerves. "Aunt Katie is banned from purchasing firearms; this is the only way. It was your idea to ask for her help, remember? I should have known her solution would involve a gun. Your father is going to freak when he finds it missing."
"You can do it," her son encouraged, even though he could see her palms sweating. "We've got to get away from him, Mom. You know we do!"
"This is crazy," she muttered as the safe swung open. Melissa carefully lifted the pistol's leather holster and tucked it into the satchel slung over her shoulder.
Bobby snapped the safe shut again and reached for his mother's hand. "All we need to do is get this to Aunt Katie now. I'm glad you were right about that weird, depressed mood passing eventually," said the eight-year-old fervently. "Saying Dad will probably freak was supposed to be my line, remember? When we saw Aunt Katie at the clinic, you told me we're not made of glass. Everything's going to be okay, I promise."
"I don't know if I was optimistic before the accident or just totally delusional," Melissa grimaced. "Aunt Katie's lack of impulse control is probably good for us. Why does this feel so wrong?"
"He has it coming," Bobby reminded her fiercely. "If you hadn't been afraid to have a baby alone, we wouldn't have suffered all these years. Please, Mom, just be brave a little longer, and let's get rid of him once and for all."
"But if we get Aunt Katie to do this, we lose her again. Did you think about that? I don't see any good solutions here." Melissa closed the cupboard containing the safe and moved over to her bed, sinking onto the mattress with her hands over her eyes. "How did life get this messed up? You might be the only thing I've ever done right, kid."
"Aunt Katie would definitely disagree with that." Bobby sat beside his mother and took her hand, their joined palms resting in her lap. "She told me once about how horrible Grandpa was to her after you both lost your mother. I don't really remember him, but that sounds mean. You were always on her side, right? No wonder she listens when we need help now."
"You were only three years old when he died," Melissa reminded him. "Your grandfather was never the same after your grandma died. It was so sudden it messed us all up for a long time. Unfortunately, he took a lot of that anger out on Aunt Katie. It wasn't fair, but that's how it was for many years. Just when it seemed like their relationship had the potential to heal, he had a massive heart attack and died. Aunt Katie was only twenty-six when we lost him, and we became orphans. It's been the two of us against the world ever since."
"She's family," Bobby said, as if his mother needed reminding. "I'm sure she'll find a way to help us. Aunt Katie is pretty amazing like that. When she's not at one of her low points, that is. Do you think it'll be better now?"
"I hope so," Melissa sighed, pointedly trying not to think about the solid weight of the gun pressing through the cloth bag on her shoulder. "I need her to be her old self again just as much as you do. I know you think I have all the answers here, kid. I wish I did, believe me…but honestly, I'm not sure I can get us out of this without her help."
Her hands began to tremble so violently it was as if she had just stuck them in a bucket of ice. The frown lines between Bobby's eyes deepened, and Melissa cursed her subconscious need for outside help. Blind love had put her on this path, but sometimes, fighting her battles alone was exhausting.
July 2014 – Five Years Earlier
The sting of rejection was on Katie's mind as she slipped out of the beach house window. The dual bangs of her gun echoed in her head, a satisfied smirk on her lips as she remembered the horror in Clay's dark blue eyes. That would show him to build up her dreams and then shoot down her advances like she didn't matter. She was going to be great! The cool metal of the gun against her hip made Katie feel powerful and invincible, and it was such a heady combination that the newly blonde woman barely heard her cell phone ringing. The persistent vibration finally jerked her out of her reverie in time to answer the call. "Hello?"
"Kate!" gasped her sister's voice. "Oh, thank God!"
"What's going on, Mel?" Katie's euphoria began to ebb away at the hitching sobs on the other end of the line. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," her sister said, not sounding it at all. "It's Dad. Kate…he's gone. They're saying it was a heart attack."
"What the fuck?" Katie swore before she could stop herself and braced herself for a lecture on language from Melissa, but it never came. "Where are you now?"
"At Dad's place," said her sister faintly. "Kevin's at work, so I have Bobby with me. I don't even know where to start processing all of this. Can you come home? Please…I can't do this by myself."
"You promise Kevin's not there?" Katie pressed and heard a little huff of exasperation.
"How is that your biggest concern right now? Seriously, Katie, what the hell is wrong with you? I said Dad is dead!"
"That is a concern," Katie hedged. " Because I just did something that was probably really stupid, and if Kevin knew about it, I could go to jail. Are you satisfied now?"
"Satisfied isn't exactly the word I would use." Melissa's voice had turned steely now as if fortifying herself. "Why do you always make me worry about you, Kate? What on earth did you do?"
"I can't tell you that," said Katie softly. "I'm coming home, okay? Just promise not to ask any more questions. It's for your own good to stay out of this."
"You say that like it's easy to stop being your big sister," Melissa grumbled. "How am I supposed to look out for you if you keep things from me?"
"I'm a big girl," Katie said dismissively. "I can take care of myself, alright? Now, don't worry. I'm on my way home. I'll see you soon."
Katie disconnected the call before her sister could say another word, but the nine months since she had first discovered Sara Evans played like a movie in her head as she paced towards her car. What she wouldn't give to be someone else right now, her own pitiful existence was a hot mess. As she got behind the wheel, the montage of moments continued in her frenzied brain, Clay's polite rejection blending into clashes with her father that had driven her crazy growing up. The man had never forgiven her for being a selfish brat the day her mother died in a car accident. How was it Katie's fault just because they had been on the road for her tennis practice? If only she could have become a superstar at the game before Robert Ryan's worthless heart gave out, that would have shown him!
"Mom?" Bobby's voice wrenched Melissa from the war with her conscience, and she took his hand again and tried to smile. "Are you okay?"
"None of this is okay," she sighed, her courageous composure slipping slightly. "Like I said, the would-be solution to facing your father again is a terrible one. I want to trust Aunt Katie just as badly as you do, believe me. But I've also known her longer, and having that faith's not easy."
Meanwhile, Quinn walked into the bedroom at the beach house to find Clay in the middle of the slowest packing job she had ever seen. "Still not done packing? Half the games you're supposed to watch will be over by the time you get on the road at this rate."
"I really don't want to go right now," he groaned, dropping a smart-looking shirt into his bag and facing her. "Are you sure that this is okay? I could ask Nathan to take over. What if Katie's still in town?"
"It's three days, not forever," Quinn reminded him. "Your clients deserve a dose of all that character, integrity, and heart. I can't keep it all for myself, much as I would love to. You have a business to run and look fantastic doing it."
"I miss you already," Clay sighed, drawing her into a hug. "Any plans while I'm gone? Don't have too much fun without me."
"Never," she promised. "Logan and I will hold down the fort here and see you before you know it. Everything's going to be fine, I promise." Quinn kept the encouraging smile on her face until Clay was finally out the door, then dropped the act with a shaky sigh. She returned up the stairs and hovered in the doorway to Logan's bedroom for a moment. Finally, she knocked on the door frame, and her son looked up from his comic book. "You got a sec, kid? I had an idea and wanted to run it by you."
"Sure." Logan shoved his comic book aside and sat up, patting the space beside him on the bed. "What's up?"
"You know how we talked about revisiting Raleigh the day I had that meltdown in the car? How would you like to do that today?"
"You want to go without Dad?" Logan mused. "How come?"
Quinn hesitated, suddenly feeling foolish. "To tell you the truth, I really miss my mom today. I thought maybe spending some time with your Nana might help. What do you say? Up for a road trip?"
"I just hope this trip isn't as dramatic as the last one," said Logan fervently. "Let's go!"
"I don't see how it could be," Quinn sighed. "What else have we possibly got to lose?" On that despondent note, Quinn and Logan made the mercifully uneventful drive to Raleigh. "Would you mind staying with Grandma and Grandpa for a few hours?" Quinn asked, shooting her son a sideways glance. "I kind of want to talk to your Nana alone if that's okay. I figured you wouldn't mind since our visit at Christmas was cut short."
"No, I don't mind," Logan grinned, pausing to squeeze her fingers affectionately before he dashed out of the car. He had already rang the doorbell by the time Quinn could follow.
"Well, this is unexpected," Lil beamed when Logan launched into her arms. "Did you say you were coming today? What a lovely surprise."
"No," Quinn admitted, accepting a hug of her own. "Actually, I promised Logan he could tag along since our visit at Christmas was so short. I figured you wouldn't mind watching him for a few hours. I need to meet with Marie, actually."
"Mom?" Logan's voice was serious, even as he stood with Lil's arms around his neck, affectionately caressing her elegant hands. "Promise you'll come back, okay? Don't disappear for six years the way Dad did."
"As if," Quinn scoffed, but her son's eyes remained solemn. "I'll be back, okay? I promise I won't let your Nana kidnap me. I wouldn't put it past her to try sometimes. I just need some magic hugs, that's all."
"Quinn?" She turned at the gentle sound of Lil's voice and released a shaky breath at the affection in Sara's mother's eyes. "If hugs were what you were after, Marie's not the only one with an endless supply, you know? Maybe it's not quite the same thing, but we're always here. Please remember that."
"I know." Quinn nodded, barely holding back her tears now, an increasingly common occurrence. "Thank you." She gave Lil another fleeting hug and turned away before she could completely break down, not even sure where the rush of emotion stemmed from anymore. It was very hard being the unbridled heart girl her mother had pegged her as sometimes. The grief and longing sat heavy in her chest as Quinn moved back towards her car. Without consciously making the decision, she turned toward the local cemetery. With so much loss weighing on her heart, it stood to reason that the dead might provide some solace. Or at least, she hoped they would, for her sanity's sake.
A/N The drama is heating up, with a dose of homesick, sappy projection to go with it. Enjoy! xx