Page 57 of Forged Forever

What feels like a huge amount of time goes by before I detect movement. Flipping my knife open, I get into a crouch, preparing in case it’s not Dad. Why can’t my life ever stay boring? The bubble we were in between high school and college has burst.

I see a blob appear in the closet door and breathe a sigh of relief. It’s Dad. He comes up to me and squeezes my hand, then motions for me to follow. I can see the outline of his holster and gun over his shirt. We slowly crawl across the house, staying near the walls as much as possible. Zander stops before entering each new room, checking for movement. How is this my life? Once we get into his closet, we stand, and he lets us into the secret room. With the door shut tight, he turns on the overhead light. “Okay darling. We’re safe now. Let me flip on the monitors and activate the cameras.” I stand against the wall as he sets everything up and turns the monitors on. “It looks clear so far. I’m going to call Troy on a burner phone.” He folds out a camping chair for me and then leans against the desk.

He must have the phone on speaker because I hear it ringing. “Hello,” Troy answers.

“Troy. It’s Z and Summer.”

“Are you safe?” he interrupts.

“We are. Eddie called you then.”

“Yeah, we’ve been talking. The FBI from Memphis is coming this way and coordinating with the office in Columbia, and they’re hoping to take the big boss down. He’s coming personally for this. If they capture him, it’ll all be over. I’m at the office with 5 of our best on standby. They want this to play out despite my protests. Where do you want us?”

“For now, stay put. Call this number with updates. I’ll do the same.”

“You got it. Stay in that room no matter what. Be safe,” Troy responds before the line goes quiet.

Zander lets out a deep breath. “Okay darling. We may have a long night ahead of us. We’ve got snacks, water, and a laptop full of movies. What would you like to watch?”

“I’m not sure I can focus on anything, so you pick.”

Zander grabs a different laptop from the desk, powering it on, and searches through files until he starts a movie. “I’ve got a comedy cued up. Slide over and I’ll start it.”

I do, and he hits play on the movie. He offers me a granola bar and gets comfortable in his chair beside me. I try to focus on the movie, but we’re both glancing at the monitors looking for movement. This is surreal, despite all I’ve already been through. I practice slow and deep breathing to quell my nerves.

Nick is coming home, though, and I can hardly believe it. Will he be okay? Did he kill his dad, as he intended? I’m worried about his mental state. These past 8 months must have been awful; it’s been the better part of a year. He could have changed a lot in that time. No matter, whatever he needs to get past this, we’ll provide. We can work on the rest as long as he is safe.

He's missed so many things, the biggest being Jake. Hopefully, his stubbornness has kept him true to himself. The guys, Troy and Gabby, will be so excited to see him.

We’re most of the way through the second movie when we catch movement outside on the monitors. Zander leans over and opens a small safe under the desk, setting a gun on the desk along with magazines. Sliding it towards me, he looks me in the eye. “Check your weapon, darling.”

I nod, going through the motions I’ve been taught. Once it’s ready, I clip in the magazine and set it on the desk in front of me. Dad calls and puts Troy on speakerphone. “We’ve got movement outside Troy.”

“How many?”

“Four or five circling.”

“Eddie’s still waiting for his colleagues to get organized. We’re heading your way.”

“Keep your distance,” Dad replies before hanging up.

“Dad, exactly how safe are we in here?” I have no desire to go through another kidnapping. Despite the trauma, I was lucky I was found before I was raped. Something tells me I wouldn’t be this time.

“Very. First, they’d have to find us. Second, this place is a tiny fortress. Muscle and bullets can’t get in here, I promise.”

Nodding, I watch him check his weapon and store extra magazines on his person. We return to the screens, waiting to glimpse someone. There aren’t many cameras. One by the back deck, the garage, the front door, the living room facing towards my hall, and one in the kitchen area.

My nerves are getting worse as we wait, and a tremble starts in my hands, so I slide them together between my legs. I’m not alone. We are going to be okay. One moment at a time. I keep repeating those phrases as I struggle to find some patience.

“There’s someone entering the dining room,” Dad states, pointing towards the screen.

I watch a man enter our home with a gun raised, slowly walking inside, swinging his arm left and right. Another man appears on the living room camera, coming from my hallway. A third comes in the front door, and a fourth enters our line of sight, maybe coming from Zander’s room. The one who came from my hall is gesturing with his arm, probably talking to the others. They split up again, and we lose track of three of them for a while. I take a deep breath, trying to calm my nerves. “This room is soundproof, right?”

“Yes darling. We’d have to make an enormous noise before they even had a chance of hearing us.”

I’m not sure how long we sit and watch before the four men meet back in the kitchen. One of them leaves through the patio door before re-entering with a fifth person, and the kitchen lights are switched on for some reason. The fifth man is in a suit and he's gesturing to the others. What the heck? Three move out as the fourth stays with him. The suited man adjusts his cuffs and sits at the table as if he’s waiting for dinner. “What’s he doing?” I whisper. He crosses his ankle over his knee and looks around, waiting.

“I think that must be the boss,” Zander replies. He takes a photo of the screen and sends a text. “Sending to Troy and Eddie,” he tells me. His phone rings quickly, so he answers on speaker. “Eddie,” he greets.