His words didn’t soften anything inside of me. I knew my wife was a fighter. She had to be to fall for me. But she shouldn’t have to fight. It was my job to keep her safe, and I’d failed. Again.
That harsh reality settled a coldness over me that I’d only felt one other time, and that was upon hearing about the first attack after her nightmare.
“I failed her. Twice.” The admission nearly killed me.
“Son, no–”
I shook my head, cutting my father’s words off.
“Listen, son, you couldn’t have known. This isn’t–”
“Tell me you’d be saying the same thing if this were Mother,” I charged, for the first time raising my voice to my father.
The words caught on his lips. He clamped his mouth shut, nodding. His jaw ticked for a moment before he moved closer, cupping the side of my face. “You’re absolutely right. I’d kill the son of a bitch who’d even think to put his hands on your mother. I expect no less from any of my sons when it comes to protecting their families. But self-pity isn’t going to work in your favor right now. Now is the time to concentrate on finding your wife and bringing her back home to her family.” He released me, stepping back.
We stared at one another for a few more moments. He was right. I’d have plenty of time later to lick my own wounds. My wife needed me.
“We’ve got video!” Brutus shouted.
All four of us turned to Brutus, who was already hitting his laptop to bring up what I realized was the video from the library’s back entrance. We assumed that’s where she’d been taken from since it’s where her phone was found.
The video was a little blurry but I knew my wife as soon as she entered into the camera’s line of sight. Her back was to the camera as she moved down the hall, entering the bathroom. My fists tightened and my breath stalled as a dark figure moved down the hall, slowly. The person wore dark clothing and a ski mask over their head, but by the build and size I could tell it was a male. He was approximately six-foot and lanky. A trickle of familiarity ran down my spine, but even running through my mind’s rolodex of possible suspects I couldn’t place him.
The room went silent as we all watched the video footage. My jaw tightened and my heartbeat went erratic when I saw the door open. Her head was turned in the direction of the back entrance. She couldn’t see the man to her left, just a few inches from her. By the time she turned her head it was too late. He covered her nose and mouth with his hand. It looked like he held something in it. Patience struggled, flailing her arms, striking him in the ribs, disorienting him enough that she broke free. The tiny hope I had upon seeing her break free was quickly stamped out when I watched him grab her by the shoulder, spin her around, and land a punch to her face that rendered her unconscious. She fell into his arms, and the perp stooped low, hoisting her body over his shoulder and carrying her out.
“Argh!” I yelled, flipping the coffee table that sat in the middle of my office. Glass cracked and flew everywhere.
“Bro! You’ve got to calm down!” Carter shouted, grabbing my arm.
“Fuck you!” I yelled back. “Don’t fucking touch me!” I seethed, pulling out of his hold. I growled and grunted as I hoisted a chair in the air, tossing it at the screen. I barely heard the loud crashing of the huge flatscreen as it fell from the wall. My own rage clogged my ears. I couldn’t see anything in front of me. That image of my wife being assaulted replayed over and over again in my head. The feeling of seeing the fear in her eyes when she first told me of the attack didn’t even compare to this. Then, it was bad enough that it was a memory. Now, I watched it play out right before my eyes. I couldn’t stand still.
“Aaron!” I hear my father shout after me as I stormed out of the office. I had no idea where I was going but I needed some space. My legs carried me up the stairs to the main floor. Down the hall, I heard the children talking with my mother and Michelle. I moved in the opposite direction, going up the stairs to the second floor. I made my way into the bedroom and I was immediately hit by the half-unkempt bed. My side was made, just as I’d left it this morning. Patience’ side was unmade, as what happened most mornings. I moved closer, letting my hand touch the silk negligee she’d worn the night before. I lifted it to my nose. It still held her scent. My heart lurched and I tossed the negligee back onto the bed, disgusted with myself. My wife needed me and I couldn’t let go of my anger long enough to see anything clearly. I knew whoever had taken her had crossed our paths sometime before. My brain was too fuzzy with rage to figure out how or when.
I moved into the bathroom, thinking a splash of cold water on my face would clear my head. I stopped short when I saw two sticks sitting on the countertop. My knees weakened when I noticed two lines on one stick and a positive sign on the other. A sound I’d never heard before ripped from my lips and I bent over at the waist, holding onto the edge of the sink to keep myself from falling. I looked at the pregnancy tests again to make sure I was not seeing things.
After staring at the tests for some time, I did my best to normalize my breathing, standing upright. I backed out of the bathroom, turning from the entrance, and stopped when I noticed Joshua standing at the bedroom door.
“I came to check on you. Brutus says they may have a lead.”
My mouth remained clamped shut but my eyebrow rose, silently telling Josh to continue.
“When he pushed the back door of the library open, we were able to see he already had a car parked next to the exit. Looks like a dark-colored sedan of some sort. There’s no camera back there, but his people are working on enhancing the footage to get the make and model of the car and possibly the license plate. We might be able to get a partial.”
My jaw tightened as I nodded. “The fuck kind of place doesn’t have cameras outside their building?” I growled.
“It’s a small library. Not the main branch. There’ve been budget cuts in the city…” Josh’s voice trailed off when I glared at him. He knew as well as I did, I didn’t want to hear that bullshit. “What’s that?” He gestured toward my hand.
My grip tightened on the pregnancy tests that I still held.
“She’s pregnant,” I stated in a low voice.
Joshua’s eyes widened as I held out the tests to him. He moved closer, eyes taking in the tests. That glare in his green-golden eyes returned tenfold. He clasped my shoulder. “We’ll get her back. Or die trying,” he affirmed.
I swallowed and nodded.
“We need to go back downstairs.”
“In a minute,” I told Joshua.
