He didn’t talk much—less after their mother had died—but he could communicate and where he was silent, Olivia was loud.
“I know, you’re safe now. Everything will be okay.”
“Daddy?”
“Yeah, Livvy bear?”
“Batman saved us.”
I peered over my shoulder and looked into her brown eyes. “Batman?”
“Mhmm. He kicked down the door, wrapped us in his cape, and saved us. He walked through fire, Daddy!”
I glanced at Dean, who was sitting by the bed, and he shrugged. “There was a guy.”
“Who?”
“Don’t know. He was covered up, head to toe. I know he was white, maybe six foot two, and had bright-green eyes. That’s it.”
“And he just walked into your home, and what?”
“I was unconscious. Rita dragged me out and after I came to, I watched as he crashed through the window and got all three kids out. His clothes were on fire; he just rolled around and jumped up as if he hadn’t been engulfed.”
“Is he here at the hospital?”
Dean shook his head. “No. One minute he was there, and I turned for a second, and then he was gone.”
“Like Batman,” Olivia whispered in my ear.
I had a million questions for Dean, but at that moment the doctor came in, explained discharge information and said how lucky these kids were that they’d gotten out when they had.
Dean, Rita, and Matteo would be coming to my house, and I was able to get Owen and Olivia in a different car with Rita, Paul, and Alex. Danny, Dean, Matteo, and I went in another vehicle.
I had questions only Matteo would know the answers to, and Dean needed to fill in some blanks, and I didn’t want to do this in front of my kids.
“What happened, Dean?”
“I was in my study. I heard some rustling outside my window and I walked over to see, thinking it was a bird or whatever. I saw the Molotov flying toward my face. I moved back, slipped and hit my head, lights out. Next thing I know I’m waking up outside.”
I faced Matteo. “Hey, bud.”
“Hi, Uncle Gid.”
“I know tonight scared you a lot, but can you tell me anything about this guy who saved you?”
He sighed, his hands rubbing along his legs in a nervous gesture. “He was so calm. Gave us a blanket drenched in water, explained everything. Livy got scared and he just winked at her, maybe smiled. I dunno, I couldn’t see a lot of his face. There was this burst of fire and I felt the heat of it, Uncle Gid, and this guy just tossed me out the window…the flames…he was all lit up. Just got up and was fine.”
“Now you see why Olivia is calling him Batman?” Dean lifted a brow.
“Except if Batman was enveloped in flames like you say, he couldn’t just walk away. He’s human at the end of the day, but this guy, what the hell, Dean?”
“I don’t know, Gideon, but he saved Matteo, Olivia, and Owen. If he hadn’t been there…”
He didn’t have to finish. I knew, and the thought made bile rise in my throat.
“We need to find this man.” I saw Danny nod from the driver’s seat.
“It’s not gonna be easy, Gid.”
