Say it was only a dream
Nick sat with his legs crossed pretzel style as he played with his racing cars. Picking up the red one with the white stripes he put it on the track and made it speed through the loops and curves, cheering for himself as he did. This was by far his favorite toy in the world! When Kevin bought that race track for him on his 8th birthday, he was so excited he almost wet himself. It wasn’t even the actual toy that had him excited, but more so the fact that he knew that day was going to be a day spent with his big brother. He knew Kevin would stay and help him put the track together and then play a few games with him and he was right. That day he stayed over, playing with the cars and showing Nicky every little trick to make it to the finish line. This time he picked up the black car with the silver running all through it, that was Kevin’s car and when he looked at it, he found himself very sad again.
“No, you don’t cry Nick!” He huffed to himself under his breath. Crying was out of the question, he promised himself he wouldn’t be sad. Kevin was busy, that’s why he never came to get him.
His little tummy growled so he clutched it tight and stood up looking for the snacks that Patty’s dad had left for him. He had eaten a whole bag of M&M’s earlier but that made him sick. Now all that was left was a bag of Cheetos, so he ripped it open and put a few in his mouth once again trying not to cry.
He missed his mom and his brothers so much and he couldn’t understand why they wanted him to go away, but that’s what Patty’s dad said to him the last time he stopped by, “They don’t want you anymore Nicky, so you are going to live with Patty and I.”
Now he knew he sometimes made his family mad when he would play pranks on them, maybe he could even picture AJ saying that, and when he had a stupid girlfriend, even Brian but not his mom and certainly not Kevin. But then if it wasn’t true, why did Kevin promise to go get him and then never show up?
“They don’t love me anymore.” He said once again beginning to cry.
Patty’s dad wasn’t a very nice person and Nick didn’t want to live with him. He loved Patty and would never say that to her because it would hurt her feelings just like when people made fun of his mom or someone he loved and it hurt his feelings but still, he didn’t want to stay with him. Patty’s dad was a bad man.
Then there was his own daddy, the one he kept getting presents from. It confused him sometimes when he would see the man hiding in his back yard. At first he thought he was a ghost but ghosts usually didn’t bring presents so he couldn’t be one of those. He enjoyed talking to his daddy even though he didn’t get to do it for very long. It was a secret just between the two of them his cards always said.
“Maybe my daddy doesn’t want me either.” He said out loud to the black racing car before getting mad and throwing it across the room.
That’s when he couldn’t handle it anymore, placing his hands on his eyes, he began to cry. He hated being all alone, he was scared and all he wanted was his family but they didn’t want him back.
The sound of an approaching car made him stop, hoping that maybe Kevin had finally arrived to take him home, tell him that Patty’s dad was only kidding. When he heard the front door open he quickly dried his eyes and dusted off the cheesy bits from his shirt because if it was Kevin or his mom, they wouldn’t like it if he made a mess of himself, especially while being a guest in someone’s house.
“Nicky?” He smiled for the first time since being brought out of his house because AJ was bored with him; at least that’s what Patty’s dad said when he came to get him.
“Patty?” He said standing up and making his way to the door, he tried opening it but he knew it would be locked.
He heard her running up the steps, “Honey slow down.” Patty’s dad yelled but she was too excited as she reached for the door and tried to pull it open.
“Nicky open the door silly willy! It’s locked.”
“I can’t open it, its locked here to doh head!” he giggled.
“Daddy why is the door locked?” The little girl asked her father innocently.
John made his way slowly over to his daughter and crouched down to be eye level with her, “Sometimes daddy has to do bad things sweet heart, I promise someday you’ll understand.”
Before she had time to really try to understand what was being said to her he unlocked the door and shoved his daughter in before locking it up again. He thought he heard her cry but he couldn’t care about that right now, as long as she was behind that door she was safe, now he had to contend with the mother, then he would be back to take care of what had to be done.
Brian didn’t know what to do next, he was in shock. There hanging from a rope not even two feet away from him was Anita Nicosia. Her eyes were closed and her lips blue but he still hoped that she was alive. He ran over and held her tight so this way she was no longer dangling from her neck.
“Jesus…” Was all he could manage to get out, wanting help more than anything else right now. He knew if he moved she would start hanging again but yet he wasn’t sure how long he could hold her up. He needed to find a knife or scissor to cut her lose and he had to find it quick.
He nervously searched the room with his eyes for anything he could use to get her free and gently let go when he saw the huge butcher’s knife sitting in the corner of the room on the floor. His mind didn’t even want to process why the knife was there or why a woman his mother was with just a few minutes ago was now hanging. All he wanted to do was get her free, no more dead people, not today. He thought as he grabbed for the knife and willed it to set her free in one cut.
It took two but luckily it went fast and within seconds she was lying on the ground. Brian tried shaking her and even slapping her face to get her to open her eyes, it took him a couple of seconds to even think about calling the paramedics but when he did they said they would be there soon. Within a few minutes they arrived and that’s when the reality of the situation set in and he fell into a full blown panic.
Brian called the house first, hoping that his mother had just decided to leave long before any of this drama started to unfold but when there was no answer he tried his best to calm himself down before he called AJ. When he couldn’t quite gain control of his emotions, he decided to bypass AJ completely and instead call the nurses station for them to check and see if his mom was sitting in her usual post right beside his little brother. He knew what the answer was going to be but still he wasn’t prepared for it.
Just as the nurse on duty came back with the expected news that his mother was not there by AJ’s side, he heard one of the paramedics say “She’s opening her eyes…Anita can you hear me?”
Brian turned back to the woman who was lying on the ground and watched as she struggled to speak. The medics were working on her, getting an IV into her arm and oxygen into her nose but she looked right at Brian and kept moving her mouth as if to speak.
“Try not to say anything Anita,”
“She needs to tell me where my mother is,” Brian insisted, now bending down to be right beside her.
That’s when he noticed the blood for the first time, it was on that butcher’s knife he had used to cut her down. How he had missed it before he had no idea. Probably because he didn’t allow his brain time to process it, but now, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t get the view of the blood off of his mind. He looked back at the place where he had picked up the knife to begin with to see some more blood staining the walls and a bloody hand print as well, “Oh my God…where’s my mother!” He said now in a near state of panic.
The paramedics tried to pull him away from the woman but Brian wouldn’t give up, “My mother was here with her now she’s gone. There is blood all over that knife and I need to know if she has any idea where my mother is! Please!!”
Anita grabbed for Brian’s hand which had Brian and the paramedics stop their struggling. “I didn’t know….I’m sorry I didn’t know.” She managed to get out, her voice barely there and gravelly.
“You didn’t know what?”
“My baby, I didn’t know…” She seemed not to make any sense and it made Brian almost want to choke her, the desperation he felt was unbearable.
“Where is my mother?”
“Gone.” She said before closing her eyes.
That one word made Brian’s heart stop, and he just sat there and cried, not knowing what to do.
Kevin and Howie cautiously entered the cabin with their guns drawn, not entirely sure what they were going to find. So many things could have happened, but yet it was the optimist in Kevin that was hoping for the best. Maybe his father had found a lead and it seemed dire, something he had to act on almost immediately. That’s why he left the door opened.
They made their way slowly through all the rooms, every time turning up nothing. Once they were sure no one was there waiting for them, they placed their guns back into their holsters.
“Where the hell is my father?” Kevin asked going over to the computer and seeing if maybe there was something on the screen that would lead them in the right direction.
“Hey Kevin, come here and look at this.” Howie said motioning for Kevin to come and take a look at the stack of notes left on the table.
“Looks like your dad did find out a bit more about the mystery man.”
Kevin grabbed the stack and began sifting through all the information in there, “you think this is what made him leave in such a hurry?”
“Maybe” Howie answered.
Looking down at the random scribbles of paper, Kevin tried his best to make sense of some of the things he saw. Random names he had never heard before and arrows pointing to even more names that had never crossed his lips.
“I wonder if all of these are aliases of that John guy.” He said when his eyes landed on a very familiar looking name.
“Oh my God…Howie, look.” He showed the piece of paper to his best friend.
“Isn’t that the last name of…?” Howie was interrupted before he was able to finish his thought.
“Patty, yes it is and my mother is there and by now so is Brian.” He frantically picked up the phone and called his office, trying to get them to send a car over to the Nicosia’s residence right away.
Ariana answered the phone and explained to Kevin that there were already agents over there, that his brother had called in distress about his mother and that paramedics were in the process of bringing Anita Nicosia to the hospital. She immediately patched him through to Rob who was at the scene with Brian sitting right next to him.
“What the hell is going on over there?”
“She apparently tried to hang herself, although the reason is unclear.”
“What about my mother?”
“She’s missing Kevin.” He brushed his hands through his hair not thinking it was even possible to have something else happen.
“Is Brian okay?”
“He’s pretty shaken up but otherwise he’ll be fine. He wants to talk to you.”
“Okay but Rob…my dad is missing too. He isn’t there is he? He figured out it was John Nicosia.”
“I haven’t seen him, we have an all points bulletin out on Nicosia’s car Kevin, and we’ll find him. Here’s your brother.”
“Kevin?”
“Hi buddy, you hanging in there?”
“Anita said mom was gone…I didn’t get here in time.”
“Brian, you saved her life. We’ll find mom and Nicky soon. This nightmare is almost over. We know who has them, now all we have to do is find them; I need to speak to Rob again okay? Rob will bring you to AJ. Just watch out for each other and then mom, Nick and I will be there soon. I love you Brian.”
“I love you too.”
There was a small hesitation on the line before Rob got back on, “What about Patty?”
“She is gone as well; Brian said Anita kept saying my baby. We think that he took her and your mother.”
“Okay, I’m going to look through these papers some more, maybe there’s an address, someplace where we can find this bastard.”
“Let me know if you find anything.”
“I will and thanks Rob for taking care of Brian.”
When they hung up, Howie and Kevin furiously went through the papers knowing that time was not on their side. “I don’t see anything Kevin. All I see are names but not a single address.”
“Damn it! It has to be here some place D!” That’s when he stopped, realization suddenly hitting him in the face, “Of course!!”
“What?” Howie asked as Kevin stood up and started for the door.
Jackie enjoyed nightmares which her husband always thought was weird, but she said nothing beat the few seconds when you woke up from some horrible dream only to feel the greatest sense of relief wash over you that it was all just your over active imagination. He used to tease her about that frequently just as he used to tease her about lots of things.
If this was a nightmare it was the worst she had ever had, even worse than the ones that came after she lost her husband 8 years ago. The ones of her children in distress were torture for her and this one was turning out to be a doosey. Her baby kidnapped and missing only to find out it was a family friend. A neighbor she allowed her child to play with frequently. When she found out, she tried not to be quite so obvious but she had to do something, so she asked him about his collection of Precious Moments. She didn’t think he would catch on but apparently she wasn’t as good of an actress as she had hoped because he grew suspicious especially when he saw the way she was eyeing one of the figurines, the one he had taken from her house.
By then it was too late.
It all happened so fast, him grabbing a knife and holding it to her neck as his wife looked on in sheer horror. No one dared scream because of the sleeping child upstairs. She felt the knife go into her skin slightly, it burnt and she closed her eyes to numb the pain. It was at that point she knew her baby boy was dead. Nothing else much mattered anymore.
She kept staring over at Anita, hoping that the woman would make a move to help her but she seemed paralyzed in fear or shock, not sure which one it was.
“We’re going to take a ride.” He said as he dragged her out of the house. She didn’t even struggle but remained oddly calm. She knew Brian was on his way and it made her happy that by the time he got here she would be gone and he wouldn’t be in danger.
She wished she could’ve said goodbye.
He had her in a pretty tight hold as he walked her to his car and placed her inside and that’s the last thing she remembered.
Yup it had to be a bad dream, because in real life things like that just didn’t happen.
But as she opened her eyes to a huge headache, that relief never came, she tried to move her hand to rub at her temple but the clanking made her look up to see herself handcuffed to the car door. Quickly she managed to lift her head, once again grimacing at the pain it caused and felt only a small sense of relief to see no one was in the car with her. She tried to open the door but she just didn’t have the strength. Had he hit her on the head with something? Or possibly drugged her up?
The sound of someone walking towards the car made her hit at the glass, it was possible that it could have been the bad guy but maybe someone would hear her cry out for help. So she banged with all her might and yelled as well.
“Help.” She managed to get out as someone pressed their head against the glass.
She had to be dreaming now because the man standing at the window looked just like her husband. He held out his fingers in a quieting gesture as he tried to get the car door open. Jackie couldn’t take her eyes off of him, he couldn’t be real. None of this was and once again she was hoping that at any second she would open her eyes to a sense of relief.
She watched as he broke the glass in the window, his hand protectively wrapped in a shirt as he reached inside and unlocked the doors.
The man that looked like her husband walked around to where she was and pulled open the back door, “Are you okay?” He asked her. He sounded just like she remembered. All she could do was nod, refusing to close her eyes and let the image of Kevin fade away forever.
“We don’t have much time, I’m sure he heard the glass shatter, we have to get you out of here.” He said opening the door she was tethered to gently and pulling her down to a sitting position on the ground outside.
“This is a dream isn’t it?” She asked him as he pulled out a small object and went to work picking at the lock on her wrist.
“No baby this isn’t a dream, I’m real and I’ll answer all of the questions you have when we get out of this and get our baby back okay?”
She tried to smile as he managed to get her handcuff off, “You look just like him.” She said placing a hand on his face.
“I am him, now come on sweet heart let’s go.” He helped her off of the ground and the two of them managed to hide in the bushes just as the front door opened and John came running outside.
Jackie gasped which caused Kevin to place a hand over her mouth, “Shh” he whispered to her, “We want him to think you ran off, maybe that will make him leave to find you and then we can get inside and rescue our son.”
She nodded but still didn’t feel like any of this was real. They watched as John examined the car, a look of overwhelming panic ran across his face when he found no trace of his prisoner.
They watched as he climbed in the car and started it up, “That a boy, go on go searching you bastard.” Her husband barely whispered. The voice still sending chills down Jackie’s spine just like it used to when they were dating and at the peak of their romance.
Just as Kevin senior had hoped, John backed out of the driveway and slowly proceeded up the street. Once gone, they sprang into action, “Let’s go.” He said holding his wife’s hand. “Let’s get Nicky.”
She nodded, “Nicky is in there?” She was crying now, barely able to contain her emotions.
“Only one way to know for sure, let’s go we don’t have much time.” He smiled and winked at her and then she knew this was very real and happening. Standing before her was the husband that was dead and the son that was missing was only a few feet away.
He pulled her into a hug, “I love you honey.” He said to her and she took in the scent of his love. When they pulled away, another scent was in the air.
It happened so fast, the smell of gunpowder and the small explosion before he fell into her arms.
“No!” She begged as she led him to the ground, “No this can’t be happening.”
He tried to speak as he held his side, blood slowly coming out of his mouth. “Good thing I showed up when I did.” Tyler said walking closer to the reunited couple. “I knew you were going to come here and try to ruin things. I tried telling him but he wouldn’t listen to me.”
Jackie was shaking now as she held her dying husband in her arms. She looked down at him and he was staring up at her with so much love in his eyes. “We better get you inside.” Tyler said grabbing Jackie by the arm, “You scream and I’ll shoot him in the face.”
She nodded as she was pulled away from him. “You, I’ll leave here for now I guess.” He said to the dying man on the ground just as John’s car came back into the driveway.
As both men conferred, Jackie once again stared down at her husband who as weak as he was, managed a small wink and a smile. “Please let this just be a dream.” She pleaded as the men led her into the house, leaving her husband outside to die.
I'll try to be back on Wednesday with another chapter. Once again no promises but i'll try. :OP Thanks for the reviews! You guys rock!
