Chapter 7

Stone

I waited for Dr. Kesslar to come back to my room so we could talk, but he didn’t show up. I sat up all night. I watched the sun rise above the trees that towered near my window. Maddie’s beautiful smile appeared to me. The way she laughed. The way she cried. I needed a bump so badly I wanted to tear the room apart. I took a deep breath and turned around when I heard a knock on the door.

“Good morning, Mr. Shelton.” A nurse with pale blonde hair and a very pale face to match said as she opened the door.

“Aren’t you supposed to knock, then ask if it’s okay to come in?” I asked annoyed.

“I’m sorry, it’s my first day. Would you like me to go back out and knock again?” She asked nervously.

“No, of course not. I’m sorry.” I rubbed my eyes and walked towards the bathroom.

“I have to escort you to the cafeteria,” she said.

“I’m going to brush my teeth. I’ll be right out.” I answered.

“Do you need help?” she asked anxiously.

“Um…no thanks.” I stared at her oddly. She noticed and stepped out of the room.

The weird nurse and I were walking towards the elevator when Dr. Kesslar came rushing towards me with panic in his eyes. He grabbed my arm and pushed me to the side.

“We need to talk…Now.” He pulled into a room.

“What is it?” I asked apprehensively.

“I had a visit this morning in the early hours. A very determined FBI agent who threatened my life, Joanna’s life and Maddie’s life,” he said nervously.

“Jackson?” I said crossly.

“Yes…” He said confused.

“What did he want?” I demanded.

“Come with me to my office.” We walked out of the room and towards the elevator. My stomach was in knots. Did Jackson have a box with Maddie’s body parts in it? Did he kill the kids? My heart was pounding against my chest. I felt weak at the knees. I clenched my hands together.

“Calm down,” Dr. Kesslar said softly.

The elevator doors opened. We stepped in. The anticipation of getting to his office was making me nauseous. I forgot about getting high. I forgot about the reason I was here in the first place. The elevator doors opened, and the sweat trickled down the side of my face. We walked to his office and when he opened the door Joanna was sitting there with two kids on her lap.

“Daddy!” Daniel shouted. He ran to me immediately.

“Daddy!” Alyssa cried and ran to me.

I fell to my knees and grabbed them both. For a minute I felt like I was unable to breathe, I just held them in my arms and cried. I held them so tightly I almost squeezed the life out of them. I didn’t want to let them go.

“Daddy, oh daddy…I missed you, daddy. Missed you so much. Look daddy, look…this much!” He opened his arms as wide as he could, smiled, then grabbed me around my neck and started to cry. Alyssa just placed her head on my shoulders and placed her middle and index finger in her mouth and sucked them contently. I kissed her forehead gently, and she grabbed me tightly.

“I’m not letting you go. I’m not letting you go,” I whispered in her ear.

“Stone. This man dropped these kids off to me around four this morning. He told me Maddie was safe, but you were never to look for her again or they would…kill her.” Kevin was a nervous wreck.  Joanna just sat crying, holding her chest and shaking her head.

“What are you going to do?” she whimpered.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“You can’t stay here with the kids. They won’t allow it,” Joanna said nervously.

“Then I’ll leave. I’m never letting them go as long as I’m alive,” I said.

“But, you need help, Stone,” Joanna said apprehensively.

“I’ll come as an outpatient,” I said.

“You’re three hours away,” Joanna stared at me with a blank look on her face.

“I need to work. I need to take care of my family and get Maddie,” I demanded.

“Didn’t you hear what that psycho said? They’ll kill her,” she said as the tears fell from her eyes.

“I heard you, but you don’t understand. Maddie belongs to me, to us. He’s not going to keep her. I won’t let him,” I said sternly.

“You’re not thinking straight Stone. You can’t go against men like this. They have more power than all of us,” Joanna said, crying.

“Then help me…please, help me.”

Kevin looked at Joanna. “What can we do?” he asked.

“Let us stay with you until I kick this habit.” I said as I stared at Joanna.

“You can’t stay with her!” Kevin shouted.

“Kevin, please…”  whispered.

“I’m putting my career on the line for you Stone. You have to be serious about getting the help,” she said, staring at Kevin.

“I am. They are the reason. They always have been. Please…you won’t regret it,” I said kissing Alyssa on the head.

“We have to call your boss. He was the one who paid for your thirty-day stay. I think we can switch it to outpatient,” Joanna said. Kevin was pacing back and forth.

“You better keep your word or you’ll have to deal with me,” Kevin said sternly, turning to Joanna.

“Let me get the paperwork together and call your boss. I’ll be back. Stay in here with the kids. I’ll call my sister, Jenna. I’ll ask her to get the two guest bedrooms together for you and the kids.”

“I can’t tell you how much I appreciate this. The kids…they appreciate it, too,” I said as my voice trembled with happiness.

“I’ll be back,” Joanna said as she turned and walked out of the office.
“Thanks man. I really appreciate this,” I said to Kevin. His eyebrows furrowed.

“You need to do the right thing. I’m serious.” He gave me an uneasy look. “And you need to explain who the fuck these guys are, Stone. I mean, come on, Joanna is putting her life on the line for you and these kids. She doesn’t even know you,” he said angrily.

“Please don’t curse in front of my children,” I said politely.

“Look, I know you have problems and I know you have your family to take care of. But this…this just fell on our lap. I need to know what I’m dealing with here,” he said as he leaned back against his desk. “Hold on a sec.” Kevin opened the door to call for a nurse. The nurse approached Kevin.

“Yes, Dr. Kesslar?” She said with a warm smile.

“Can you do me a favor and take these two to the cafeteria for some ice cream and snacks?” he asked, pointing to Alyssa and Daniel.

“No!” Daniel shouted. My nerves were shot. I needed a bump so badly. I didn’t need Daniel to act up.

“Daniel please…Daddy will be right here when you get back. I have to talk to Kevin,” I said calmly.

“Please daddy…I’ll be good. I promise,” Daniel whimpered.

“This isn’t about whether you’re good or bad Daniel. Why would you think that?”

“Andrew always said I was bad,” Daniel said as he began to cry.

“No…don’t you dare think that. Listen to me. You’re a good boy. Andrew is bad. He’ll never tell you that again. I promise.”

“Promise me daddy. I never want to see him again!” Daniel shouted. I grabbed Daniel and hugged him.

“You won’t, I promise.” I kissed his forehead. “Daniel, please. Go with the nurse for ice cream.  Bring daddy back a cherry pop tart. Go. Alyssa wants a snack.” I patted his head, and he grabbed Alyssa’s hand and walked out.

I glanced over at Kevin who sat patiently in his chair waiting for me.

“Kids are rough.” Kevin said.

“Especially when they’re scared.” I answered.

“Have a seat. Tell me what’s going on. I really need to know.” Kevin said.

“Well, here’s the truth. When I was fifteen, I killed a man who was trying to rape Maddie. I went to jail for six years. Maddie visited me every weekend for six years and her mother had three kids during this time. We raised them all. The last year I was incarcerated Maddie stopped coming up to see me. I thought I would die.” I lowered my head. “When I got out, I went to see her and the kids. Maddie had hooked up with Andrew to be able to pay her rent and take care of the kids.”

I stopped to blow out a breath not wanting to think about the asshole. “Andrew is crazy. He’s the brother of the guy I used to borrow money from in jail to help Maddie pay for the apartment. The brother tried to rape Maddie, and she killed him in self-defense. Andrew found Maddie somehow…through an internship or something. He made Maddie do a lot of things she didn’t want to do. Andrew is a murderer. He killed Maddie’s best friend Clarissa.”

I had to stop again feeling the bile rise in my throat when I remembered Clarissa’s dead body on my doorstep.

“Andrew’s brother, Jackson, convinced me to help him capture Andrew. That plan got messed up when Andrew threw my kids into a lake and shot Maddie.” I glanced out the window in the door and looked at my kids. Thankful they were still alive. “Then I shot him. I wanted to kill him, but he didn’t die. We were promised that we were going to be protected and put into protective custody. I messed up. I was supposed to be on the next plane to Maryland. I killed my father…that’s right, my father. He raped Maddie, and I needed to watch him die. So, because he was already dying from lung cancer, I removed the oxygen from his nose and watched him struggle to take his last breath. And you know what? He wasn’t sorry he raped Maddie. He wasn’t sorry at all. So, I watched him die, and that was the happiest moment of my life.”

I placed my hands on my lap. I wanted to put my fist through the wall just thinking about that bastard. “I was so depressed for making the wrong decision and not getting on that plane that I started taking drugs and ended up a junkie like my father. Here I am standing with you today.” Kevin stood staring at me. “I don’t know what’s going to happen, but I will not put Joanna’s life in danger. I promise. I will take the kids and leave first.”

“These men are dangerous, Stone,” he said seriously.

“Yes, I know and I promise. They’ll never hurt anyone again.”

I sat on the couch waiting for Joanna. Kevin needed to see a few patients and left. The door opened, and the nurse entered with Daniel and Alyssa. Their mouths covered with chocolate ice cream. Daniel ran to me with a pop tart in his hand.

“Here daddy…cherry.” I smiled and grabbed the pop tart. I kissed Alyssa on the top of her head. I missed her so much. She was so much bigger than I remembered. Daniel was the cutest. He looked so much like Bryan it was uncanny.

I waited patiently for Joanna to return; contemplating on how I was going to find Maddie, kill Andrew and kill Jackson. My mind needed to be clear and my body needed to be clean. No matter what I had to do in this world to protect my family, it was going to get done. The kids would be safe in the meantime, but Maddie would not.

She is my number one priority now.

She’s the one I’m getting clean for.

She’s the air I breathe.

She’s the beat to my heart.

She’s the only one that can save my soul.