Blake Pierce - Before He Harms

She nearly started calling Amy’s name as she neared her house. Just four or five more houses down and she’d be safe. The streetlights were rather dim thanks to the mist from the recent rain and the entire neighborhood looked like something out of a horror movie, but Amy’s house was up there somewhere like a lighthouse.

She was putting so much focus on the shape of the houses that she did not hear the purring engine behind her. When she finally heard the car, she looked over her shoulder. When she saw it screaming toward her with its headlights off, she tried dashing hard to the right, but it did little good.

The car struck her hard on the right side. Everything went numb for a moment as she did half a cartwheel three feet in the air. But the pain all came racing on in a fury when she struck the pavement. Her head rocked off of the road and the world went mostly black.

This was why she was unable to see the face of the figure that parked the car in the middle of the street, got out, and pulled a knife on her.

She knew the person was slitting her throat, but the pain in her head and back blissfully masked that one particular pain.

The life went rushing out of her as the killer walked back to their car.

He and the car were both gone as she took her last breath on the rain-slicked road.

The apartment smelled like rosemary and lemon as dinner cooked on the stove, the first bottle of wine had been opened, and The Cure was playing on Spotify. To any random visitor, it might appear as if Mackenzie White was having a splendid afternoon. But what they would not see was the internal struggle and the anxiousness that had her nerves and stomach on edge.

The chicken was done and the asparagus was in the oven. Mackenzie sipped from a glass of red wine, trying to find something to do. Ellington was on the living room floor with Kevin, reading him a book. He looked up at her and rolled his eyes. When he came to an appropriate stopping point—where the Poky Little Puppy once again crawled under the fence—he hefted Kevin up in his arms and entered the kitchen.

“It’s just your mother,” he said. “You’re acting like we’re about to visited by the IRS or something.”

“You’ve haven’t met her,” Mackenzie said.

“She anything like you?”

“Aside from the whole abandonment thing, yeah.”

“Then I’m sure she’s fine. You just tell me how much charm I need to lay on.”

“Not too much. She won’t get your jokes.”

“I take it back then,” Ellington said. “I hate the woman already.” He kissed Kevin’s forehead and shrugged. “She does have the right to meet her grandson, though. Aren’t you at all glad she wants to be involved?”

“I want to be. But it’s hard for me to trust her.”

“I get that,” Ellington said. “I don’t exactly get the warm fuzzies when it come to my mom either.”

“Yes, but at least she came knocking when you had a child, right?”

“That she did. But let’s not assume that’s a good thing. It might be years before we realize the traumatic impact that has on Kevin.”

“I’m not joking here, E. The woman is toxic. She’s just—”

She trailed off, not sure of how to end the comment. She’s just what ? Selfish would be a fitting word. Immature would be another. The woman had essentially closed herself off after her husband had been killed and, as such, Mackenzie and her sister had been left without much of a mother-figure at all.

“She’s your mother,” Ellington said. “And I’m excited to meet her.”

“I’ll remind you of those words about an hour into her visit.”

They shared a kiss and Ellington returned to the living room to continue reading about the misadventures of the Poky Little Puppy. Mackenzie listened in as she sipped from her wine again and started to set the table. She glanced to the clock, noting that there were only six minutes left before her mother was set to show up. She had to admit, dinner smelled delicious and Kevin was looking more adorable than ever. He was getting too damned old for her liking. He was pulling himself up and scooting; they were fully expecting him to take his first steps any day now.

It was a good reminder of how long it had been since she’d seen her mother. Her son was about to walk now and her mother hadn’t—

A knock on the door interrupted her thoughts. She gave Ellington a startled look, to which he grinned, picked Kevin back up, and extended his free hand toward her. He’d been free of the cast from his previous injuries for about a week now, and it was good to see him using both arms comfortably.

She took it and he pulled her to him. “You take down some of the roughest people our society has to offer,” he reminded her. “Certainly you can make it through this.”

She nodded, and they walked together to the door. When they answered it, Mackenzie had to take a moment to collect her thoughts.

Her mother looked beautiful. She had taken care of herself in the months that had passed since she’d last seen her; Mackenzie thought that might have been almost a year at this point but wasn’t quite sure. She looked healthy and actually happy. Her hair was done nicely and she looked maybe ten years younger than her actual age of fifty-three.

“Hey, Mom,” Mackenzie said. “You look nice.”

“You do, too.” She looked past Mackenzie and then to Ellington, holding Kevin. “Sorry,” she said. “We haven’t officially met.”

Watching her mother and Ellington shake hands was beyond surreal. And when Mackenzie saw Kevin studying the strange woman at their doorstep, her heart broke a bit. She had given something of an open invitation to her mother a little less than a year ago when she had gone out to Nebraska to tell her she was a grandmother. And it had taken her this long to take her up on it. To her credit, though, she had declined Mackenzie’s offer to pay for the plane fare.

“Come on in, Mom,” Mackenzie said.

Patricia White stepped into her daughter’s apartment as if she were entering some sort of cathedral—with reverence and respect. As soon as the door was closed behind her, she looked at Kevin and then, with tears in her eyes, back to Mackenzie.

“Can I hold him?”

“You’re his grandmother,” Mackenzie said. “Of course you can.”

When Ellington handed Kevin over, he did so without any hesitation. He was watching his mother-in-law’s expression of awe and gratitude with the same focus as Mackenzie. While Mackenzie was glad to see her mother holding Kevin, there was certainly something surreal about it all.

“He looks just like you,” Patricia said to her daughter.

“A good thing,” Ellington said with a chuckle.

Mackenzie led her mother deeper into her apartment, bringing her into the living room. They sat down together, Mackenzie and Ellington sharing a look over Patricia’s head as they settled down. Ellington gave her an I-told-you-so look which she returned with a scowl.

“You didn’t already check into a hotel, did you?” Mackenzie asked.

“I did. Already dropped my stuff off.” She never took her eyes away from Kevin as she spoke. Mackenzie wasn’t sure she had ever seen her mother smile so big in her life.

“You didn’t have to do that, Mom. I told you that you’re welcome to stay here.”

“I know,” she said, finally taking her eyes away from her grandson as she bounced him on her knee. “But you both have busy jobs and I didn’t want to get in the way. Besides, I have a hot tub in my room for tonight and some sightseeing to do tomorrow. I’ve never been to DC before, so…”

She stopped here, as if that ended the entire conversation. And as far as Mackenzie was concerned, it did.