Chapter 10

BEEP BEEP

The front door security sensor went off which brought me back to earth. I lifted my head from the thigh I was sleeping on.

The thigh was attached to my wife and her bare sex was still red and puffy and exposed to the world. This was not something I wanted to whomever just walked in to see. So I moved and grabbed the sheet I found on the floor to cover her.

I then put my robe on and went to the family room to see who has entered my home.

“Mr Johnson! You’re home.”

A young female greeted me with enthusiasm. She bounced off the couch and came to me wrapping her arms around my chest and hugging me. She then got a whiff of me and the smells that Ashlee and I left on each other and she quickly stepped back covering her face with her hand and blushing bright red.

I stepped back from her as well upon seeing her reaction. “You going to have to excuse me, but after my head injury I am having a bit of trouble remembering people. Please tell me your name to help me remember.”

“Mr. Johnson, I’m Kaitlyn. The kids nanny.”

“Oooh.” I stuck out my hand, “It’s good to meet you again.” We shook hands and I thanked her for understanding my condition.

“It’s ok Mr. Johnson. I’m glad that you are ok. It was a heck of a day and I am so glad that the kids are ok.”

“Yes, they are ok. I heard that you were with the kids at the time. Is that right?”

“Yes sir. I was there. I was so scared that something was going to happen to the kids, I just held them and tried to keep them safe.” she got started talking and as she talked, she sat down heavily on the couch and put her face in her hands and started to cry. “I was so scared. So afraid. I just held them.”

I moved next to her and sat down. “Kaitlyn, please. It’s ok. The kids are safe, you’re safe, everyone is safe.” I patted her knee while sitting next to her.

“Daddy. Why is nanny Kate crying?” The words from Justin startled me and I jumped at the sound. I turned to him and opened my arm.

He came in and gave me a hug then wiggled out and went to Kaitlyn and gave her a hug as well. “Don’t cry nanny Kate. It’s ok.”

Kaitlyn looked up and pulled Justin in for a hug and got her emotions under control while she held him. “I’m fine honey. I’m so happy that you are safe and sound that I couldn’t control myself. It just all spilled out.”

“Well do you want me to get a towel to clean it up?”

We laughed at his joke.

The morning progressed slowly, normally as the girls woke up and came to get their morning hugs and breakfast. The only thing is that both said that I stink and that I should go and get a shower.

Ashlee came out at some point during the morning, clean and ready for breakfast. She had at least taken a shower before coming out. With the mommy awake, we traded places and I went and took a shower. I really did stink and the bedroom was a wreck. Only the sheet I used to cover Ashlee was on the bed. The comforter was on the floor. The blanket was on the floor. The toys we had used last night were on the floor scattered around. We had some cleaning to do.

My shoulder was healing and the plastic protective sheet over my stitches was still in place and it looked like it was doing its job correctly. I touched it, trying to gauge how it was healing. It was still tender to the touch and after moving my shoulder a bit, I felt a twinge of stiffness and a little discomfort, but it wasn’t as bad as it once was.

The shower was relaxing. The hot water washing over me really washed away the stress that I didn’t know I even had. I turned my back to the water and put my arms and hands on the shower wall and gathered myself.

My name is Paul Johnson. I am a widower. I had two boys and a wife all of which I have buried due to a car accident. I found love with a woman I knew from school. We started going out after I asked her to have lunch with me. We dated, we fell in love, we went on a honeymoon and immediately got pregnant. Yes, things were starting to fall back in place in my mind. Now I have three kids, a nanny, a penthouse condo bigger than three of my old homes put together and according to Ashlee, I’ve got more money than I ever thought one person could have at one time. If someone were to ask me, I had everything. I mean even my wife was hotter than most of the porno women I’ve seen. We spent over an hour last night having sex in all of its permutations and that is more than I have ever had in my life.

I wiped the water from my face and picked up a bar of soap and started to get clean.

What was I going to do with my life? I was a teacher but gave that up after Ashlee and I got married and she got pregnant. Should I go back to being a teacher? Did I have to work now that I had so much money in the bank? I suppose not, but I had to do something with my life. I had to stay busy or the reason for my life would slip away and I am sure I would find myself becoming selfish and egotistical. I wasn’t that kind of person. I had always been a giver, that much I am sure. I remember doing so much for Samantha and the boys while they were alive. Am I still doing that for Ashlee and the kids? Am I still serving them enough, keeping them #1 in my life, heart and mind? This was something that I had to work out for myself.

I got out of the shower and dried off, shaved my face, brushed my teeth and made myself presentable. T-shirt, comfy boxers, comfy pants and slippers on my feet. I had no idea what I needed to do today so, let’s start with breakfast then I’ll see what comes next.

The kids were sitting at the table eating breakfast, Ashlee was in the kitchen with Kaitlyn cooking away. I gave my kids each a kiss on their little heads then moved to the kitchen and hugged my wife from behind and kissed the side of her face. “Good morning honey.”

“Hey there honey. What took so long?”

I stepped away after a hot bit of grease hit my arm. “I had to collect myself a little bit. A bunch of stuff came back to me while I was getting cleaned up, and I had to process it all. Do a little bit of soul searching so to speak.”

She finished the eggs and turned to Kaitlyn who was holding a plate. “What came back?”

“Sam, David, Josh and their deaths. Our honeymoon and even our dating came back.”

She smiled and after putting the hot pan aside, she came to me and hugged me with her arms around my neck. “I’m so glad to hear that.”

We stood there and hugged each other for several moments. “I love you Ashlee Johnson.”

She pulled back and looked at me with a smile on her face. “I love you Paul Johnson.”

We shared a very tender, loving kiss and then parted to begin again on our lives.

That afternoon, the man downstairs who worked for the building greeting people who didn’t live there, called the condo and said that a policeman was here to talk to Ashlee and me. I asked that he escort him upstairs and we would be willing to see him.

“Hey Ash, someone from the KCPD is downstairs wanting to see us.”

“Really? What about?” She asked from our bedroom where the cleaning was still progressing from our night of love.

“I don’t know. Hopefully some news about my shooting. We shall see.”

I went back to her and helped with a few things before the doorbell rang announcing the arrival of a policeman and our faithful doorman. The kids and Kaitlyn beat me to the door. They opened it and welcomed the door man in along with a very big black man in a bad suit. Typical in my opinion.

“Can I help you? Thank you...”

“Reginald Mr. Johnson.”

“Thank you Reginald for bringing him up.” The doorman left and I turned my attention to the policeman.

“Mr Johnson, I’m Detective O’Hare from the second district. Do you have some time to talk about your shooting? We have some new information that I would like to talk to you about.”

Ashlee joined me and took my hand as the detective spoke. “Sure. Come on in, take a seat and we can talk.”

Ashlee and I welcomed him in and as we went to the living room, the kids and Kaitlyn followed behind. Detective O’Hare took a seat in one of the chairs and we sat on the couch near him. The kids piled on our laps and sat watching everything happen.

“Mr. Johnson, we recovered the bullet from your shoulder during surgery and took it to the crime lab where we found several things.”

Ashlee: Really, what?

Det O’Hare: We found that the bullet that hit you was not from the gun of the man who took your children and nanny hostage at the restaurant.

Well you could have knocked me over with a feather.

Me: What do you mean it wasn’t from his gun? Where did the bullet come from?

Det O’Hare: We don’t know.

I just looked at him.

Me: How is that possible?

Det O’Hare: The gun from the hostage taker was a 9 millimeter and the bullet that was removed from your shoulder was a 22 caliber.

Ashlee: What? Who shot my husband?

I put my hand on Ashlee’s knee and she took my hand.

Me: Kaitlyn, why don’t you take the kids for a walk, I think this is too much for them to hear.

Kaitlyn: Yes sir. Come on you three. Let’s go and play outside.

There was some arguing and some little kiddie whining, but Ashlee managed to get them moving and after only a few minutes, Kaitlyn and the kids left leaving the adults alone to talk.

Me: Ok Detective. Let me get this straight. Someone held my kids and nanny hostage for several hours and after that, someone took a shot at me and it wasn’t the man who we had always thought it was. Do I have that summed up correctly?

The detective sighed with sadness and embarrassment and said “Yes sir. That is correct.”

I flopped back next to Ashlee heavily and leaned back.

Ashlee: Detective. What do you know?

Det O’Hare: Mrs Johnson, we don’t really know anything about who shot your husband. We do know that the bullet and the gun has not been used before in the commission of a crime before. We checked all of the databases for a gun that matched the bullet and nothing came back. So this was either a big accident, or someone new and a new gun has been brought into the world and used in the commission of a crime. If that gun is ever used again, we will know it.

me: So you went all CSI on it and found nothing?

Det O’Hare: Yes sir. That is correct.

Ashlee: What are you going to do now?

Det O’Hare: We are going to go back over the crime scene and start looking for a 22 shell casing and hopefully find something.

I moved closer to Ashlee and put my arm around her, hiding my face behind her shoulder as the realization that someone out there wants me dead. Someone tried to kill me.

Ashlee twisted around and took me in for a hug. She held me as my emotions flowed out of me.

Ashlee: Its ok honey. I’ve got you.

She just held me.

When I ran out of emotions, I pulled away and sat back and tried to center myself.

Me: Detective, do you know my history? The stuff that has happened to me?

Det O’Hare: Yes. I’ve talked to Blue Springs PD and I know about the fire and the arson and the arrest.

Ashlee: Is the man who tried to kill us still in prison?

Det O’Hare: Yes. He is still in prison. That much we know.

Ashlee: Well you had better get in front of his face and make sure that he had nothing to do with this. I do not want to be a widow at this age.

Ashlee was getting upset and made it abundantly clear that they were to find this guy and protect her man from being killed. I needed that.

Det O’Hare: Mrs Johnson, we are doing everything we can to find the person or persons responsible for the shooting. Rest assured that we are doing everything in our power to find whomever was responsible for this.

Ashlee looked him over and squeezed my hand.

Ashlee: Ok. Keep us up to date. In the meantime, what should we do to protect ourselves?

Det O’Hare: Be aware of your surroundings and who are around you is the first thing. If someone comes after you again, then get away and call us. Let us do the right thing and catch the person trying to hurt you.

Not exactly the answer I was looking for. I was hoping for more truth be told.

Me: Ash, do we know anyone?

She got an idea and it showed on her face.

Ashlee: We need to call Tony.

The name didn’t come to me immediately, but she recognized that look on my face and explained.

Ashlee: Tony is our friend who used to be in the military and may know some people who could help us with security. We went on vacation with him and his wife this summer. Remember?

I had to shake my head, the memory wasn’t there yet.

Me: Sorry. Not yet.

Ashlee: Its ok. Detective, would it be ok if we brought in some private security personnel while you search for the shooter?

Det O’Hare: I can’t encourage you to do that, but I can’t stop you either. Just make sure that whoever comes in to protect you knows everything that has happened so plans can be made correctly to keep you safe and not hinder your lifestyle.

That was something to think about. Something we had to think about for sure. Was I now a target of some one’s wrath? Did someone really want me dead? I know that I’m rich, but does that make me a target? It just didn’t make any sense.

Me: Is there anything else you can tell us detective?

Detective O’Hare opened the folder he had brought with him and looked it over. I guess he was making sure that he didn’t forget anything.

Det O’Hare: Oh, yes. I almost forgot. Do either of you have any enemies that may want to hurt you?

Ashlee and I looked at each other and no one came to mind as I shook my head. Even before the money and Ashlee, there was no one in my life that I could imagine cared or hated me enough to go to these lengths to try and hurt me. Ashlee didn’t think of anyone either and shook her head.

Me: Sorry, no one comes to mind.

Det O’Hare: Alright. Well, thank you both for your time today. I’ll get back on the street and try to track down who did this to you folks.

We all got up from the couch and chairs and we shook hands and we showed him to the elevator.

As I closed the door, I turned to Ashlee, “Do you think that this Tony you mentioned could really help us?”

“We won’t know until we call him.” She said then moved to the dining room to get her phone and such.

I went to the kid’s room and checked on them. “Thanks for waiting for us kids. You can come out and play if you want to.”

“Thanks dad.” “We’re fine dad.” “Huh?” “Thanks Mr. Johnson, I think we will be fine here.”

I’ll give you one guess who said huh. Yes, my son who had his face buried in a game-boy-station thing while the girls were playing and reading.

“What did the detective want?” Kaitlyn asked.

“He was going over the information he had on the shooting and asked if there was anyone in our lives that may want to hurt us. We couldn’t think of anyone that was still free. The only person who hated us that much is in prison when he set my house on fire years ago and then tried to run me over with his car. Other than him, we have no real enemies.” I said while taking a knee next to the girls who were both reading a book next to their nanny.