Mr. McCourtney's Dark Secret [5]

The clock on living room's wall chimed twice. I glanced at my right, to my beautiful wife Sophia who had already been soundly asleep. While I.. I couldn't even close my eyes for more than a second since morning. They found me! I was too underestimated them. I planned my death so well and so careful. Yet, they found me.

The sound of an owl surprised me. I sighed heavily before decided to slowly and gently released my arm from Sophia's head. Once I was free, I stood up and went to the window. Nothing was outside. Only leaves of big tree in my front yard were moving once in a while caused by wind breeze. The owl once again made a sound.

After making another heavy sigh, I made sure the windows in my room were locked and closed the curtains. I then went out of the room and locked the door from outside. Sophia could open it from inside, but I took the key so no one could open it from outside.

Barely making a sound, I opened my front door once again locked it from outside, and walked to my front yard, toward the big tree to be exact.

"Come out, Zidane," I said in a cold tone to the tree.

Few seconds later, a black shadow jumped down from the tree. The shadow was actually a small man, merely as tall as my chest. Zidane. He was one of the best executor. If I were my supervisor's right hand, he was her left hand.

"You are quite a life for a dead man," He said, smirking at me. He spread both of his arms before continued his sentence, " Big house, good job.. beautiful wife."

"Leave her alone," I cut him with a threatening tone. Of course, he didn't mind it even for a bit.

"Actually... I was ordered to take the life of your wife if ..."

I launched my fist toward him. He easily dodged it and threw his secret weapon, a small knife with poison on its blade toward me. I jumped to dodge the knife and went behind him. He could read my movement and blocked my attack. At the same time he hit my stomach.

I had to swallow blood that almost went through my throat due to the hit. But I still managed to grab his fist while rolling my body side way and pinched his neck with both of my legs. My action caused him to be slammed to the ground. I was about to throttle his neck to end his life when suddenly I heard my front door was opened.

"Honey ..." Sophia called me. Her voice instantly froze me.

"Two days," Zidane whispered before releasing himself and disappeared.

"Honey.. ?" Sophia called me again.

"Y.. Yes, Pumpkin," I answered her with a little stammered. I rumpled a piece of paper that was slipped in my hand by Zidane before he disappeared and put it inside my pocket.

"What are you doing outside ?" Sophia asked me. She stood in front of the door with confused look to see me squatting on the ground in the middle of our front yard.

"I heard a disturbing noise. Turned out there was a gopher in our front yard," I said to her, lying through my teeth.

"Is it endanger our house ?" She asked in so much concern. she was about to walked toward me, but I approached her first.

"Perhaps. I will call pest controller company tomorrow to move them around," I answered, putting my arm around her shoulder and guided her to go inside our house again.

----------

It was a week after Zidane's visit to my house. I was being a total paranoid. I forbade Sophia to come out from our house. I my self also didn't come out from our house. I put triple locked on all doors and even sealed all windows.

Sophia was of course being confused and annoyed to my sudden paranoia act. She used to have a little walk every morning and went to market to buy fresh ingredients. But now, I even forbade her to stand near our windows.

"At least you tell me why you become like this," Sophia said in pout, sitting on our couch with hands on front of her chest.

"I heard there is a pest outbreak that will be coming to our neighborhood," I answered her with a lie.

Sophia squinted her eyes. "Pest ? what pest ?"

"I don't know. But that's why gophers was immigrating here."

"But the pest controller not even found a single gopher back then. He only found few holes on our yard," Sophia said.

"Please, Pumpkin.. I just want you and our child to be safe," I instead pleaded her, since I didn't have any more argument.

"But I'm so bore.." Sophia said, still in pout. "And it's almost Christmas while I haven't even bought you a present."

"My present is you and our baby," I said to her.

"I don't have any ingredients to make Christmas dinner," she told another reasoning.

"I don't mind having french fries and nugget for Christmas," I said again.

Sophia was even more sulkier. When I was about to sit next to her, she stood up and went to our bed room.

I sighed heavily. I understood why she was acting like that. It was really not my preference, but I had no choice. I knew for sure my supervisor had placed her men all over our neighbor to take revenge over my refusal to come back.

The paper Zidane gave me was a pager number. I should contact them to tell them that I was back. The deadline was five days ago. I, as you might have guessed, didn't contact the number. I had decided to never went back to the organization. I had made a plan to move to another country once Sophia had delivered our child. We would change our identity and disappeared once again.

----------

I walked into the kitchen to see Sophia was crying.

"Pumpkin.. what's wrong ?" I asked in worry.

"Betty.. Betty died," she said then cried again. I reached her head and let her cried onto my chest.

Betty Gilbourne was her new best friend in this town. Betty was an old lady that lived three house from ours. She lived alone, accompanied by her cats. Betty was so kind, especially to Sophia. She treated her like her own daughter, while Sophia also thought Betty like her own mother. In her first months of pregnancy, Betty helped Sophia a lot went through it. It was such a tragedy that three months ago, Betty had to stay in hospital due to her lung cancer. She never went home ever since.

"Honey.. please... I have to.. I have to go to her funeral. Pleasee.." Sophia begged me in between her sob.

While rubbing her back, I sighed heavily. "Okay. But I will come with you," I finally permitted her.

----------

The funeral was simple but nice. Even though Betty Gilbourne was living alone, almost all people in the neighborhood knew and loved her. Thus, so many people cane to her funeral. I was alerting all the time. But no stranger was there. I knew every people who came to the funeral. Also, there was nothing weird happened. Everything went normal and smooth til the end.

"Honey.. since we're out, we better go to grocery store. We have ran out of detergent, also eggs, milk, sugar.." Sophia said to me when we were already in our car.

I looked into her eyes deeply, about to reject her, when she continues, "My pregnancy milk is also running out."

I sighed heavily. "Okay. But I'm the one who will buy them all," I finally decided.

"But, Honey.."

"No but, Pumpkin. You have to stay in this car and won't open the door, no matter what," I said my term.

She pouted.

"Okay ?" I asked her confirmation.

"Okay.. Okay," Sophia finally agreed.

I turned my car to a grocery store and deliberately parked it on the brightest and nearest slot from the building. After locking the door, I walked fast into the building.

Less than ten minutes, I had done shopping. With both hands brought grocery bags, I walked toward my car when I heard Sophia's shouting at me, "Tom!!"

I reflexively dropped my bags. My eyes went to Sophia's shout. She was still in our car. Only her head was popping out of the window and her arm pointing out to a man who ran away. "That man !! He robbed and stabbed that old man!!" She shouted again.

I saw the man that ran away.

"Hurry up, Tom!! Catch him!!"

At that moment, my legs just like having their thoughts and just ran after that man. That man was so fast and slick. I almost caught him for few times, but he got away. When I was about to lose him, suddenly I could see him again. It was happened for about more than thirty minutes when finally my brain could process what really happened.

"F*ck!!" I cursed then as quick as I could run back to my car. It was a setup! This man was deliberately alluring me to catch him. And.. and.. I had a bad feeling that one who told me to run after this man was "Sophia". "Shit!!"

When I was back to the parking lot, my nightmare became reality. The passenger's door of my car was opened and I found no Sophia there.

I ran here and there like a mad man. Still, I couldn't found her. When I reached a blind alley few dozens meter from the grocery store, my heart was crushed. I saw pool of blood on the ground. I still tried to be positive, telling a lie to my self that it wasn't her blood. But when I reached my car again, I found that my car phone was being called over and over by the same number. It was from hospital.

----------

Leaning back on the outer wall of the hospital, I squatted powerlessly. I couldn't hold back my tears. Sophia was in critical condition now, while our baby ... our baby .... was gone. I was like losing my mind. For a split second I thought that it might be better that Sophia didn't make it. Of course that thought was immediately being swiped away by my own mind.

I couldn't imagine my live without her. I could still bear losing our baby, as long as not Sophia. But Sophia.. could she live knowing she lost her baby ? She loved our baby very much. She loved our baby more than her live. It was already traumatized her to lose both of her parents. How worse could her trauma be to lose her baby ?

I cried and cried until I couldn't cry anymore. With my left over power, I walked sluggishly toward a public phone. I put a coin and punched numbers that I had remembered it for so long.

"Good Evening, this is operator, what can I help you ?"

"A message to 88888, Bring my baby back to live. I will come back." I said with lifeless tone.