Page 67 of The Soul of Archer

***

Alex climbed into the truck and backed out of the back lot of the bakery. He had been so impressed with the business his future daughter-in-law had built for herself. She was not only a talented baker, but a sharp business woman. That made him and Carmen helping over the last month that much easier. She kept excellent records on payroll, inventory, orders and billing. Jessi had told him that day that Alora’s staff were amazing to work with and some of them had even taught her a few things she hadn’t learned in culinary school.

As Alex came to a stoplight a sudden feeling of unease hit him like a bullet. It was a feeling every parent dreads, the feeling that their children were in trouble. As soon as the light turned green, he pressed the gas and shot down the street. He needed to get to Lance and Alora. On instinct, he called Ethan.

***

Alora clung to Lance as they sat on her sofa, staring at the barrel of Monica’s .45. “What do you want with us?” Lance asked.

“Revenge, just good old-fashioned revenge.” Monica spat. “You two took my husband and children from me.”

“M…Mrs. Malconi, please don’t do this.” Alora stuttered.

“You shut the fuck up bitch. You are the reason this all happened. You.” Monica hissed.

Alora shivered. She hadn’t been scared when Annabelle had taken her, hadn’t been scared when she was bound in that crumbling hospital. But in this moment, seeing the crazed look in Monica Malconi’s eyes, Alora was terrified. She and Lance were at this woman’s mercy and they had no way to get word to Blackout. The security was still disengaged, and both their cells were in the kitchen charging. She glanced up and met Lance’s eyes.

“I’ve been thinking long and hard about what I was going to do to you both. I thought maybe killing you both and dumping your bodies on Blackout’s doorstep, blowing up your cars, blowing up the house as you two slept. But finally, I came to the perfect price for what you did to me.” Monica sneered, shifting so her gun was now pointing at Alora’s head. “Tell me Mr. Archer, have you ever seen what a .45 does to a person’s head at close range? Hmm?”

“No. Please, please don’t…” Lance began, but he was silenced when Monica swung her pistol hand, catching Lance across the cheek with such force it knocked him off the sofa to the floor.

Alora let out a cry but the pistol was once more in her face before she could do more than lift partially off the sofa. She could feel tears now flowing down her cheeks, but her eyes remained on Lance as he slowly sat up. Their eyes locked and held. In that look so many things were said between them. When the gun cocked, Alora still didn’t look away from Lance. If she was going to die, Lance’s face would be the last thing she saw. As that poem by Dylan Thomas said,“Do not go gentle into that good night.”No, she would not go gentle. She would not give Monica Malconi the satisfaction of seeing her fear any longer. Alora felt a calmness wash over her.

“I love you Lance. I always will.”

“Alora…” Lance stammered.

A single gunshot echoed through the room, followed by the sound of a scream of pain and someone hitting the floor. Alora and Lance both looked and saw Monica on the floor clutching her gun arm and Alex standing over her, his own gun pointing at her head. “One move, one twitch, I will fucking kill you.” Alex hissed.

Lance was off the floor and quickly grabbed Monica’s gun where it had fallen and stood beside his father. Alora let out a relieved breath as she heard the sirens growing closer. Lance kept the gun trained on Monica as Alex rolled her onto her stomach and slapped a pair of handcuffs on her, ignoring her cries of pain from where he had shot her. Now that she was secured, Alora stood and hurried to Lance who pulled her against him.

“You two alright?” Alex asked.

“Yeah. Yeah, dad we are.” Lance nodded. “How did you…what are you doing here?”

Alex holstered his gun, but before he could answer, Ethan, Danny and the rest of Alpha team barged into the room.

***

It was nearly an hour later before Alex, Lance and Alora were once more alone in the house. Alora was curled up on Lance’s lap on the sofa while Alex sat in one of the arm chairs. “Dad, how did you know to come here?”

Alex took a sip of his coffee before he answered, “Son, a parent always knows when their children are in trouble. I was leaving the bakery when my gut told me you two needed me. On the way I called Ethan and told him to get over here.”

“My mom used to tell me that. She told me that no matter where I was, if I was ever in serious trouble she would know and would move heaven and earth to get to me.” Alora said.

“Yes, that’s exactly right. While Lance may not be my biological child, he’s still my child. As much as Jessi and Jack are.” Alex nodded.

Lance felt himself get chocked up at those words. Oh, he had always known Alex loved him and thought of him as his, it still got to Lance to hear Alex verbalize it. As if she sensed his emotions, Alora shifted a little and wrapped her arms around him, adding her own love to him. Lance kissed the top of her head. He looked up and saw Alex smiling in understanding. After years of struggling to find his place, the heartache and pain he had suffered, Lance finally had what he always dreamed of. He had his soulmate.