Page 99 of The Thief

And then I saw it.

A small wooden table and two benches at the bottom of the clearing. And sitting with her back to us was my Ava.

“Ava!” Tyler shouted as he picked up speed, hurtling towards where she was.

I shouted too, crying her name as I tried to keep up withhim.

Ava twisted around, and her face beamed when she saw him. She wriggled her little legs over the bench and jumped off, running right towards him.

And then everything turned to slow motion as I watched the evil fucker stand up from the bench where he’d been sitting, opposite my baby. He reached behind him and pulled out a gun, aiming it right at her.

Explosions crashed in my ears, adrenaline bursting through my veins, making my body move faster, my legs sprint wilder in an effort to get to her.

“No! No! Ava, No!” I shouted, willing time to freeze. For my baby to move out of shot. For a fucking miracle to happen. Anything. Please, God, let this stop.

And then he lifted his gun higher, his target clear as he aimed at Tyler. He wanted to take them both from me. He was going to shoot them both.

Tears streamed down my face as I screamed, begging the universe to save them. And then I felt an almighty thump jolt my whole body as a force crashed into me, knocking me to the ground, making me faceplant the grass.

Disorientated, I frantically pushed myself to stand, scrabbling as I peered up at the exact moment Ava jumped into Tyler’s arms, squealing in delight.

All the air left my lungs as I stood on legs that could barely hold me, feeling helpless, lost, watching my life get ripped away from me, and there wasn’t a damn thing I could do about it. All I could do was scream. Scream so fucking loud that it was all I could hear. That was all my world was now. My screams and pure, unadulterated pain that cut my soul into shreds as the evilbastard pulled the fucking trigger that’d shatter my world.

Black dots danced in my eyes, my head swam as I faltered, almost toppling over from the weight of my grief. And at the exact moment that the gun fire echoed through the air, the trees, through my whole being, the force that had knocked me off my feet flashed past me.

A shadow moving at lightning speed.

A darkness darting through the haze.

The force that’d brought us here.

A man called Dan who barrelled into Tyler and my daughter, knocking them to the ground before he also jolted and then fell backwards onto the grass beside them.

“Don’t move or I’ll execute every fucking one of you,” the evil bastard shouted, and it was then that I noticed the others standing beside me, every one of them with a gun out, pointed right at the fucker who’d shot at my little girl and Tyler.

They didn’t respond, just let their guns do the talking as they fired bullet after bullet into him, making his wretched body dance as they filled it with holes. I stood entranced as they annihilated him, walking slowly towards him as they fired round after round. Then, as they got close enough, and he lay slumped on the floor, one last shot was fired, right into his skull.

My lungs were burning as I gulped for air. My mind shut down, scared to turn and see where Ava and Tyler lay. I couldn’t face what’d happened. All I felt was empty, hollow, dead inside.

I slumped to the ground, my body unable to hold my weight anymore. Tears that had flowed for so long became nothing, not enough. The grief I felt went beyond tears. I was numb, I felt worthless. I wanted to die.

My ears rang from the pain and the gunfire.

And then...

Through the screeching...

I heard a voice.

A voice that jolted me back to life.

A voice I never thought I’d hear again.

“Jess. Jess! Were you hit? Are you okay?”

Slowly, I turned my head, and there he was, clutching my daughter in his arms. My daughter who was squeezing him, her head snuggled into his chest. My daughter being protected by our saviour.

Tyler.