He smiled and gripped me firmly, but I could tell that this type of intimacy was not something he was comfortable with. His whole arm tightened up and he held his hand almost motionless. I tried not to laugh out loud at his awkwardness.
Every now and then I noticed him looking around either to the side of us or behind us. Certainly not instilling confidence in his notion that we were not in danger. I thought I even noticed his jaw tensing as we got farther and farther away from the town. We really were sitting ducks if anyone was trying to get us.
As we walked down the dirt road, there was no place to hide and no escape if someone happened to come down this dirt road with wrongdoing on their mind. At the dairy farm, I stopped to visit with the owner. He seemed a little leery of Chris but warmed up to him when I said he was an ex-Navy Seal. Mr. Reynolds had been in the Navy also, many years before Chris though. The two men shook hands and Mr. Reynolds took us out to where the cows were grazing. He had a four-wheeler with two seats in the back and drove us quickly out to the top of the hill where the cows were.
“I’ve already let them into the field, I hope that works alright.”
“Yes, that will be great.”
“Just make sure the gate is closed when you head back to town. Have fun.”
Mr. Reynolds took his four-wheeler back toward his house and left us at the top of the hill with about a hundred cows grazing all around us. I started taking pictures immediately.
When I looked over at Chris, he seemed to be in protection mode and was eyeing a large cow that was walking slowly in our direction. He looked like he was ready to take the cow down if he needed to.
“You don’t have to be afraid of them, they won’t hurt us,” I said with a smile.
“I’m not afraid,” he said as he tried to play off his uncomfortable stance.
I could tell he was at least uncomfortable with the number of cows around us. He didn’t look like the kind of guy who spent a lot of time on a farm, especially this close to the animals of the farm. A young calf made her way toward us and I got down on my knees to take some pictures. She kept coming toward us with an interest that was very charming. Chris grabbed some grass and held it out in his hand.
I snapped some pictures of the two of them. Chris and his tall, muscular frame feeding the small baby calf, with the sun setting right behind them; it was perfect. I hoped that the lighting didn’t wash out Chris and the calf when I tried to develop the pictures.
“That was adorable,” Chris said as he looked at me.
I was concerned he was going to get mad at me for taking his picture again. I really hoped he didn’t force me to delete the photo, it was so perfect. He looked at me and then at the camera. I felt him trying to decide if it was alright that I took his picture. He seemed to be going through some sort of internal struggle. But he was silent and he did not force me to delete the picture.
“Yes, that was very adorable. Should we head back to town?”
I got up off the ground and Chris leaned over and wiped the grass off of my knees. He grabbed me close and kissed me. The spontaneous gesture was just another reason I was starting to fall for this guy. He grabbed my hand and held it in his as he led the way back into town. His grip seemed more comfortable this time and he was much more relaxed. He was getting a hold of this whole boyfriend thing.
Wait, boyfriend…is that what he was? I didn’t know the answer and wasn’t about to ask him. I felt like we were a couple now, but I wasn’t really sure. Maybe my perception of things was different than his. It wasn’t the right time to talk about things; we had had enough deep conversations for today.
We continued into town and turned down the street toward my house. When we got close enough, I could see that the front door was open. I turned and looked at Chris, who instantly went into his protector mode. He brought us down the alley behind the house to see if there were any cars or anything. Then he opened the garage and did a quick look through my dark room.
“Get in your dark room and lock the door. You understand me?”
I shook my head yes and quickly went into the room.
Chris had his gun drawn and took the sling off his hurt arm. He seemed to be able to move it slightly, but I could only imagine how much pain he was in.
“Chris,” I said as my eyes started to well up with tears.
“I’ll be fine. Lock the door. I’ll be right back.”
My brain raced with thoughts of what was going on. Why would someone try to break into my house? I could hardly breathe because of how scared I was. I tried over and over to take a deep breath and nothing seemed to help.
Chapter 37
Chris was gone for what seemed like forever. I sat at a table in the corner of my dark room in the pitch black. I didn’t hear any shooting and for that I was very grateful. I closed my eyes and tried to listen as hard as I could. I didn’t know what else I was listening for, as long as there weren't gunshots I was pretty happy.
I heard a noise outside the garage and the door opened. I tucked myself even deeper into the corner of the room. My heart pounded with excitement and I was so afraid someone was coming for me.
“Katelyn, it’s me,” Chris said.
Oh what a relief. I jumped up and opened the door. Chris looked perfectly fine so I let out a sigh.
“What happened? Did I just leave the door open or something?”
“No, I’m afraid not. Let’s go get some of your things and then you are going to need to stay somewhere else while I figure out what is going on.”
We walked back up to the house and I could tell that the front door had been kicked in. It seemed odd that they would kick in the front door considering the back door was much older and would have been easier to get through. But I figured whomever it was who had kicked in the door didn’t really care which door was easier. My house looked like it had been torn apart. Furniture was moved, carpets lifted up; someone was certainly looking for something.
“Who are they? What were they looking for?”
“I thought there had been three men the other day when I got shot, but I couldn’t tell for sure because things happened so quickly. One of them must have gotten away and now he knows I’ve been staying with you.”
“What does he want?”
“The guns, but he can’t have them. Or he wants more money. The guns are already in Chicago and we aren’t paying them any more money. I’m going to have to go back to Chicago and see if I can figure out what is going on.”
I could feel the color draining out of my face. I couldn’t be left alone. These people were trying to find guns and would obviously kill if they didn’t get what they wanted. My heart raced and I could feel the room getting wobbly.
“Um, I don’t feel good,” I said just before my knees gave out and I started to fall. Chris, of course, caught me and set me down gently in one of the chairs. He closed the front door the best he could and brought me a glass of water.
“What do you need from here? Absolute minimum,” he said as he prepared to go up the stairs.
“Clothes and my mom’s jewelry box.”
Chris was gone for only about three minutes before he returned with a bag full of my things. He grabbed me by the arm and took me out to my car. He already had the keys in his hand and we were driving down the street before I even knew what was going on.