Rhys’s one drink turned into three. As others gathered around eager to fawn over him, Fate again waved her hand when Rhys would have left prematurely, implanting a thought for one of them to order another round of drinks.
Rhys started to sit back down in his chair when he felt a hand on his shoulder. Turning to look overit, however, he saw no one nearby while the others looked on questioningly at his abrupt movement.
Again, a sense of overwhelming dread filled his body. Reaching into his pocket, he removed his wallet and then threw down several large bills.
“I have to go,” he said, standing up.
“Come on, Rhys. Call Deena and tell her you’ll be late. Stay for one more drink,” Daniel tried to delay his boss.
Rhys did not answeras he hurried out of the bar.
Outside, the cool air struck, making him pause midstride. A sense of urgency overcame his hesitation, though. Seeing a couple about to enter a cab, he rushed forward, insinuating himself forcefully into the cab before they could. He quickly handed the cab driver a large bill and his address, slamming the door shut on the angry couple. He would catch a ride in the morning with Daniel; the few minutes he saved taking the cab would be worth the hassle.
The drive took fifteenlong minutes, which Rhys counted while staring at his watch. Anger at himself for his actions left him silent when the driver tried to chat. His gut instinct told him something was desperately wrong.
When the driver pulled in front of his house, Rhys jumped out without another word. Walking to his door and pulling out his keys with shaking fingers, his stomach plunged when he found the door ajar. Deena was always very careful to lock the doors and engage the security system. The mansion was secluded, and with Rhys’s wealth and enemies, they took every precaution. Deena would never willingly leave the door opened.
“Deena?”
The silence struck Rhys instantly. At this time of night, he should have heard the boys’ voices as they took their baths as well as Deena’s soft laughter while she delighted in their antics. All of that was missing, and the silence was making every muscle in his body taut.
Rhys walked toward the kitchen hoping to find Deena, praying she was drinking herfavorite brewed tea as she waited patiently for him. However, his sharp mind noticed the lack of aromas from dinner cooking that were usually in the air when he arrived home. The kitchen was empty, but hearing a sound from the family room brought a brief sense of relief, making him shake. The boys were probably watching a movie, waiting for Daddy to read them their favorite bedtime story.
Opening the door, Rhys would never forget the sight that met his eyes. Deena lay on the floor covered in blood, her blank stare leaving him no doubt she was dead.
Moving forward, he tripped over something and glanced downward, finding the body of his youngest child. A yell of pure anguish escaped him unknowingly at the same time he bent down, gathering the slight body into his arms, frantically searching for a pulse that was no longer there.
“Kyle! Please, stay with me. Please, baby…” Rhys sat on the floor, rocking his son as he had when he was an infant.
“Michael?” Primitive cries passed through Rhys’s lips as he made himself lay his son gently on the blood soaked carpet, frantically searching for his oldest son.
Hefound him lying behind the couch, his tiny body that had gripped Rhys in a fierce hug just that morning lay as lifeless as his brother’s. Rhys gently pulled him into his arms, cradling him toward his chest. Burying his face in his soft hair, Rhys cried, begging God to bring him back.
Sudden, harsh laughter had Rhys looking for the source. From behind the door Rhys had flung open on his entrance, Thomas Shelton stepped forward. In his hand, he held the weapon that had destroyed Rhys’s family.
“You crazy bastard!” Rhys couldn’t understand how he had missed all the warning signs. Shelton had sat too quiet and played too accepting of his own family’s accident.
“You saw to it that murdererwho killed my family was released.” Anguish Rhys could now unfortunately understand stared back at him from insane eyes.
“The jury found him innocent.” Pain had turned his voice guttural. ”If you wanted revenge, you could have killed me, not innocent babies.”
“You had the evidence thrown out. Not only that, but you paid off two jurors,” Shelton spat out in fury.
“I didn’t,” Rhys cried. He had used case law and every tactic available, but he had never crossed the line.
“I have the proof. Your money even paid for the deputy to lose evidence forms so that the chain of evidence could be broken. How proud were you when that evidence was thrown out? Did you even care when you decided to accept Dawson’s case that he’d killed my pregnant wife? It was a little girl.” A sob shook the small man’s frame before he regained some semblance of composure. Shelton continued on with a choked voice, “He was drunk two times over the legal limit. You didn’t give a fuck that my life was destroyed when they were killed.”
“You killed innocent children!” Rhys yelled at the man driven for revenge.
“My little girl was just as innocent. Do you think my family didn’t mean as much to me just because we’re poor? That we didn’t attend the same fancy parties? Have the big house in an exclusive neighborhood? I bet if I’d had Dawson’s connections, my family’s murderer wouldn’t have walked away free.” Raising the gun, he pointed the barrel at Rhys.
Placing Michael gently on the floor, he moved to Deena’s side where he reached down, clasping her cold hand in his. Her wedding band glinted, making a mockery of the fact he had failed to protect her when she had needed him most.
“Go ahead and kill me.”
Shelton grinned at him. “I have no intention of killing you. I wouldn’t make it that easy, you dumb bastard. I want you to feel what I’ve felt this last year. What it’s like to have to bury a child that you loved, how painful it is to bury a wife that you adored, who carried a child that never saw the light of day. What it’s like to go home to an empty home. I hope you feel my pain for the rest of your long fucking life and know that you could have prevented it all.”
Rhys heard sirens coming closer to his house.“Kill me!”