The Warehouse
1908 Words
CHAPTER 20
The warehouse was exactly what you'd expect from a movie.
Abandoned. Dark. Surrounded by empty lots and broken-down buildings.
The kind of place where bad things happened.
I parked two blocks away. Police were somewhere behind us. Waiting.
"We go in together," I said. "We find Liam. We get out."
"And Isabella?"
"We deal with her."
Damien's jaw was tight. "If she's hurt him..."
"Don't. Don't think about that. Focus on getting him back."
We got out of the car.
The warehouse loomed ahead of us.
"There are probably only two entrances," Damien said. "Front and back. She'll expect us at the front."
"So we split up?"
"No. We stay together. I'm not losing you too."
We walked to the front entrance. A massive sliding door, slightly open.
Inside was dark. Silent.
Too silent.
"Liam?" I called out.
My voice echoed.
Nothing.
"LIAM!"
"Mommy!"
His voice. Distant. Scared.
But alive.
"We're coming, baby!" I yelled.
We moved deeper into the warehouse. Using our phone flashlights.
Old equipment. Broken pallets. Shadows everywhere.
"Well, well. The happy couple."
Isabella stepped out from behind a stack of crates.
She looked insane. Hair messy. Eyes wild. Mascara running.
"Where is he?" Damien demanded.
"Safe. For now." She smiled. "Did you follow my instructions? Come alone?"
"We're here. Where's Liam?"
"Not yet. First, we talk."
"We're not talking. Give us our son. Now."
"Or what? You'll call the police? Oh wait, I said no police. But you brought them anyway, didn't you?" Isabella pulled out her phone. Showed us a live video feed.
Liam. Tied to a chair. In a small room. Crying.
My heart shattered.
"You monster..."
"Monster? ME?" Isabella laughed. "I'm the monster? What about you, Sophia? You stole my life. My man. Everything that was supposed to be mine!"
"You never had him..."
"I DID! Damien loved me! Until you came along with your poor-girl act and your contract marriage and your bastard child..."
"Don't call him that." Damien's voice was deadly calm. "Don't ever call my son that."
"Your son. Right. The son you didn't even know existed for four years. Because she kept him from you. She's the real villain here."
"Isabella, this is over. Give us Liam. Turn yourself in. This doesn't have to get worse."
"Worse? It can't get worse! I lost everything because of her!" Isabella pulled out a g*n.
My blood turned to ice.
"Isabella, put the g*n down..."
"NO! You're going to listen to me! For once, you're going to hear what I have to say!"
"Okay. Okay, we're listening." Damien held up his hands. "Just put the g*n down."
"You ruined my life, Damien. When you divorced her, when you came back to me, I thought I'd finally won. But then you found out about my plan. You threw me away. Like I was nothing."
"You were using me..."
"So what?! You used her!" Isabella pointed the g*n at me. "You married her for a business deal! You treated her like garbage for three years! But somehow, you're the hero now? And I'm the villain?"
"You kidn*pped a child," I said. "That makes you the villain."
"I wanted you to feel what I felt! To lose everything! To know what it's like when the person you love chooses someone else!"
"Damien never loved you," I said quietly.
"YES HE DID!"
"No. He loved the idea of you. But he never actually knew you. Because if he had, he would have seen what you really are."
Isabella's hand shook. The g*n wavered.
"And what am I?"
"Broken. Lonely. So desperate for love that you'd destroy everyone around you to get it."
"Shut up..."
"You could have had a real life, Isabella. Real relationships. But instead, you chose this. Schemes and lies and now k********g a four-year-old child."
"I LOVED HIM!"
"No, you didn't. You loved his money. His status. You never loved Damien." I stepped forward. "But I do. I love him. And he loves me. And you can't stand it."
Isabella's eyes filled with tears. "He was supposed to be mine."
"But he's not. He never was. And you need to let go."
"I can't..."
"You have to. Because this ends now. One way or another."
Isabella looked at the g*n. Then at us. Then at the phone showing Liam crying.
"I just wanted to be loved," she whispered.
"Then get help. Real help. Turn yourself in. Let Liam go. It's not too late to do the right thing."
For a moment, I thought she might.
Then her expression hardened.
"You're right. This does end now."
She turned the g*n toward me.
"SOPHIA!"
Damien lunged.
A gunshot rang out.
Everything happened in slow motion.
Damien tackled Isabella. The g*n flew across the concrete floor.
Police swarmed in. "DROP THE WEAPON! HANDS UP!"
But I wasn't watching them.
I was running. Toward the small room in the back. Where Liam was.
The door was locked.
"LIAM!"
"MOMMY!"
I kicked the door. Once. Twice. It burst open.
And there he was.
My baby. Tied to a chair. Face red from crying. But alive. Unharmed.
"Mommy!"
I ran to him. Untied him. Pulled him into my arms.
"I've got you, baby. I've got you. You're safe now."
He sobbed into my shoulder. "I was scared. I was so scared."
"I know. I know, baby. But you're safe now. Daddy and I are here."
Damien appeared in the doorway. Saw us. His face crumpled.
He fell to his knees beside us. Wrapped his arms around both of us.
"Thank god. Thank god." He was crying. Actually crying. "I thought, I thought..."We're okay," I said. "We're all okay."
Liam pulled back. Looked at Damien. "Daddy, I was brave. Like you said. I was brave."
"You were so brave, buddy. So, so brave." Damien kissed his head. Over and over. "I'm so proud of you."
"Can we go home now?"
"Yeah, buddy. We can go home."
Outside the warehouse
Paramedics checked Liam. He was fine. Dehydrated and scared, but physically unharmed.
Isabella was in handcuffs. Being loaded into a police car.
She looked at me as they passed.
"I'm sorry," she said quietly.
I didn't respond.
What was there to say?
She'd kidn*pped my son. Threatened our lives. Destroyed any sympathy I might have had.
"She's going away for a long time," Detective Morris said. "k********g. Assault with a deadly weapon. She's looking at twenty years minimum."
"Good," Damien said coldly.
We drove home. Liam between us. Holding both our hands.
"Can I sleep with you tonight?" he asked.
"You can sleep with us every night this week," I said.
"Every night forever?"
"We'll negotiate."
He smiled. Small. Fragile. But real.
Home – Midnight
Liam finally fell asleep. In our bed. Between us.
Damien and I lay on either side of him. Not sleeping. Just watching him breathe.
"I almost lost you both today," Damien whispered.
"But you didn't."
"She had a g*n, Sophia. She was going to shoot you..."
"But she didn't. We're here. We're safe. That's what matters."
"I keep thinking about what could have happened..."
"Don't. Don't t*****e yourself with what-ifs."
He reached across Liam. Took my hand.
"I love you," he said. "More than anything. More than life itself."
"I love you too."
"Marry me."
"You already asked me to marry you."
"Marry me tomorrow. Screw December. Screw the wedding planner. Let's go to city hall and get married tomorrow."
"Damien..."
"I almost lost you today. Both of you. I'm not waiting another four months. I'm not waiting another four days. I want you as my wife. Legally. Officially. Tomorrow."
I looked at him over our sleeping son.
"Okay," I said.
"Okay?"
"Okay. Let's get married tomorrow."
His smile was brilliant even in the dark.
"Yeah?"
"Yeah. City hall. Just us and Liam and Maya. That's all we need."
"That's all we need," he agreed.
The next day – Seattle City Hall
We stood in front of the justice of the peace.
Damien in a suit. Me in a simple white dress. Liam in his best clothes, holding the rings.
Maya crying in the corner.
"Do you, Damien Alexander Cross, take Sophia Maria Martinez to be your lawfully wedded wife?"
"I do. I absolutely do."
"Do you, Sophia Maria Martinez, take Damien Alexander Cross to be your lawfully wedded husband?"
I looked at Damien. At the man who'd broken my heart and then spent two years putting it back together.
At the father of my child. My partner. My home.
"I do."
"Then by the power vested in me by the State of Washington, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss your bride."
Damien pulled me close. Kissed me.
Not like our first wedding. That had been cold. Perfunctory. A business transaction.
This kiss was different.
This kiss was real.
"We did it," he whispered against my lips. "We're really married."
"We were always really married. Just took us six years to figure it out."
"Are you Mommy and Daddy married now?" Liam asked.
"Yes, baby. We're married."
"Forever?"
"Forever."
"Good. Can we get ice cream to celebrate?"
Damien laughed. "Absolutely. Ice cream for everyone."
That night
Liam was asleep in his room. Finally comfortable in his own bed again.
Damien and I lay in ours. His arms around me. My head on his chest.
"Mrs. Cross," he said.
"I kept my name."
"Mrs. Martinez-Cross."
"Better."
"How do you feel?"
"Married. Safe. Happy. Terrified."
"Terrified?"
"That I'll wake up and this will all be a dream."
"It's not a dream." He tightened his arms around me. "This is real. We're real. And we're never letting go again."
"Promise?"
"Promise. You're stuck with me now."
"Good. Because you're stuck with me too."
We lay in comfortable silence.
"Sophia?"
"Hmm?"
"Thank you."
"For what?"
"For not giving up on me. For giving me a second chance. For letting me be Liam's father. For loving me even when I didn't deserve it."
"You deserve it now."
"Do I?"
"Yes. You've earned it. Every single day for the past six months, you've shown up. You've fought for us. You've changed."
"Because of you. You made me want to be better."
"No. You made yourself better. I just gave you a reason."
He kissed the top of my head.
"I'm going to spend the rest of my life making you happy."
"You already do."
"Then I'm going to make you happier."
"That's a tall order."
"Good thing I'm up for the challenge."
I smiled against his chest.
This was it.
This was what I'd always wanted.
A real marriage. A real family. A real partnership.
Not perfect. Never perfect.
But real.
And that was more than enough.
Six months later – Epilogue preview
"Mommy, my tummy hurts."
I looked up from my laptop. Then down at my own stomach.
Where a small bump was just starting to show.
"Mine too, baby. Mine too."
Damien walked in. Saw my hand on my stomach. Smiled.
"Morning sickness?"
"All day sickness."
"Worth it?"
I thought about it. About Liam playing in the backyard. About the house we'd built. About the life we'd created.
About the tiny new life growing inside me.
"Yeah," I said. "Totally worth it."
He kissed me. "I love you, Mrs. Martinez-Cross."
"I love you too, Mr. Cross."
And somewhere in New York, in a prison cell, Isabella Chen sat alone.
Thinking about what she'd lost.
While we built everything she'd tried to destroy.
- Writer
