Same shit different day. The guys got up, not matter how stiff they were, and went to train with Morbus. They weren’t timed on the course. They were just running for a while. The days consisted of getting up before dawn and running the course, training with Morbus and paintball guns- so that they didn’t hurt each other- and target practice. The first thing Jake did when he got his paintball rifle was shoot his younger brother James in the ass. James jumped. “OUCH!” he said. “WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR?”
“That’s what you get for bitching all the time. Keep bitching nonstop and I’ll keep popping you in the ass everyday with a paintball”, Jake said simply.
“Would you have done the same thing if I had given you a rifle and live rounds?” Morbus asked him with a grin.
“I can’t say that I wouldn’t have. There’s the truth for you, Morbus. I can’t say that I wouldn’t have popped him in the ass with a live round.”
“Not that I can’t appreciate how you feel, Jake, but try to keep the annoyance with your brothers in check for me. Ok? You boys need to be able to work as a team. Friendly fire in the field is a bad thing.”
Jake nodded. “I understand. I’ll do what I can to keep my irritation with my brothers under control.”
“Good. Now, let’s get down to brass taxes.” And Morbus started the lesson for the day.
Morbus started working with James, Logan, and Jeremiah on making explosives. The boys all marveled at the toys that Morbus had accrued over the years. C4, TNT; Morbus had been collecting things to build his own bombs for years. Now, the boys all got to learn how from an expert.
The evenings consisted of the women massaging sore muscles and the boys soaking in alternating ice tubs and hot tubs. This lasted for about a week for those that were in the best shape; two for those that weren’t in the shape that they should have been for the endeavor that they had undertaken. Skyler was sure to dog each of the boys because he was the first to recover from the training as well as doing better.
About two weeks into the training, Morbus gave the boys real rifles with real ammo and told them to meet him at a specific location in camouflage at midnight. That night, David and Brie didn’t have grandkids out and they went to bed early so that they could be up with enough time to test the equipment that they boys were going to uses for the night op that Morbus was making them run. Morbus had been working to turn them into a fine tuned, well oiled machine. The night op was to see how well he’d succeeded. The op was a success.
The following week, while the boys were out doing what they do, David came riding up on one of the four wheelers. “Morbus, I hate to interrupt, but I need Skyler, Jeremiah, and Jacob back at the house. Jona’s in labor.”
“I get why Skyler and Jeremiah, but why Jake?”
“Because I’m a doctor and I’ve been asked my not only the couple but the midwife as well to be on standby in case something goes wrong”, Jake answered for his father as he broke down his rifle and put it back in its case.
Morbus nodded. “Gotcha. Well, I’m keeping everyone else out here until the evening. You three get out of here. Jeremiah, go be with your wife while she gives you another little one.”
“Thanks Morbus”, Jeremiah said as he shut his rifle case. “I’m jumping on the back of Dad’s ride. Bring the four wheeler I brought out here this morning back up for me please, someone?” He jumped on the back of his father’s four wheeler as Morbus said he’d bring it back. The key was still in the ignition.
David turned the four wheeler around and headed back for the house at top speed as Skyler and Jake followed close behind him. Jeremiah ran straight to his wife’s side while the proud granddads sat in the living room and made sure that Jona’s wishes were respected. As with Matthew, Jona only wanted her husband, her mother, her mother in law, and the midwife in the room.
As the boys came in for the evening, the first cry of life sounded through the house. Moments later, Jeremiah came out of the room with a smile. “We have a little girl. Rina Brielle Draiman. 6lbs. 11 oz, 22 inches long. Skyler, happy birthday. You have your birthday grandbaby. Oh, Dad. We named her after Mom.”
“I noticed”, David said with a laugh. “How does your mother feel about that?”
“Flattered. She’s helping the midwife clean the baby now. After that, I think she’s going to come out and make you take her back to the cottage for dinner. She thinks her sugar is trying to teeter totter on that edge of being low.”
David nodded. “Alrighty then. I’ll take her out to the cottage and make us some dinner. I’ll hold little Rina for the first time later.”
“Well, if you guys are in when they allow people back, you can go first. Turnabout is fair play. You let me hold Matthew first.”
David smiled. “Thanks brother, I appreciate that.”
Brie came out and looked at her husband. “David, baby, I really need to eat something.”
“Ok, let’s head out to the cottage and get something to eat. I’ll cook. Then, we can come in and I can hold Miss Rina.” He stood. “What do you want?”
“I started a crock pot meal this morning. All we have to do is go out and eat it.”
“I love how you think ahead.”
“If I didn’t stay on my toes, love, who would keep you on yours?” Once she was to the bottom of the stairs she took his hand.
“No one. Now, let’s go eat. I’m starving.”
“You’re starving? Please. You eat like a hippo. I’m surprised you haven’t put on weight.”
“What can I say? I have a great metabolism.” He chuckled.
---------------
Jordan was excited about the birth of her new niece. Little Rina was beautiful. She was excited to get to know her new niece. “Hey, ‘Miah, is there anything you need from the store? I’d be happy to head into town to get it.”
“Not at the moment, Jordan but if you and Davina want to go to town to get her a gift or something, that’s totally up to you.”
“I’ll go talk to Davina about that.” Davina had been outside playing with the kids to let them run off some energy. “Davi, baby, I’m running into town. Is there anything you need?”
Davina wasn’t thinking about what Jordan had just said. “Not off the top, baby. I think Jazz needs new shoes though.”
“Does Levi need anything?” Jordan couldn’t help but smile. She was going to get away.
“I need new notebooks for our lessons. Math and English particularly”, Levi said.
“No problem, son!” Jordan said with a smile. She pulled her keys out of her pocket and headed out of the fence toward where her Range Rover was parked in front of the house. She climbed in the driver’s seat and put her baby in gear after sitting there and listening to it purr for a moment. She pulled out of the driveway and headed for town with a smile on her face. Finally, she was away from the house and away from all of the shit that was going on. She was going to get a little time to herself. No Mom and Dad breathing down her neck to listen to orders, no Jake jumping her ass… just her and the mall. She was going to show everyone that there wasn’t anything wrong with going out on her own. She wasn’t in any danger anymore.
Or… so she thought. What she didn’t know was that there was someone watching her drive away. Someone who was going to tail her. “I have the Draiman girl in my sights, Mr. Grissom.”
“Good news, Walters. Tail her, capture her and bring her to the warehouse in Denver. I wonder how long it will take her family to realize that she’s missing.” By the end, Grissom was musing.
“I’m sure I don’t know, sir, but we’re going to find out.”
“That we will. And after I’ve beaten her up a little bit, I’m going to give her Daddy a call from her phone. We’ll see if David Draiman will come rescue his daughter or if he’ll leave her to her fate- the same fate that he should have met 35 years before. She will die.”
----------------
As she walked through the mall, she smiled. She’d been stopped a couple times and asked to sign autographs by fans. They were respectful and kind. No one had been rude. She loved it.
She stopped buy Baby Gap to pick up a new outfit for her new niece. A cute little dress and cute shoes were just what little Rina needed.
But, she had a strange feeling. A feeling that she was being watched. There was a tap on her shoulder. “I’m so sorry to interrupt your shopping, but I’ve really got to know. You look so much like Jordan Draiman of Reckless Disregard. The only reason I know this is because my daughter is a huge fan. Is there any relation?” a man asked.
She smiled sweetly. “I am Jordan Draiman.”
“Really?” he said, then she heard the hammer of a pistol click. “Come with me quietly and you won’t get hurt. Fight me and you will get very hurt, Ms. Draiman.”
She nodded carefully. “Put that away and I’ll go wherever you want me to.” She wasn’t going to go quietly, that was for sure. As they walked out of the store side by side, she elbowed him in the gut and kneed him in the nose, then took off running. If she could just get to her Range Rover, she’d be ok. Then, she felt something hit her in the back of the head. After that the world went black.
The man picked the unconscious woman up off of the ground and carried her out to the mall. Once he was out to his Jeep, laid her in the back seat and tied her hands and feet together. He put Duct Tape over her mouth so that when she came around, she couldn’t be heard screaming. Finally, he turned off her cell phone. He knew that GPS chips were only active when the phone was on.
Finally, he was ready to drive away. He called his boss. “I have the package and I’m on my way to the rendezvous point.”
“Good work, Walters. Now I can make that little bitch pay for everything she’s ever said, as well as everything her father ever said. The Draiman family will finally feel my wrath. What’s your ETA, Mr. Walters?”
“I’m just leaving the mall where I followed her to. It should take me about an hour to reach Denver proper.”
“We’re not in Denver Proper.”
“Forty- five to reach the Warehouse District.”
“Try to make it less, Mr. Walters. I’ve been waiting for years to get my hands on that little bitch. I don’t want to wait any longer.”
“I’ll try not to keep you waiting, sir.”
“Good man. I’ll see you and the Draiman bitch soon.”
---------------
David and Brie came back to the house right as Jeremiah was bringing Rina out for everyone to see. “Give me that baby”, he said.
“No. I’ve giving her to Mom”, Jeremiah responded. “Mom called her dibs before she left bedroom Jake had set up as a delivery room.”
Brie looked at her husband and stuck out her tongue. “HA! I got my call in early and our son loves his Mama just a little more than his Daddy.” Brie took a seat on the couch and held her arms out for the baby. “You can have her in a little bit though, David . Promise.”
David laughed and sat down next to his wife. “I think when we go to town next, I’m going to get her a rattle to slobber all over”, he said with a grin.
“Why?”
“Because I’m Grampa David and I can. And I think it will be a clown.”
“Why?” Skyler asked.
“Because I hate them and it will be funny to see one covered in slobber. Hell, I used to get the dogs clown chew toys.”
“What do you have against clowns, Dad?” Jake asked with a laugh.
“What the fuck are they always smiling about?!” David nearly shouted.
Rina started to cry. “David!” Brie snapped softly. “You startled the baby. Now you get to put her back to sleep and hand her right back.” She handed him the new baby.
He took her and started rocking her. “Sorry little miss. Grampa just really doesn’t like clowns. They’re creepy fuckers.” He changed the subject. “So, what does Morbus have planned for tomorrow?”
“He says he’s taking us to the ROPES course tomorrow”, Marc said.
“That obstacle course was a bitch. I’ll admit that. But the ROPES course sounds easy. I am a little worried though”, Skyler said.
“What are you worried about?” Brie asked with a smiled.
“I’m worried that these pussies won’t be able to keep up. I’ve blowing past them in everything. I think my only competition is Jake and ‘Miah.”
“You had better watch your back, Skyler”, Marc said with a grin. “I’m coming for that speed record.”
“Yeah, right”, James laughed. “You’ll have to get through me first.”
“Yeah right.”
“I used to run track and play football.”
“And yet my 54 year old father in law and our diabetic brother have breezed past you, Mr. Quarterback”, Jeremiah said. “Hell, I used to do the same shit with a drum strapped to my chest. What’s your excuse?”
“You’re supposed to have my back, Jeremiah. You are my twin.”
“No, I’m not supposed to have your back. You’re supposed to be grown by now. Why don’t you grow a set already, yeah?”
“Has anyone seen Jordan?” Davina asked coming down the stairs.
“What do you mean?” Brie asked.
“I haven’t seen her since just after Rina was born. She came outside and asked if the kids and I needed anything. She hasn’t been seen since.”
“Didn’t she take someone with her?” David asked.
“I don’t know. I was playing with the kids.”
Brie pulled her phone from her pocket and called Jordan’s number. “Voicemail. She must have her phone turned off. I know she’s been itching for some privacy.”
David groaned. “If she’s not back by morning we’ll have cause to be concerned, I suppose. We’ll call the police then. If anything changes, let us know.”
Davina nodded. “You got it, Dad. I’ve got to get the kids ready for bed now.”
“We’ll take Levi and Jazz tonight. I think they have yet to stay with Gramma and Grampa yet.”
Davina nodded. “Then I get them ready for bed and ready to go out to the cottage.” Then she disappeared up the stairs again.
David handed the baby to Skyler. “I know I was supposed to hand the baby back to Brie, but I think we need to head out to the cottage for the night.”
Brie nodded in agreement. “I’ll hold my namesake some more tomorrow. Enjoy your birthday baby, Skyler.”
“Planned on it”, Skyler said with a smile. “I’ll see you all in the morning.”
When Levi and Jasmine came down the stairs, David and Brie took them out to the cottage for the night. One they were asleep, Brie and David settled into their room for the night. They were both worried. Neither had to say it, it hung thick in the air between them. By the following night, they would know where Jordan was one way or another.
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