BARE HUNTER

TED

My sides were cramping. I bent over to catch my breath and almost passed out. My cardiologist, Dr. Carpenter, didn’t tell me I couldn’t run a six-mile marathon. Then, again, I didn’t ask.

Without my phone, I had no idea what time it was. All I knew was that it was still daylight when we took off, and now it’s pitch dark. That gave the big guy almost two hours to attack my ex-wife and Timmy, then leave. As I rounded the corner to Ellenville’s main street, I had a bad feeling I was too late to help.

My chickens had come home to roost and innocent people were paying my Karma due bill. Please, God, let Doug the Builder, Sandy's boyfriend, be there. That was my best and only hope. It took another fifteen minutes of running flat out to the house where Timmy and Sandy lived.

My heart sank when I saw no motorcycle or big work truck in the driveway. Oh, God. I almost didn’t want to knock on the door, fearing what I might find inside.

Tonight was so different from when Sandy and I first saw this house in our home-hunting phase. Back then, it seemed like every house was either too big, too expensive, or too something. This house, though. It was perfect. A neat, little two-story, with a bath and a half, two bedrooms, and an apple tree in the front yard. Perfect for a couple just starting a family.

We both fell in love with it and had to ask Sandy’s parents to co-sign for us. I had begun working at Willco, making enough for the mortgage payment, but it was my first real permanent job since leaving the military. There was so much promise in this little structure when we moved in. This was where Timmy was manufactured; where we brought him home, and where he took his first precarious steps.

The only promise tonight was horror hidden behind the front door. I sat on the porch steps catching my breath before daring to knock.

The wooden door flew open, and the screen door slammed back against the porch siding, almost knocking me off the porch.

“Freeze, motherfucker! What do you want?”

“It’s, it’s me. Ted. Doug?”

“Jesus, Ted. I heard someone running down the street and hoped they’d pass by.”

“Thank God you’re here. Thank God.”

“Uh, okay. I guess that’s good. Why?”

“I was worried about Timmy and Sandy.”

“Oh, no. She told me about your dreams. Another bad one tonight?”

“Yeah. Real bad. I was hoping, all the way over, that you’d be here, then when I didn’t see your scooter or your truck I panicked.”

“One thing you never have to worry about is when I’m here with Sandy and Timster. I carry and no one is going to touch either of them.”

“Sandy told me you proposed. Go for it, man. She deserves someone who can treat her right. I did my best, but we all know I failed miserably.”

“Dude, my brother was in the Army, and he came back from Afghanistan as fucked up as anyone could be. The VA in Cortland did what they could, but it wasn’t enough. He ended up eating a bullet two years ago.”

“Man, I’m sorry to hear that.”

“Well, if you ever wonder whether I get it or not, I do.”

“Thanks. That means a lot.”

“Where’s your car?” he asked.

“I ran out of the house without my keys and kept running.”

“Well, let me get Sandy’s keys and I’ll give you a lift home. You look like hell, man. Didn’t you just have a heart attack?”

“Yeah. I keep forgetting.”

He shook his head and went in to retrieve the keys. “Put my number in your cell. Next time you get a nightmare about Sandy and Timmy, text me and I’ll let you know if they’re okay.”

“Deal. Thank you, Doug.”

When he dropped me off at home, I had everything I could do not to call Sharon and tell her what had happened tonight. Hearing her voice would be soothing medicine for my battered soul. But, until the dark-haired guy was located and put away, along with General Howard, I didn’t want to put her in danger.

I checked the clock on my microwave; 2:45. Maybe I’d let Sharon sleep without interruption tonight. I took the proper amount of meds, and filled a glass with tap water to wash them down, not taking a chance drinking anything from my fridge.

I stripped off everything and lay back in bed, waiting for the meds to put me out and stop the roaring in my mind.