Available Darkness Season 1

teeth.”
    Abigail shook her head, “ Noooo , he’s a nice bear,” she said, then leaned up and kissed John on the cheek, “Thank you.”
    Abigail soon fell asleep on John’s shoulder, hugging her teddy bear. John smiled to himself. This was the closest he’d been to happiness, or family, in more than a decade.

    * * * *

CHAPTER 8 — John and Caleb

    John

    Midnight…

    Rain beat on the warehouse roof as Tiny and his men went over the plans a final time. John had never seen so many gangsters, all armed to the teeth. While a few of the guys were like Tiny, laid back once you fell into a back and forth, most maintained an edge. Guys who woke up angry and went to bed the same. The kind of guys you’d want on your side in a war.
    Larry hung up with his connection; the info was in the wild. Best estimate gave Jacob’s team an hour before they arrived at the warehouse.
    “Okay, we’re ready,” Larry said. He tossed the last of the duffel bags into the back of the black Camry and closed the door.
    “You take care of her,” John said, meeting Larry’s eyes.
    “You can count on me,” Larry said. Sensing what John was thinking, Larry’s voice went serious. “I swear, I won’t let you down again, John.”
    “I know,” John said. He hugged Larry and patted him on the back. “Remember, anything happens, call me immediately.”
    Larry had given John a burner phone for just such an occasion.
    John turned to Abigail, who stood in front of the open trunk, about to climb in. While Larry wasn’t on any wanted posters, Abigail’s face was too well known to risk the front or back seat, tinted windows or not.
    “You be careful,” he said, eyes red, breath steady, trying not to cry.
    “You too,” she said, eyes pink, cheeks swollen.
    “And you take care of her, too,” John said patting Teddy on the head.
    Abigail laughed and hugged her teddy bear, then John.
    “I love you,” she said as her arms circled around him.
    Those words loosened the tears he’d been holding.
    “I love you too, Abigail.”
    John didn’t ever want to let Abigail go. Tears ran down his cheeks. He closed his eyes, wanting to hold this moment forever, knowing he couldn’t.

    **

    Caleb

    Caleb woke to a pounding on his bedroom door, his name being repeated with a machine gun rhythm outside. He glanced at the clock, 12:15 a.m. He’d fallen asleep in his clothes.
    Who the hell?
    More pounding.
    “Caleb, it’s Mike Mathews, we’ve gotta get going.”
    Mike? What the hell is Omega doing here?
    “Hold on,” Caleb said, finding and pocketing his bottle of pills and grabbing his gun on the way to the door. He unfastened the latch and saw Mike alone. No agents, a good sign.
    “Hey, Mike, what’s going on?”
    “We’ve got a lead on John Sullivan and the girl. They’re holed up at a warehouse about 20 minutes from here. I’ll debrief you on the ride, but you’re working with us now.”
    “What about my team? They’ve been running this case,” Caleb said, reaching for his department-issued cell phone.
    “No, they’re off it, it’s all Omega from here on. Welcome to the team.”

    * * * *

CHAPTER 9 — Abigail

    12:20 a.m.

    Abigail rested on a pillow in the trunk, knees to chest, hugging Teddy. The constant hum of the road mixed with the muffled talk radio in the car’s cabin and rain hitting the trunk, but it did little to calm her claustrophobia.
    She tried to tune her thoughts to wide open spaces.
    Time after time, her mind pulled her kicking and screaming, back into the closet.
    When she wasn’t thinking about the closet and the monster who held her, she thought of her uncle, Frank Sanderson. She’d never really spent much time with him while her parents were alive. He was an alcoholic loser, jealous of her dad, Dan’s, success. The few times they’d had family get-togethers, even though the family consisted of just them as Abigail’s mother had no family, Frank would get drunk and start a fight with her father.
    When Abigail’s parents died, Frank seemed to have suddenly changed. He scrubbed up his act, claimed to have given up the bottle, and convinced the caseworkers he was a regular sitcom dad. As Abigail soon found out, he was still a drunken loser. Not only a drunk, but also a gambler who’d racked up huge debts with some terrible men.
    Next thing Abigail knew, Frank said he had to ditch the city for a couple of weeks — she could stay with a buddy of his for a while. She was confused and scared, but a