Break The Cycle

Chapter 56:

Killian POV:

In the blink of an eye, he was a year old. Emma woke up that morning crying a little.

"There there, love. He'll always be your baby boy." I smiled and wrapped an arm around her as we stood in the bathroom getting ready for the day. Liam was still asleep, and Henry was downstairs making breakfast for himself.

"I know, but it's like just yesterday he was a newborn and needed me for everything." She croaked out.

"He'll always need you, you're his mother." I assured her.

"You're right, I'm a mess." She wiped her eyes and laughed a little.

"A hot mess indeed." I kissed her cheek and left the quiet of the bedroom.

The usual chaos greeted me, Henry chattering on, Frank bounding after me everywhere I went, the cats chasing each other from one end of the house to the other. Five minutes later, Emma walked in with our son on her hip.

"There's the birthday boy!" I exclaimed. Liam immediately wiggled and laughed, wanting down. Emma turned on Mickey Mouse for him and he began dancing to the songs.

Together, we made an appropriate birthday breakfast of chocolate chip pancakes. Liam's party was later today, but for now we were taking him to the local zoo, then to lunch at Granny's (Ruby's grandmother wanted to see him and said she had a special lunch just for him), and then it was time to come home and dress him. It might be a busy day, but we wanted to take him to do something special with just his family.

Emma POV:

The zoo wasn't as packed as I was afraid it would be, probably because it was morning. We were only spending a few hours here, it wasn't a huge place so I wasn't worried about being able to take Liam and Henry to see their favorite exhibits.

I did worry about this guy that seemed to pop up in a few places. He didn't have a kid with him that I could see, he seemed to just be taking pictures of the animals. But I could feel something off, and I liked to trust my instincts.

So every time I saw him, I would move my family. I didn't tell Killian, I didn't want him to worry, but this guy was creeping me out. When we left I watched for him, and kept a hand on the gun that I always kept on me.

I didn't see him, so we ushered everyone into the car and drove away.

But for the rest of the day, I couldn't shake that feeling like someone was watching me. I was extra cautious. Once we were safe at home with all the doors and windows locked, I felt better. I was able to focus on Liam's party. I wasn't worried about someone watching me here, we had a full privacy fence around the back yard.

Later that night, Killian cornered me. I was making tea and he came up behind me and rubbed my shoulders and neck.

"You're tense, what's going on?" He asked me.

"I'm fine, it's just been a long day." I assured him, leaning back into him.

"No, I know you Emma. Something's wrong." He persisted.

I huffed. "There was a guy at the zoo, he kept popping up. He kept taking pictures of the animals, but I could feel something off about him, like he was watching us."

"Love, you're paranoid. No one was out to get us." He tried to comfort me.

"I can always sense when someone is up to no good, why do you think I was so good at bounty hunting, and my job now?"

"Okay, we'll just call it a mother's instinct." He turned me around and kissed me a few times. "How about you let me relieve that stress?" He raised an eyebrow and went in to kiss my neck.

It might have been a long day, but that didn't stop us from wearing each other out for the night.

The following Monday it was back to work. We all spent Sunday at home, relaxing. And now it was time to go back to reality. Liam was at day care, Henry at school, and I took an early lunch to surprise Killian with coffee and something to eat from the coffee shop that we always went to.

I made my purchase and began walking to the docks, I started to feel that feeling again. Like I was being watched. I noticed no one was really around so I tried to hurry up and get out of that area without drawing attention to myself. Then I heard a voice. Too late.

"I know where your children are, and where your husband is."

It sounded male, middle aged, and rough, like someone who smoked a lot. I froze at the mention of my family.

"What do you want?" I simply said.

"Come with me." I turned to my left, where the voice was coming from, to an alley. The man was about six feet and four inches, brown hair that was starting to gray, and brown eyes. He looked about forty years old.

"How do I know you're not bluffing?" I asked, reaching my hand for my gun.

"Don't even think about it." He pulled a gun from his pocket and aimed it at me, while also pulling out pictures, showing me dropping off my kids at day care and school, and Killian working on a boat.

I sighed and gave up. Whatever he wanted, it was better than him hurting my family.

"Good girl." He smirked, and stepped forward to take my gun. Then he shoved his into my ribs.

"Walk." He ordered. He led me by the arm to a nearby car, I memorized the make, model, and license plate, just in case I was able to contact anybody.

I kept my head. I could get out of this. He was probably somebody from a past bust, when I was a bounty hunter. This had happened a few times, only they were usually idiots who didn't take the time to stalk me first. This wasn't the man who had been watching me, whoever that was must have been hired.

He shoved me into the back seat of the car, and zip tied my hands together. Crap. I did the only thing I could think of, and started spreading my DNA everywhere. Tossing hairs here and there, touching things, but carefully, so he wouldn't notice. If anyone found this car, they would know I was here.