Page 82 of Uriah's Orbit
“You’re asking for it.”
I turned and looked at him this time. “I want to make this very, very clear to you, Mister Gadfeller. These children are my responsibility, no matter what you say to me. I am here for them and their protection. You’re up on assault, kidnapping, weapons charges, accessory, and several other things. So you can say what you want, do what you want to me, but I will protect these children.”
“A fag protecting children? Why, so you can turn them to your evil ways?”
I shook my head, and pulled the wet wipe away from Carly’s cheek. She needed stitches, but at least the majority of the bleeding stopped.
“What do you want to turn us into, Mister Uriah?” Devon whispered in my ear.
“Unicorns,” I said very clearly. “Glitter farting unicorns.”
He looked up at me. “I’m pretty good at farting.”
It took everything I had to keep from laughing.
* * *
The limo droveon for hours.
I knew we were going north, on the Thruway, but the divider was up and the windows were so dark that once the sun went down, I couldn’t see the signs anymore.
Gerry had taken mine and Carly’s cell phone and turned them off.
He didn’t know that my watch was a 4G enabled smartwatch. I had quietly turned on the GPS function and let it map our way up the Thruway, past Poughkeepsie, past Albany and the sun was gone from the sky by then. I didn’t know if we continued on the Thruway or took 90 toward Binghamton.
The GPS was pinging the whole time, and I hoped that Noah remembered I had it.
We had stopped off the road at some dark, out of the way place because Devon had complained loudly that he had to poop. While the passenger stood guard at the port-o-potty, Gerry had made The Call, and put it on speaker so I could hear it.
“What do you want, Gerry?”
“Oh, now tsk tsk, Aubrey. Is that anyway to talk to your husband?”
“I’m in a meeting—”
“I’m sure you are, but since the kids are with me, you may want to postpone.”
There was complete silence.
“The kids are with Uriah.”
“They are. And they are all with me. So listen up and listen good. Your brother is wealthy. He has money for these brats set aside. I want it. All of it. And there are two ways to do this. You and he pony up the cash, now, or I keep the kids and get them to sign it over at eighteen. We’re heading home now, so you have plenty of time to think on it.”
“The kids are with…”
I leaned into the phone. “Aubrey, he grabbed us down the block from the school. I’m so sorry. Call the cops and—”
“Call the cops and I’ll kill them all,” Gerry ground out.
“And then you get no money,” I snapped at him. “Ooh, and jail time. Bonus.”
He pulled the gun out and pointed it at Carly. I grabbed his wrist and pointed the gun at the ground, holding him there. “I don’t give a shit if you point that at me, but if you point that at either of those children again, you will find out just how intimately acquainted a gay man is with the male anatomy and the different ways I can make you fucking hurt and wish you were dead.”
Gerry stared at me while he finished the call. “Bring the money. Or the kids die, and I’ll claim jurisdiction and self-defense.”
Tapping the call end button, Gerry ripped his hand out of my grip and stared at me. “Don’t ever touch me again, you filthy piece of shit.”
“Don’t aim that gun at the kids, and I won’t.”
