Coincidences

by Harini 08:55:00 17 comments coincidences daughter emotional father kidnap short story shortstory thriller touching

Once is a coincidence. Twice is destiny.  

<Don's POV>

It was finally closing time at Knight's Bar. I was anxious to get home. No. I was anxious to get back to my daughter. I had left Hope with Nina the babysitter. I didn't like her being out of my sight but, since I have to work at Knight's from 6 pm to 2 am and Hope was just two and half years old, there wasn't any other alternative.

While I was cleaning up I saw a customer totally wasted and passed out at the bar. I sighed. He had already started drinking when I came in for my shift. For as much as drunk guys go, he was pretty decent. He was blubbering about how sorry he was and how he messed up with his family. It was obvious he was sad. I pitied him.

He isn't your responsibility, I tell myself. But I couldn't bear to leave the poor man all by himself in here. I sure as hell can't leave him out in the streets. Who knows? He might choke on his own vomit and die. Or worse,  he might freeze to death.

I sighed as I propped him up and called a cab. Soon I was home.

"Sorry, Nina. The bar ran late. It won't happen agai-" I started as I opened the door, struggling a little with a passed out man propped against my shoulder.

I peeked inside. The whole living room was wrecked. It looked like someone had a fight in there. And Nina was lying unconscious in the middle of the floor. Her head had a big red bump.

I hurriedly dropped the drunken man on the couch and went to wake her up. She woke up startled and she looked so scared. He wide eyes looked left and right trying to make sense of something. She calmed down when she realized it was just me.

"Don. Oh, thank god. It is just you. Oh god, I am so sorry. I didn't- I don't know what- Oh god. " she said,  her eyes filled with fear and tears.

"Hold on. Slow down. I can't understand. What happened here? " I said, as my heart started pounding a little faster.

"It's Hope. There was- A man. He just- He barged in and knocked me out. I don't know what to do. Hope is gone and I don't know what to do. " she wailed.

Now my heart stopped altogether.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

"No. My head- My head hurts real bad and I got locked in and I am scared. I am so sorry. I don't know what happened. I don’t know how any of this happened." she cried.

"It is okay. Don't worry about Hope, Nina. I am going to get her back. You go to the hospital and get that checked out. OK? " I told her. I don't know how my voice stayed calm despite the panic I was feeling.

I got Nina to leave, telling her explicitly that I don't want the police involved and I would handle it.

The minute she left I reached for my mobile and dialed Alec.

"You son of a bitch!" I yelled as soon as he picked up.

"Hello to you too." he said mocking me.

"Where is Hope? I swear to god I will kill you of you touch her. " I shouted.

As if on cue, Hope started crying in the background and I felt my heart clenching. At least, she was alive.

"Please," I said, at last, my voice and resolve to break.

"She is not yours. She is going back to where she belongs. You cannot stop- " he said.

Suddenly, all I could hear was screech of tires and the line went dead.

<Grace POV>

The tires screeched as I slammed on the brakes. But I didn't slam on it hard enough and I hit a man walking in the street.

My hands were shaking. I didn't know what to do. I was too scared to get out of the car but I didn't want to leave anyone for dead on the road at this time of the night.

Being a millionaire’s daughter meant that I didn't face the consequences for half the trouble I wrecked. But this was different. This wasn't like the time they decided to trespass into the baseball stadium and have a party which woke up half the city. This was serious.

I climbed down the car in a hurry. The contents in my lap fell down and shattered. I didn't bother to even look at them. There was a man lying on the road, unconscious. Nothing seemed wrong with him. He was just knocked out. There was a kid near him, wearing pajamas with strawberries on it. She seemed relatively unharmed, except for the scratch in her arms. She wasn’t crying. I guess that is good?

I knelt next to her and picked her up.

"Are you okay,  sweetie?" I asked.

She nodded her head and her eyes started to fill with tears.

"What happened? Don't worry about your dad. We are going get him to a hospital and he will be fine." I said, stroking her head, trying to reassure her as I reached for my phone.

"I don't know that man." she cried out as she hugged me and wailed.

Oh shit, I thought to myself. My hands froze and I stopped dialing 911. I just noticed he had a gun holster on his hip.  I was standing in the middle of the road with a kidnapped kid. I gulped.

In a fit of panic, I did the most reckless thing imaginable.

<Don POV>

 In a fit of rage, I did the stupidest thing imaginable.

I went to the lion's lair. I broke in the door to the Dimitri residence, walked straight up and punched Boromir right in the face. I took his gun from the hip and then threw it away. I picked him up by the collar and hoisted him up again the wall.

He had a taunting smile in his face. He knew he had leverage over me. He knew his brother took Hope. That didn’t help lessen the anger.

"You tell your brother to bring back Hope. Right now. " I yelled as I slammed him against the wall again.

He slowly spits out the blood from his mouth and laughed. He bloody laughed. The blood was boiling in me and the rage seemed uncontrollable.

"Now why should I do that?" he said tauntingly.

I slammed his head against the desk drawer and he fell to the floor.

"Because Natalia told me where she hid the videotape," I said, kneeling in front of him. I tried to make it sound as threatening as possible.

I smirked as the smug look on his face disappeared.

"I want Hope before dawn breaks or I go to the police. I don't care how big your family is in the Mafia. This evidence is enough to indict your entire family." I said as I got up and walked towards the door.

"I found a weak spot. I would have gone to the cops after what you did to Natalia. I let it go because of Hope. I didn’t want any trouble for her. But I have no problem bringing your whole family if down if you don't return Hope to me. Right. Now. Don't think for one second I will hesitate." I said as I slammed the door shut.

I was so filled with rage and my eyes were seeing red that I didn't watch where I was going and a car stopped mere feet away from hitting me.

<Grace POV>

I stopped the car merely feet away from a guy. I almost slammed into a man. Again. Twice on one day? That had to be some kind of a record. I groaned. But this time I slammed on the brakes and thankfully, didn't hit anyone. Thank god. I looked back to see if Hope was alright. She was. I turned back to the road again.

The man was gone.

And I headed straight home.

I slammed the door shut as I sat on the couch thinking of what to do next. Hope was sitting across from me and starting at me curiously as I continued to rub my eyes.

Yes. The girl's name is Hope, she is 2 years old, her mom's name is Natalia and she is with the angels, and her dad's name Don and he is a bartender. That's all the kid knew. That was all she could tell me.

No last name. No number. No address.

I had stopped the car with no clue where to go. I had no clue what I was supposed to do when my brain suddenly sprang to life.

Of course. Larry! He was a cop in the 12th Precinct. He worked under Organized Crime. But still, a cop is a cop. I had called him and asked for help. He told me to go to my house straight away and that he would go to the station to find her father's contact details.

I decided to trust that Larry knew best about these kinds of situations. So I listened to him and drove home.

And now, I am sitting here in the living room, searching for a band-aid for Hope. First, I am going to patch her up.

And then I am going to wait. There was nothing else to do.

<Don POV>

I couldn't wait anymore. This waiting around, sitting idly was driving me crazy. I have to do something. I got lucky with Boromir. He had been alone. If I was going to get dirty, I needed my gun. Which was at home. I decided to get that first. From the looks of it, I am definitely going to need it.

Soon I was standing outside my home. I chewed on my lip as I took a deep breath and opened the door.

<Grace POV>

I chewed on my lip anxiously as I kept tapping my foot and waited for Larry to call me back.

I was upstairs sitting on the bed with Hope next to me. I am not ready for this. I am not responsible enough to help a kid. I am the tabloid girl who wrecked cars. I am not the kind of person who rescues and takes care of a kid.

Suddenly the lights gave out and the room went dark. She waited for the generator to kick back on. But a full minute went on and that never happened.

I was getting anxious. I took out my phone and dialed Larry. Maybe I was being paranoid but I didn't want to take that chance with Hope.

"Grace? I don't like the dark" Hope whispered.

"Shh, sweetie," I whispered.

But I wasn't listening to her. I heard footsteps coming up the stairs and I froze on spot. I clicked the phone off and we were engulfed in pitch black darkness.

<Don POV>

It was pitch dark inside the house when he flipped the lights on. He froze. There were at least 10 men inside the living room waiting for him. Every one of the guys was packed with guns. He could fight but he couldn't fight that well. 

Boromir was standing right in the center of the group. He snapped his fingers and two men caught my arms. And another guy shut the door and stood against it. I was frantically looking around for a weapon or a way to escape. There wasn't any.

"Where is the video?" Boromir asked, kneeling down in front of me so that he could see me eye-to-eye.

I didn't answer. That was my one bargaining chip and there is no way in hell I was giving that up. Giving up that video meant giving up Hope.

Boromir came around and kicked me in his leg. There was a definitive snap.

I closed my eyes in pain and swallowed the scream that rose in my throat.

<Grace POV>

My eyes were wide open in panic and I swallowed the scream that rose in my throat.

The lights had come back on but I knew someone was inside the house. My blood ran cold.

I picked up Hope and hid her under the bed.

"Hey, Hope. I want you to close your eyes and stay silent. Okay?  Can you do that for me, sweetie? This is a game. You should not come out or make a noise or open your eyes. Alright, sweetie?" I whispered.

"Okay, Gracie," Hope whispered. Good. She didn't sound scared.

I got up shakily and turned towards the door. Slowly the door opened and I tried to calm my racing heart.

Oh my god. He had a gun. I gulped down the scream again.  

"Where is the kid?" he asked in a gruff voice as he came near me.

"I don't know. I left her at the police station." I said shakily, hoping my lie was convincing.

"I am going to give you another chance to tell me. Where. Is. Hope." he asked again, his voice sending shivers down my spine.

I shook my head and he growled as he came near me. Instinct kicked in. I pushed him hard in the chest and made a run for the door. He caught me by my hair. I yelped in pain.

“Stupid girl” he hissed.

I bit his hand and ran again. This time I made it to the stairs before he caught me again. He caught me by the arms and slammed me against the wall.

“Shut up.” he yelled, as he pulled out his gun.

Panic consumed me at its mightiest and I started struggling. I screamed, kicked my legs, and tried to get my arms free. Somewhere, in the struggle, he lost his footing and we went stumbling down the stairs. We landed clumsily at the foot of the stairs. I could feel the blood spilling down the side of my face. But that didn’t matter now. I got up and tried to run again.

“Turn around,” he said, as I heard the gun click. The sound was sickening.

I slowly turned.  This is it. This was how I was going to die. I always thought I would die partying in a rooftop somewhere. Not like this. Not at my own house. My eyes suddenly filled with tears and I couldn't breathe anymore.

A shot rang through the house and I jumped.

His outline slowly stumbled forward and he fell to the floor. I stood there petrified as Larry's face came into focus. I let out a shaky breath, not quite sure whether I was still alive or not. I slowly moved forward and looked at him. The guy who was about to kill me. I have never looked at a dead body before.

I think I am going to puke.

<Don POV>

I think I am going to puke.

The living which was so pleasant yesterday looked like a scene out of a horror movie.

There were ten dead bodies lying in his living room.

Ten.

He was being tortured one minute and the next minute everyone was lying dead.

Looks like the drunk man from the bar had a ninja skill set that I had been unaware of. He had single-handedly killed ten people and all he had said was "Matt Donovan Special SEAL".

I just kept staring at him unable to apprehend what just happened. I couldn't even get my mouth open to say thank you.

"Are you okay, son? " he asked.

I just looked at my leg. He saw it too. He came and gently probed my leg.

"Good. It's not broken. Just sprained. Where do you keep your bandages?" he asked, getting up.

I just numbly pointed to a cabinet. The shock was still coursing through my veins. He went through the cabinet and came back with a bandage and started patching up my leg.

My eyes suddenly felt watery. I was so sure I was going to die. I didn't even want to think about what would have happened to Hope if that was the case.

"Do you want anything for the pain?" he asked me.

"I just want my daughter back." I choked out, blinking back the tears.

"Look, son. I get it. They took your little girl. I know what I would do to anyone who comes near my little girl. And I know what I would give up anything to get a hug from her. But I can’t.”

“Why not?” I asked.

“The reason I left army- It was not an honorary discharge. My whole unit was killed. I was the only survivor. That kind of stuff messes you up. So when I came back, I found myself at the bottom of every bottle I could find. I felt like I didn’t have a purpose. And then my wife left me. That was when I realized I had a purpose: My family. My daughter. But it was too late to go back.”

“When did this happen?” I asked. I really pitied him. I couldn’t imagine life without Hope.

“Fifteen years ago. Since then I keep finding new bars to pass out in.” he joked. “Look, son. You were nice to me. You helped me out. It’s my turn. I am going to help you. I am going to help you get her back." he said, with an air of confidence.

I didn't have that confidence in me now. I just nodded dumbly. It would take a miracle to find her back without Boromir.

<Grace POV>

"It would take a miracle to find her father." Larry sighed.

Currently, we were all sitting at the dining table. After the initial shock had passed and I puked my guts out, I was able to think clearly again. When I came out of the bathroom, there was no dead body in my living room and I didn’t dare ask Larry what he did with the dead body. Hope was sitting happily in the chair drinking out of a juice-box. When she asked me what the loud noise was, I just told her a balloon had popped and she seemed satisfied with the answer. Kids, I mentally scoffed.

"Did you find anything about her parents?" I asked as I kept an ice pack on my head.

"Yes. Her mother. Natalia Dimitri. There is nothing about her whereabouts for the past 5 years until she was found dead a year ago in her apartment. There is nothing on file about a husband or a boyfriend. Whoever he is, he doesn't want anyone to find him." Larry said as he placed a file on my dining table.

"Why did he go through so much trouble?" I asked as Larry.

He asked Hope if the woman in the picture was her mother. She bobbed her head up and down.

"Natalia is the daughter of the Irish Mob Kingpin. She was an active part of the Mob until 5 years ago. That why I found out about her so easily. Organized Crime was searching for Natalia since she disappeared. There was nothing on her. They thought she had enough evidence to bring the whole Mob down. Given that she was hiding from her own family, they thought she would help the police. But she was found dead a year ago and the case was dropped." Larry said, pointing to a lot of maps and photos in the file.

"It was always assumed she had a fall-out with the Mob but I am going to take a wild guess and say she ran away with someone and then had a kid." Larry continued, gesturing to Hope, validating his theory.

"She wanted to protect Hope and Don." I realized.

"Yes. She went to a lot of trouble to hide them. Even in her apartment, there was no sign of anyone living there beside her. The man lying dead upstairs?  It's Natalia's brother, Alec." Larry said, pushing another file clipped with a mug-shot towards me.

"How the hell did he find me?" I asked, softly.

He slid my purse to me and I looked at him questioningly.

"You dropped it when you hit him." he explained.

I put my head in my hand and groaned. This is way above my pay grade. I am not cut out for Mob stuff. I am in way over my head.

"So there is no way to find Don?" I asked, hopelessly.

"You are forgetting one thing," Larry smirked.

"What? What more could possibly be there?" I exclaimed, incredulously.

"We have Hope. With her description of her father, name and his job, it is not going to be that hard for me to find him now. Give me an hour. And I am a great detective. What kind of a Detective would I be if I can't help two sweet ladies out?" he winked.

I laughed as he turned to Hope.

She giggled merrily as he tugged on her hair, playfully.

<Don POV>

I tugged on my hair in frustration.

Everything that could go wrong has gone wrong in a matter of hours. I had no idea what to do now. I didn't know what to do with the ten dead bodies in his living room. Or the ex-service man who was doing push-ups in my living room, unfazed by the dead bodies. Most frustrating of all, I didn't know how to track Hope. My only connection was Boromir and he was lying dead in front of me.

I could take the video to police and ask them for help. But that was what Natalia did and she was dead within a week. That is the reason I am so reluctant to go to the police. They are a big Mob with a lot of connections. It is only fair to assume that they must have some dirty cops in their pocket and I am not about to throw my only bargaining chip to the dogs. I am not going to do the same mistakes Natalia did.

I leaned back on the couch and I closed my eyes. I wish I had something. Anything. Somewhere to start. Some lead to follow. But my mind came up blank.

And then the phone rang.

<Grace POV>

"The phone is ringing. Stop fidgeting." Larry told me.

"Put it on speaker phone." I snapped. He did as I asked without arguing.

And I prayed to God that Don picked up. After an hour of searching and digging, all Larry could come up with was a name and a number. Don O'Harry. But there was no photo so we couldn't be sure if this Don was Hope's father.

"This is Detective Patterson and I am calling to verify. Is this Don O'Harry?"

"Yes." someone replied on the other end, voice laced with surprise.

"I don't want you to panic but we found a little girl who says you are her father. Can you verify?" Larry asked.

"YES. Hope. Oh my god. Is she okay? Oh, thank god. Where is she? What happened? Is she okay?" he rambled on, his voice showing obvious sign of relief.

"Before I reveal that information, I am going to have to verify you are her father. You do not have anything on your file. There is no record of Hope." Larry pointed.

"Uh. It's- It's complicated. Detective? Please. That is my daughter. Please." he said, his voice straining.

"Look, sir. I am sorry. But this is a little kid at stake here. And there is no photo available of you for Hope to verify. You have to understand why I am being skeptic." Larry said, unaffected by the poor man's pleading.

"You can ask anything about Hope to me. I will answer. I swear to you. I am not lying." he said, desperately.

"What was hope wearing when she was taken?" Larry asked.

"I- I- I don't know. I was working. The babysitter would have changed her and put her to bed." he said, his voice straining.

"Sir. Why don't you come to the precinct in the morning and we will get this all sorted out?" Larry said sharply.

"Detective. Detective. No. You cannot take her to a police station. Liste-". The man started panicking.

"Sir. I assure you noth-" Larry interrupted him.

"What is Hope's favorite ice-cream?" I asked, interrupting both of them.

"Bubblegum,, " he said, startled. Larry looked at me as startled as the man on the phone sounded.

"Alright. Come to the Central Park as soon as you can. I will bring Hope." Grace said as she ended the call.

"Ice-cream? Seriously?" Larry asked, bemused.

<Don POV>

Ice-cream. Seriously? Of all the questions in the world, it was ice-cream that got his Hope back.

It felt surreal. I have no idea what just happened. How in world Hope end up with a Detective? And who was that girl asking about ice-cream? I don't care. I am going to get Hope back. I felt like suddenly breathe again. There were a thousand thoughts running through my head. Central Park. I searched for my car keys and I was about to go out the door when Matt coughed.

I looked at him questioningly. He looked at my leg pointedly. Oh, I realized. There is no way I can drive with a sprained ankle. Uh Oh.

"Give me the damn keys." he said gruffly, as he snatched the keys from me.

I couldn’t stop grinning.

<Grace POV>

I couldn't stop grinning.

Hope was so excited and was jumping up and down the whole ride. It was nice to see how much she wanted to be with her father. The last time I saw my father was years back. I don't even know where he is now. Hope had a mother who died for her and a father who loves her so much. I had a mother who didn't care what kind of trouble I got into and a father who abandoned me.

My grin faltered. Why am I feeling jealous of two years old now? I pushed that thought out of my head and looked at Hope.

All of us were sitting on a park bench, enjoying a lollipop, waiting for her dad to arrive. I will admit, I will miss her cheerfulness after today. It was hard not to like a kid like her.

She yawned again and rubbed her eyes. I pulled her against my side gently and put my arms around her. She sagged against me and I slowly rubbed her hair, humming softly. She was asleep within seconds.

I looked at the sky, watching the sun rise over the horizon.

<Don POV>

The sun was rising over the horizon as I got out of the car.

I rushed inside the park. I couldn't wait to see Hope. I don't think I can wait another second before taking Hope into my arms. Matt was right beside me. The guy just didn't have ninja skills, he also had mad driving skills. He made it to the park in half an hour. It was a two-hour drive.

There were two people sitting on the park bench under a tree. I could see that Hope was sleeping. Looking at her, unharmed, almost out tears that I struggling to keep in. He could see the girl gently waking up Hope and whispered something in her ear. Hope rubbed her eyes and finally looked at me. She hopped off the bench and ran towards me. I chuckled.

I knelt and waited.

"Daddy," she screamed happily, as she came crashing into me. I hugged her as hard as I could. I couldn't stop the tears anymore.

She was here. I got her back. I couldn't even believe it. I let out a strangled laugh. Thank god. I didn't know what I would have done if I had lost her.

After hugging her for as long as I could, I picked her up. I turned to look at the girl who had bought me, my daughter, back. I didn't even know how I was going to thank her. But she wasn't looking at me. She wasn't looking at Hope. She was looking right past me. She was frozen on the spot.

I turned around. That was when I realized that Matt wasn't nearby. He had stopped few feet back from us and that man looked like someone had punched him right in the gut.

"Gracie?" he said, softly, as he moved towards her.

He looked as pale as a ghost.

<Grace POV>

It felt like I was looking at a ghost.

How dare he? How dare he call me Gracie? How dare he come near me?

He slowly walked towards me. For the second time today, I couldn’t get my muscles to move. It felt like someone poured sand down her throat. He came near and caught my hand. His eyes were brimming with tears.

"Gracie? Are you okay?" he asked as he touched the bandage in my head.

I pushed his hands away.

"No. No. No. You don't get to call me that. You think you can come after all these years and call me Gracie? No. No, you can't. You left me. You don't get to ask me if I am okay or call me Gracie." I managed to choke out, as I stumbled backward.

"Gracie. Listen to m-" he started, again, taking a few steps towards me.

"NO." I exploded. "Stop it. Get away from me." I screamed, throwing my hands up.

"Let me explain. You owe me that. I am your fath-" he started.

"No. I don't owe you anything. What are you doing here? I don't even know what you are doing here. You are not my father. You don’t get to call yourself my father. You don’t know me. You don’t know who I am. You don't even know my favourite ice-cream." I said, as I let out a strangled laugh.

Maybe the ice-cream wasn't the issue here. But that was the first thing that popped into my mind. I should be yelling at him about how he left me with a mother who thought money was everything. Or about how he ignored my calls where I was begged him to come back. He chose to walk out of my life years ago. He doesn't get to decide if he suddenly wants to come back into it.

He whispered something. It wasn't audible. He cleared his throat and tried again.

"Mint. Mint chip chocolate."

I didn't know what to say. I swallowed the lump in my throat.

I couldn't take my eyes away from him.

<Don POV>

I couldn't take my eyes away from them.

I stayed silent. Life was ironical that way. Matt had promised that he would get me my daughter back, but looks like somehow Hope had bought his daughter back to him. I just waited patiently for the "Gracie" girl to say something.

But Hope had other ideas.

"Can I have ice-cream? I want the bubble-gum one." Hope asked, innocently, resting her head against my chest.

It cut the tension that was in the air. Everyone cracked a smile and Grace chuckled.

"Maybe all of us should go for ice-cream. We all deserve one after today." the Detective guy said, standing there, looking as awkward as I felt.

I walked up to the girl and swallowed the lump in my throat. I didn't have any words to thank her.

"You are welcome." she said, before I could actually say anything.

I nodded, swallowing. I went to the Detective and straight away, he offered me his hand.

"Detective Larry Patterson. If you want to thank me, you can thank me by bringing a Mob family down." he said, smirking.

I laughed and nodded as I shook his hand.

Nearby, Matt walked towards Grace again. This time she didn't move away.

"Can I buy you ice-cream, Gracie?" he asked, his voice breaking.

A full minute passed. And then, Grace nodded.

"Daddy." Hope whined, on hearing the word “ice-cream” again.

"Alright. Alright." I laughed. "Looks like it's ice-cream time." I said, kissing her nose.

She giggled happily.

I gestured Matt to come closer.

“Hey, I need your advice. How am I supposed to clean up my house before bringing Hope in?” I asked him pointedly.

“What about your house?” he asked, genuinely confused.

“In case you forgot, there are ten dead men lying there.” I said, incredulously. How could he forget?

He just winked at me. I laughed.

“Look, man. I promised I would find your daughter. But it looks like you found mine for me.” He said, his voice extremely emotional.

I just smiled as I hugged Hope tightly and we both turned to look at Grace. She was listening to something that Detective Larry was saying. Matt looked extremely peaceful at this moment. And I really felt happy for him. He deserved this. He deserved this kind of happiness in his life. The kind of happiness only family can give.

He turned towards me and offered me his hand. I felt honored as I shook his hand.

“You hid him in my closet?!!!!!!!” Grace yelled.

<<The End>>