* adult themesPart III
Trixie walked the floor that night. She was restless but did not know why. She had a lovely time catching up with Pat and Ben but something did not sit right with her. She had refrained from thinking the word mysterious but she could not shake the feeling that something bad was going to happen.
"Trix, are you okay?"
She turned and smiled at her husband. "I just couldn’t sleep."
He walked further into the room. "I could tell that you was preoccupied when we went to bed."
"I just have a lot on my mind."
"Are you worried about the two men that arrived yesterday?"
She nodded slightly. "It was lovely to have them over for dinner but I just sense..." She stopped and he smiled.
"Mystery?"
She nodded again. "I just have a sense in me that something is not right."
He walked over and put his arms around his wife. "I trust your intuition, baby. Your Uncle Andrew is coming tomorrow and you can ask him about Ben. But why you didn’t want me to mention that fact to Ben is beyond me."
"I don’t know either," she sighed. "I will feel better when I talk to Uncle Andrew tomorrow."
"Let's go to bed now. I have a breakfast meeting in the morning."
Trixie allowed Jim to lead her to bed but she knew that she would not sleep well.
* * *
Trixie finished her shift and went over to see Moms. She was surprised that Maddy was still there.
"Ben asked Honey to show him around and she asked me to look after Maddy a little longer," Moms told her.
"How long have they been gone?"
"A couple of hours. Just before that, Andrew, Claire and the kids arrived."
"Did I hear my name?" a voice boomed.
Trixie hurried over to hug her favourite uncle.
"Where is everyone else?" she asked.
"Still unpacking and the little ones are sleeping."
"I can’t believe you are a daddy now."
He smiled. "Me neither. To get married and have a ready made family is a dream come true."
Maddy began to cry and Moms hurried out of the room to see to her.
"So how are you, Trixie?" asked Uncle Andrew.
"Fine. I get tired, but I love the babies."
"They are cute."
"Can I ask you something, Uncle Andrew? It is about Ben."
"Ben?" He frowned.
"He came here a few days ago and I have had a strange feeling..." Her voice trailed off as she saw her uncle's face.
"Ben is here?"
She nodded. "What's wrong?"
Her uncle sighed. "I hoped I would never have to tell you this story, but I guess I must."
At that moment, Claire walked in and smiled at Trixie. "How are you, Trixie?"
Her uncle pulled his wife down beside him. "Ben is here, baby."
She looked shocked. "What!"
"Okay," Trixie said, "now, you are freaking me out."
"I never told you how I really met Claire, did I?"
Trixie shook her head. "You told me that you met when you were discussing business."
"That is partly true, but the business was Ben."
"I'm his parole officer," Claire explained.
"What!" Trixie was stunned.
"Ben started getting into trouble a couple of years after you were at Happy Valley. He got into the wrong crowd at college and became a dropout. We tried everything we could, but he didn’t want our help. He was arrested for drug-related offences and that is when I met Claire. After Mr Gorman died in the accident and Mrs Gorman went to live near one of her children, I decided to sell the farm. Ben disappeared and we haven’t seen or heard of him since."
Claire stood up. "I need to ring work and inform them we have found him. I also need to tell the police, so they can pick him up. He is under suspicion for a number of armed robberies and the murder of a security guard."
Trixie gasped. "He went out with Honey a couple of hours ago and they haven’t returned yet."
"What!" Uncle Andrew jumped up.
The phone rang and Trixie hurried over to answer it. "Hello," she said distractedly.
"Hello, Trixie."
Trixie stiffened. "Where is Honey?"
"She is safe for now, but she won’t be if you don’t come over and join us."
"Where are you?"
"Honey told me to tell you that we are at the old Dodge farm. You have thirty minutes to get here or Honey won’t be so sweet anymore. And come alone."
Trixie held the phone for a moment after Ben hung up and then turned to see Uncle Andrew watching her.
"I have to go," she told her uncle. "Tell Jim and Brian we are at the Dodges' farm. And call Dan at the station; he will know what to do."
"Trixie, wait! You can’t go on your own."
Trixie ignored him and hurried out to her car. Uncle Andrew and Claire came after her.
Trixie opened the car door. She unlocked her glove box and took out her gun. "If he sees anyone else he will hurt Honey," she told them.
She got into her car and roared off.
Moms came outside. "Where is she going in such a hurry?"
"No time to explain," Claire told her. "I need you to get in touch with Jim and Brian and get them here pronto. Tell them it is an emergency."
Moms hurried back into the house. Claire pulled out her cell phone. "I'll call Dan."
* * *Trixie pulled down the road from the house and stopped her car. She got out holding her gun in her hand and crept towards the house. She saw one light upstairs and headed for the front door. She opened it and slid inside. She knew that anyone upstairs would have heard her coming, but she had to get to Honey. She opened the bedroom door and saw Honey sat on the bed, with her mouth gagged and her hands tied behind her back. The room was empty, so she walked in and removed the gag from her best friend's mouth.
"You have to get out of here, Trixie," Honey choked. "He will be back at any minute."
Trixie undid her wrists and helped her to stand. "I am not going anywhere without you."
"Then you are both staying here."
Trixie whirled and looked at the man standing at the door, holding a gun trained towards them.
He smiled. "I am glad that you could join us. It will be a much better party with all of us."
"What do you want, Ben?"
"A number of things," he sneered. "First, give me your gun and then I might tell you."
She slid her gun across the floor and he picked it up.
Ben smirked. "Ten million for a start," he said. "And then maybe a little fun with Sleepyside's two famous detectives."
"What did we do to you?"
"Ignored me, you did. When you Bob-Whites came to Happy Valley, you went all over, used my car and never once asked me to join you. And then you caught the men who were stealing the sheep and that is what I wanted to do. You all became heroes. I hated you for it."
"I am sorry," Trixie told him. "We didn’t know."
"Of course you didn’t. You were all so caught up in each other that you forgot that there were others around."
"What happens now?"
"I have already sent a letter to rich Wheeler and demanded ten million for your safe return. I have scheduled the meeting tonight at midnight. Now, we are going to have a little fun. Mrs Frayne, you sit on the bed and, Mrs Belden, you sit on the chair over there."
"Do what he says, Honey," Trixie told her.
Trixie sat down and Honey walked over to the chair. He walked behind her and tied her hands and feet to the chair. A gun was by his side.
He caught Trixie's eyes on the gun and smiled nastily. "Don’t try it, detective, or your brother will be a widower before you take the first step." After he finished with Honey, he walked over to Trixie. "I have a good idea by looking at you two lovebirds last night that you are quite active. But I am telling you that when I am finished with you, Jim Frayne will seem useless to you."
Trixie looked at him angrily. "You are not even close to being as much of a man as Jim is and you never will be."
His hand swung hard and nearly knocked her off balance.
"Don’t make me angry," he snarled. "Now, lay down."
When she did, he tied her hands to the two top bedposts and her legs to the bottom two.
"Now, we are going to have some fun."
He sat on the edge of the bed and ran his finger down her face. She turned her face away and looked at Honey who was quietly crying.
She closed her eyes. Jim, where are you?
Part IV
Suddenly, a voice blared from outside. "Ben, this is Andrew Belden. I want to talk to you."
Ben jumped up and looked down at Trixie.
"What is he doing here?" he demanded.
"He's visiting Crabapple Farm," she told him.
Ben walked towards the window and looked out from the side. "There are police out there!" he snapped. "I told you no one."
"You told me to come alone and I did."
He turned to her angrily. "If one of you has to die, it will be you and not Mrs Wheeler over there."
"My name is Belden," Honey growled.
"You are the heir to the Wheeler fortune. You should have kept your name."
Trixie could see Honey becoming angry. She pleaded Honey with her eyes not to antagonise him further.
"Ben, I am coming up alone and unarmed. I just want to talk to you."
"The more the merrier," Ben laughed.
He stood with his gun trained on the door and a couple of minutes later Andrew Belden walked in.
"Hello, Ben."
"What do you want?"
"I came to talk to you." He glanced at his two nieces in the room. "It was not a good idea kidnapping these two girls, Ben. Why don’t you let them go?"
"I have ten million reasons why I cannot do that."
"Matthew Wheeler will get you the money, but it will take a little time."
"He has four more hours and then his son becomes a widower."
"What happened, Ben? We tried so hard to make it right for you. We even got you the helicopter lessons you longed for."
Trixie and Honey looked at one another. They realized Ben was the one flying above them that day.
"Yeah, and they came in mighty handy, they did. Made me a lot of money smuggling drugs across the border and I was able to check out Sleepyside before coming for my visit."
Andrew Belden sighed. "They will never let you leave, Ben. You are already in trouble and the police down there won’t let you walk out with anyone or anything."
"I can take you three along."
"And then what? Kill us or let us go. Whatever you do, you will be running for the rest of your life. The Gormans loved you as their own son. Would you dishonour them any more than you have?"
"Leave the Gormans out of it," Ben said angrily, pointing the gun towards Andrew again.
"Let it go, Ben."
"It was my fault that Mr Gorman died."
"It wasn’t, son."
"He picked me up from my friend's house and I was drunk out of my brain. On the way home I passed out on him and he lost control and crashed the car."
"You did not mean to fall on him."
"But I did and now he is dead."
"Then save yourself now and let these girls go."
Ben nodded.
Andrew walked over to Trixie and untied her. "Untie Honey, Trix, and then get outside."
"Uncle Andrew..."
"I will be right behind you."
"No, you go, too," Ben said. "I will be out in a minute."
Trixie and Honey grasped each other as they headed for the door. Trixie picked up her gun.
"I am sorry," Ben sighed.
Trixie turned to him. "It's all right now."
He smiled slightly. "It will be."
Trixie's legs were like jelly, but with Andrew's help the girls managed to walk outside.
Two policemen grabbed them and dragged them away to safety and right into the arms of Jim and Brian.
"Baby, I was so scared," Jim told Trixie as he held her tight. "I thought I was going to lose you."
Trixie could not say anything.
Ben appeared at the door. He looked around him and then smiled.
And then he began to fire.
Jim pushed Trixie to the floor and covered her with his body as the policemen fired back.
And then there was silence and Jim lifted his head.
Trixie sat up in time to see Ben fall.
Uncle Andrew was beside him in an instant. "Son, why did you do that?" he asked.
"I had to go out with a bang," Ben coughed out. "I couldn’t go to prison. I would have died in there. Tell Mrs Gorman I am sorry."
"She already knows, son, and still loves you."
Ben smiled and then his eyes closed for the last time.
Trixie buried her head into Jim’s shoulder as the tears fell in earnest.
Jim picked her up into his arms. He then took her over to the ambulance and laid her on the stretcher.
"I want to go home," she sobbed.
"They want you to go to the hospital to check you over. I promise I won’t leave you."
Trixie nodded. "I love you, James Frayne."
"And I love you, Trixie Frayne." * * *He woke up and reached for her, but she wasn’t there. He opened his eyes and sat up. He knew where she would be.
He stood by the study door and watched her.
Trixie sat at her desk and looked through her scrapbook. Every time they had been in the paper she had collected them and pasted them in the book. She looked up at the two drawings of her on the wall. The one with Sergeant Molinson and the one of her alone that Nick had drawn later and given to Jim.
Jim backed away as she wandered ut of the study and walked towards the babies' room. He followed.
She stood and looked down at the two babies sleeping peacefully, unaware of the last forty-eight hours. Her body began to shake.
Jim moved towards her. "Trix?" he whispered.
She turned to him and started to say something, but he put his finger over her lips. He took her hand and led her to their bed where he sat them both down.
"You have hardly said a word about what happened when you were with Ben and I am worried that you are bottling it all up in you. Please, talk to me, Trixie."
She looked up at him and nodded. And then slowly she began to tell him everything that happened from the time she first saw Uncle Andrew. When she had finished, Jim wiped the tears from her eyes.
"I have not stopped thinking since it happened," Trixie said. "I have come to some decisions."
"What, baby?"
"For one, I can’t do this any more."
"What?"
"Juggling a career with the babies. I just want to be a stay at home mum for a while."
His eyes widened in shock. "Are you sure?"
"When Ben was tying me up, I thought of you and the twins. Time stood still for me and I knew that I might never see any of you again. The thought that he was planning to hurt me was nothing compared to the fact that our babies might grow up motherless. I miss them so much when I am at work and I just can’t do it any more. Maybe when they are older."
Jim smiled at her and took her hands. "I am so pleased, Trix. I supported your decision to go back to work, but I am happier knowing that you are home for our babies."
"I made my mind up about something else, too."
"And what is that?"
"I want another baby."
"What!"
She smiled. "Not right at this moment, but maybe later. That is, if you want another one."
He nodded and laughed. "We make pretty good babies together. And we haven’t yet broken the mould."
"Is there anything that you want to tell me?" she asked him.
He grinned. "Just one thing."
"And what is that?"
"You have a drawer full of nightwear and yet you insist on wearing my tee-shirts. I think that it may have to stop."
She moved slightly and pulled the tee shirt over her head. She watched the green of his eyes darken. She put the tee shirt on his lap.
"Happy?"
"Oh, yeah, but I am intending to be a lot happier by the morning."
He reached for her and she smiled.
"So am I."
* * *
Katie Belden woke up. She didn’t know what had woken her but she felt a little restless. She took stock and realised her nappy was not too wet and her stomach was happily full. But she needed her mother. She opened her mouth to cry, but heard her mother laugh.
Katie Belden smiled and, making herself a little more comfortable, fell back to sleep.
She would have no idea how pleased her parents would be if they knew of her decision not to cry.
The End
This is the end of this one. Hope you like it.