Divorced! Now what?
Chapter 75

Theo POV

The party was in full swing, and it didn't look like it was going to die down any time soon. My Mum was having a great time. I walked about, giving out hugs and saying goodnight. It was time to head home and cuddle my girlfriend. She should be snug in bed by now, having dropped her slightly inebriated father's home. He had drunk more than usual, but with our team winning, I am surprised we are not all drunk as skunks. What a silly saying that is, 'Drunk as Skunks'. I wonder where that came from?

'Night, Dad.' I was in a good mood. Today went really well. Our team won, and Mum got to have her birthday party and spend time with not just the girls but also managed to drag us guys out of the den on sports day.

'It was an excellent night. Your mother is in her element, grinning like a cat who got the cream. I hugged Dad, and he walked with me towards the door. When my mobile started to ring, I dug it out of my pocket and smiled when the picture of my girlfriend was shown on the screen.

When she responded to my greeting, her tone of voice put me on alert. I knew something was wrong, so I covered the mouthpiece and turned to Dad.

'Get your bag and Scott on the phone; something is not right; call it a feeling! Dad rushed away to get his bag and dialed Scott as he went. When I said I had a feeling, Dad never doubted me, I had always been right, and that is not always a good thing. I continued to my car. We should have used the car service, then none of whatever was happening would have happened. I growled angrily at myself as I tried to keep Bethany talking and calm her down. She asked me to stay on the phone and talk to her. I started my car, put her on speaker, and waited for Dad to climb in. She was talking to me, and I told her about the party and what happened after she left, having her giggle at something Cindy had done. I was glad someone was keeping us on our toes; it was good to hear her giggle even if she was scared.

'Sweetheart, I have Scott on Dad's phone. Keep talking. Tell me about the car, what it is, the license plate if it gets close enough to read, are you in a lighted area, give me all you got.' I pushed, keeping her talking as she drove, and I headed towards her. I was breaking all speed limits, I needed to get to my girl.

I was proud of her; she kept a cool head and phoned for help; I wondered what had happened to her Dad; I saw him turn his phone on like the rest of us did; something was not right there either. Scott has men on the way to her, coming from behind. Let us hope they reach her before something terrible happens. I wanted to grill Scott and replace out where our protection went, but now was not the time; I needed to hear her voice and know that she was okay.

'Scott, Bethany said she could not raise her father. Can you send someone over there? His phone was turned off, and we knew it was turned on.' I knew Bethany could hear me asking Scott this and hoped it did not make her worry about him. 'What is the address you dropped him at?' I conveyed the question to Bethany as she could not hear him even though he was on speaker, too. She gave the address, but the small growl from Scott could have been a better sign. I hope Bob has not walked into danger. You have to trust your work colleagues even more, so when you are a policeman or fireman, those services that need your partner to have your back, I fear that Bob, being new to the city, might get stung by the criminal side sooner than he expected. Then one of the worst noises you ever want to hear came echoing through the phone, metal hitting metal.

'They hit me, Theo, the SUV behind me, he hit me from behind, it is hard to steer, I am struggling to stay on the road, what do I do? What the??? Theo, there is more than one vehicle. I cannot avoid it.' She screamed over the phone, panic loud and clear in her voice. The bastards had hit her from behind, not far from the intersection close to the river. That part has a deep drop to the side; it's not a good place to be hit. She managed to hold the car and kept driving. That's my girl, but a second car. What is she talking about? But the next sound was the death of me. I didn't know how to continue and concentrate and drive, and I was still ten minutes away, but the metal-on-metal sounds, the splintering of glass, and the screeching as the car was pushed to who knows where across the road, then her gut-wrenching screams of pain, the sound of the car continued to screech across the road, as if the other vehicle was pushing it somewhere and another loud bang and then the phone went dead, had me hitting the steering wheel, in sadness, saying NO, NO, NO over and over again. All I could think of was they had deliberately pushed her over the edge and down the embankment.

My girl, my woman, I could not protect her. I can't lose her, not now when I have just found her.

My Dad was the only reason I did not have an accident earlier. He took hold of the steering wheel and steered the car until I got myself back under control.

'I got it, Dad; sorry I lost it back there.' I said as my senses came back to me.

'Do you want me to take over and drive?' Dad asked calmly, not sounding panicky like me.

'No, Dad, I am good now.'

'Scott, are you still there?'

'Yes, our man is still five minutes away. His distracted voice came over the phone.

'Where were the ones from the house? How did they know to follow that car?'

'My men at the house were hit with tranquilizer darts. We had underestimated our foe. The license plate belongs to the Gutter Boys; it seems they have taken up the contract; that gang came from another country and had been slowly taking over the city as the major crime gang; I have them under investigation. My gut feeling is someone high up is supporting them!'

'Can the detective that called Bethany in the middle of the night to see them, and she left paperwork with them and has not received them back, be part of it?'

'What is the detective's name?' I could hear Scott typing on his laptop. He must be a passenger in the car and working in the back.

'Detective Gregory. Oh damn, Wendy was still married to Congressman Sanderson. A loud whistle came over the speakers.

'What?' My Dad asked, hearing the whistle.

'You need to see my wall; then you will understand. Maybe after we have seen how our girl is doing? I am arriving now, and there are a lot of police here already. I am not sure how they got here before me. See you soon!' The phone went dead, and it was not long before we could see the red and blue lights flashing in the distance. As we got near, my heart fell to my stomach.

We got stopped by a policeman who was controlling the traffic, keeping it clear for the emergency crew to have easy

access.

'Sorry, sir, you will have to wait until we clear the area.

'That is my girlfriend in that car, and I am going in.' I almost shouted at him.

'We are doctors; let us through, please, Dad said more calmly. That got the man's attention, and Dad lifted his bag for him to see.

'Park your car over there and go by foot, sorry!' He did sound apologetic, but I was in too much of a hurry to see how my girl was doing to be bothered by niceties. Dad and I went out. Dad grabbed his bag, and we rushed over to the small crowd looking down the embankment. I noticed Scott and rushed to him.

'How is she? Is she alive?' Scott grabbed me by the shoulders and tried to steer me away from going to the edge.