A Touch of Malice Read Online Free Page A

hallway, she decided to look in on her son, Thomas. His bedroom door was open slightly. She softly nudged it, then moved aside to let the dim hallway light fall across her son’s crib. She could barely make out shapes in the dark room. The oversized stuffed lion in the corner; the airplane mobile dangling from the ceiling. She eased over the carpeted floor to the side of her son’s crib. At first it looked normal until she reached inside to pull on a fluffed-up baby blanket and found it empty. She frantically reached around in the dark, groping for her child. Her heart rate increased while her scalp felt like it was crawling with ants.
    As her eyes began to adjust to the shadows, she noticed a large lump in the bed against the wall. It was her son’s next sleeping quarters once he outgrew his crib. A low-to-the-ground mattress surrounded by a racing car frame. As she approached the bed, she could see the large shape of a man. Julie got down to her knees and saw Nick curled up on his side, facing her, his chest falling and rising in the quiet. Cradled in his arms was Thomas, facing Nick, his tiny head resting in the crook of his father’s elbow.
    Julie put a hand to her heart and caught her breath. It took her a moment to calm down and enjoy the scene. Nick, the born protector, watching over his son even in his sleep. She could hear her husband inhale gently, but when he exhaled it came out in short blasts. A beam of moonlight came through the window and glistened off of Nick’s forehead which was spotted with beads of sweat. He was having another nightmare. Julie was as attentive to her son as she could possibly be, but she’d felt completely helpless with Nick. He kept everything inside. The brave warrior not letting anyone know his frailties. Not even his wife.
    Nick’s phone buzzed again from their bedroom. Julie cursed under her breath. She slowly got to her feet and before she could turn, Nick jerked up gasping like a raged animal, his eyes wild and confused.
    “It’s okay,” Julie whispered. She quickly slipped her hands under Thomas and scooped him up and kissed his cheek. With his eyes still shut, his arms spastically groped for comfort in the night. She kissed his cheek and gently lowered him into his crib. He immediately curled up and stuck a thumb in his mouth.
    Nick rubbed his eyes and dropped his legs over the side of the bed, his knees still higher than his waist. He crawled over the side railing and pulled himself to his feet.
    “You all right?” Nick asked.
    “Of course,” Julie said, wiping the sweat from Nick’s eyebrows with her fingertips. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
    “My phone. Has it been ringing long?”
    “No, this is the second time in the past few minutes.”
    Nick took her head into his hands and kissed her forehead. “I love you.”
    Before she could return the comment, he was out the door. She smiled. It had taken him almost ten years to get those three words out of his mouth. Now, after months and months of therapy, he could recite them without hesitation. He would say it proudly, in front of company, just to prove to her how healed he was. But she knew PTSD had its claws in him and it wasn’t ready to let go, no matter how many “I love yous” he could blurt out.
    Julie covered Thomas with a blanket and checked the volume on his wireless monitor. She quietly left the bedroom and closed the door behind her. Nick came rushing out of their bedroom, his phone to his ear. As he passed her in the hall, he whispered, “The White House.”
    Julie watched him hustle down the stairs, two steps at a time. At the base of the stairs, he turned the corner and scrambled into his office. She heard him say, “Yes, sir,” with a wide awake voice.
    Then the door to his office closed and Julie knew he was leaving again. This time she knew he wasn’t ready. He needed more time to recover from his last episode. She leaned back against the wall and her legs gave way as she slid down to the