The Dog, The Baby and The Criminal

Chapter 2

Evangeline

I quickly recovered myself from my shocked, frozen state, and ran over to the crying baby and picked them up. How could someone leave a baby on their own like this? The baby was freezing, and its blanket was soaked through, their nose was slightly purple from how cold it was. I took my coat off and wrapped the baby up in it to try and warm it up. With Milo close behind, I started speed walking back to my apartment, it was too dangerous to run holding a baby with the snow practically frozen over. I needed to careful so I wouldn't slip and hurt the baby. The poor little thing was crying so much, they must be terrified. I patted around my pocket with the arm that wasn't holding the baby in search of my phone, I must have left it at home.

I got to the back door of my apartment in record time, I quickly unlocked the door and made my way inside, kicking the door shut behind me. I debated between calling the police first or warming this little baby up, I decided on the latter, my phone and the police would still be there after, my main priority was making sure this baby was okay, I worked as a nurse in a children's hospital so I knew what to do. I made my way through the apartment and into the room I never thought I'd have to use, my son's.

I put the baby in the crib and quickly looked them over for any sign of injury and to work out how old they are, they looked no more than a month old, there wasn't any visible injuries but he was still quite cold so I needed to warm him up. I opened a pack of nappies and grabbed one to change him, a boy, I can use some of Alexander's clothes. I took a white vest and blue baby grow out of the wardrobe, they looked as though they would fit him and quickly changed him, putting his wet clothes and diaper in a bag. I wrapped him in a blanket and picked him up, holding him close to my chest, trying to share my body heat. He was still crying so I rocked him back and forth hoping it would soothe him. After a couple of minutes he stopped crying and was just staring up at me, I couldn't help but smile back at him.

I made my way into the bathroom and saw my phone sitting next to the sink. I dialled 999 and walked back into the kitchen as I waited for an operator.

"999 what's your emergency?" a woman answered. "Hi, I was walking my dog through the forest next to my apartment and found a baby, he was alone and crying and soaked through, I had some baby clothes and nappies and changed him, but I have no idea what to do now" I rushed out all in one breath. There was a pause on the other side. "One moment please" the woman said in a scared kind of voice and put the line on hold. "Erm okay?" I said unsurely, are they supposed to put you on hold? I looked down at the baby to see him asleep, he reminds me of Alexander, I thought with a small smile.

After a minute or two someone came to the other end of the line, only it was a man and he sounded angry, "what's your address?" he said. "Apartment 1A, the apartments on Mariner Road" I said. "We'll be there shortly", before I could say anything else the line went dead, I was shocked but maybe that was normal, I've never actually phoned the emergency services before, even when my ex got dragged out by the police it was a neighbour that phoned them, not me.

Milo nudging my legs brought me out of my thoughts, I leaned down to unfasten his coat with my free hand and give him a quick pat on the head, if it wasn't for him we wouldn't have found the little baby boy in my arms, I'll have to reward him with all of his favourite treats as soon as this was all over. He was such a good dog, and now he was a here too.

After stroking Milo some more I decided to go and put the baby in the crib so he could sleep. I had made my way back into Alexander's room and put the baby in the crib, I just couldn't help but imagine if this was my Alexander, and I hadn't just found him in the middle of the forest, but I had just finished feeding him and was putting him down for a rest. It was a nice thought, but that's all it was.

Someone banging on my door startled me out of my thoughts, I made my way to the door and opened it up. When I opened the door I was very shocked to see not a police officer like I expected, but three dangerous looking men, all of them were at least six foot and dressed in black suits, one stood at the front right in front of my door, and the other two behind him. He looks scary.

Before I could look at any other features the man pushed past me, I had to steady myself on the door frame to stop myself from falling. "WHERE IS HE!" the man yelled, I flinched, why is he yelling? He turned to me "I. Said. Where. Is. He?", the man seethed, "Are you here for the police sir? Are you a detective of some sort, because if not I'm going to have to ask you to leave" I was surprised that I even managed to say that many words, I was stunned at this mans behaviour, and if he was with the police he definitely should not be acting like this, it wasn't like I kidnapped the baby, I rescued it.

"I'm looking for my son, you either tell me where he is, or you don't even want to know what's going to happen to you" the man spoke with so much anger that I couldn't help but flinch, it reminded me of my ex.

As if Milo could sense my distress, he came barrelling into the room growling at the men. The man then looked at me and then back at Milo and smirked, there was nothing nice about the smirk, it was pure evil. The man pulled a small gun out of his pocket and aimed it at Milo's head. I was mortified, I didn't know what to do but I could not let him hurt Milo, I couldn't live without him. What had we done to this man? I'd happily show him his son, there was no need for violence.

"Sir, please don't hurt my dog, he's just very protective" I paused as he pulled back the trigger, I started to cry, "Are you the man I spoke to on the phone? If you are I'll take you to the baby, but please don't hurt my dog, there's no need for violence" by the end of my sentence I was sobbing, I couldn't help it, the thought of losing Milo was unbearable, I knew I would one day but I couldn't right now, not like this.

"Tell the mutt to stop growling" the man said, still holding the gun at Milo's head, the other two men just stood in silence as if they were waiting for an order or something. "Milo" I said, my voice cracking, he turned to look at me, "it's okay, go lay down", I said softly, he just looked back and forth between me and the man holding the gun, "Milo, it's okay" he took one last unsure look at me and the men before jumping onto the couch and laying down, he didn't stop staring at the men though, he was ready to pounce on them at any moment.

"Now, take me to my son, or I'll shoot you and the dog" he said it so calmly, as if threatening to end someone's life was normal. I thought again, why is he being so aggressive? There isn't any need for it. I nodded and gestured for him to follow me, once we reached Alexander's bedroom, I opened the door and walked inside, pointing to the crib.

The man who has been doing all the talking walked towards the crib and picked his sleeping son up, he looked down at his son in such a loving caring way, that for that moment you wouldn't think he had just been threatening to end Milo's and my life.

This moment was short lived because as soon as he looked back up, he was stone cold and emotionless. The look on his face was terrifying. Ruthless.

"Grab her" he said to the other two men. "What? Why? I haven't done anything, please I found him in the forest, I save-" I tried to argue, but before I could finish I felt one of the men inject something into my neck I grabbed my neck and started to get really dizzy. I stumbled backwards, trying to get away but before I could take another step, the other man flung me over his shoulder.

The last thing I seen was Milo barking desperately behind us trying to chase after the men, but before he could get to me, one of the quiet men kicked him and slammed the door shut in his face.

Everything went black after that.

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1622 words

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