Consequences ( Book 3 in the Hijacked Of Innocence Series)

Chapter 68. My Purple Pain

Eric thought that the hardest thing he ever did was walk away from Tanya, or did she walk away from him?  But the hardest of all was being away from his kids.  He could live without Tanya, he realized, but could he live without his kids? No he could not.  They needed him as much as he needed them.  They were his sanity.  Their existence proved  that what he had with Tanya...bad and good was not just a dream, but quite real. 

In a few days it would be Ericka's 5th birthday and a week from that  EJ was turning one... his very  first birthday.  Both of his kids were March babies.  Him and Tanya use to joke about when not to have sex, if they didn't want a baby. 

He wanted to go home, but something was telling him, no not yet.  He reached for the phone and dialed a number.  "Hello? Hello? Who is this?" She kept saying.  But he couldn't answer.  It was as if he was struck dumb.   Her voice just cinched his heart.  He literally felt pain in his heart at hearing her voice.   Eric  quickly hung up.  What is wrong with me? Why did I dial that fucking number to the apartment? Will I ever get over her?"  

He needed to be alone.  He decided to go for a run on the trails near the B&B.   He needed to clear his head.  Eric lost track of how long he ran.  It was nightfall before he got back to the B&B.  

Pete greeted him somewhat relieved to see him.  "I was worried, I was just about to call in reinforcement to go look for you," he joked.  But Eric took one look at everyone's face including Ida and Frank and knew it was no joke.  This was was the south and he was a man of color.  People like him go missing or dead everyday.

"I am sorry.  The trails are great for running, I just lost track of the time. It won't happen again." He apologized.  

"Good, I don't want crazy Linden coming after me if something happens to you on my watch." 

Eric was shocked to hear that.  "Linden?! You know Linden?" 

Pete smiled.  "Yeah, I know the bugga...small world and your uncle has long arms.  We played soccer in college.  He was one of the best."   

Eric shook his head still not understanding.  "How did you make the connection between me and my uncle?"

"He called me out of the blue.  I think he is keeping track of  you Eric...not a bad thing with everything happening in this country.  You obviously  mean a hell of a lot to the dude."  

Eric recalled the conversation he had with his uncle.  

'So what is the dude's name you are working with?' 

'Pete...Peter  Houlihan.  He is the project manager."  

'Houlihan? Spelt  H-O-U-L-I-H-A-N?'

'Yeah, just like that...why?' 

 'Hmm, I think I went to school with a guy by that name.  Where is he from?'

'I think Kentucky.'

Eric shook his head.  'He picked my fucking brain and did a background check on Pete, and probably everyone  on the team and even Ida and Frank.'

Next day as the gang broke for lunch, Eric went looking for Pete.  He found him stretched out under a tree, drinking a diet soda.  Eric shook his head.  Pete ate like a horse, yet here he was  drinking a diet soda thinking that would help him to lose weight.  

"What's up?" Pete asked.

"Just wondering what is a hedge fund manager doing here building houses."

Pete, looked away as if he was caught doing something wrong, then he looked back at Eric.