Page 151 of Daddy’s Fortitude

Oh, fuck. He really was an idiot, wasn’t he?

Aimee rolled around in bed, desperately trying to sleep.

But it wasn’t easy. She kept thinking about Ammo’s face after she’d told him that it was time for him to leave.

It was crazy because she hadn’t expected that reaction from him. She thought he’d be glad to leave. Surely he had to understand why she couldn’t be around him.

So why had he put on his running gear and stormed out of the house the way he had? And why hadn’t he come back yet? Maybe he was never coming back. Maybe this was it.

He was just gone.

But he hadn’t taken any of his stuff. And the last time she’d checked, his truck was still parked outside.

She shouldn’t have said anything, and she wouldn’t have if it wasn’t for the threat from those guys.

Remember, you’re doing this to keep him safe.

It wasn’t to hurt him or make him angry.

He probably thought that the way she’d told him to leave after everything he’d done for her was rude. Yeah, that was likely it.

And really, she couldn’t blame him for that. Maybe one day he’d forgive her.

Perhaps once she turned up dead in a ditch after failing to pay the thirty thousand to those assholes.

She’d even changed into her Garfield pajamas in an effort to relax and comfort herself. Unfortunately, they weren’t helping.

A sudden smashing noise made her sit up. What was that? Was Ammo back? Had he broken something? Maybe he hadn’t turned on the lights and had knocked into something.

The outside porch light no longer worked, so she hadn’t been able to leave a light on outside for him. She’d left one on in the kitchen out back.

There was no other noise though, so maybe she’d imagined it, or perhaps he’d hurt himself. No, she better go check that he was all right. Getting up, she slipped a sweatshirt on top of her pajamas and put her feet into slippers.

As she headed out of the bedroom, she heard another smashing noise come from the living room.

What was going on? Had someone thrown a rock through the window?

And then she smelled it.

Smoke.

And more noise. Like crackling. She moved further down the hallway, and she saw it coming from the kitchen. It was bright. It was hot.

And it held her in a frozen grip of terror.

Fire!

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Both the kitchen and the living room were on fire!

Aimee rushed back into the bedroom, bypassing the front door. She knew she should get out, but she needed Kevin and Owly McOwlFace. She couldn’t leave without them!

With a sob, she raced over to the cage and grabbed Kevin, putting him into the front pocket of her hoodie, and then she grabbed Owly McOwlFace. But when she turned back to the door, she knew she wasn’t going to get out that way. It would be faster to head out the window.

Grabbing the window, she tugged at it before she realized it was firmly stuck. Stupid window. Why hadn’t she fixed it already? What an idiot she was. This was going to come back to haunt her, wasn’t it? Or maybe she was going to come back to haunt this fucking house once it was razed to the ground and she was dead.

What was she going to do? She looked around for something to smash the window with. But there was nothing. Getting down onto the floor, she coughed, tears streaming down her face. She placed Kevin on the floor, hoping he’d find a way out.