Free Silent Justice by John C. Dalglish

Kyle happy.
    Pulling into the driveway, he unfolded his six-foot, two-inch frame out of his Honda Civic. It got great gas mileage, but it made him stiff sitting in the little car. Shutting the door, he turned toward the house before realizing he’d forgotten his cooler.
    He opened the car door , bent to get the cooler, and felt a piercing pain in his side. Crashing against the car and dropping the cooler to the ground, he looked down at his side.
    In a dreamlike state, he was reminded of the Old West movies he watched as a kid. An arrow was sticking out of him.
     
    *******
     
    Sandy Strong had only been home about twenty minutes when the phone rang. The number on the caller ID was Jason.
    “Hi.”
    “Hey honey, it’s me. I’m getting ready to head home.”
    “Great, I’ll start dinner. How was your day?”
    “Interesting. I’ll fill you in at dinner. How about you?”
    Sandy did her best to keep a calm voice.
    “Same as usual. See you in a half hour?”
    “On my way, love you.”
    “Love you, too.”
    She wanted to say hurry home, can’t wait for you to get here, or maybe just burst out with the news, but she controlled herself.
    After they hung up, she took the steaks she had thawing and went out to the grill. Turning on the gas and sparking the flame, she laid the two porterhouse slabs on the grates, pulled down the lid , and went inside for some Mrs. Dash spice.
    After sprinkling the steaks with the spices, she went back to the kitchen, tore open a premade bag of salad, and dumped it in a large, red bowl. She put it on the table along with a couple different salad dressings. Some canned corn heated in the microwave rounded out the meal; not fancy, but it would serve the purpose.
    Sandy went out and flipped the steaks. As she stood watching them cook, she caught herself rubbing her stomach . She wondered how many times she would repeat the same motion over the coming months.
    Glancing at her watch, she took the steaks off while they were still bloody. She liked to tease Jason for wanting his steak so rare it was still crawling across the plate.
    Inside, the table was set , and she was just lighting candles when Jason came through the door.
    “Hello?”
    “In here,” she called.
    He came around corner and saw the laid -out table.
    “Wow, what’s this?”
    Sandy moved to her husband, gave him a peck, and hugged him, as she always did. She tried to ignore the danger in his job, and they never actually spoke about it other than in their early life together. It was easier to deal with his career since Jason was no longer on street patrol, but she still felt grateful every night when he came home.
    Especially tonight.
    Somebody else was glad to see him. Penny came padding into the room, and bumped against his leg.
    “Hi ya, girl. Looks like both my girls missed me today.”
    Jason went into the kitchen to wash up while Sandy doled out two plates of food. They sat at the table, Jason at the head, Sandy next to him, and ate quietly for a few minutes. Sandy broke the silence.
    “You were going to tell me about your day.”
    “I know, but this is nice, I don’t want to ruin it with work.”
    “Okay. Do you mind if I tell you about my day?”
    “Of course not. I would love to hear about your day.”
    Sandy put down her fork.
    “I had a doctor’s appointment today.”
    Jason stopped mid-bite, fork halfway to his mouth. Sandy couldn’t help laughing at his frozen pose. Finally, he set his fork down.
    “What kind of doctor?”
    “A baby doctor.”
    Sandy thought Jason was going to pass out.
    “And!”
    “And no one else, just the baby doctor.”
    She giggled.
    “Sandra Alison Strong, you’re a cruel woman!”
    “Okay, okay. We’re going to have a baby.”
    Jason lunged at her, his elbow landing in her salad, as he wrapped his arms around her. Sandy nearly pitched backward out of her chair , as the two of them laughed until they cried.
    O nce they had settled down, Jason peppered Sandy with