The Dangerous Way Home

By L. R. Farren

Family is worth so much more than money.

At least that’s what John Silva’s wife keeps telling him. But she just doesn’t understand the extra money he makes at his night job will give them a better home, a better neighborhood. A better life!

Until one fateful night as John walks home from work, he witnesses a murder. And the killers don’t intend to let anyone identify them.

It’s a long night with John on the run. All he wants is to see his family again.

So he must outsmart and outmaneuver the men chasing him—or he’ll die trying.

• Language: English
• Publisher: L. R. Farren
• Release date: Feb 24, 2018
• ISBN: 9781386601449

L. R. Farren

L. R. Farren is a huge fan of story and wields its potent magic with great wisdom and respect. When he isn’t throwing his protagonists into seemingly impossible situations just to challenge their self-destructive misbeliefs, he loves to study the craft of writing. For fun, he reads the occasional tale of tragedy, tribulation and triumph. His favorite tools of the trade include a fountain pen, high quality paper and a manual typewriter. He lives in the heart of Dixie, loves his family and friends, and laughs often with them. He cherishes two of the most important days in his life—the day he was born, and the day he discovered why. He encourages others to pursue their dreams, to never give up, and believes that a life lived with purpose is the key to true fulfillment. His greatest passion is seeing people transformed through the unique power of story as they experience the divine transformation of fictional heroes and heroines.

Book preview

Chapter One

John packed his dinner into a gray steel lunch box while half listening to the six o’ clock news.

A velvet-smooth female voice droned on about how a gun battle between rival gangs claimed the lives of two teenage boys and a middle-aged man who got caught in the crossfire while walking his dog. John shook his head. Good grief, what a way to leave this world. You can’t even walk your dog around here anymore without risking your own life. Wait a minute. Could that news lady be talking about the crime scene I had to cross the street to avoid last night?

His mind was stuck on the disturbing incident he’d walked past the evening before, just two blocks away from his apartment building.

A group of uniformed and plain-clothes police officers conferred in small groups, pointing at the street and broken store windows, taking down hurried notes in little black notebooks. Two-way radios echoed up and down the street with shrill beeps and distorted voices chattering in a complex code of acronyms and numbers. Patrol cars with flashing lights sat in the middle of the street. Crime scene tape wrapped around utility poles cordoned off a section of the sidewalk, and yellow plastic tent cards with black numbers on them marked places where spent cartridge casings had ejected from a semiautomatic weapon and landed on the concrete.

He harrumphed. "Yeah. What a fabulous neighborhood."

Crimes like those had become a regular occurrence in the Terrence district, where John lived with his wife, Lisa, and his eighteen-month-old daughter, Gabrielle, nicknamed Gabby. The neighboring Morey Park district of Wynfield City boasted the highest crime rate for several years running. The crime epidemic seemed to be spreading into Terrence, making it a much more dangerous place to live—and raise a family—than it was a year earlier.

He’d heard about how some people in other high crime cities leave their homes with a small pistol, a .38 special, .380 or 9mm, tucked inside their belts. They had their guns at the ready just in case someone tried to attack them before they even stepped onto the sidewalk. He’d considered buying a pistol for protection, but with a young daughter running around the house, the risk she might find it was just too high. Becoming a father changed the way he made every decision. Gabby depended completely upon her daddy to keep her safe—even from potential dangers within the home.

John grew world-weary of hearing all the bad news spewing from the TV like raw sewage that threatened to fill the whole apartment and drown them all—him, his wife, and his daughter. He feared they would all die in their shabby apartment before he got a chance to build a better life for them. Working hard to get the family out of Terrence became John’s number one goal.

He called to Lisa, Turn it off.

She shouted back, What?

Turn off the TV. I’m gettin’ ready to leave. He wanted at least a few moments’ break from the relentless deluge of bad news before he went to work.

The TV blipped off, temporarily stopping the flow of reports of murders, robberies, and three-alarm house fires from flooding the apartment. He already knew how much of a cesspool he lived in; he didn’t need an emotionless talking head on a TV screen reminding him over and over again.

I’m workin’ my butt off to get us out of the neighborhood, he muttered to himself. In a louder tone, he said, Li? I’m headin’ to work now.

He headed for the door. Lisa stepped in front of him; she held Gabby on her hip. She acted like she was trying to stop him from leaving. John didn’t blame Lisa for wanting to keep him at home. The evening edition of bad news must have frightened her as much as it did him.

Caro, do you really have to go to work tonight?

Unfortunately.

Muffled shouting voices of a man and a woman followed by deep banging sounds from the apartment next door drew their attention, causing them to stop talking. They glared at the wall as if to say, Can you two keep it quiet over there? They looked back at each other and rolled their eyes.

It would be nice just to get away from that commotion.

Gabby tugged at her ear and whined, then rolled her head around her mother’s shoulder. John’s heart melted when he saw her do that. Seeing Gabby agonizing with any kind of pain made John agonize with her. Poor babydoll.

Look at our sick little girl, John. Her ear infection came back again. She needs her daddy. Lisa stared up at John with puppy dog eyes and pouty lips. She moved in closer and tried to hand Gabby over to him. Please call in sick tonight.

John took a step back. At that moment, he wanted so badly to hold Gabby all night and soothe her. And if he did take her out of Lisa’s arms, he definitely would have called in. But he needed to get to work if they were ever going to get out of that apartment. He set his lunch box down, laid his hands on her shoulders, and locked his gaze with hers. Not the puppy dog eyes. You know I can’t say no when you look at me like that. And those pouty little lips of yours are even harder to refuse.

Lisa’s eyes lit up; she grinned. So you’ll stay home?

He sighed. He wanted nothing more than to stay with her and Gabby. He loved them both with a ferocity that he never dreamed he was capable of. He loved them with a love that nobody had ever expressed to him—not even when he was a little boy.

But he had to do everything he could to move them out of the city. That meant earning as much money as possible.

You know I can’t do that, Li. Not now. I’ve got to work.

C’mon, John. I know better than that. Your maintenance job is making enough money for us to live pretty well. Why don’t you just quit your second job?

John dropped his hands. Li, we’ve been through this before. My second job is what’s gonna get us out of here. He looked around the living room, paying particular attention to the water-stained ceiling and the peeling wallpaper. Out of this apartment. Out of Terrence. Don’t you want a house with a white picket fence and a backyard where Gabby can play without us worrying about her catching a stray bullet?

Lisa gasped. John Luigi Silva. I can’t believe you just said that. Don’t even think it. She pulled Gabby in close.

I’ve got to work. Just for a little while longer.

John brushed Gabby’s cheek. She winced and pulled away in response to his touch. She continued to whine and wriggle around in Lisa’s arms. Lisa sighed and shrugged as if to say, okay, you’re right, John.

Besides, you did call the doctor for the refill on Gabby’s ear medicine, didn’t you?

Lisa nodded yes. John swallowed a burn of frustration. He just wished she could understand why he had to have his second job. "I’d still have to leave right now and take the bus to the pharmacy to pick up the medicine. I’d be right next to the Dooley building anyway. I might as well pick up a few hours while I’m there. You have one more dose of ear medicine here. You can give to her. And by the time she’s ready for more, I’ll be home with it

Lisa gave him a look as if to say, nice try on justifying going to work, buster. John read it loud and clear. He anticipated another objection. Instead, she nodded; he took that as a good sign.

Maybe she sees things my way now.

You’re right. But that doesn’t mean I have to like you working nights. This neighborhood, this whole city, is getting worse and worse. It’s just not safe to go out at night anymore. Even if you do take the bus to work.

My point exactly. That’s why I need to stick it out for one more year cleanin’ restrooms so we can get out of all this. Do you think I enjoy scrubbin’ toilets and urinals for just a few bucks an hour?

Lisa shook her head. Probably not. Even though you do a fantastic job of keeping ours clean. They shared a laugh.

John sobered and