“I don’t understand what’s happening,” Ally sniffed, giving me a questioning look. “Why did Thatcher bring me here? What am I missing? Why wasn’t I safe in the house?”
“Ally,” I exclaimed, as I suddenly looked down at her arm, and spotted a dressing around her wrist. Instantly, I thought of the night she took the pills in the bath, and a sinking feeling settled inside me. “What’s happened to your wrist.”
“My wrist?” She asked, looking almost surprised by my question like she’d forgotten it was hurt. She looked down at the dressing too then released a long, sad sigh. “It was Jacob. He got angry with me this morning. He grabbed my wrist and broke the bracelet I was wearing. It cut into me, but he didn’t even care. He just… he squeezed tighter… If Thatcher hadn’t interrupted us…”
“Why didn’t you call me?” I asked, turning to Thatcher once more, feeling my blood boil with anger. I pushed up from the floor, suddenly feeling like a caged animal. I wanted to go and beat the crap out of Jacob there and then.
“Ally didn’t want me to,” he replied, looking almost like he’d regretted listening to her. “She refused to call.”
“I didn’t know if it was a test,” she said, as her face flushed with embarrassment as once more, her tears began to flow. “I thought maybe Jacob was testing me… I’m so sorry.”
“You’ve nothing to be sorry for,” I reassured her as I rushed back towards her and dropped back down in front of her, giving her a warm smile as I took hold of her hand. Looking down at the bandage on her wrist again, I turned to Travis. “Can you check her wrist, Trav. Make sure that she’s okay.”
“Sure,” he said as he quickly turned and disappeared down the hallway towards his room, returning moments later with his medical bag. I quickly moved to let Travis have a closer look at Ally’s arm.
“How bad is it?” I asked once he’d removed the dressing.
“She’s lucky,” he said after a few moments, looking up at me. “It’s deep. A little to the right, and he would have punctured an archery. She could have bled to death.”
“I’m going to fucking kill him!” I hiss as I stood up and headed straight for the door. “He’s not getting away with it this time.”
“What! No!” Travis cried, and he jumped to his feet, beating me to the doorway to the hall before I could reach it. He stood in my way, refusing to move. “I can’t let you do that, Jax.”
“Trav, so help me, God,” I hissed, pinning my brother with a look that said I wasn’t even close to joking. “If you don’t get out of my way…”
“You’ll what?” Travis asked, still refusing to move. “You’ll kick my ass too. And what about Ally?”
“I NEED TO DO THIS FOR ALLY,” I yell angrily. “I need to make sure he never puts a hand on her again.”
“Not like this,” Travis sighs. “You need to do this right.”
“Jaxson,” Ally said, from where she was sitting on the sofa. “Please.”
I turned to look at her, and I felt torn. I wanted so much to teach that piece of shit a lesson, but I knew I needed to show her that I was nothing like him. That I could listen to her, consider her wishes.
“Jax,” Thatcher said, as he too stood up and turned to me. “There is more you should hear before you make any decision.”
“Okay, so, tell me,” I replied, knowing Thatcher well enough to tell by the look on his face that what he had to say was not good.
“Today, after I walked in on … a disagreement between Ally and Wallace,” Thatcher began, his eyes flicking towards Ally for a moment. “I knew that Jacob was losing it. The way he’d manhandled Ally, the casual way he wiped the blood from his hands like she didn’t even matter, I knew then you were right; Ally wasn’t safe with this animal. I wanted to call you then, but Ally refused, so I went to talk to Lynn. I figured she’d knew more than she was saying.”
“I don’t know if you can trust her,” I said, knowing that while I was at the house, Lynn was always watching, and something told me she liked to report back to Jacob.
“Maybe not before,” Thatcher said, surprising me. “But the thing is, yesterday when she arrived back at the house. I overheard a conversation between her and Jacob, and I knew, whatever loyalties this woman had to Jacob, were gone. I could hear it in her voice. He wanted to know if he could still trust her, but she seemed uncertain. She said what he was doing was wrong, and she didn’t want to be a part of it. She said she would stay for the holidays, but then she was done.”
“So, you talked to her?” I sighed, knowing I needed to hear everything. So, I walked back across the room and sat down next to Ally while Travis returned to dressing her wrist once more. I looked up at Thatcher expectantly. “What did she tell you?”
“Jax, there never was a stalker,” Thatcher said, almost flooring me with this new piece of information. “Wallace set the whole thing up. He’s hired some asshole to follow her, take some pictures. He thought it would scare her, and finally, he would have complete control over her every movement. Lynn said Jacob told her he needed to keep her away from some girl called Teddy because she was trouble; that she would come between them, and that if their marriage was to break up, it could harm his political career badly.”
“He paid someone to scare her?” I said, trying to wrap my head around what he’s just told me. “Why would he do something like that? He’s supposed to love her.”
“Because believe it or not,” Thatcher sighed deeply. “Getting a divorce and running for office don’t really go hand in hand in Washington. You’d be surprised the lengths some politicians go to, to stop their wives from divorcing them even if they are banging half of Washington. Divorce show weakness. And no one running for office wants to show any weakness.”
“But Ally wasn’t even looking for a divorce,” Travis said, looking up from what he was doing. “I don’t get it.”
“Jaxson was a game-changer,” Thatcher replied, and I sickening feeling settled in my gut. “Jacob knew Ally was in love with Jax, and that there was nothing he could do to win her back. He knew it was just a matter of time before she left him. That’s when Lynn overheard a conversation between Jacob and some guy called Mike Farrell.”
“What was the conversation?” I asked, not sure I really wanted Ally to hear his reply. Thatcher hesitated for a moment before he spoke.
“She said that this Mike guy had joked that the voters might be a little more sympathetic if Ally died at the hands of her crazy stalker than if Jacob was just to let her leave him for another man,” Thatcher said, and I could feel Ally still beside me, and I knew she was completely freaking out. “To which Jacob replied, maybe he needed to give Stroll a call. He might know someone who owed him a favour.”
“He wants to kill me?” Ally asked, and I could hear the panic in her voice, and I instinctively I reached for her hand, holding it tightly.
“He is never going to hurt you,” I say as I reached up and pulled her face towards mine. “I promise you.”
“But what if you can’t stop him?” She whispered as tears trickled down her face once more. “Why would he do this?”
“I honestly don’t know, Ally,” Thatcher replied to her question, giving her a sad smile. “When he realised Lynn had overheard the conversation, he panicked. He told her that maybe she needed to take some time off and sent her to visit her parents. Her father was never sick. She said when he told her that maybe she needed to go see them, that she needed to spend time with them while they were still around. She thought it was a veiled threat, so she left because she was scared. The thing is; this isn’t the first time he’s pulled something like this before. Lynn said that his family had to pay off a girl when he was in college. He was obsessed with her, and it didn’t end well. His mother had to intervene. As for that guy, Harry, he isn’t good news. Lynn said that he had taken care of things for Jacob before. She said he isn’t a good guy.”
“Where is she now?” I asked, worried that Jacob might actually follow through with his threat and hurt her for
telling Thatcher what she heard.
“Jacob was still with his guests when we left,” Thatcher explained. “Lynn had her bag packed, ready to leave once the party was over, and I dropped her to the bus station before we came here.”
“Jax,” Travis said as he finished up Ally’s dressing. “You need to call the cops. Call Richie Monroe. He needs to know what the hell is happening. He needs to stop this before Jacob realises that she’s gone because you know he will come straight here.”
“He’s right,” Thatcher said. “If he hasn’t already realised that she’s gone, he will soon. This will be the first place he will look for her.”
“Then I should go,” Ally said suddenly, pulling her hand from mine, before pushing up from the sofa, looking like she was ready to bolt. “I’m putting you all in danger by being here. I need to leave.”
“You’re not going anywhere,” I said, jumping up from the sofa too. “At least not without me.”
“But he is going to come here,” she exclaimed, her eyes filled with complete and utter terror. “You don’t know Jacob. None of you do. He is smart and sly. He can do whatever he wants, and no one can stop him. How could I have been so stupid not to have known any of this before now? How could I have been so stupid? Don’t you see, I need to go. Just by being here, I’m putting you all in danger.”
“Then we’ll go somewhere safe,” I said, taking hold of her hands, knowing it was the only thing I could do to calm her down. “We’ll leave tonight. Go somewhere he’ll never find us.”
“Travis has to come too,” she said like this was non-negotiable. I stepped forward and kissed her forehead.
“Travis will come too,” I assured her with a smile before I turned to look at my brother. “Go pack a bag. We are leaving here in five minutes.”
“Okay,” Travis nodded before he turned and hurried back down the hallway towards his room.
“What about you?” I asked Thatcher, knowing when Jacob didn’t find Ally here, Thatcher would be his next port of call.
“That son-of-a-bitch doesn’t scare me,” Thatcher said as he gave me a look of determination. “But when you do talk to Richie, you better tell him he’ll need to talk to me too. This asshole needs to be stopped.”
“Sure,” I said, turning to look at Ally and kiss her head once more. “I’m just going to gather a few things. I have a bag ready, but I need one or two other bits. I’ll be right back.”
“Okay,” she nodded, but I knew it was taking everything she had, not to fall apart.
I turned and hurried to my room, heading straight to my closet. I packed a few extra t-shirts for Ally, as I knew she wouldn’t have had time to pack anything. We could sort her out some proper clothes in the morning.
Then I opened the trunk in the bottom of my closet and grabbed a couple of handguns, loading them both, before sticking one down the waist of the back of my trousers, and one into the bag I’d packed. Finally, I packed some extra cartridges and some other equipment I might need before I headed back out to the living room.
“Are you ready to go?” I asked Ally, giving her a questioning look, as Travis also emerged from his room. Before she could reply, the sound of the buzzer rang out around the apartment, and instant Ally began to panic.
“THAT’S JACOB!” She exclaimed frantically, as tears pooled in her eyes. “He’s here. I know it’s him! He knows I’m here.”
“It’s okay,” I assured her. “He can’t get past the front door without me buzzing him in. We’re going to take the elevator straight down to the underground car park. Again, he can’t get in there without a code. We will be long gone before he can get in here.”
She nodded, but she didn’t speak. It was almost like she couldn’t say a word.
I reached down and grabbed hold of her hand, then gave her a reassuring smile.
“Everything is going to be okay,” I assured her once more. “I promise. Now, let’s get out of here.”
As we walked out the door of my apartment, heading towards the elevator, the buzzing started once more, and this time it didn’t stop. As the doors closed, I wrapped my arms around Ally, pulling her closer to me as the elevator descend down through the build. Each level we went down, Ally trembled more with fear, so I just held her closer to me.
When we reached the parking garage, I stepped out first, checking that there was no one hanging around. Once I was happy that the coast was clear, I hurried Ally to the car, followed closely by Travis and Thatcher.
“Thatch,” I said as I stood at the driver’s door. “Get in. You can come back for your car.”
“No,” he shook his head. “I’ll wait here. I will keep an eye on things and let you know what’s going on.”
“No,” Ally cried from the front seat of the car before she climbed back out. “Please come with us.”
“I’ll be okay, Ally,” Thatcher assured her with a smile. “I will keep out of sight.”
Then he looked back over at me.
“Now, get out of here,” he said, giving me a reassuring smile. “Before it’s too late.”
We climbed into the car, and I started the engine, but I didn’t put on the lights. I moved slowly towards the exit hitting the fob to open the doors. As I eased the car out onto the street, I glanced down towards the front door, and sure enough, there was Jacob, and he wasn’t alone. There were four other men with him. Two I recognised as asshole Harry, his friend who I really didn’t like, and Will Farrell, the guy he’d hired as his campaign manager and another piece of work. I didn’t recognise the other guys, but judging by the size of them, they were the muscle that was going to teach me a lesson.
As we drove away unnoticed, I saw Jacob in the rear-view mirror, and he looked like he was completely losing his shit, and I knew then, this thing was far from over.
Chapter 21
Ally
As the elevator comes to a stop, Jaxson reached down and took hold of my hand once more before leading me out into the hallway. We walked down towards our rooms in silence, stopping when we reached the right ones.
“I guess I’m across the hallway,” Travis said, as he turns to look at Jaxson and me. “I will see you guys in the morning.”
“Good night, Travis,” I whispered, knowing that everything that was happening to Jaxson and his brother was all my fault. I step forward, giving him a tight hug. “I’m so sorry for everything.”
“You’ve nothing to be sorry for,” he whispered back as he hugged me tightly too. “I just want you to be safe.”
“Thank you,” I replied, releasing him from my embrace, before giving him a weak smile.
“Good night, Ally,” he replied, smiling back at me and then nodded at Jaxson as he stepped back, turning and disappearing into his room.
“We should get you inside,” Jaxson said quietly from behind me as he slipped the card into the lock to my room. Once it was open, Jaxson stepped back, letting me walk inside before he followed me in, and closed the door behind us.
“This is your room,” Jaxson said as he walked across the room, headed towards the door that adjoins this room to the one next door. “And I will be right through there. So, should you need me? I’ll be right next door all night.”
“Thank you,” I said, watching him closely, still standing near the door, and for some reason, I suddenly felt very self-conscious and a little shy, as my eyes pool with tears once more, before a sob escaped from deep inside me. “Jax, I’m so sorry for causing all this trouble…”
“Ally,” he said, closing the distance between us with three large steps, before taking my face in his hands. “You never have to say sorry to me. Especially not for any of this. I’m just glad you felt you could come to me tonight.”
“But I was so horrible to you that night in the kitchen…” I whispered, looking up into his eyes.
“None of that matters now,” he replied with a smile as he brushed across my cheek with the pad of his thumb, wiping away my tears. “Right now, is all that matters. You are here;
safe from him, safe from that life that was killing you; that’s all I care about right now.”
I stare up into his eyes, wondering how the hell I managed to find someone like him, just when I needed him the most.
“I think maybe you should try to get some rest,” he said as he leaned forward, kissing me on the forehead before he turned and walked back towards the bed, pulling back the bedclothes. “It’s been an emotional, long day. I will call Richie… um, Detective Monroe, and bring him up to speed. I just want you to know; you’re safe in this room. There is no way he could ever find you here.”
“Okay,” I said, still not moving further into the room. “But I… I have nothing else except this dress to wear…”
“I thought of that,” he said with a smile as he turned quickly and walked to his bag that was sitting next to the connecting door to his room. Reaching into the bag, he pulled out a crisp, white t-shirt before he turned and handed it to me. “I brought this for you.”
My eyes drop to the t-shirt, surprised by what he’d done.
“It’s clean,” he assured me, holding it out closer to me, then gave me a big smile. “I promise.”
“I’m sure it is,” I reply with a laugh as I reached out and took it from his hand. Instinctively, I brought it to my face and breathed in the smell of Jaxson’s washing detergent, with the faintest lingering smell of his aftershave. “It smells like you.”
“Is that a bad thing?” He asked, giving me a broad smile.
“No,” I shake my head, feeling my face flush with embarrassment. “It’s not… thank you… for the t-shirt, I mean.”
“You’re very welcome,” he replied, smiling once more. “Good night, Ally, and Happy Thanksgiving.”
“Good night, Jax,” I whispered, holding his gaze for a few seconds before taking a step back. “Happy Thanksgiving to you too.”
Jaxson turned slowly before he walked towards the door as I reached back to try to undo the zipper on my dress. I quickly realised I couldn’t reach it by myself. I would need Jaxson’s help.
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