“Okay, okay, you win. The locket is up here.”
Pulling the vent away from the wall, it came out easily thanks to the aging plaster. Dropping it to the carpet, I went up on tiptoes, looking inside the cavity and spied an old jam jar of marbles. Why I put them in there years ago didn’t matter, what mattered now was getting Stella away from the gun.
One last attempt at survival Kelsey and if it didn’t work… that didn’t bear thought.
Reaching inside I wrapped my hand tightly around the jar and prayed.
Prayed for the man I loved without limits and for the baby we created out of that love.
“Without question I will always love you Jason Johnston,” I whispered so softly the words barely reached my own ear. “You gave me my life back.”
“Give it to me now!” my mother screamed at me, moving away from Stella giving me the perfect opening.
Mentally counting to three, I yelled at Stella. “Run Stella!” Then lifted the jar out and hefted its contents at mum hitting her with a barrage of solid glass bullets discombobulating her briefly and allowing Stella to scramble away from her and out of the room.
“Run Stella. Get help!” I begged, reaching back into the whole in the wall for anything I could find to toss at my mother, doing what I could to hold her off until help came.
Chapter 23
JASON
Closing the lid on the last box, the picture of Zoe and me on our wedding day disappeared behind the last flap of cardboard, my hands pressing hard down on the box.
“I will always love you, Nymph, you will always have a special place in my heart. It is time for me to move forward and experience all the things we wished for, all those years ago.” Tears pricked at my eyes, Zoe would never have wanted me to live a half-life to let the fear of the unknown rule me.
To be honest, if she could see me now, she would be pissed as hell at me. She would want me to take chances, go after the prize.
Kelsey and our baby, the ultimate prize I could have ever hoped for, and I nearly blew it all because I was a coward at the worst possible time.
“I’m leaping Zoe Poe. I love Kelsey, it’s a deep burning love Nymph. Not better than the way I love you, just different, deeper.”
Getting to my feet, I looked around my bedroom and smiled a genuine smile. Taking away the photos of Zoe, the small keepsakes I never gave to my mother, they were all going to Shiloh. I didn’t need them anymore, I had my memories of my first wife, and I would always cherish them. Kelsey owned my future, a brighter future than I had been facing before she showed me the happiness missing from my life. And love, so much love.
“Do me a favour Nymph and watch over her and the baby. Cut me some slack this time yeah?” I said, dropping my head back on my shoulders and looked up. “I promise I will be the best fucking father and husband the world has ever seen. Even better than Decker,” I added with a smirk, knowing Zoe would laugh at that one last dig at my brother.
Heading out of the room to the lounge, I heard a growled curse from Steel then a bottle smashing.
The hairs on the back of my neck pricked to attention.
Something was wrong.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck! Jason, Deck let’s go!” Steel shouted, meeting me in the hall.
“Booth called, Belinda escaped she has Kel—” Steel didn’t get to finish before I pushed passed him and through my house at a dead sprint. Exploding out of the back door, I bolted as fast as I could down the driveway, the sound of exhaust headers in the distance broke the silence of the quiet street.
My brothers were coming, but that didn’t stop my feet from eating up the distance to Kelsey’s house.
I heard Deck and Steel behind me as I made it to the other side of the street and down Kelsey’s driveway to the back door.
The screen door flew open and a pale faced Stella threw herself down the steps.
“Stells!” I cried, “Where is Kelsey?”
“Bedroom. Belinda has a gun,” Stella panted frantically.
“Go to Deck,” I ordered not stopping, dragging the screen door back open and ran in through the mudroom and kitchen to the hallway.
I was not thinking of anything except getting to Kelsey. The fact that I didn’t have my gun or any kind of weapon didn’t worry me, the rage boiling in me at the woman’s audacity to come here and hurt my woman and unborn child, I could kill her with my bare hands if I needed.
“Get the fuck away from me!” Kelsey’s indignant scream hit my ears just as I came to the entrance to her room. Standing on dresser drawers was the love of my life, terror and a good deal of anger marring her beautiful face. The floor was littered with debris; marbles, jewellery and broken shards of what used to be her grandmother’s porcelain doll ornaments.
“You mole, I will kill you and that bastard baby,” Belinda sneered, it was then I noticed the small black handgun pointed at Kelsey’s stomach.
“NO!” I roared bursting into the room, using the door frame as leverage to launch myself at Belinda, taking her by surprise as I tackled her to the ground.
“Jason! The gun!” Kelsey screamed. In my peripheral vision, I saw that Kelsey tottered dangerously on the drawers, one foot slipping on a hairbrush. .
“Mermaid don’t move!” I growled, as I wrestled with Belinda for the gun in her grip.
“Let me go, she ruined my life,” Belinda screeched loudly into my face, her foul breath close to vomit inducing. Being this close to her not something I ever wanted to do again.
“You never deserved someone as perfect as her,” I seethed, getting her hands over her head in an iron grip with just one hand. My other hand ripped the gun from hers, tossing it behind me.
“I hate you both. And that bastard she is carrying,” she spat at me, vile looking spittle gathering at the corners of her mouth resembling a rabid dog. The crap she said about my kid making me more furious than I had been in my life.
“Don’t talk about my child, don’t even think about him. You are going to prison for the rest of your pathetic life, I will make sure of that,” I raged at her, ignoring the police side of me. I had connections in the system and was not afraid to call in favours that would assure Belinda’s last and final stint in jail was the worst experience of her life.
“I was pretty until she came along. Men drooled over me once!” Belinda shouted crazily.
God I was so sick of this bitch’s voice, more than ready to shut her up for good.
Then I did something I never thought I would ever do in my life. Raising my fist back I clocked Belinda in the jaw, her eyes rolled back in her head then she went limp under me, the fight in her gone along with her consciousness.
“That’s a good thing because we hate you back, you crazy bitch,” I replied smugly, resisting the urge to spit in her face.
“Jason, oh my god honey,” Kelsey’s cry of relief sent me jumping to my feet, I let go of Belinda’s wrists with a hard shove. Happy to have my hands off her filthy hate-tainted skin.
“Mermaid,” I breathed in relief, making my way quickly to the dresser drawers she was standing on, then as quick as you could say jump, she did exactly that. Launching herself at me from over a metre up not even considering I wouldn’t catch her. Her trust in me that absolute.
“Kelsey,” I growled but tightened my arms around her shaking body and held on tight, feeling her heart beating rapidly against my chest.
“I thought… she… was going to kill us,” Kelsey sobbed into my shirt, her shaking increasing as she came down from the adrenaline rush of anger she was in the middle of when I first arrived to see the horror of her mother pointing a gun at her— shit the baby!
“Baby, our baby Kelsey?” Panic lacing my question.
“Shhh, the baby is fine, nothing happened to me, she didn’t touch me.” Kelsey soothed me, her hands in my hair stroking me there.
Sagging at her reassurance Belinda didn’t harm her or our baby, I took us both to the floor. Kelsey clung to me like a human monkey, her body limp i
n the comfort and safety of my embrace.
A commotion of heavy footsteps caught my attention, looking to the doorway where Steel stood looking shocked, then when his eyes landed on Belinda on the floor his nostril flared. Without a word from the VP, he ripped off his belt from the loops of his jeans and proceeded to bind the unconscious woman’s hands.
Relieved that even if she came to, she wouldn’t be able to try and hurt Kelsey again. Not that I would ever let that happen ever again. Coming in and seeing Kelsey’s life being threatened and the life of our child, fuck me, getting over that was going to take some time.
Warm hands, made their way under my shirt, bringing my focus back to my woman.
“Sweetheart, what went on? Why were you up there?” I asked rapidly, needing to know the ins and outs, the cop in me never far from the surface.
“Oh Jason, can I just enjoy being held by you before I have to talk about all that. I’d rather discuss when we are getting married, but be warned it will be before I give birth. I am not going to let our child be called that horrible word ever again,” Kelsey told me vehemently, and I had to agree with her on all points.
Marrying Kelsey, waiting for our baby to enter the world, I finally got it.
A sense of completion spread through me, even in the aftermath of the terror of minutes ago, I felt the fear I’d lived with since that fateful day was now over. Done. No longer my companion.
Pulling gently on her hair, I urged her head back so I could see the most beautiful eyes in the world. Jade green pools moist with tears sparkled back at me.
“I love you so damn much, you are my strength Kelsey. I want this baby, our baby.” I corrected myself, promising myself that I was never going to take a single thing for granted ever again. Zoe will always be a part of me, and the sadness of losing her will always be in me in some small way, just duller, less haunting.
“And?” she asked with a raised brow.
Laughing at her, I pressed a kiss to her sweet lips, taking a second to absorb her love.
“And yes, we will be married before the baby gets here, then I can spend the rest of my life worshipping and loving you,” I promised her.
“Well that does sound rather delicious. Can we start some of that worshipping now?” Her eyes dancing with a devilish gleam. It both astounded and concerned me how resilient Kelsey was.
“Maybe not yet brother, I’d rather not see your pasty naked arse.”
I let out a loud laugh, Deck’s droll comment putting an end to Kelsey’s plan.
“Maybe later,” she whispered against my lips.
“Definitely,” I agreed. “But first let’s take out the trash,” I suggested, looking at the prone, knocked out Belinda.
“Your place tonight?” Kelsey asked.
“Our place Mermaid, our place,” I corrected her.
The quiet of the early morning was always my favourite time of the day. The sun was still hiding, the moon disappearing in the lightening hues of the sky.
Quiet.
Peaceful.
The best time to mull over the dramatic events of the last twelve hours.
Once Booth calmed his unholy rage after being on the other end of the phone listening to Belinda threatening to shoot his wife, we called Jobe and waited for the police to arrive, ready to answer questions, get it over and done with so we could forget.
Forget but not forgive. Belinda and Callie were both going back to prison, the charges against them extensive and this time there wasn’t going to be a lenient parole period for either of them. With the phone call Booth had the presence of mind to record on his end, and the full confession from Callie, the evidence against them very substantial.
Once Callie bailed on Belinda, it hadn’t taken long for Mannix and Creed to pick up her trail. According to Booth they had previously had a tip off that Callie was seen driving the same car she’d used in the near hit and run on Kelsey and Memphis. Not a smart move, especially with the Wounded Souls looking for the car.
Admittedly, a stroke of luck had been on the boys’ side when they happened upon Callie walking down the main street of town half out of her mind on something she should not have taken when she really needed her wits about her.
One look at Creed’s steely face and she caved, gave up Belinda, the plan to steal the locket which by the way had a safety deposit combination etched into it. In that safety box apparently was over a million dollars in gold stocks, stocks Kelsey’s grandfather gave to his wife for an anniversary present back in 1968. So, what was a million then, was now realistically worth four or five million dollars.
Kelsey’s millions.
Callie had been so scared that Creed would hurt her, she begged him for mercy by telling him about the money, and that Belinda was in the process of hunting down my woman. Of course, Creed and Mannix didn’t know about my humiliating walk out of the hospital, so thinking Kelsey was safe with me, they first took Callie to the police station then let Booth know. Booth, called his wife to tell her the good news that Callie was safely at the police station, however, what he didn’t know was that his wayward wife had answered a distress call by my Kels and had taken off without a detail in her haste to rush to her friend’s side.
She was meant to be at the sweet shop, doing some last minute prep for the next day.
Booth at the club, a good twenty minutes away, lost his shit calling Steel with the news that Kelsey and Stella were in danger and to get to them immediately.
I could imagine the terror my Pres went through in that twenty minutes hearing his wife’s life was in the balance. I knew because I felt the same terror when I saw the gun pointed at Kelsey and our baby.
It was then, that moment seeing the deranged older woman and her intentions to kill her own daughter, it sealed my earlier clarity on my decision to tuck Zoe away into a corner of my heart and move forward. That Kelsey was the one and only, the reason I had been given a second chance at love and fatherhood.
A white Jeep Wrangler with the logo of Stella’s shop painted in shocking pink, pulled into my driveway. The tall large muscled body of my president cramped into the driver’s seat brought a wide smile to my lips.
“Looking good there Booth, pink is definitely your colour,” I teased him, laughing again at his middle finger gesture.
“Fuck off Jason. Saying no to my wife seems to be a problem for me,” he admitted ruefully, then glared at the pink and purple fluffy car seat covers he’d just evacuated from.
Sobering at the mention of Stella, I nodded my head.
“She good?” I asked.
“She is now,” he replied, his jaw tight. Knowing Booth the way I did, and everything Stella had already been through over the years, I knew my Pres would be struggling with all kinds of fucked up notions of guilt for not being there with her.
“We about done with drama you think?” Not just referring to Belinda and Callie but also thinking about Rogue, and the shit Booth and I did years ago to ensure Shiloh and the women were safe.
“We better fucking be brother. But yeah, I reckon it is all over. At least until the kids get older, I am not looking forward to finding out what Squirt has in store for us all when she grows up,” Booth said with seriousness, because it was serious. Shiloh Johnston was a force of nature, and with her list of her life’s accomplishments as they were… the Wounded Souls had a lot of headaches coming our way.
“Shit a brick,” I quipped, joining Booth with a burst of laughter then sobered when his grey eyes nailed me with an intense glare.
“And you brother? How are you going to handle becoming a father?”
Looking over my shoulder in the direction of my bedroom window, a soft glow penetrating the closed curtains. I pondered Booth’s question.
“I’m gonna love harder than I ever have, and thank Christ for the gift of Kelsey’s love she’s given me,” I answered honestly, thinking of not only her but our child too.
“Only way to love brother,” Booth replied simply. Giving me a chin lift,
he turned around and headed back to the Jeep. “Have tomorrow off mate, stay in bed with your woman and enjoy the love of a great woman. That’s what I plan on doing.”
With that he got in and slowly pulled out onto the road, heading back in the direction of the compound.
Looking up at the new day breaking, I smiled.
“Love heals Nymph. My love for Kelsey healed me.”
Epilogue
JASON
Looking down at the dark-haired baby boy in my arms through a mist of tears, I sighed with true happiness.
My wife’s quiet breaths bedside me on her bed, matched in time with our son’s while they both slept peacefully in the darkened private hospital room.
Thomas Decker Jason Johnston’s arrival into the world had been the perfect textbook birth. The pregnancy while scary for me, had also been a doctor’s dream. No morning sickness, no stress; Kelsey breezed through the nine months like a pro. And though I hovered and worried and threatened to wrap her in bubble wrap the entire pregnancy, my wife lovingly and indulgently allowed me to fuss over her until the doctor placed our newborn son in my arms.
I was the first to hold him, the first to see his eyes open and tell him how much I loved and wanted him. My beautiful Mermaid gave me that, adding that gift to the hundreds of gifts she’d bestowed on me since the day she pulled me out of the half-life I forced myself into ten years ago.
A self-imposed exile Kelsey freed me from.
“Hey,” Kelsey suddenly whispered, her soft hand reaching out to cup my jaw. “How do you feel?” she asked me, her voice gentle.
Glancing down at our son, I looked back at my wife, leaning into her touch I pressed a kiss to her palm then smiled at her.
“Healed.” One word, my second most favourite after her name.
THE BEST ENDING I COULD EVER HOPE TO GIVE YOU.
WITH LOVE LEAH XOXO
Acknowledgments
Love Heals (The Love Duet Book 2) Page 20