Fighting to Save US

by Sarah Stevens

  Bren

  Things have been going well with Max back in my life and living in my home, our home. He didn’t bring much with him and hasn’t wanted to make any changes to the place, even though I wish he would. I guess I already knew that he was simple and didn’t need much. He adapts well to his surroundings, but it makes it feel almost temporary, like it would be too easy for him to leave again. I am little embarrassed by my worries, which I know aren’t rational, so I haven’t brought it up. However, I suspect he can tell that something is a little off with me.

  Eventually, his curiosity gets the better of him, and he comes home from making a coffee run to The Java with a questioning look in his eye. It’s like he doesn’t know what to say or how to say it. I give him a kiss on the lips, take my coffee, and sit back down on the couch while he stands there, obviously contemplating his approach. He eventually speaks a few moments later.

  “Bren, something has felt off this past week. I don’t know what it is, but is everything okay? Your doctor hasn’t called or anything like that and you’re just not telling me, are you?”

  Time to put on my big girl panties and open up my head and my heart as much as I can.

  “Come sit with me. Something’s been bothering me, and, honestly, I think it’s a little bit stupid, but then again it isn’t to me.”

  “What is it? Just tell me. Whatever it is, I promise I won’t get mad or anything.”

  “Since you moved in here with just a duffel bag and nothing else, it just feels weird, temporary. It feels like you can just pick up and leave again whenever you see fit. I know deep down you won’t. But, this is your place too now, and I want it to feel like your place, not just mine. I don’t want you to act like a guest.” I feel like I’m begging Max to make this permanent, but at the same time, I feel almost desperate to rid myself of this feeling.

  He takes my hands in his and looks me straight in the eyes. “This is most definitely not temporary for me. I get what you’re saying, and I understand why you would feel the way that you do. I’ve never really had belongings besides what I need. I don’t need much, and right now I just need you. I like your place the way it is, and yes, it’s all you, but that’s what I like about it. I don’t have family pictures to put in frames to display, and I don’t have trinkets that I collect. I’ve lived and moved around so much that I’m really minimal when it comes to what I own; it’s just how I am. I don’t have preferences for color schemes or furniture. I just always go with the flow. All I need is you, Bren. I’m not going anywhere. What can I do to make you feel better, to make you believe I’m here to stay?”

  “I don’t know…I told you it was stupid.”

  “Nothing you think is ever stupid. I would rather you tell me than hold anything bottled up in that pretty head of yours. I knew something was bothering you, but I also knew you would come to me when you were ready. What do you need from me?”

  “I need to just have enough faith in you, in us, believe that this is for the long haul and not just temporary. I just need to get out of my own head and stop overthinking everything. Do me a favor, though? Feel free to make some changes around here whenever you feel like you see something that you like. Even if it’s bedding, a carpet or anything, big or small.”

  “You want me to put my stamp on something in this place to make you feel better? I can do that. Let’s go to Target and find some new masculine bedding to rid ourselves of all the color.” I laugh as he grabs my hand and pulls me up off the couch.

  “See, I told you it was stupid, but I’m always up for shopping. You get to choose, even if I hate it. Mum’s the word.”

  I’m feeling much better, and moving around isn’t much of an issue anymore, so I grab my purse and we’re off to Target to find some manly bedding.

  After Max locks the door, he turns around, and I’m there in front of him, raised up on my toes, giving him a quick peck on the lips. “Thanks for doing this for me. I know you are a minimalist and only have what you need, but my thoughts got the best of me. Thank you for being you.”

  He grabs my hand as we walk down the hall. “Anything for you babe, anything.”

  After a trip to Target and a couple hundred dollars in purchases, we return home to add Max’s touch to the place. We purchased some new bedding, a new living room carpet, and we're taking some of the vibrant colors I had away and adding a little bit of a masculine touch to our home. Everything works well together—he even added his own coffee mug to the shelf and some towels in the bathroom. I feel a little bit stupid by the time we have finished putting the final touches on our place, but I also feel better, which is all I wanted.

  Later that evening, I receive a text from a number I don’t have stored in my phone, therefore; I don’t know who it is. However, it scares the shit out of me.

  Unknown: We are watching you.

  That’s all it says. Max looks over in my direction and notices the confused look on my face. “Babe, what’s wrong?”

  “Honestly, I have no idea. I just got this text from an unknown number.”

  Max takes my phone from me and looks at the text. “What the fuck?”

  He hands me back my phone, takes his, punches in some numbers and hits send. After a few seconds with a very clenched jaw and a look of fury, he speaks, “We have a problem.”

  He explains the text to whoever is on the other side of the line, and I hear him say, “Okay, I got it.” And then, “I’ll call him now.”

  He hangs up and looks at me. “Let’s go. I need to talk to Mike, and I’m not leaving you here alone.”

  Max quickly takes my hand and pulls me behind him out the door and down the hall to his old place. He doesn’t knock, but barges into the place now occupied by Mike, who is sitting on his couch with his phone to his ear.

  “Jackson?” is all he says to Mike before steering me to the couch. After I’m settled, he moves to his old bedroom to make his call.

  With the looks on everyone’s faces, I’m really starting to get scared.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Max

  I thought this shit was finished. I thought I didn't have a worry in the world about Bren being safe. I let my guard down, and now here we are on lockdown until we figure out what's going on.

  When I saw that text on her phone, I about punched my fist through a wall. Instead, I called Jackson. These guys are stupid if they think any of us are going to let anything happen to Bren. Once I deposit Bren on the couch with Mike, who is talking to Jackson, I move to the bedroom to make my own call. It’s time to make a call to Mr. Calluci, the man that promised me there would be no more problems for us or Bren.

  The phone rings and rings then goes to a voicemail that hasn’t been set up. That's a little weird, but with no answer, I make my way back to Bren's side. Since Mike is still on the phone with Jackson, I tell him to hand the phone over.

  “No answer, no voicemail. I don’t like it.”

  “You don’t think anything has happened to him, do you?”

  “His boys are the devil in disguise. I honestly wouldn’t put anything past them. I think we have a valid reason to check it out.”

  “I’ll send one of my guys to check it out. Until then, stay together. Call James and get him, Kat, and Steph together, grab a bag for yourselves, and go to Bren's parents’ house. I just need all of you on lockdown together. It’ll make me feel better until we get some answers.”

  “You got it. We’ll start making calls and get everyone together. Keep in touch.”

  “You too, bye.”

  I look at both Bren and Mike and let them know we need to make some calls and get some things together for a few days. We’re officially on lockdown.

  Bren calls her mom's cell phone to fill her in. She lets her know that she's about to have a house full of guests and that she needs to get her dad home as soon as he can get there.

  I call James to inform him. He said to give him thirty minutes and they’ll be ready.

  Mike packs a bag, and t
he three of us go to the other apartment so that Bren and I can get a bag. Luckily, Bren's been able to get her cast removed since her surgery, and it's made things a lot easier for her to be able to move around and get things done.

  I stop Bren in our room for a second, stare into her eyes, and take hold of her cheeks. “I’m proud of you, babe. After everything that’s happened because of me and my job, you’re holding yourself together. I love you, and I will protect you from whatever may be coming our way. We’ll get this figured out, and I promise to keep you safe.” I kiss her to reaffirm my love and devotion to her.

  “Max, I'm honestly terrified, I just look like I'm handling all of this well. I do believe you, though, when you say that you'll do whatever you need to do to keep me and everyone else safe, but I'm scared.”

  I take her in my arms and hold her for a few minutes before I pull back. “We have to go. I love you.”

  “I love you too.”

  I take her hand and lead her into the living room, where Mike is waiting. Cautiously, we all walk out the door together. Mike loads my SUV with our bags as I settle behind the wheel and prepare to drive toward Bren’s parents’ house.

  We arrive at Bren's parents’ house and unload our things. Shortly after our arrival, James, Kat, Steph, Bren's dad, and Kat's mom and stepfather also arrive. Once everyone is unloaded and safely inside, we're in total lockdown.

  Thankfully this house has plenty of space and rooms. Once everyone has put their things in a bedroom and has had a chance to settle in, we meet in the kitchen.

  “Hey, everyone. I’m sorry we’re all here for the reason we are. My main objective is to keep everyone safe, and this is the best way to do that. Jackson’s looking into a few things on his end to see what he can find out. I’m hoping we all won’t be here that long, but until we have this situation under control, we’re stuck here under lockdown. Obviously, that means no going to work and no leaving the house. Does everyone understand?”

  A chorus of agreement is heard and heads nod. Mike, James, and I go into the den to get on a call with Jackson while the girls figure out what we’ll be eating for dinner.

  Kat and Bren come in before we get into business mode, concerned looks on their faces. “We have another problem, boys. We need food. Mom was planning on shopping in the morning, and it’s just the two of them here usually, so there isn’t much,” Bren says.

  “Let us talk to Jackson and then we’ll get that figured out.”

  “Okay, sounds good. Love you, Max.”

  “Love you too, Bren.”

  The girls leave to go back into the kitchen, and we get back to our call.

  “Looks like Mr. Calluci hasn’t been seen or heard from in a few days. No one knows anything, but the word on the street is that he was taken care of by his boys. If that’s the case, we have a serious problem. With no head of family to tell the brothers what they can and can’t do, they have full freedom to go after who and whatever they want. What it looks like is they feel the need to go after Bren, and therefore you, Max. My guys are looking and listening for anything that could be useful to us. They’re also looking to find the location of the brothers. But, once again, no one has seen or heard from them in over twenty-four hours. I don’t like this, guys.”

  “I don’t like this, either,” James pipes in. “I know the story and everything, but what has them under the impression that any of this is your fault? You didn’t kill her, cancer did.”

  “Jackson went after their family and got some of the lower-ranked guys put in prison. They blame me for that, too, not to mention both brothers also spent some time away. They just got released a few months ago.”

  “Fuck,” is all James says.

  “We’re on top of this, guys, I promise we are, but keep your eyes and ears open for anything, even a squirrel running along the fence. That house is full of a lot of people I love, and I don’t know what I’d do if anything happened to any of you. Stay safe and get some food in that house. Send Mike with the moms to get some groceries, but don’t take long —grab what you need and then get back as soon as you can. Got it?”

  “I got it, Boss,” Mike confirms.

  “Stay safe, and I’ll be in touch if I hear anything else.”

  “We will. Bye.”

  Back in the kitchen the girls are already making a shopping list, like they already know how this is going to go.

  “So, we need food, huh? Finish making your list and then Mike will go with the moms to the store, but do me a favor and don’t go to your normal grocery store. We don’t want to go anywhere people might expect. We need to change things up when and if we have to go out.”

  “Got it, Max. We will go to the other grocery store and be back as soon as we can. We’ll be ready to go in about ten minutes,” Tina says.

  I leave the ladies to finish the list and go to Bren’s room to take a breather for a few. I thought this was done, but it’s not, and once again, it’s my fault. I sit at the foot of the bed and stare at the ground while holding my head in my hands.

  Bren comes in a little while later to let me know the shopping trip is under way. “Thanks, babe. How are you holding up?”

  “I’m all right. What about you?”

  “Could be better, but we’ll figure out what’s going on.”

  We lie back, holding each other, not saying another word.

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Bren

  After waking up from a catnap next to Max, I get up and amble to the family room, where everyone is congregated. Steph is playing on the floor, and the guys are all watching a game on TV with pizza boxes surrounding them. I start to wonder where all the pizza came from when I notice the moms and Mike are back. Apparently, they decided to grab some pizza for tonight while they were out.

  “Hey, sorry—we must have slept longer than I thought, especially if you all are back and have eaten already.”

  “It’s all good, Bren. I got everything taken care of. You both apparently needed your rest. A lot is going on.”

  “Thanks, Mike. I really appreciate you being here, seems like we never get a break around here lately.” Everyone laughs a little at that.

  I go back to my room, wake Max up, and let him know everyone is back and all is good. We head to the family room to grab whatever pizza is left and hang out with everyone.

  A little while later, I hear my phone ping with a text notification. Since virtually anyone who would text me is in the house with me, I immediately go on high alert.

  Unknown: You can’t hide from us. We WILL find you.

  Well, since whoever it is keeps referencing a “we,” I guess we know there are at least two people after me. I bring my phone to Max so he can see the message.

  “Did you turn off your location on your phone?”

  “I never had it on, but you can check to make sure.”

  He opens the settings app and looks; satisfied with what he finds, he hands the phone back to me.

  “I’ll call Jackson and let him know that you got another message.” And he disappears again.

  I’m scared to death of what could happen here and who could get hurt in the process. Kat was taken last year around this same time, and the stress of that situation lingers for all of us.

  I do have more than just this situation to worry about. If this lasts too long, I have doctor appointments to go to—that’s how they got Kat. She was waiting for Max to get the car pulled around to the front of the apartment, and while he was gone, they tricked her into opening the door. It wasn’t Max on the other side. He has never forgotten that day, and I think he will always blame himself for what happened.

  Max comes back into the room and straight to me. “We need to talk.”

  I follow him back to my room and close the door behind me. “What’s up?”

  “Babe, they’re already here. Jackson had one of his guys locate the brothers, and about an hour ago, they left the city, driving north. They just now got off on the exit for 295 and are heading
toward Portland. Our guy is still on their tail and will be in contact with me. Babe, I promise you I’ll do whatever is needed to keep everyone in this house safe.”

  I stand there, totally shocked that they have been able to locate us so easily. Hopefully they don’t know where we are specifically, just the general area. I go back out to the family room as Mike leaves to talk to Max.

  I know what he's saying, and I know what they're planning, but I'm terrified. I'm not terrified for me or anyone else in this house, but for the man that I love, who will leave my side tonight to go search for the men that are after his family. He and Mike will walk out the door, fully loaded with every weapon they have available, while I sit awake, scared out of my mind until I see him again.

  I sit quietly on the couch, stuck in my own head, when I feel something wet roll down my face. A tear. I didn’t even know I was crying, because I was so deep in thought. Kat looks over in my direction and notices me wiping it away, giving me a questioning look.

  I try to smile in her direction, but it falls flat with the sound of boots coming my way. I notice that Mike and Max are dressed alike, in all black, and have a grim look on their faces. I see the holster on Max’s leg and notice the hardness to his chest. He’s wearing a bullet-proof vest. I instantly feel anxious and stand, stopping him in his tracks. I say, “I love you, no matter what. You own my heart. I don’t want it back, but I do want you back in one piece. Promise me you’ll come back in one piece.” Tears are streaming down my face at this point, and he brushes his thumbs under my eyes to wipe away the tears and kisses me, with all of his heart poured into it. When he pulls back, he wipes the tears again and whispers so only I can hear, “You own my heart too. I love you more than anything. I wish I could promise you that I’ll be back, but I can only promise you that I will do everything I can to come back to you. I don’t want to lie or break a promise, so this is the best I can give you. Don’t cry, my love. Please don’t cry. It’s killing me. I love you so much.”