The Protector

by Stormi Lewis

“No one said, ‘right now’, Soph,” Ben said looking at her. “For James, it’s more of letting you know that you are the only person he wants to spend the rest of his life with. The only reason he didn’t do it sooner was he thought you would run.”

  Sophie looked at him and the guilt he saw was overwhelming.

  “He is well aware of the life we’re living right now,” Ben pushed on quickly. “You’ve met his parents,” he chuckled. “He just wants that kind of relationship, but he’ll take it however he can get it. Mostly it’s his way of showing you that you’re the only one on this planet for him. Even if the ceremony isn’t until later, or never happens at all. He just wants you to know. Well, that and everyone else when they see the ring,” Ben laughed.

  Sophie looked at him confused.

  “It keeps other men from thinking they have a chance at something we love,” Ben winked.

  Sophie breathed out a breath she didn’t realize she had been holding.

  “I guess I didn’t handle it very well, did I?” Sophie asked him.

  “Well, the timing was God awful for both sides,” Ben assured.

  “What am I supposed to do now?” Sophie asked.

  “Let him have a do-over,” Ben shrugged.

  “A what?” Sophie laughed.

  Ben sighed dramatically before responding.

  “You’re going to have to wait for the awkwardness to pass about you being back,” Ben said firmly. “Lucky for you, James is ridiculously understanding and never blamed you for a second. So, just wait,” he shrugged.

  Sophie frowned in confusion.

  “Let him propose again when he thinks it’s the right time,” Ben clarified. “And try not to run,” he added bumping her in the shoulder again.

  They both turned when they heard the door unlock and open. To both their surprise, it was James on the other side. When James’ eyes met Sophie’s, he dropped everything in his hands.

  “Hi,” James whispered softly with a smile.

  “Hi,” Sophie whispered with a smile back.

  “Please tell me that wasn’t dinner you just dropped,” Ben said scrambling to pick up the bags James had dropped onto the floor.

  James didn’t respond. He stood as still as a gravestone.

  “Oh, for Pete’s sake!” Ben grumbled. “Sophie, do you promise not to run if James, here, comes into the room?”

  Sophie giggled. “Of course not.”

  “Good!” Ben said shoving James further into the room and putting the bags on the table by the door. He grabbed his jacket. “I’m going to give you a moment to get your act together before my wife comes back,” Ben said winking at Sophie and closing the door behind him.

  “I’m sorry,” they said in unison, then laughed uncomfortably and stared at the floor.

  “I’m sorry I couldn’t stay with you,” Sophie whispered, focusing on the floor to help distract her from the amount of guilt engulfing her.

  “I know,” James whispered back. “I get it. I’m sorry for your loss,” he said taking a step towards her. He was dying to hold her again.

  Sophie sensed his hesitation and figured she’d earned it. It would be her responsibility to help him get his courage back.

  “I wouldn’t mind a hug,” Sophie offered with a shrug.

  James closed his eyes and took a deep breath before walking over to the bed and pulling her into his arms. He gently combed her hair with his fingers and traced her arm lightly with his fingertips.

  Sophie didn’t cry like she thought she would. Maybe she was still in shock, or simply incapable of crying anymore tears for her godfather. Instead, she absorbed James’ warmth and the love he offered to her unconditionally as she closed her eyes and drifted off to a deep sleep.

  Sophie opened her eyes to the wooden door. So much for getting some rest. She sighed deeply as she reached out for the doorknob.

  “Are you going to tell him?” she heard Mario ask her eagerly.

  “Let me get through the freaking door first,” Sophie laughed.

  “Oh, yeah, right,” she heard Mario tell himself.

  Light flooded around her, and it took a second for her eyes to adjust. She found Mario at the cabin table with a map stretched out over it, and a notebook with some scribbles on it.

  “Whatch ya working on?” Sophie asked taking in the scene. Mario tapped the end of the pencil on his chin.

  “Well, I’m really curious who all took part in my death,” he said studying his notes. “Clarice is pulling someone’s strings, and we need to figure out who,” he added firmly.

  “Who exactly is Clarice?” Sophie asked for clarification. “And how do you know her?”

  Mario froze. Jess begged him not to tell her. She had to find out for herself, or it might shut her down completely.

  “Clarice and Jess grew up working for the man with the cane,” Mario shared.

  “How did he find mom in the first place?’ Sophie asked.

  Mario panicked. Of course, Sophie would ask all the questions he wasn’t allowed to answer.

  “I met your mom in her teenage years,” Mario added trying not to lie. “They were really big into using teenage ops back then because they were less suspected than adults,” he shrugged. “Definitely more impossible to control with raging hormones and all,” he chuckled. “Your mom worked with the same government agency I did. We did a mission overseas together. Your mom saved my butt,” Mario said reminiscing with a smile.

  “I’m sure this is going to get somewhere eventually,” Sophie chuckled.

  “The man with the cane hired her and Clarice to do freelance gigs on the side,” Mario continued with a frown. “Clarice was a couple of years older than us. She had a really screwed up childhood, with an even worse father,” he added. “Your mom took pity and always tried to get Clarice to be the best version of herself, but the old man was always favoring your mom and throwing it in Clarice’s face. So, the rivalry goes way before your time, Kid,” Mario shrugged.

  “So, what am I dealing with exactly?” Sophie asked crossing her arms in front of her chest. She knew that she would take Clarice’s life with her own hands for what she took from Sophie. There was no need sharing that information with anyone though.

  “Clarice is smart. She’s not extremely tech savvy, though,” Mario said deep in thought. “That’s why I know she was the puppeteer and not the puppet. Unfortunately, she was trained to be one of the best manipulators on this planet. It’s just a shame she uses it for evil instead of good,” he frowned.

  “What else?” Sophie asked as casually as possible.

  “Psychopath runs in her blood,” he warned. “She’s never to be underestimated.”

  “So, she stated,” Sophie said frowning, remembering her threat.

  “She will never fight fair, no matter who’s on the other side,” Mario said bluntly. “You are to avoid her at all costs,” he warned.

  “Little late for that,” Sophie retorted.

  “Yeah, I know,” chimed in Jess in frustration as she entered the room. “Hello, Mario,” she said with a hint of warning in her voice.

  “Jess,” Mario answered nervously.

  “So, what are we meeting about?” Jess asked casually looking around the room.

  “It’s not against the rules,” Mario mumbled. The look Jess gave him silenced him immediately.

  “Talking about your bff, Clarice,” Sophie said with sarcasm.

  “Watch your tone, Daughter,” Jess warned.

  “Well, this meeting isn’t for you so you can go,” Sophie said turning her back on her mother. Mario stepped between the two of them.

  “There are more important things to deal with right now, Ladies,” he said nervously.

  “She’s protecting a murderer,” Sophie scoffed. “YOUR murderer to be exact!”

  “I’m protecting YOU, ungrateful daughter!” Jess hissed at her. “You had no business fighting her,” she stewed.

  “And why not?” Sophie demanded.

  “Because they
only suspected you were different!” Jess yelled back. “You went and gave them the proof they needed to come and take you!”

  “They only wanted the key!” Sophie retorted.

  “YOU ARE THE KEY!” Jess screamed back in frustration.

  Sophie froze. “What?” was the only word that could come out of her mouth.

  “Okay, I think we just need to take a second and breathe,” Mario tried to referee.

  “What did you say?” Sophie asked looking at her mother in complete shock.

  “She said you’re the key and she’s right, Peanut,” Jack said coming in to help Mario.

  “What the hell?” Sophie said sitting in the nearest chair.

  “You were never supposed to ever fight Clarice,” Jack said kneeling before her. “They suspected and tried to drown you at the pool to see what happened, but your mother intervened,” Jack added softly looking over at his wife. “The satellite was the last project I did,” he continued looking back at Sophie. “You were right,” he whispered quietly. “I gave it to you so that when it was time you could destroy it, because I couldn’t.”

  Jess went to leave again. “Stay,” Jack ordered to her over his shoulder.

  It wasn’t often Sophie heard her father order anything of her mother. She knew she had to listen to what was being said.

  “He wanted to turn it into a weapon,” Jack continued. “Once your mother and I realized that you had acquired your gifts, we knew that you would be the greatest weapon for him. The goal was for him to never find out. Unfortunately, fighting with Clarice has made that impossible,” he said looking into Sophie’s eyes. Not with blame. Simply with his ‘let’s come up with a plan’ face he wore when he was working on his projects.

  “I’m sorry,” Sophie whispered to him. “I didn’t know.”

  “I know,” Jack said patting her on the knee. “We should have done better at telling you the whole story,” he said more so to Jess than to Sophie.

  Jess remained quiet as she sat on the couch with her arms crossed and looking at the flames dancing in the freshly lighted fireplace.

  “I think that’s enough for today,” Jack said with a smile. “Get some rest, Peanut,” he whispered as he touched her forehead and sent her body back through the wooden door into a deep sleep.

  Once Sophie was gone, Jack stood up and turned to face Mario and Jess.

  “Jess,” Jack said, “it’s time to put your stubbornness aside and decide who you’re going to fight for.”

  Jess glared at Jack with fire glowing in her eyes. “You know damn well who I would choose,” she hissed.

  Jack smiled. “And you,” he said looking at Mario. “You need some more lessons. Ready?”

  “Yes, Sir,” Mario sulked. “Can you show me how to send her back?” he asked with sudden eagerness. “That’s a really cool trick to get her to stop fussing.”

  Jack chuckled as he put his arm around his friend. “Sadly, there are rules for that too.”

  “Figures,” Mario mumbled.

  They started to walk away into the darkness.

  “Coming?” Jack asked his wife.

  “In a minute,” Jess called over her shoulder.

  The boys left her to her thoughts and fire that danced before her, but it began to flicker in and out of sight. She tilted her head to study it in curiosity.

  “So close….” a disturbing voice came from the other side.

  Jess jumped up from the couch and stared even harder at the fire. “You will not take her,” she growled back.

  “Watch me,” the old man’s voice warned before the fire went out and Jess was left in the darkness alone. Or so she thought….

  Sophie woke to the sunlight sneaking in through the small crack of the hotel curtains. She rolled over to an empty bed. Tina and Ben were still sleeping in the bed next to her. James was nowhere to be found. Her heart sank for a minute. She knew she had to earn his trust back, but she didn’t like the space that had grown between them. Sophie rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and crept out of the bed to get cleaned up in the bathroom. A hot shower would do her good. Jess’ voice kept ringing through her ears….

  “YOU ARE THE KEY!”

  And because of her inability to remain in control, Sophie had put everyone in even greater danger than when they started. The man with the cane knew, and there was nothing Sophie could do about it know.

  She was a little irritated that her parents just hadn’t bothered to be honest with her from the very beginning. Sophie would have known better. There was plenty of blame to be shared by all parties at this point.

  Sophie needed to get to the bottom of what exactly it was she could actually do. Some sort of baseline to work off of. Maybe her friends would have ideas of just exactly how to accomplish that. First and foremost, though, she needed to find out which side Tina was playing on.

  She let the hot water run over her body, as she braced herself against the shower wall and let her mind wonder. The memory of Mario being killed before her eyes seemed to haunt her less and less. She assumed because he hadn’t actually left her, and that comforted her knowing that she still got to have him in her life even if it wasn’t physical.

  Mario had given hints that Clarice and her mother went back as far as teenagers. She would definitely have to get more information so she could learn as much about Clarice as possible.

  She didn’t share with anyone that she would be willing to take Clarice’s life in return for Mario’s. No one had lectured her just yet about it, but that probably had to do with more pressing matters that had to be dealt with.

  Suddenly, the memory of little Edward flashed before her closed eyes. She briefly wondered if he was even still alive. If he was, did he even remember her? If he wasn’t, was it because of her?

  Sophie’s heart quickly grew heavy and, in an attempt to push the negative away, the vision of James kneeling before her came into view. James. She knew, considering the circumstances, running seemed like the best option at the time. Sophie wondered what she would have said if she hadn’t just lost Mario before her by Clarice’s hand.

  A vision of Sophie in a white dress, walking down the aisle with Tina as her Maid of Honor and Ben as the Best Man, as she approached James in a suit wearing his boyish grin.

  Yes. Sophie would have said ‘yes’, and would still say ‘yes’ with her life as dangerous and unexpected as it currently remained. Sophie thought about the conversation she had with Ben earlier.

  “No one said, ‘right now’, Soph,” Ben had said looking at her. “For James, it’s more of letting you know that you are the only person he wants to spend the rest of his life with. The only reason he didn’t do it sooner was he thought you would run.”

  She would have never run from James. Sophie cringed as the water ran down her face, because that was a lie. She already had. Technically, she wasn’t running from him specifically, though.

  Sophie was running from costing any more lives. She was running from her problems, not the man that she loved with every breath she took. Now, she would have to spend however long it took proving that point of clarification to him.

  The door cracked open.

  “Hey,” she heard James speak softly. “I got everyone breakfast. Just join us when you’re ready.”

  “You could join me instead,” Sophie found herself offering.

  There was a deafening silence only broken by the sound of running water.

  “Don’t you want to have some alone time?” she heard James question both himself and her motives in one single sentence.

  “I’ve had a lifetime of that,” Sophie mumbled, kicking herself for offering.

  The silence was painfully awkward. Just when she couldn’t stand to take any more of it and was getting ready to tell him to go, Sophie heard him slip off his shoes and unbutton his jeans. Okay, she thought. Don’t panic. Take it slow. This is a good first step, she convinced herself.

  The hot water had filled the entire bathroom up with steam, so Sophie could
barely see him when he pushed back the curtain and slipped in behind her. Her breath immediately picked up with anticipation of what to do next.

  “I’m so sorry,” Sophie started with a sob she didn’t expect to be escaping from her mouth. She couldn’t seem to face him being this vulnerable and naked.

  “Ssshhh,” James said as he lathered up a washcloth with bodywash. “I’d like to wash you,” he added as more of a question than an actual statement.

  “I could use it,” Sophie said with a soft smile.

  She kept her back to him and felt the warm washcloth circle on her back, shoulders and arms. James very carefully washed her whole back side while keeping his distance. Sophie’s heart ached to be closer to him, but this was the price she was going to have to pay until he chose otherwise.

  James gently moved her hair off to the side as he ran the washcloth down her neck. Sophie moaned in appreciation. Unexpectedly, he pushed his body up against her, and she felt his erection throb against her backside. He wrapped one arm gently around her waist and circled the washcloth around her eager breasts.

  They rose and fell in time with his rhythm, and Sophie melted against James, willing for him to take whatever he wanted from her. He kissed her gently on the neck as he continued to move south. Sophie’s body began to vibrate against him, and he couldn’t help but love every minute of it.

  All of a sudden, James dropped the washcloth and took a step back. Sophie almost fell all the way on her back in the tub with the sudden gap between them. She wanted to protest, but knew she had no right. Instead, she braved facing him as they both seemed to be catching their breath.

  “I’m sorry,” James whispered, unable to look her in the eyes.

  “I’m not,” Sophie said watching him carefully.

  James raised his eyes to look at her only for a brief second before staring back at the floor of the tub.

  “I’ll let you finish,” James mumbled as he prepared to exit the shower.

  Sophie knew she shouldn’t have. She knew she should have respected his need to give her space, but she didn’t care at the moment. She grabbed James’ hand reaching for the curtain and pushed him against the shower wall, with her mouth feverishly claiming his for her own. Sophie pressed herself up against him as she ran her hands eagerly through his hair.