Freeing Jasper

by Riley Edwards

  “We can do this all night. I read your jacket, you seem like a smart guy. The fact that we are standing here and Jasper asked me to get clearance for you from the Commander means you gotta know my authorization to access intel has no limits. I’m not asking to judge you, what I’m really after is does Emily know. You are squeaky clean on paper. Personally, I care more about a man’s morality than I do how he handles his cases.”

  Levi’s the most laid back and quiet of the bunch, he’s also the one that does not trust men easily. We are all skeptical of outsiders. Though, Levi takes it to a whole new level.

  “Yes, she knew. Steven and I had been seeing each other for over a year when he brought Emily to Georgia. At first, I was furious, hurt, and I felt betrayed. I was very much in love with him. I broke it off with him, but it was Emily that found me and begged me not to leave Steven. She said that nothing would change.” Connor stopped to regain his composure. “Yet, everything did. I didn’t think I could love him any more than I already did. I was wrong; talking with Emily and her telling me everything that had happened and what Steven was doing for her proved what a good person he was. It wasn’t just me and Steven anymore. We had Emily, too. And then we had Jason. I was Uncle Connor, and Steven was Daddy. I love them all, they are my family.”

  Say what? It took a minute for me to wrap my head around what Connor had said. He and Steven were lovers? And Emily knew? What about Emily, was she with other men? Where they… did they…?

  “I see you’re trying to work everything out. To answer one of the questions swirling around, no, the three of us were never together like that. Steven and I were exclusive with each other and very much gay, not bisexual. And no, Emily had not looked at another man, let alone dated. Steven did try, though.”

  Thank fuck. I didn’t know if I’d be able to handle knowing that Emily had been with Connor. Which was comical considering my sexual past. I shouldn’t have been thinking about anything to do with sex when it came to her; I was trying to put distance between us.

  “The Commander gave clearance,” Levi announced as if Connor hadn’t just spilled his personal secrets to us. That was Levi’s way. Direct and to the point. When he got an acceptable answer he found to be the truth, he moved on.

  None of us cared about his or Steven’s sexual preference, and as unconventional as their arrangement was, if everything was on the up and up no one cared about that either.

  Levi pulled four more folders out of his backpack and laid them on the kitchen table. Clark was still silently watching – he knew something. After all the years we had worked together I could read him; I knew all his tells, and the ticking in his jaw was a dead giveaway.

  “Keith Lands, E2 mechanized unit.” Levi pointed to one of the folders. “He was the douchebag whose neck was snapped. A few small infractions, nothing to write home about.” Levi pointed to the next folder. “Jeff Miller, E4 same unit, douchebag that took a bullet to the head. He was in the process of being article fifteened out. Seems he thought it would be a good idea to run coke out of his barracks room. Why wasn’t he in the brig you ask? He was selling a ton of the shit to Officer Phillips. After the MPs locked Miller’s room down waiting for the local narcotics detective to come, Phillips happened into Miller’s room. The two keys. Yes, ladies you heard correct, the two keys went missing.”

  “Did you pull Phillips’ financial?” Connor asked.

  I opened Miller’s folder, he was obviously the idiot who planned the bank robbery. He was an average-at-best solider. No commendations, no deployments. Nothing interesting, I opened Phillips’ folder.

  “I did. He had regular wire transfer into an account; small weekly amounts that would never set off any red flags. They stopped approximately fifteen months ago.”

  “Any connection to Roman?” Clark asked, taking the words out of my mouth.

  Before we killed Roman, he said he was working with someone. When we questioned Roman’s pilot, he proved to be a dead end. We spent three hours with the man, and during that time, he was willing to spill every secret he knew, that was in between him pissing his pants and crying. Roman was smart. There was no way that Roman would trust a sniveling moron with important information. We were back to square one. As much as we would like to spend all of our time tracking down the traitor, if there was one, scumbags didn’t take timeouts and we’d be called back to the field soon. We were almost out of time.

  “There’s a loose connection. I’m still digging,” Levi explained.

  “Liam Gains? Where does he fit in?” I asked.

  “We ran a bloody print from when you clipped him. Shitty shot by the way.” I flipped Levi the bird. “After he was shot, he ran back into the woods and took his gloves off. He touched the metal chain link fence post before he crawled through the opening they had cut. His prints are in the system. Surprisingly as a confidential informant.”

  Clark eyed Connor. There was the missing piece that had Clark on edge. He hated loose ends.

  “That come from your office?” Clark asked.

  “Hell no. I have two CIs I work, both I keep in my back pocket and off any records you’ll find, and I have them because they have mob ties. I don’t fuck with petty theft bullshit. If he wasn’t in WITSEC, it didn’t come from us.”

  “Maccino and Luci,” Clark said, and Connor’s face paled. “There’s no such thing as off record.”

  Now Clark was just showing off. It was true, there was no information we couldn’t access.

  “I’d appreciate you keeping those names to yourself,” Connor grumbled.

  “The same way that everything you see and hear is off the record?”

  “Copy that,” Connor acknowledged.

  Leverage.

  Clark had found what he needed to ease his mind that Connor wouldn’t talk. There was no doubt I was pissed as hell at Connor for invading my privacy, but the man struck me as loyal.

  “Let me guess, Gains was supplying the coke to Miller. Miller lost the product and needed to pay Gains back. Gains, not trusting Miller to not take off with the money, came down here to oversee the robbery. Now the question is did Gains know that Emily and Jason lived here and that she worked at the bank?”

  “Doubtful. Gains is an out of sight, out of mind kinda guy. I’ll look into it and find out why he’s in the system as a CI. What did he say to her tonight?” Connor asked.

  I told Connor, Clark, and Levi what Liam said.

  “He’s not here for Jason,” Connor said. “Emily probably doesn’t even remember, but when she left Liam, she brought what looked to be an address book with her. She was going to toss the book, but Steven took it. There are no telephone numbers in the book but there are groupings of random numbers. He doesn’t know that Jason is his. She’s scared, and when you have a secret, you’re paranoid that others know it, too. I guarantee he wants that book back.”

  “Where’s the book?” Clark asked.

  “In my safe, at home,” Connor answered.

  Shit, if Liam wanted the book bad enough, God knows what he’d do to get it back.

  “It’s late. Thanks for coming by. Let's meet up at the hangar in the morning,” I suggested.

  “Copy. Here, you’ll need this.” Clark handed Connor a gate pass and blue badge that would allow him access to the building. “We’ll meet you there at ten hundred and take you back to the hangar with us. See what you can dig up on Gains, and we’ll work on Phillips.” Clark turned his eagle eye toward me. “You good?”

  No. Warning bells were going off all over the place.

  “Five by five,” I lied. Clark didn’t budge. Is this what Lenox felt like when we cornered him about Lily? “I’m good. Keeping Emily and Jason safe is the only thing taking up headspace at the moment.”

  “You’ll let me know if it gets to be too much.” That was not a request on his part. “O’Brien, appreciate your help on this. We’ll see you in the morning.”

  “I’ll leave these here for you to go over. I assume you’ll be in the
Camaro all night,” Levi said.

  “You assumed right.”

  “I’ll stay. You can go home,” Connor offered.

  “I’ll be in the Camaro.”

  “You two work out whose dick is bigger, I’m out of here.” Clark laughed and headed for the front door, Levi following behind.

  The door closed and Connor was picking up his coat. “Does she know?”

  My eyes closed and my heart constricted. “No.”

  “I read the report about Alesha. I understand your reaction to Jason. When you’re ready, you should tell her. She'd understand, too. Clearly, there’s something between you two. I know how she feels. I had doubts about you, still do, only because I don’t think you’ll man up and let yourself be happy. I see the way you look at her, I saw how you were comforting her. I believed you when you promised to keep them safe. Do me one favor, while you’re working your shit out, don’t hurt her. And do not make promises to that boy that you can’t keep.” Connor put his jacket on while I was counting to ten trying to calm down before I beat his ass. He made his way to the front door and stopped. “Take the couch, it’s more comfortable than the car. And thanks for saving her.”

  With that, he walked out the door leaving me seething mad and speechless. Not an easy feat. Who the fuck did he think he was? Man up?

  Fuck!

  The worst part was he might be right.

  Chapter Seven

  Emily

  The smell of coffee roused me from sleep. It took me a minute to realize I was in Jason’s bed – alone. Where was Jason? As if on demand, his laugh floated into the bedroom filling me with a warmth only my son could. Last night when I fell asleep sometime after one, I still heard voices in the living room and figured Connor would come back and wake me up before he left. He must’ve spent the night, he’d never leave without saying goodbye. The brewing coffee was another indication he’d stayed over. I never remembered to program that damn thing.

  Bless him! If there was ever a morning I needed a cup of his thick mud-like coffee, it was this morning.

  I jumped out of bed, not bothering to brush my teeth or check myself in the mirror, I needed coffee that bad.

  “I think I love you,” I announced when I walked down the hall toward the kitchen. “You are quite possibly the world’s best man.”

  Yawning, I pulled the hair tie off my wrist and started to pile my long black hair on top of my head in a messy excuse for a ponytail.

  “And you haven’t even tried my pancakes yet.” A male voice that was most definitely not Connor’s said from beside me causing me to jump in surprise. “Mother fu… damn, that’s hot,” he cursed.

  I dropped my arms, abandoning my ponytail in an effort to regain my footing. I felt the telltale sting of a sharp Lego on the bottom of my foot and lost my balance, hitting my hip on the arm of the couch on the way down.

  “Christ, woman! Are you okay?”

  Nope. I wasn’t okay, not even a little bit. There I sat on my floor with my eyes closed, utterly humiliated.

  When I braved to peek out my squinted eyes, a pair of perfect male feet stood in a puddle of spilled coffee. I hated feet, yet I couldn’t stop staring at his.

  “Let me help you up,” Jasper said. “Careful, the coffee’s hot.”

  I felt my cheeks pinken at my wild imagination; I had thought for the briefest of seconds he was calling me hot. Now that I saw the large coffee stain down the front of his tee and the puddle on the floor, I realized he was talking about the hot liquid. I took his outstretched hand and wasn’t sure if I was going to punch him for scaring me half to death or if I wanted to run and hide in the bedroom. All thoughts of bodily harm fled my mind when his hand wrapped around mine and he yanked me up. The first thing I noticed was how warm his hand was, the second was how much bigger it was than mine, and finally but certainly not least, I felt a pulse of electricity pass between us.

  “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you,” he murmured.

  “Why are you here?” I asked.

  With his free hand, he brushed my half tied up hair off my face. Was it my imagination or had he let his hand brush my neck on purpose? I couldn’t think clearly with him standing close enough that I could smell the coffee on his breath. Who was I trying to bullshit? I couldn’t think straight when he was in the same room, close or not.

  “It was late when Connor and the guys left. Connor said you wouldn’t mind if I stayed on your couch instead of the Camaro.”

  I still didn’t understand why he was doing any of this. Don’t get me wrong, I was grateful that he was there last night when Liam showed up. I don’t know what I would’ve done if he’d pushed in and taken Jason.

  “Hey, look at me,” he said. “Everything will be okay.”

  “Hi, Mom. Good Morning.” Jason’s chipper voice saved me from further thinking about the shitty situation I now found myself in.

  “Hey, sweet cheeks,” I greeted.

  “Come on, you have to try some of Jasper’s blueberry pancakes. They’re the best. He taught me his secret ingredient,” Jason informed me.

  “He did? What is it?” I asked.

  “I can’t tell you. It’s top-secret. Jasper said that means it’s a super-duper important secret. Hurry up, there’s only three left.” By the way Jason was bouncing back into the kitchen, I’d guess the top-secret ingredient was sugar, and lots of it.

  “He’s right, they are pretty damn good. You better hurry, he’s already had about a dozen.” He tugged my hand signaling for me to follow and glanced at where our hands were still connected. Even his hand was sexy, rough and strong. He had to leave. I couldn’t do this, not this early in the morning. Not when my brain was pre-coffee and fuzzy. I needed to sure my armor and prepare for the battle that was Liam. I had a lot to explain to my mom, and Connor would be bummed we were leaving Georgia. There wasn’t much left for us here anyway now that Steven was gone. Although I was going to miss Lily and baby Carter. I loved that little boy. Every time I was over there it made me think about how badly I wanted another child.

  “Well, I don’t know what to say? Thank you for making him pancakes. I’m sure you’d like to go and get ready for work. I’ve got it from here.” I pulled my hand free from his, expecting relief to cross his face.

  Instead, I got his stormy blue eyes zeroing in on me and a not so relieved expression. “You’ve got it from here?” he asked.

  “Yeah. Thank you so much for your help last night and for watching us. Now that you know who the third robber is, I bet you’ll be happy to get home into your bed at night.” I smiled trying to show him how much I truly did appreciate all he had done.

  “You’ve got to be shitting me,” he mumbled.

  “What? I really truly appreciate everything.” I tried again.

  “What part of this situation are you not understanding?” he asked.

  I didn’t appreciate his tone or his insinuation that I was somehow dumb and didn’t understand this was serious.

  “I understand this situation just fine, thank you very much. I’m not some mindless twit. I plan on dropping Jason at school and then stopping by my mom’s to tell her that Jason and I are moving. I can’t live here anymore now that Liam knows where we are. I won’t take any chances with my son.”

  Jasper’s eyes narrowed and his scowl deepened. “You’re doing what?” I started to repeat myself when his hand came up to stop me. “You’re not moving anywhere,” he told me.

  “Um, yes, I am. I’m not safe here,” I reminded him.

  Now who didn’t understand the seriousness of the situation? Not to mention, why did he care?

  “That’s exactly why you have to stay. You’re not safe. What if Liam follows you or finds you again? You need to be here where I can protect you.”

  “What, are you going to sleep outside my house every night?”

  “If I have to,” he assured me.

  “That’s ridiculous. You can’t sleep in your car. What if he doesn’t come back for a
while?”

  “I’ve slept in worse places. Unless you have a better offer,” he said with a wink.

  Luckily Jason ran past us reminding me I had to get him to school. I didn’t have time to think about the tingling Jasper’s wink caused in my girly parts.

  “I need to get going. Jason needs to get to school,” I told him hoping he’d get the hint and leave.

  “I’ll drive you there. We need to talk to the school, too,” he informed me.

  “What? Who is we?”

  Now what was he talking about? I needed to call Connor; he’d fill me on what happened last night.

  “Me and you. We need to go over safety protocols with the school. We also need to show them a picture of Liam. If he shows up at the school, they’ll know to call the police,” he explained.

  “You think he’ll go to Jason’s school?” Panic started to bubble up. Why hadn’t I thought of that? Oh, yeah, I remembered why. My brain got foggy and I turned stupid every time I was around Jasper. I seemed to have memory lapses as well. “You should leave,” I told him again, this time with conviction behind my words.

  “Why’s that, Emily?” he demanded, his tone matching mine.

  “Because I can’t think when you’re around. And besides…” I lowered my voice to a whisper. “I get that being around kids really isn’t your thing. Again, thank you for making him breakfast even though I’m not entirely sure why you did it.”

  Jasper stood silently staring at me, his look somewhere between pissed and amused. I tamped down the desire to give him the hand gesture to move along. I know I had another stop to make on what was an already long list of places I needed to be.

  Jasper looked as if he wasn’t going to move. Fine, he could stay here. “I have to leave. Please lock the door when you go.” I turned to go get dressed when Jasper grabbed my arm to stop me. “I’m late. I still have to…”

  “Be quiet.” He spoke through clenched teeth.

  “Excuse me? Who the hell…”

  He cut me off again. “Do I think I am?” He finished my sentence. “If you’d cool your jets for two seconds and let me talk, I’ll explain. You are not gallivanting around town unprotected. We’ll take Jason to school, then we’ll go to my house so I can shower and change. We are meeting up with my team at ten. When we’re done there, we will go pick up Jason from school and come back here. As to the who the hell do I think I am? I am the man who is going to make sure that Liam Gains does not fuck with you or Jason. The why? Because for seven months, I have tried everything in my power to push you out of my mind. Nothing has worked. Time to change tactics and find out what about you has me tied in knots. And just for the record, I like that you can’t think when you’re around me.”