Off Limits

by Jules Barnard

  “They’ve set a court date,” my mom says from the front seat of Tyler’s SUV. Jaeger and I are in the back. I’m sitting in the middle seat, my body plastered to him, his arm wrapped around me like a bungee cord.

  Even with all this love and support, the truth of the matter disturbs me. The police think I’m guilty of drug possession. How will I get out of this? My eyes burn and blur, my raspy chest giving away my emotions as my breaths quicken and sputter.

  “Babe.” Jaeger lifts my chin. “I’ll find out who did this to you.”

  I nod. Somehow, as scary as everything is, I believe him. Because we chose each other and that makes us right. What we have is real and empowering.

  I was the rock in my other relationships, but Jaeger is the boulder I cling to in the middle of the deep blue lake.

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Big surprise—I’m out of a job for a while. I don’t blame John Sallee; he had no choice. In his defense, he gave me unpaid leave until my court hearing. John can’t ignore the charges against me, but he’s optimistic they’ll be dropped. Which is good of him, considering he’s only known me a few weeks.

  Jaeger walks through the gate to our backyard. I’m on the lounge chair I moved from our patio—now bedroom—to the dirt. I actually enjoy this vantage point better; it places me square with nature. I’m thankful for the little things these days, like beautiful trees, a tasty jar of green olives, and time with my boyfriend, while everything else flushes down the crapper.

  Jaeger lifts me, sketchpad and all, and plants himself in my spot on the chaise, sprawling me along the length of his body. My muscles tense at first, bracing for balance, then settle in comfortably. I pick up my pencil and resume the sketch I’m working on. The Jaeger lounge is my new favorite furniture.

  He plants his hands on my hips, fingers caressing the indent of my waist. I wiggle as his warm palms send chemical signals to my girl parts.

  A low growl rumbles from his chest. “Easy, or you’ll find yourself beneath me, your work tossed across the yard.”

  I chuckle. That’s not a threat, it’s something I’m looking forward to, and plan to make happen just as soon as Gen leaves for work.

  A week has passed since they arrested me. I was only in jail for a few hours, but it’s not something I’ll soon forget. I’ve regained the bulk of my energy with the help of heavy antibiotics and bed rest. All things considered, I’m freaking lucky to be alive. In the meantime, Jaeger has hired a private investigator to look into the drugging. It’s so police reality show I can hardly believe it’s my life.

  Jaeger raises the side of my sketchpad. I’m drawing an abstract of a man pulling a woman from the water, using the million tiny shapes I favor for design. It’s possible the expression on the man’s face resembles the look Jaeger gave me after I woke in the hospital.

  “You’re amazing,” he says into the hair above my ear.

  I lay my pencil in my lap and link our fingers. “I’m a jailbird. You sure you want to keep associating with me?”

  His body stiffens, and not the good part.

  A shot of panic rattles my nearly healed lungs. “Jaeger?”

  “I spoke to the PI this afternoon.” His thumb rubs gentle circles along the top of my hand, and I relax a little. “He linked Brad to Kate’s drug-dealer boyfriend and notified the police. Brad’s got a long prior arrest history—petty theft, a couple of drug charges that had been dropped. He’s never served time, but he’ll go to prison for this.”

  I sit up and face him, my sketchpad flapping to the ground. “So Brad is for sure connected to Kate?” The idea seemed the most plausible when I relayed everything I knew about that morning and Leo’s connection to her, but somehow it’s hard to believe Kate would go this far.

  Jaeger picks up my pad and dusts it off. He sets it on my lap and pulls me close. “I’m so sorry, Cali. Brad confessed his history with Kate’s boyfriend this morning in exchange for reduced charges. He admitted to planting drugs in your purse. An intermediary ordered him to do it, but Brad guesses the order came from Kate’s boyfriend. Brad owes the guy for something. He told the investigators he had no knowledge of why you were targeted, just that he was told to plant narcotics.”

  “But my drink—”

  “That was Brad improvising. He claimed he didn’t know you’d have a potentially fatal reaction to the drug.” Jaeger’s arm tightens around me. “He said he was covering his bases in case the drugs he dropped in your purse weren’t enough for an arrest.”

  Jaeger sits up and I roll on his lap like a buoy, his arms steadying me before I fall. “With Brad’s confession, my PI says the charges against you will be dropped. You’ll hear from the police soon and you’ll be able to return to work, but I’m not letting what happened go. It’s my fault Kate did this to you.”

  He’s trying to tell me something here, but all I can think is it’s over. They believe me. I’m free!

  “I told the police about Kate, but the link to her is circumstantial. There’s no hard evidence she had anything to do with it.”

  “It’s suspicious, but Brad is going to jail. Pretty soon Kate will be out of your house too,” I say. “We can move on.”

  Jaeger’s expression tightens. “She ignored the eviction notice. Says she’s not leaving and that I can’t force her. She claims I told her she can live there rent-free and that she has a legal right to be there.”

  “What? How can she do the things she’s done and expect to get away with them?”

  “She won’t. She lied about the pregnancy and she’s behind the drugging.”

  I blink sharply. “We assume there’s a link between Brad and her boyfriend, but…”

  Jaeger shuts his eyes for a long moment before looking at me intently. “I never told you what she was like in high school.” The hand he has on my thigh clenches. “You have no idea how much her being here makes me crazy. I haven’t seen her in years and I thought I never would, but after what she’s done… I won’t let her ruin our relationship or hurt you again.”

  “You’re worried she will?”

  “She’ll try. She’s the same vindictive, selfish person she was when I knew her years ago.”

  “What did she do, Jaeger? I asked Tyler, but he didn’t say much. Just called her a bitch.”

  “That’s apt,” he says wryly. “When I first met Kate in my sophomore year of high school, I thought she was this sweet, quiet person, who worked part-time at an ice cream shop with a girl I’d just started dating. The girl was social and outgoing, until a rumor spread she was sleeping with one of the teachers.

  “The rumors were graphic, the timing and circumstances difficult to refute. They fired the teacher and I stopped seeing the girl. She tried to defend herself. She told me the rumor was a lie, that she’d never slept with him. She claimed she’d never been with anyone. I didn’t believe her. She was pretty. She’d dated a couple of guys I knew by reputation. I just assumed… Anyway, I was stupid and self-involved with my training. I thought if she could lie about being a virgin, what was stopping her from lying about the teacher?”

  He lets out a heavy sigh. “The school administration believed the rumors too. It was a done deal. Six months later, the girl switched high schools and I never saw her again. I didn’t think about her after that. I’d already started dating Kate.”

  I think I see where this is going, and it makes me sick for Jaeger and the girl he dated. “Kate had something to do with the rumor?” I ask.

  “I didn’t know it at first. She told me she quit her job at the ice cream shop because her parents didn’t want her taking time away from her studies. I discovered a few months later through a mutual friend that she’d been fired for stealing. I confronted her about it, and she said she was embarrassed and that’s why she didn’t say anything. That not telling me was just a little white lie. That if I loved her I wouldn’t make her feel worse. The stealing was one of several lies or omissions I caught her in throughout our relationship.”

&nbs
p; He looks me in the eye. “I can’t explain why I stayed with her, Cali, except to say that I was so focused on training. Being with Kate was easy, but after we broke up, every doubt I ever had about her surfaced.”

  His gaze wanders absently to the trees across the yard. “During my knee recovery, I had a lot of time on my hands. I looked up that girl I’d been dating when Kate and I met. She told me Kate used her to get the job at the ice cream shop, then pumped her for information. About her. About me. The girl swore she never hooked up with the teacher. That it was all a lie and that the only person who knew her whereabouts that day was Kate.”

  Jesus. Kate is evil. “It wasn’t your fault, Jaeger,” I say. “You were young. You didn’t know.”

  “I was naïve and selfish, only thinking about my goals. I’m not that person anymore. When I think about what she did to you—” He shakes his head and lets out a hard breath. “She won’t get away with it. Even if I can’t find the evidence to connect it to her, I’ll make sure she pays somehow.”

  I knew he and Kate had a history. I never imagined this. No wonder Jaeger doesn’t like Kate. Though he’s never outright disparaged her. He’s not the kind of guy to bash someone he’s dated, even if she deserves it.

  “I remained single for a long time after Kate. Once I stopped drinking and hooking up and actually dated women again, I remembered that good people exist. Kate is not the norm. But even that got old after a while. I stopped having casual flings about a year ago.”

  The first time we were together he said he hadn’t been with anyone in a year. It all makes sense now.

  “Then I ran into you and I knew what I’d been missing.” The corners of his mouth curve up before a serious look returns. “I won’t let her come between us, Cali.”

  I circle my arms around his waist and rest my head under his chin. “What now? If she won’t leave, what do we do?”

  “How do you feel about kicking out an unwanted guest?”

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  “So, how should we play this?” I ask.

  Wild schemes fill my head. The first, hauling Kate by the hair, catfight style, and dragging her out of the house kicking and screaming, comes to mind. Or we could set up booby traps inside the house to piss her off and make her leave. Then there’s the good, old-fashioned “burning all her clothes in the outside fire pit and changing the locks” trick. Jaeger would need a high-tech alarm system in case she tried to climb back in through a window. She’s a wily one; I don’t put anything past her. Of course, none of my ideas are as vindictive and cruel as what she did to me, but then, I’m not a crazy bitch.

  Jaeger pulls up to his house and I’m bouncing in my seat. This is some serious showdown at the O.K. Corral shit. “Well? What do you think?” I say. “We need a plan before we go in.”

  His gaze flicks to Kate’s car. “I have a plan. Follow my lead.”

  Ohhh, a man in charge. So totally hot.

  “Check!” I scramble out of his truck and try to match his long strides to the front door. It’s like keeping up with walking tree trunks.

  Jaeger sweeps into the house, his eyes slowly taking in the room. Crumpled fast food bags lie scattered over tables and the floor. Clothing and trash dangle from the chandelier. Dishes are stacked to toppling in the sink, the counters covered in a rainbow of sticky-looking dried-up spills and leftover food. The place smells like a combination of expensive hair spray and rotting meat.

  Jaeger’s beautiful home is a disaster. What has Kate been doing?

  Music blasts from the back bedroom. Jaeger’s office. The one he locked.

  He storms back and I follow.

  Kate’s sitting at his desk, like last time, her feet kicked up at the corner, fingers pounding the keyboard of his computer.

  “I thought you took that to Mason’s,” I whisper.

  “I needed it for work, so I left it here. It was password protected,” he growls. “Kate!”

  Her fingers still, but she doesn’t look up right away. She minimizes the window and slowly swivels her head. “Yes?”

  “You lied to me about having a kid and you tried to frame Cali. You’re lucky she didn’t die from the drugs your friend gave her.”

  I try to not think about the high fatality rate after aspirating vomit. It’s kind of frightening.

  “I’m sick of your shit. I never want to see your face again. You’ve been legally ordered to leave my house, and now I’m ordering you.”

  Jaeger is large and imposing, but it’s not his size that’s so intimidating, it’s his voice. The deep rumble directed at Kate could quell a lion.

  “Don’t act all gruff and intimidating, Jaeger,” she says in her nasal whine. “We both know you’d never hurt a female.”

  He might not, but I have no problem hurting Kate. I step in front of Jaeger, but he drags me back. I glare at him and he shakes his head.

  Kate grabs an aerosol container and pops the cap, oblivious to danger. She sprays nail polish drying formula onto her red toenails—and the surface of Jaeger’s oak Mission-style desk.

  Jaeger leans his hip against the doorframe and crosses his arms. “Nice car you got out there, Kate.”

  She leans forward and picks at a hangnail on the corner of her toe. Her eyes flicker in his direction. “What about it?”

  “The VIN indicates it’s your boyfriend’s car. Word around town is the condo you own in Reno was purchased with his drug money as well, and that you played a part in his meth lab.”

  Her head whips around. “That’s a lie!”

  “You had your boyfriend order his dealer buddy to drug Cali. You’re an accomplice, and I can prove the link between you and Brad. If I want, I can make it so you have a home just like the one your man’s in. Nice and compact, living the simple life.”

  Kate’s feet are on the ground in seconds. “What do you want, Jaeger?” Her words are punchy with anger.

  Cornered and still a bitch. Impressive.

  “I want you out of my house and my life for good. Don’t go near my girlfriend, my family, or my friends. Matter of fact, might be a good idea if you left California and Nevada and went somewhere far away.”

  She chuckles bitterly. “You’re crazy. I’m not leaving. Besides, I don’t have any—”

  “Money?” Jaeger’s arms drop and he straightens to his full height. “Sell the five grand worth of crap you purchased on my credit card prior to my finding out”—I choke, blinking uncontrollably. Five grand?—“and the apartment you own, and move away. You might consider getting a job for once in your life. It’s over, Kate. There’s no one left to freeload off. Your family filed restraining orders against you.”

  “What? My mom would never.”

  “Your mother, your father, and your sister and her family. Everyone. I filed one this morning. So technically, it’s illegal for you to be this close to me and my property. I could have you arrested.”

  A stunned moment of silence congeals as Kate takes in Jaeger’s words. In her attempt to screw others, she has ultimately screwed herself. She has no one.

  Kate looks around the office, as if searching for someone or something to save her. Her jaw hardens and she shoulders past us to the spare bedroom. We hear a zipper unwinding, along with drawers screeching open and closed.

  It’s music to my ears.

  Ten minutes later, Kate is in her car and pulling out of the driveway.

  Jaeger and I stand for a few moments in silence, watching her car disappear down the drive, just soaking up the peace that is a Kate-free zone for the first time in weeks.

  Gen finally told Blue Casino what Drake did to her, and now Kate’s been run out of town. Life is turning around. And I’m with Jaeger. There is nothing better.

  I look back, considering. His beautiful home has been totally contaminated.

  Jaeger pulls out his phone, scrolling through his contacts. “Don’t worry, I’m having it detoxed. Calling my cleaning lady right now.”

  “I’ll pitch in for new bedding.
”

  He winks. “Already on it, babe. By tomorrow we’ll be sleeping on a king-sized mattress inside an actual home, though I did enjoy camping with you. Our tent and air mattress will still get time.” He shifts his attention to the phone. “Janice? This is Jaeger. I need you to come over and do a full cleaning and some shopping.” He covers the speaker. “What color bedding?”

  He’s asking me what I like? For his home? I tell him my preferences and he relays them to his housekeeper.

  The call ends and it’s silent again, except for the sound of the water lapping the rocks below, birds chirping, pine needles rustling lightly on the breeze. I take in these sounds and enjoy them thoroughly. I hadn’t realized how much Kate’s presence brought the world down. It’s like the weight of a mountain has been lifted.

  Jaeger grabs my hand. “We have some time while the house gets cleaned. Come on. I have something to show you.”

  Hmm, everything he’s shown me I’ve enjoyed. I happily climb in his truck, relishing the freedom of going anywhere and doing whatever we want.

  Jaeger drives us to a street named Beach Drive in the Keys. It’s right along the water, and the homes here are enormous. He pulls into a driveway with a four-car garage. The house itself is about a quarter of a block wide and overlooks the lake. Jaeger’s home is on the lake, too, but it’s up a rise with more distant views. This place is practically on the lake, and has a façade of decorative shingles and stone. It’s impressive.

  “Who lives here?” I ask.

  “A client I want you to meet. I think you’ll like their newest art.” He grins mysteriously.

  He’s taking me to see one of his pieces? Inside someone’s home? Isn’t that intrusive?

  “Wait, this isn’t your client Danielle, is it?”