by Smith, C. P.
“I got you Baby.” Jack whispered as he drew me into his arms and held me tight. I buried my head in his neck and sobbed great ugly tears, as he rocked me back and forth. “Jack,” I whispered, “There’s a bomb on my ankle.” Jack’s head snapped back, and he replied, “What the fuck?”
“Charlie put C4 in an ankle bracelet to keep me from running, I’d really, really like for you to get it off me right about now,” I whined.
Jack looked down at my leg, and I handed him the remote. He studied it for a moment, then looked at my ankle. He moved his hand up my leg to the top of my boot and unbuckled the straps then just as calm as if he was saying pass the salt, said, “Pull your foot out, Baby.” I looked at the boot then wanted to kick myself for not thinking of that first. I wiggled my foot until it came loose, and I pulled my leg from it.
Jack stood with the boot and handed it off to a highway patrolman, instructing him to be careful and to call in the bomb squad. Jack turned back and helped me stand, and I pulled off the other boot so I could walk. I noticed Jack was looking me up and down; then he barked, “Barry, find me a fucking blanket or coat.” I’d forgotten about the stripper costume; Jack clearly had not. I leaned into him on weak legs, and without a moment’s hesitation he picked me up and carried me to the back of the truck. He jumped down, landing on two feet, and without breaking step, moved to his truck, put me in the cab, then climbed in, turned to me and pulled me back into his arms.
“Jack, Charlie was Gerry’s son.”
“I know.”
“How’d you know?”
“Bailey took a picture at the party and he was in it. Called Ben, and he recognized him from the Nickel. Called the Nickel and got his name, then ran a check on him.” I burrowed deeper into his body and told Jack, “He thought he was in love with me. He needed help, Jack, his grandfather beat him the whole time he lived with him.”
“Seems everyone who meets you falls in love.”
I looked up at him and saw his face was warm, a small smile on his lips. Then he made my heart skip a beat when he told me, “I know I fell the moment you opened your mouth.”
“Jack,” I mouthed since I had no voice. My heart was pounding, and a lump had formed in my throat.
“Love you, Jennifer, don’t know what I’d have done if something happened to you.” I shook my head to stop the tears from falling, then lunged into him and buried my face in his neck. Too many emotions were coursing through me; I wasn't looking for love when I moved here, but I sure as hell found it, and after kind, gentle and sweet, Doug, I knew what I felt for him was just a shadow of what I felt for Jack.
Jack completed me, made me whole, and sparked a desire in me that I didn't know existed. So with no voice to express my own love, I moved to his ear whispering, “I love you too, Jack.”
Jack’s hand came up to the side of my head and cupped my face, tilting it back. His eyes had gone dark, and his breathing deeper. He leaned in and then brushed my lips, his tongue tasting them. I opened for him, and he deepened the kiss, pulling me harder into his body. Time stood still; while I poured the love I had for this man into the kiss, trying to express the depth of my emotions. The kiss went hot and wild, my hands moving up the back of his shirt, clawing his back lightly with my nails. Jack moaned in my mouth, then broke the kiss and put his forehead to mine. “Jesus,” Jack choked out then buried my head in his neck and held me tight.
Someone knocked on the window, and we pulled apart to see Barry standing there with a blanket. Jack rolled down the window, grabbed it from Barry, and I leaned over to the window.
“Thanks, Barry.”
“Glad you’re safe, Jennifer.”
“Thanks for coming to the rescue.”
Jack interrupted by growling, “For fuck sake, cover yourself before I shoot Barry too.” Barry chuckled at Jack being possessive then moved off to talk with the highway patrol. I hadn’t known for sure who’d shot Charlie, but now I knew. I searched Jack’s eyes to see if he was hiding any pain from killing the man, but only saw the irritation for my outfit. I leaned in and asked, “You OK?” Jack’s eyebrows drew together in confusion. “About shooting Charlie. If you need to talk I’m here for you.” His face warmed, and he kissed my lips quickly then answered, “He drugged you, stole you from me, scared you, scared Bailey, threatened to blow you up, was going to kill you with a pipe, and I have no doubt got an eyeful of you in that outfit, so yeah, I’m fine, I’d shoot him again if I could, but that’s frowned upon in a law man, apparently overkill isn’t allowed in Sheriffs.”
I didn’t know if he was serious, or joking to lighten the mood of a shitty night, so I kept my mouth shut by biting my lip. Jack saw it and stared, then looked at me and smiled. I’m thinking he was serious. I was just about to say something when his radio crackled to life.
“Gunnison this is base come in.” Jack grabbed his handheld and answered.
“Base this is Gunnison.”
“Jack, Bailey wants to know if you have her?” I was so caught up in everything; I'd forgotten to have Jack call Bailey. Damn.
I grabbed the handheld from Jack and replied, “I’m here; I’m fine. Tell Bailey she still has to go back to school tomorrow, and we’ll be home in a few hours. Oh and tell Bailey I’m picking my own costume next Halloween.” I turned to Jack and smiled, and he threw his head back and laughed, then pulled me to him.
“I’ll pick your fucking costume next year,” he bossed. I looked at his smiling face and thought about his possessiveness. Deciding it was sexy just like his bossy, I shrugged and answered him, “Ok, Jack.”
“How do you feel about goin as a pregnant woman?”
“I’d prefer going as something scary.”
“I’ll rephrase that, how do you feel about being a pregnant woman next year.”
I considered his words, heard the change in his sentence and then froze. I looked up and asked. “You want me to be pregnant not dress as a pregnant woman?” Jack smiled at me and said, “She finally gets it.”
I started breathing hard, a little freaked out to be honest, then I thought about being a mother again. The thought of having Jack’s baby made me feel warm and happy and I started to smile. Jack saw my face change and whispered, “The thought of you carrying my child is sexy as hell, and it’d beat that costume you’re wearing by a mile.”
Staring at his smiling face, I envisioned a little boy who looked like Jack, running around my house, dark hair, blue eyes, following Jack around wanting to be just like his daddy and knew my answer.
“Ok, Jack.” Just like that, no doubt in my mind.
How we’d ended up talking about having kids after I’d been kidnapped, only weeks after having been attacked and put in a coma, was beyond me, but nothing since we’ve met has been traditional or normal, so why not?
“Ok?” He questioned.
“Ok, but under one condition.”
“What’s that?”
“I don’t want to be an unmarried woman when I get pregnant again.”
“You asking me to marry you?” He smiled.
“No, I’m telling you to marry me.” I explained.
“Look who’s bossy now?” He whispered as his mouth came to mine, then before he kissed me he whispered again.
“Marry me, Baby.”
“Ok, Jack”
“That's my girl, now kiss me and seal the deal.” So damn bossy.
Epilogue
Three months later…
“Bob, I’m telling you the trail leads back to the Mayor.”
You could have slapped me, and I wouldn’t have felt it when I made the connection between the fires at the old mine, and the new casino proposal. Bob, my editor, after promoting me to Lorraine’s position, gave me an assignment to investigate the new casino proposal. He wanted me to find out about other small communities and how it affected them and their economies, and also their crime rate. In doing so, I called the developers of the casino, and by luck, talked with someone who was chatty, and they told
me that the land they were looking at for the casino, was the land around the old gold mine. As you can imagine, having been attacked there and then a mysterious fire, this caught my attention. My spidey senses kicked in, and I looked into the owner of the mine. Found the Mayor purchased it a month after the fire from the family who owned it, and was now looking to make some serious dough on this deal.
If I’m right, he used his position as Mayor to not only negotiate this deal, but also find out what property they wanted. And then he lucked out by a mysterious fire that made it possible to purchase the very land? It smells of scandal; it reeks of corruption and it screams of arson for the sole purpose of purchasing the property for a song. Wait till I tell Jack….
One month later…
“You fuckin’ bitch.” The Mayor roared in my face. My article about what I’d uncovered went to print the night before, and all of Gunnison was waking to find their Mayor a suspect in the arson at the mine, and that he was an opportunist of his own making. By allegedly setting the fire, he was able to take advantage of the owners because the fire had made the mine unsafe, and the owners didn’t have the money to exact repairs.
The story goes like this. The casino was interested in the mine; the owners didn’t want to sell. A mysterious fire destroys the mine making it unsafe, and expensive to rehab for the owner’s. In steps Mayor Hall, “I’ll buy it from you and preserve the history,” he’d told them, but had no intention of doing so. He intended; I found out through communications with the casino owners, to bulldoze the mine and sell it to them for a song. That brings us to now, and the enraged man in my face.
Everyone at the paper got quiet, and I was so shocked by his anger, for once I said nothing.
“I’m suing this paper, I’m suing you, and if you think the Sheriff won’t see termination for investigating this bullshit, you’re sadly mistaken. I will bury you both.”
I heard Lorraine on the phone whispering as I kept myself on the other side of my desk, afraid the control he was holding onto might snap. He leaned into my desk and hissed, “You’re through in this town Mrs. Gunnison, you, and your brute of a husband.”
Did I mention I’d gotten married? Jack wasn’t kidding when he said marry me, and he wasn’t kidding when he said he wanted a baby. It had been four months since Charlie abducted me and since then, Jack had hauled me to Vegas where we’d gotten married with Bailey, Grady, Mom, Dad, Jack’s mother, and Ben and Lorraine all in attendance. Neither of us wanted fuss. So one month later, instead of the traditional thanksgiving, we all flew to Vegas and had a short wedding at Cupid’s chapel, then had a long weekend of gambling and shows. Well, the rest of our wedding party did, we surfaced once for a Garth Brooks show, ‘cause honeymoon or not, it was Garth and I wasn’t missing him.
Anyhow, back to our story. The Mayor ended his threat by taking his hand and swiping it across my desk, knocking everything to the floor, then he prowled around the desk as I backed up, putting my hands up in front of me to keep him back. I heard running in our direction but kept backing up, tangling my foot with my chair and sending me to the floor just as Jack rounded my desk.
And since I’d informed him two days prior that we were having a Halloween baby, he kinda lost his shit when he saw me fall.
Jack grabbed the Mayor, threw him to the side, reared back his fist, and nailed him right in the jaw. Then he followed with a leg to his stomach, bringing the Mayor to the floor, and out cold. I was trying to get to my feet to stop him, but he turned to me, picked me up, put me gently in my chair, and then looked me over searching for injuries.
“I’m ok, Jack.”
“How hard did you fall?”
“Jack, I’m fine; I took spills with Bailey; my pride is bruised not my body.” Jack took a deep breath then leaned his forehead against mine.
“I wanted to kill him when I saw you go down.”
“You may have, he’s not moving,” I replied as I looked at the Mayor lying on the floor.
Moments later the Mayor started moving and then rolled to his back, trying to breathe through the pain. His eyes finally opened, and he turned his head to Jack and sneered, “You’re finished, I’m pressing charges for assault; I have a room full of witnesses, and the council will have no problem with my recommendation after this.” Lorraine walked up about then and looked down on the Mayor with a look of disgust, and informed John how it really was.
“You threatened and advanced on a pregnant woman causing her to fall. You continued to advance on her, even after she was down. I have no problem telling the council that a man protecting his wife or a Sheriff protecting a defenseless pregnant woman was well within his right as a husband or a Sheriff.”
When Lorraine finished her speech, Bob stepped up.
“I didn’t see anything, sorry, Mayor,”
“I don’t have my glasses with me today, sorry, Mayor, I didn’t see anyone beat the shit out of you with one fucking punch.” Laughed Thomas our print editor.
Grady, who had come with Jack, was standing to the side with his arms crossed over his chest, scowling at his father. He stepped up and helped him off the floor, then pulled his arms behind his back and stated, “You have the right to remain silent—“
“What the fuck are you doing, Grady?”
“Reading you your rights, we have a warrant for your arrest. Got it this morning from Judge Thompson. We found the evidence you started the fire at the mine in your barn, you stupid fucking sonofabitch… Anything you say, can and will be used against you in a court of law,” Grady continued as he walked his father out of the newsroom and out the door.
“Wow, that was freaking awesome,” I whispered to my husband who’d been watching the whole thing scowling with rage.
“Yeah,” was all Jack grunted, then he turned back to me and ordered, “Want you home in bed resting after that spill you took.” My guy is so cute. I was heading home anyway, so his bossy didn’t bother me, not when it was wrapped up in love and concern for his future son or daughter.
“Ok, Jack.”
“You need me to drive you home?”
“I think I can handle it,” I smiled. This was going to be a long eight months if he reacted like this with every spill or stubbed toe I had.
Three months later…
“Mamasita, I’m home,” Bailey shouted as she flew through the front door, Grady following in her wake with a huge grin on his face. Did I mention that during my kidnapping Grady took care of Bailey, and they made a connection, one that was still going strong seven months later? You’ll have to forgive me, pregnancy hormones and all, my memory isn’t what it used to be. They were adorable together. Grady was a badass in the making; give him eight more years and when he’s thirty; I guarantee he’ll be uttering monosyllabic sentences, and he and Jack can sit around grunting; babe, yup and nope, to answer every question ever asked of them.
“Oh, my god, look at your cute little Buddha belly,” Bailey squealed rushing forward. I was three and half months along and looked six. A surprise I was keeping from Bailey till she was home for the summer. Twins. God has a sense of humor.
Jack for the first time since I’d met him was speechless when I’d told him. He just looked at my stomach and smiled. We didn’t want to know the sex of the babies, or if they are identical till they are born, so instead of coming up with one girl name or one boy name, we had to come up with two of each to cover our bases.
Bailey got down on her knees and whispered to my stomach, “Hey, little bro; I can’t wait to meet you.”
“What makes you think it’s a boy?”
“Please, would Jack’s loins produce anything but?” She had a point there.
“Well now that you’re home you can help us pick out names. I need two of each.”
“Cool, I’ll pull up names on the web, and we can write down what we like, but why two?”
“Because were having twins,” I beamed. Bailey threw her head back and laughed, “Of course you are, Jack got his way with this as we
ll, he wanted two kids, so he got two in one go.” Jack walked up as she was laughing and wrapped his arms around my belly, kissing my neck, and then whispered, “Your daughter has me figured out, when will her mother accept I get my way in all things?”
“Her mother knows it, she’s just fighting it.”
“Losing battle, just saying,” he replied in my ear. Bailey was watching us, smiling, and then she teared up.
“You guys are so cute together, I just love how much you love my mom, Jack,” she cried. Jack moved to her and wrapped her up in a hug, and she buried her face in his chest.
I knew there would be moments that Doug’s death would hit her hard. Luckily she had Jack in her life as well, and he took over the role of “head of the house” and “protector of his women” like a seasoned pro. No one had better fuck with his girls. Ask Grady; he’d had the “I’m watching you” talk from Jack already. For a man who’d never been married, he was a great stepfather and husband, and most of all, a great best friend. We only fought when I didn’t agree with him, which happened more often now that I was pregnant. Jail time has been threatened if I carried anything heavier than a pillow… Men forget before modern medicine; women plowed the field and only stopped long enough to push out the baby, then with baby strapped to their chest, went back to plowing a field. (Ok, a little tall tale, but not by much) But as Jack said, he got his way in most things, and since it meant I could sit with my feet up, who was I to complain?
Five months later…Halloween
“Mom, please try to get along with Jack’s mother.” Mom had flown in from Florida to help me with the babies. My due date was three weeks away and since I was carrying twins; my doctor had put me on bed rest for the last two months of my pregnancy to keep me from going into pre-term labor. Twins liked to come early, and anything beyond thirty-six weeks was considered a bonus. I was in week thirty-seven, and everyone was staring at me waiting for me to burst. Jack’s mother, living only a county away, drove over every day to help, and since this was her first grandchild, she was anxious and excited and, trying to help out, as well. And my mom being my mom and thinking, “this is my daughter I’ll take care of her,” kept arguing about how Susie, Jack’s mother, was doing things.