by Eilish Rose
“Noah, I need you to guard something.” Jasper spoke, taking seat behind his desk.
“Sorry, brother. But I’m not understanding you. You’re not behaving like someone whose dead brother just showed up, and just before this you married his fiancé. Everyone out there is trying to come up with the terms of this, and you are having a meeting. What do you want to guard, anyway?” Noah was all confused as this was utterly disbelieving.
Jasper remained calm, but his eyes were whole another story.
“Please, forgive me little brother if I’m not behaving in the way you expected me to do. But I don’t have luxury to cry my eyes out because my dead brother is apparently alive, and the girls upstairs completely freaked out when they saw that man. There are many things you don’t know, and I’m not planning to tell everything until I sort this out. But you are the one whom I trust. Why else I would ask you to tag along? There were many other people whom I could ask to help. Now this is up to you. If you trust me, stay; if you don’t, you are free to go.”
Jasper’s reply made Noah think about this situation from completely a new angle.
“This is tough, man.” Noah hung his head.
“I know, we have to act fast because there might me someone who is ready to harm us.”
“Okay, I’m ready to help, but you’ll tell me the whole truth once you fix it.”
“I will.”
“What I need to guard?”
“The main gate, and also–“
“What! You want me to be your watchman?” Noah exclaimed in astonishingly.
“Yes, and also a bodyguard.”
“What do you want me to do? Care to explain it in detail?” he asked placing one hand on his hip.
“Kara is here, and most probably our parents are on the way to here. I don’t want them to disturb Kara and Amelia in any way. You’ll stop them to see the girls. I don’t care how you’d do it, but you have to. And if William is with them, do not let them enter at all, otherwise, let them enter, but don’t let them to go to my room.
“Come with me.”
Jasper dragged his shocked cousin out to his room. Mrs. Hudson–his housekeeper had already helped Kara to change in something comfortable. And Amelia had also changed her clothes; she was wearing one of Noah’s football jersey sweatshirt which he had kept at Jasper’s house as he used to crash down here when his father would bug him over the grades. She looked like a teddy bear.
“You look good, little bear,” Jasper smiled at her while Noah scowled.
She gave a cute smile, but it turned into a frown when her eyes landed on Noah.
Instinctively, Noah took a step closer, but Jasper put his hand on his chest to halt his movement.
“My sweatshirt,” he whispered while pointing his finger towards Amelia. And she tightened her hold on the sweatshirt.
Jasper gave a death glare to his cousin, and he shut his mouth and sulked a bit.
“Amelia, baby please come out for a minute,” she stood up and followed them out.
“Amelia, I have something important to do, so I’ll be downstairs with Aaron and Ethan, but Noah will be here for you and Kara. Whatever you need, ask him, and try to relax. Okay? Besides, if you want to paint his face, you have my permission.”
“Hey,” Noah protested at the last bit.
“You’ll offer your face to paint, else I’ll decorate it with my fist.” He smiled sweetly at his brother.
Amelia giggled, and the boys’ attention went to her.
“If you feel uncomfortable, just dial 05 on intercom. It’ll ring my study. Okay?” he bent down to her level and instructed her.
“Okay,” she nodded.
Jasper took her hand and lead her back to the room, Noah followed them with foul mood.
Jasper’s eyes went to his bed where Kara was lying, looking every bit peaceful. But he knew this peace was short-lived. He could only hope for ending this unwanted turn of events as soon as possible.
He sat down beside her, and took one of her hand in his. Her hand seemed so small in comparison to his, and hers was cold as well. He rubbed the back of her hand ever so gently, and with other hand he caressed her cheek before running a soft hand through her ear tucking an already tucked strand behind her hair.
By now, Amelia resumed her position besides Kara, and looked at him with an innocent curiosity, he smiled at her before getting up. With one last look on everyone in the room he left for his study.
Chapter 12
“What is the meaning of this?” Aaron asked in disbelief.
“It’s kinda hard to explain.” Jasper replied still not meeting his friend’s eyes.
“It is not rocket science, Jasper. These pictures clearly show that what your intentions were when you agreed to marry Kara. You have a lot of evidence to link her with William’s death. Sorry, fake death. Then why didn’t you do anything?”
“Okay, yes I agreed to marry her because I wanted to expose her lying. At that time I believed that she was behind this accident.”
“Then what changed, how and when?”
“When we went shopping, I saw a mark on her lower back, it was like someone has burned her skin there, and after that in MacDonald’s she was too close to have a panic attack. She was trying to search for someone, and after today I’m sure it was William. But I’m still not able to shook that look of hers from my mind. Whenever I shut my eyes, I see her face and the emptiness in her eyes.” He looked into Aaron’s eyes while saying the last part, and his friend’s eyes became distant as if he was remembering his own demons.
“Tell me from the beginning because right now there so many things which are making no sense, like why you asked us to be armed on your wedding, and why there were some ex-SEALS all armed in the reception?”
“The day we got the new of William’s accident, I was on my back to my parents’ home when someone bumped into me and threw a folder on the ground with my name written on it. I checked it, and it shook me when I saw a photo of Kara trying to open the door of William’s car, and photo was taken just a few hours before his death. But her face unsettled me the most. She had fearful expression. I believed that she was afraid because she was about to commit a crime, but a tiny part of my conscious told me not to jump to the conclusions. So, I asked for a secret investigation as I wasn’t sure what the truth was.
“Then I started observing her. The funeral was the best place to read the people, but she was not the way I expected. She was torn, saddened, and I knew it was not ant act. She was her true self. Then my parents proposed this idea, and I thought it’d give me a great opportunity to be close to her. After MacDonald’s I couldn’t make myself to face her, as I felt as if I was betraying her. But Amelia was in my contact, from her I got know someone started sending her flowers, and those were making her upset. I got hold of some flowers and got them tested in your lab,” Jasper pointed in Aaron’s direction, and his brows shot up.
He continued, “a familiar scent was sprayed on them, and it was William’s cologne. That day I understood there was seriously big going on. I wanted that person to come out, and that is why I didn’t stop media from publishing about our marriage, hence the security in the ceremony, and rest is history,” He sighed after narrating everything.
Both Aaron and Ethan were speechless, they had shock written on their faces.
Ethan was first to react, “that is way too much, and it has drained all my energy.” He got up and went to the small fridge in the corner and fetched a diet-coke.
“There was literally some kind of conspiracy going on, and you didn’t feel the need to tell us about this.” Aaron was furious, he got up as well but started pacing here and there.
“Look, I didn’t know what was going on; besides you both have some personal issues to deal with. I didn’t want to bother you guys if it was nothing.”
This made Aaron angrier, he was about to march to him to punch in the eye, but he controlled himself.
“Next time, big or nothing, you’ll
tell us. Understood?” he slammed his fist on his desk.
Jasper just nodded, and leaned back in his chair closing his eyes. He was tired, but he couldn’t rest especially when his wife was in some kind of danger, and he had no idea what it was.
Arron spoke after some time, “few things are not fitting into the puzzle; first, why didn’t William react when he saw that Kara was your bride? Is he having amnesia?
“Second, why he came back today?
“Third, where he was till now? He is famous, so obviously if he was alive, someone would recognize him. And it is not that he just came out of coma today, because he was perfectly fine. Last, who actually died in the car.”
Arron was agitated, he was not finding any logic the events that happened.
“I don’t trust your brother, Jasper,” Ethan spoke while sitting down in the chair. He grabbed the same picture of Kara.
“The two reasons I don’t trust him are that: one, how did he know where to find everyone? How did he know where you were getting married? Two: why Amelia is afraid of that man?”
“She is afraid of him?” Aaron asked in disbelief.
“Yeah, she was shaking uncontrollably when I picked her up in my arms; fear and pain was visible on that innocent face.” Ethan replied in thick voice remembering the look on Amelia’s face.
“I sensed it too,” Jasper agreed.
“We need to act fast, guys. He is an author who has written books on crimes and thrillers. He sure does know how to stage a death. He has lived many lives in the stories, if not in real.” Ethan voiced his opinion.
“And to catch him, I know what we need to do. We have to find out who died in fire. It will give us some lead.” Jasper pitched an idea.
“You didn’t get his DNA while your investigation?” Aaron asked.
“No, because at that time everyone knew it was William, so didn’t feel the need.”
“What was wrong with the car?” Aaron probed.
“It was burnt, and dented so badly that exact reason is still unknown.”
“Well, I think to know who was in the car, we need to dig the grave.” Ethan gave the direction to their investigation.
“I’ll have my men on it,” Aaron stood up dialling a number.
“I’m feeling really bad to keep you guys busy like this when you both have some kind of mess going on in your life.” Jasper sighed.
“Hey, you like is messier than ours, and it is getting much messier day by day. Let us in to solve this, then you can help us in sorting our issues.” Ethan shrugged, and Aaron nodded.
Aaron instructed one of his men to dig the fake William’s grave to extract the dead body.
When he cut the call, there was loud knock on his door, and some voices followed.
When Jasper was about to get up, intercom in his study rang.
Chapter 13
Jasper ignored the door and went to the intercom to answer as it was probably Amelia.
“Jasper, please come. Mom and dad are here, and this stupid Noah is not letting me out.” Amelia said while glaring at the big guy.
“Okay Am, I’ll be there soon,” Jasper chucked before cutting the call.
“Family is here, hide the evidences,” Jasper instructed his friends and they gathered all the pictures and other notes and locked them into his desk drawer.
He opened the door, “why are we not allowed to meet our daughters, Jasper? How is she?” James Smith asked his son-in-law.
“James, I told Noah to guard the room. Kara is stressed, and I don’t want to upset her more. Besides she is still unconscious.”
“What? Still? Did you call any doctor?” Martha questioned shockingly.
“I did, and she is fine. She’ll be conscious in couple of hours.”
Martha went to him and took one of his hand, “what is going to happen Jasper? What are you going to do? You’re not feeling burdened with this?”
“I’ve no idea what is going to happen next, but I assure you I’m not leaving Kara just because my brother is back. She is not an object to trade. And I’m not feeling trapped in this. I knew what I was doing when I said the vows.” He squeezed her hand gently to assure her.
Martha and James nodded in a haze; they were worried about their eldest child. She was suffering a lot at this young age. These were her prime years to enjoy and explore the wold and life, but fate was playing a cruel game with her.
“Come on, let go to the room,” Jasper took Kara’s parents in his room.
As he opened the door to his room, he saw Amelia was poking Noah’s leg, who was slumped into a couch chair, with a pen while sitting on the rug, and he was trying to shoo away her hand but she was persistent.
She jumped up when she saw Jasper and her parents, and ran towards them. James hugged her and Martha stroked her head lovingly. Then they saw Kara, sleeping peacefully. Tears fell down from Martha’s eyes. She went closer and sat down. She stroked her face lovingly and kissed her forehead. James also bent down and caressed his hand through Kara’s hair before placing a kiss on her temple.
Her parents and Amelia spent about half an hour with Kara, while Jasper and other men waited in the living room.
When they came down, Amelia was with them. “Mom, can I stay here, with Kara?”
“No Am, this is rude. Kara is married now; you can’t live with her forever.” Amelia had sad look on her face after hearing her mother.
“It’s okay, Martha. Amelia can stay with us as long as she wants,” Jasper said.
“Don’t give her any ideas, Jasper. She’ll not leave you two alone.” James replied.
“Please, mom, dad, I’ll be big girl. I won’t bother anyone.”
“Please, let her stay. I insist, and Kara would love to have her sister with her.”
“Okay, just for two days, not more than that,” James agreed. “But Amelia you can’t negotiate it after two days. Okay?”
“Yes, daddy.”
“We’ll send her stuff soon.”
They said good bye and left the house.
Kara was alone in her room and Jasper excused himself to go to her.
He discarded his suit jacket and removed his tie. He was about to go to change when a whimper stopped him in his tracks.
He was instantly near Kara. She thrashed a little but it seemed like she was struggling to get herself free of something.
“No—” a broken whisper came out of her mouth. Her face contorted in pain.
Jasper leaned down a bit and started massaging her scalp, “Kara, open your eyes. Shh… it’s just a bad dream. Free yourself from whatever is holding you,” he tried to sooth her, but her struggles grew and her jerks were much violent.
“You’re strong. You are not alone. Hey, hey… come out of that place. We all are here, I, your parents, Amelia. Yes, Amelia is here. She is waiting for you to get up.” Jasper was trying to make her relax with whatever thought was coming to his mind. He had no idea what was happening to her.
“Plea… please, don’t d… do this to her. She is… she is a child,” she sobbed in broken voice, and she thrashed more to free herself from Jasper’s hold. His hold loosened a bit when he heard her words. He felt as if someone poured cold water on him. It triggered to him that she might be talking about Amelia. He was not understanding what was going on. What she and Amelia were involved in? He was beyond shocked because things were getting messier, and he had no idea how to control this.
“Kara, open your eyes. Try to fight it, please.” His heart thumped rapidly.
She struggled more and with force her body jerked and eyes flew open. The emptiness in her eyes pierced his heart million times. His was not ready to encounter such darkness yet. And he knew, there was more, and for the first time in very long he felt scared, even his service in U.S. military was that scary. He had no choice but to be strong for both Kara and Amelia.
“Hey, hey… Kara, look at me. Focus on me, just focus.” Kara panted hard and she blinked several times when she heard a familiar and a
soothing voice.
She came to senses and looked around. She was in an unfamiliar room, but it did not make her uncomfortable. She, then, looked at
Jasper and a relieved sigh escaped her mouth.
Her eyes were teary, and seeing a genuine concern in his eyes was rendering her weak. Involuntarily, tears started to roll down her eyes and chocked sobs shook her when events of her wedding reception started to play in her mind. Fear engulfed her when she thought about seeing William in the doorway.
“Was he… was he there?” she stammered a bit.
Jasper nodded, unable to form any words, and made Kara to cry even harder.
Jasper leaned all the way down and hugged her. Kara wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her face in his chest. Jasper rubbed her arms soothingly. And he whispered sweet nothings in her ear.
Several minutes passed and nobody moved, and her cries also muted down.
Jasper got up little and made her look at him holding her chin. They looked into each other’s eyes, and then Jasper joined their foreheads.
“What is going to happen now?” she finally asked.
“I don’t know Kara, I don’t know. Everybody is asking this, but I’m not understanding this.” He didn’t express his desire to keep her as his because he wanted to know what she wanted.
“Wh…what is going to happen to us? I mean… our…our marriage?” she stammered in almost inaudible tone.
“We are married Kara; it is our decision. No one can interfere in this. I won’t let anybody. And I don’t want to change anything between us.” He hinted her.
“How could you be so sure? We are forced to marry each other. And…and with is return everything has changed.” She voiced her fears.
“Yes, it was a forced marriage, but the vows I said are not forced. And tell me, did you say your vows forcefully?” his voice was thick with emotions. Kara remained silent.
“Answer me Kara, did you feel forced when I kissed you in front of everyone? Did you feel disgusted when I put my tongue in your mouth?” he gulped and brushed his lips on hers.