by J. L. Drake
Warmth shot through my chest. I loved that she wanted to come back, not to mention she said the word home. “Do you have a lead for us?”
“Maybe, but I just need one more thing to connect the dots.”
“You want to talk about it?” I would talk about the weather just to hear her voice right now.
“I wish you were here in this bed with me.”
I closed my eyes and pictured her in bed under me. “Oh, you have no idea how much I wish I could be.” Suddenly, I remembered something. “What about the next best thing? Mom and Ellie will be in Casper tomorrow for a specialist appointment.”
“Really?” That seemed to perk her up some.
“Yeah. Why don’t you see if you can meet up with them for lunch?”
“I’d love that. I’ll text her once we hang up.” There was a long pause before I heard her shift in her blankets. “John?”
“Yeah?”
“Nothing is holding me there.”
“Holding you where?”
“Washington.”
Oh!
“Are you saying you’d move here?” I held my breath and pressed my lips together for her answer.
“If I had a reason to stay, I would.”
“Am I not enough of a reason?” I grinned like a sixteen-year-old boy who just had his first graze with a boob.
“Add Tripper to the pot, and then it would be enough,” she teased. “But, John, I want you to know something.”
“Okay.” I wished she was here. I wanted to get my hands on her, to hold her, stroke her, make her eyes do that thing they did. My body ached for her touch. I forced myself to focus on her words.
“John, I’m not looking to get married and have children right now, you understand. I love what I do and don’t want to have to put things on hold because of a wedding or even to have kids because they are what comes next after that band of gold.”
I swallowed hard at her words, amazed that she was even voicing what I had run through my own head many times over the past few weeks. I turned and watched Mike run after Mark then body slam him into a snowbank. Mia and Savi were sledding across the icy driveaway.
“John?”
“I’ll make you a deal.” I leaned my forearms on the railing. “Let me marry you, and the rest can fall into place whenever. There are enough kids at the house right now, and I’m not in a hurry for any either. But you have to let me make you mine officially.”
“No,” she retorted, but I heard her amusement in my offer.
“Yes, and I will give you a steel ring, not gold.”
She laughed.
“Come on, Sloane, you know my charm will win you over.”
“This is hardly romantic, John.”
“Oh, you want romance?” I chuckled playfully. “Okay, I can do romance.”
“Oh my God! And who said I would say yes to marriage?”
“Me, because,” I changed my tone to a serious one, “if you love me even a tenth of how much I love you, then you would say yes.”
Silence.
I waited because I wasn’t joking. It was the truth, I loved her more than I ever imagined I could. If she needed a moment to let that sink in, then so be it. I wasn’t going anywhere.
“I love you, John, and I never wanted to fall in love with someone in the Army, but that’s where I am now. Just let me get through this, and we can talk. Okay?”
I smiled at Savi, who gave me a thumbs up, asking if everything was okay. I gave her a wave and knew Sloane needed time to process. Her life would be changed more than mine would be.
“Okay,” I brushed the snow off my gloves, “I’ll wait for now.”
She let out a long sigh. “Why do I think something more is coming?”
“Have you ever heard of how Keith won over Lexi?”
“Not really, no.”
“Well,” I laughed a little, and Mark looked over, “let’s just say we Blackstone men don’t give up easily.”
“I can tell.” I could hear her smile through her words. “I should get some sleep. I’ll call you after ten.”
“Night, babe.”
“Night.”
Chapter Eighteen
Sloane
The last soldier from Nick Stewart’s class never showed up for our meeting. A part of me wasn’t surprised. The news had spread fast that I was digging. Problem was, they thought I was trying to uncover who the general was who was probably being paid off, but he was never my focus. Well, to be fair, now that I knew it wasn’t my father, I couldn’t care less.
But where lies were buried, guilty consciences were never far from the surface. I just wished I could have had three minutes alone with this guy to ask one question and watch his face as he answered. I found it incredible that these guys hated Nick so much that when I said he had been killed not even a flicker of remorse could be detected. Clearly, Nick had been a sore spot for all of them in the class, and it was obvious he was a source of resentment and anger for them when he had been accepted into North Rock right out of training. But aside from all that, regardless of how he got there, Nick had been killed by the cartel on one of his very first missions. Somehow the cartel were one step ahead of Blackstone, and that was what bothered me more.
How?
I rubbed my hands over my face and wished I could move just one step forward in this case. Something was there, most likely staring me in the face. I simply needed to mute the white noise to find out what I was missing.
“Am I happy to see your face!” Kelly wrapped her arms around me and kissed my cheek. “Ellie, come take a seat.”
“Hey, Ellie, remember me? I’m Sloane, a friend of your brother’s.” I addressed her, but I could tell she was tired by the way her eyelids looked heavy. “How was your day?”
“Long.” She took the water from the waitress and began to pull the straw out of the paper wrapper.
We ordered and made small talk. She told me how everyone had shown up at the house and brought food, and that John had eased up and really enjoyed himself.
“John has many smiles,” Kelly beamed with pride, “and the one he had on when he and Mike came back from talking in the living room made an old one surface. I think I’m finally getting all of him back.”
“That’s so wonderful.” I grinned at Ellie as she studied my expression. “What’s on your mind, Ellie?”
“Nothing.” Her gaze moved to the window.
“He has developed a new smile too.” Kelly leaned back and played with her tea string. An interesting expression played over her face. “One I haven’t seen before.”
“Oh, yeah?” I loved hearing what made John happy. “When does that one come out?”
“When he looks at you,” Ellie cut in, and I saw that same expression on her face.
I felt my neck blush. I wasn’t embarrassed—more flattered, I supposed. “That’s nice.” I sipped my water for something to do.
“Mom,” Ellie picked at her sweater, “I think John likes Sloane.”
Kelly laughed at the innocence of her daughter. “I think so too.”
“So,” I tried to get the focus off of me, “how often do you have appointments here?” I ate about a third of my burger in one bite. Oh, my God. I had no idea how hungry I was.
“Four times a year. We don’t have to see Dr. Leak, but he’s been with Ellie since the accident, and when he moved down here, we followed. It was fine at first. I could visit my cousin, but now Ellie doesn’t like going there, so it’s just an in and out trip.”
“They talk a lot about stuff that doesn’t make sense.” Ellie shrugged.
I glanced at the time and thought it might be fun for Ellie and me to go out. Perhaps I could give Kelly a little fun.
“Why don’t Ellie and I go get our nails done and maybe go see a movie while you visit your cousin?”
Kelly’s face brightened, but it quickly disappeared.
“No, I can’t do that. I don’t want you to think that every time I see you, I’m asking for he
lp.”
“I don’t think that,” I assured her. “It honestly makes me feel good to help. Plus, Ellie is fun, and I get all the dirt on John.”
She laughed, but I could see she was still uneasy.
“Well, here’s a thought. Why don’t you call your cousin and see if she wants to meet you somewhere around here? We’ll all stay close, and you still get to have some much-needed Kelly time.”
“I-I,” she stumbled, “I could do that. Okay, yes.” She beamed with excitement. “Thanks!”
Once Kelly got her plans in order, Ellie and I headed out into the chilly early afternoon.
“What would you like to do first? Nails or movie?”
“Movie.” She nodded. “I don’t like the taste of the polish when I eat popcorn.”
“Fair enough.” I pointed in the direction we needed to go. “Let’s head that way.”
As we crossed the street, I noticed someone was walking straight for us. I gently took Ellie by the arm to avoid a collision, but the guy never even wavered in his step.
“Hey,” I called out, “you almost pushed us into the street.”
The bald-headed man turned to look at us, and the way he held eye contact made me uneasy.
“Sorry.” He gave me a nod and rushed on to turn the corner.
I smiled at Ellie and shook my head with a laugh. “Some people can be rude.”
“A lot of people are rude,” she added.
We bought our tickets to see the second Jumanji movie and grabbed some junk food before choosing our seats. Just when the credits started, two men sat directly in front of us.
“Seriously?” I hissed, wondering why when there was more than half the theater open to them, they had to sit right in front of us. Another two man came and sat on either end of our row. It took me a moment to realize that this was no coincidence. The few other people who were in the theater were nowhere near us.
I wasn’t a stupid person. I had been around enough crime to recognize that cold prickle of adrenaline that inched its way up your spine was your subconscious giving you a heads up something was very wrong.
The movie started, and I tried to even out my breathing. I focused on the first letter of each name in the opening credits and compared them to the names of people I knew. When the third name popped up, I noticed the man to my left glanced over for a few beats.
“Oh, my God,” I whispered, but the last word got caught in my throat as the man I’d seen earlier on the street started to walk up the stairs toward us. He stopped at the end of the row and slipped by the other man and took the seat right next to me.
My blood drained to my feet as the rest of me tried to hold it together. I reached over for Ellie’s arm, but she was already engulfed in watching the movie and didn’t even notice what was going on.
“Miss Harlow,” the man muttered, “Henry would like to speak with you.”
Shit.
“Like I told Henry before, and like I’m telling you now, there is nothing I can do for any of you.”
I was so scared that the heartbeat in my ears almost made me sick.
The leather from his jacket squeaked when he leaned closer. “I think by now you’d know that’s not the answer he is looking for. So, why don’t you use that pretty little head of yours and start thinking about a solution? Because he is right outside, and this time you won’t have your Army friend to save you.”
My frozen fingers squeezed Ellie’s arm tighter to grab her attention. “Time to go, Ellie.”
“What?” She looked around. “But the movie just started.”
“I know. I’m sorry, but we need to go.”
I hauled her to her feet and waited for the man to move out of my way.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” he called after me.
“Who are they?” Ellie sensed my fear and took my hand and held on tightly.
“Not good people.” I headed out to the lobby, but the place was dead. “What did they do, clear this whole place out?”
Even in my bubble of fear, I managed to steer myself in the right direction and spotted the front doors. I nearly dragged poor Ellie as I focused on our escape route.
Just as I stepped out the front, a door opened to a town car that was parked directly across from us. Out stepped Henry.
“Sloane.” He fiddled with his cufflink, and it was then that I noticed a new scar that traveled from inside his shirt up across his neck to just below his ear. The new pink skin that covered it was highlighted by the sunlight amplifying his evil expression.
“Ellie,” I pulled her back inside the lobby, “when I say run, I need you to run as fast as you can.”
“Where do I go?”
“Anywhere, but far from here, okay?”
“I don’t know.” She looked at me, confused.
The assholes from the theater now blocked the exit on the other side of the lobby.
“Dammit.”
I whirled around and saw someone open the front doors for Henry.
Think, Sloane!
The bathrooms wouldn’t be smart. They didn’t even have windows. There may be an exit in the kitchen, but I couldn’t risk getting stuck in there. I moved my frantic gaze around the place and realized I only had one more option.
“Come on.” I pushed the big black double doors open and pulled Ellie into a dark theater where A Quiet Place, Part Two was playing. The theater was fairly packed as we raced in front of the screen. Only a few dirty looks were thrown as we pushed through a sea of legs and I helped Ellie into a seat. I bent down next to her, ignoring a lady’s rude comment next to me.
“Ellie,” I whispered, “I need you to stay here.”
“I don’t want to.”
I took her hand and pleaded with her. “I’m so sorry, but these bad men are here looking for me when we were supposed to be having a fun girls’ day. I promise if you sit still, I will come back for you. Just promise me you won’t move from this seat. Please, Ellie.”
A scary part of the movie popped up, and she squeezed her eyes closed. “I don’t like scary movies.”
I took her head between my hands so she’d look at me. “I don’t either, so go to your happy place up here.” I tapped her forehead. “Be with John and find more pebbles.”
Tears flooded my eyes when the magnitude of what could happen to Ellie hit me hard.
“Please, please stay put for me.”
Her eyes squeezed shut, and she started to mumble something. I saw the bald-headed man walk through the side door and scan the faces of the crowd.
I ducked down. I needed to get the hell away from Ellie. I peeked between some heads when I saw him turn to talk to someone. Pushing to my feet, I kept myself low, and as the crowd jumped at a scary part, I stood and raced past the men. I used my body weight and slammed into the emergency exit and burst into the daylight. It took me a half a second to realize the alarm didn’t go off and another second to hear his voice.
“Why are humans so predictable?” Henry shook his head as he walked toward me. “I really wanted more of a fight from you, Sloane. You were always such a spitfire.”
A series of emotions plowed through me, but the strongest was to lash out sarcastically. I blamed my father for my tongue. It got me into trouble more often than not as a child.
“Fuck you, Henry. Is this the part where you stuff me into the trunk and drop me off in a lake?” I popped my hip out and tried to look in control when really my bones shook so hard, they threatened to separate from my muscles.
“I tried to give you chances—”
“Chances?” I cut him off. “Chances such as in kidnapping me from my home?”
“You caused that to happen—”
“Spoken like a true abuser.”
His lips pressed together, then he nodded at someone behind me, and before I knew it, the bald asshole had his hands all over me.
“Don’t touch me!” I punched his arm as he removed my phone and handed it to Henry. I wanted to cry. Not in a milli
on years did I think I would be face to face with these people again. The last time I spoke to Frank, he said things were fine and it was all taken care of.
If I thought for even a moment that Henry was still after me, I would never had agreed to take Ellie out. Let alone meet up with her and her mom or even go on this trip. I still struggled internally with what happened back in my apartment.
“Unlock it,” Henry commanded.
“You think I have anything worthwhile in my phone? You know I work with criminals, right?” I dragged my eyes up and down him just to make my point.
“Don’t push my limit, Sloane. You may be hot, but I like my women submissive.”
Rage burned through me like never before. Here came my father’s temper.
“Well, good thing for you, I loathe everything about you. You assholes disgust me,” I spat.
The bald guy behind me chuckled and mumbled something that sounded like “She cat,” and Henry glared at him.
“Okay.” He rubbed his chin then threw my phone on the ground and stomped on it. And before I could react, he sucker-punched me in the stomach.
My entire body folded on impact as it drove me backward. I had never been punched in the stomach before, and I instantly knew I never wanted to again. Hot, blinding pain scorched my insides and made my head go fuzzy. Suddenly, I was hauled up straight and pushed against the dirty wall while his men formed a circle around me. Henry bent down to my eye level and proceeded to hike up my shirt as he kissed my cheek with his gross lips.
“No!” I tried to knee him, but he blocked the blow. “Get your fucking hands off me!”
“I don’t know, Sloane,” he moaned in exaggeration, “maybe I’ll change my mind and go for the feisty chick after all.” He chuckled as he came in for another peck.
“I’m glad your son is going to rot away in prison.” I spat in his face. “The longer he’s away from you, the better!”
“The fuck you say?” His eyes went from those I knew to someone completely different. “You little bitch. You think you’re so brave, do you?”
“Braver than you,” I challenged.
He leaned in and pressed his weight into my arms so I was pinned to the freezing wall. “I was brave enough to pull the trigger on a family who wouldn’t pay their debt. I was brave enough to wait you out until you came home, and I was brave enough to find you here alone with some rent-a-friend.” He pointed to the door of the theater, and I saw red thinking of Ellie inside.