by Linzi Baxter
Tommy and I had sat down a few days before and talked about Jacob. I explained that he was just a friend who was helping us out for a little while. I didn’t want Tommy to get his hopes up that we were going to live with Jacob permanently. Tommy had questioned why Jacob didn’t want us to stay and I knew then that he was getting attached. It’s going to break my heart if he cries when we had to leave.
I glanced at the clock and realized ten minutes had passed since I called Jacob. He sounded stressed, I hoped he would tell me what happened when he arrived at work. Tonight, we were going to watch another Marvel movie. Jacob couldn’t believe Tommy and I hadn’t seen any of the films, but it wasn’t because we didn’t want to. Going to the movies cost a lot of money, and we never had cable. Hell, sometimes we didn’t even have a working TV.
Tommy and I spent our time reading. Each week, we would go to the library and check out new books. Even though we had a TV and cable now, I kept up the same tradition. I wanted Tommy to read a little each evening, but we still planned to watch Captain America.
Jacob was getting into movie night a little too much. The night before we watched Iron Man, he came home with a full Iron Man costume. That was when I put my foot down. I loved that he wanted to buy Tommy toys, but he already had more than he needed.
Tommy wasn’t the only one Jacob tried to spoil. Every other day when Jacob finished his run, he would bring me flowers to put in my room. He’d caught me smelling a flower in Central Park one night when the three of us had gone for a walk, and he’d asked me what my favorite flower was. The next day, I had a dozen pink roses.
Kat had called earlier in the week to say they’d lost the tail on Greg, so Jacob was extra careful. Greg had been out of jail for almost two months, but the only things we’d heard from him were a couple of nasty emails he sent Jacob. I could feel my face turning red thinking about how he described what he did to me when I lived with him. Jacob didn’t get disgusted like I imagined he would. Instead, it fueled his anger toward my ex.
Antonio spoke with the chief of police to find out what had happened. The chief didn’t know, and they were still investigating why Greg was released. The officer didn’t release him, the court did. Try, The officer who contaminated the evidence still has not been found. The paperwork in regard to the release he said he saw had magically disappeared. Antonio thought whoever helped Greg had the police on their payroll.
The place Greg was staying was owned by a shell company that had been sold many times by other shell companies. Whoever had assisted him had lots of money, or maybe he knew someone connected to dirty dealings. The only reason anyone would need so many shell companies was if they were hiding something.
When Kaylene came through the doors, I practically leaped from my desk, excited to talk to someone. When Jacob wasn’t in, nobody came to his side of the executive offices, so I hadn’t seen a single person all day. Kaylene had been stuck working the front desk again this morning and part of the afternoon, so we weren’t able to have lunch together, and Sasha was busy putting her finishing touches on the software. They planned to launch the new satellite into orbit on Sunday night. One thing I knew from living in Florida was that launches at night could be seen from miles away and left a pretty stream of fire through the dark night.
“How was working downstairs?” I asked my friend.
“Sucks like always. We can’t keep anyone in that job for more than a few weeks. I’m going to talk Jared into hiring two people.” She had started with NSS by working the receptionist desk downstairs, but when the position working for Jared opened, she took it. Every time someone called out down there or left, Kaylene was stuck doing both her job and the front desk job.
“Do you think he’ll go for that?”
She let out a sigh and placed a small envelope on my desk. “If he knows what's good for him. I think I’m going to run my idea by him this afternoon. He had to go into a meeting without me. Whenever he has questions after the meeting, we normally go over them, and sometimes I can help. Well, when I don’t go, he has to contact someone else for something he might’ve missed. Let’s just say he’s going to be in a bad mood because I wasn’t upstairs today.”
“Ask for a raise while you’re at it. Jared would lose his shit if you left.”
Kaylene looked down the hall toward Jared’s area. “He would figure it out.”
“Wait. You're not thinking about leaving, are you?” I panicked.
Kaylene’s shoulders slumped, and her smile faded. “Sometimes you have to do what’s best for yourself.”
I grabbed the envelope off the counter and set it next to the other mail I had to open. “If there’s something I can help with, let me know. I love working with you. I can’t keep Sasha in line without you. Hell, who’s going to get between Sasha and Jared when they get into their tech-talk fights? I don’t understand a third of what they’re talking about, yet they seem to insult each other somehow.”
Besides Kat, Kaylene and Sasha were my only close friends. Growing up, I never had friends because my parents were crazy and didn’t like any of the other kids’ parents. The kids I was allowed to make friends with at the church were strange, and I never got along with them. Greg had befriended me in high school, and I latched onto him because I wanted a friend. He understood my parents and helped me keep our friendship a secret. And no matter how much I hated him, he’d given me Tommy, the best thing in my life.
“I’m going to ask something, and you don’t have to answer if you don’t want to. Do you have feelings for Jared?”
The light in Kaylene’s eyes dimmed and her frown deepened. “It doesn’t matter what I feel. Jared will never be in a relationship with anyone. He doesn’t believe in love.”
But I’d seen the way he was with my son and his brothers—he loved them. He just wouldn’t open his heart up to anyone who could leave or hurt him. Jacob and Jax would never leave Jared and would always be there for him. I’d overheard him ask Jacob if he worried that I would leave. I’d hurried away before I could hear the answer, not sure if I was ready to hear Jacob not wanting us around. I knew I was getting too attached. “Sometimes you need to break down the outer shell.”
Kaylene smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes. “Some people’s outer shells are unbreakable. I’m not leaving anytime soon. I think working downstairs today put me in a bad mood. I did notice you had a bright smile on your face when I walked in. So tell me something good.”
I grabbed a piece of mail from the side and opened it while I talked. “One of the moms at Tommy’s school asked if he could come over for an overnight stay Friday. Tommy’s eyes lit up when she asked. It almost broke my heart when he said he’s never gotten to have a sleepover before. I told the woman I would think about it and let her know when I picked Tommy up today. When I got to work, I had Kat look into the family.”
Kaylene shook her head.
“You would do the same thing if you had a kid. I have friends who can find information, and if it keeps my son safe, I’ll use every resource I have.”
“So is the family clean, or are they serial killers?”
I tossed a crumpled-up piece of paper at her. “Smartass, their background check came back clean. Kat had whoever did the check go a little deeper than we needed. She gave me a copy of their credit reports and every trip they’ve made in the past three years.”
“Now who’s the creepy person?” Kaylene laughed.
I shrugged. “I don’t care. I feel better knowing he’ll be safe.”
One could never tell by looking at someone’s outside what kind of person they were. Growing up, my family looked like the perfect movie family with a perfect house and beautiful cars. Dad went to work and supported Mom and me. The things others didn’t see were the late-night radical church lessons. My father didn’t follow the bible, and the people he was friends with took what was preached and twisted every word to fit their lives. Actions mattered, and those could be faked.
“So the smile from ear to
ear was about a playdate?”
“That and I asked Jacob out on a date.”
Kaylene walked around the desk, wrapped me in a hug, then stepped back. “I’m so happy for you. I assume by the smile on your face that he said yes?”
“Yep, and I have no clue what I’ve gotten myself into.”
Kaylene took a seat in the other chair behind my desk. “You’ve lived together for a month. What are you so scared of?”
“I haven’t slept with anyone except Greg.”
“Take it slow and talk to him. You need to stop comparing him to Greg. He’s not Greg, and I know Jacob hasn’t done anything to make it seem like he is.”
“You’re right.”
“I’m always right.” She smirked. “Now, I need to go save my boss from himself.” She got up and walked back down the hall.
She was right. I needed to get Greg out of my head. He was an evil person. I grabbed another piece of mail and opened it to find invoice for Jacob to review. The next yellow envelope, the one Kaylene had handed me, was heavy. I didn’t think to ask her where it came from. There was no return address on the front.
I cut through the thicker paper, and two stacks of hundred-dollar bills dropped onto my lap. A white piece of paper was wrapped around the stacks. I pulled the paper back. My heart started to beat quickly when I read it:
Dearest whore,
It seems you’ve been playing house with what is mine. I think the money in the envelope will be enough for keeping his bed warm. You have until Sunday to leave. If you tell Jacob about this, you will regret it.
My hands shook as I read the letter again and again. It wasn’t signed, but it didn’t take a genius to figure out who the message came from. Tears streamed from my eyes. Every time I thought things were starting to align and the craziness from my life and Jacob’s was gone, another incident occurred. Will she ever go away, or will she continue to do things until I leave him?
I had to decide whether he was worth sticking around for. I had my son to think about. The tears came faster as I thought about having to tell my son we needed to leave. Where would we go? I had saved the money I’d made over the past month, and we could stretch it if we went to live in a small community with cheap rent.
Jacob came up behind me. “What are you reading?” His voice was full of concern.
“Nothing.” I tried to hide the letter, but he was faster and grabbed it out of my hand.
15
Jacob
“He’s fired!” Jared screamed into the phone.
“I’m not sure he’s going to make it. The doctors said it is still touch-and-go.”
“I don’t care. He brought a crazed woman into your house. And you need to stop taking meetings there.”
Jared needed to remember he was my brother, not my dad. I knew he cared about us and wanted what was best, but telling me what to do got old. I didn’t need him to tell me to stop taking meetings at the house. After the incident with Rachele and Eric, I had already decided that. “Calm down. I’m fine.”
Jared grumbled something, and it was hard to understand.
“Can you repeat what you said?”
“Nothing you would listen to, anyway. Are you on your way to the office?”
“Yes. Is everything okay there?”
“Kaylene had to work the front desk again. She hates it down there, and I don’t like seeing her upset. We need to figure out another solution.”
I knew Jared had feelings for Kaylene. There was something between the two, but I knew my brother would never act on it. He thought every woman would turn out like our mother. “Talk to her and tell her to get with human resources to do whatever needs to be done, so she doesn’t have to work down there again. I don’t know who we’re going to find to run the foundation now. I looked over the books and didn’t see anything a few weeks back.”
“That’s good.”
“I wasn’t done. Eric and Rachele were working with the caterers to rip off the foundation. They overpaid then split the profits between them. I’ll look at the invoices and hand everything over to the police. I want them both to go to jail. Eric is still in the hospital. The police didn’t find Rachele in time, so she’s still running around the city.” I gripped the steering wheel. Not pressing charges the last time she went crazy was coming back to bite me in the ass. A warrant has been issued for her arrest and I hoped that they would find her before she caused more problems.
“Stop by my office when I get in.”
It was already three o’clock, and I wanted to see Lily after my horrible morning. I planned to pick her up so we could go break Tommy out of preschool early. “I’m just stopping by to pick Lily up, then we’ll head home.”
“Stay safe.” Jared didn’t wait for me to reply before he hung up.
The remainder of the ride was uneventful. When I arrived at work, I headed straight for Lily, knowing her smile would brighten my dark day. When I rounded the corner, her smile wasn’t what I saw. She had tears running down her face, and she was shaking so badly that the piece of paper in her hands was tearing at the top.
“What are you reading?” The words came out more like a demand than a question.
She looked up and wiped her pretty green eyes. “Nothing.” She tried to hide the piece of paper, but I grabbed it out of her hand before she had time. In her lap lay a stack of cash, the same bills I had given Rachele earlier.
I couldn’t believe she thought she could pay Lily to leave or that I would fall back into her arms. I was the great big payoff she wanted. The only thing I wanted was to have her locked away in jail for a very long time. I dialed the detective from earlier in the day. He answered on the first ring. I told him what happened, and he told me to put the letter down and leave everything as we found it. He was on his way.
Lily had a box of tissues to the side. I grabbed one and used it to pick up the stacks of money off Lily’s lap. After I set them down, I pulled her into my arms, and she let out a sob. “I wasn’t going to take the money.”
The idea of her running and leaving with the money hadn’t even crossed my mind, but her leaving because she was scared something would happen to Tommy was always at the forefront. I worried with each incident that she might pack up and leave.
“I know.” I rubbed my hand down her back, and she let out another sob. “The thought never crossed my mind.” I leaned back and wiped the tears from her face.
“Why does she want you back so badly?”
Money was the only thing that came to my mind. “I’m not completely sure. I think the drugs have affected her.”
Lily finally stopped crying. I left her on the white couch in my office as I walked over to my bar in my office, grabbed a couple of glasses, and poured whiskey into each one. Lily was scrolling through her phone when I walked back over to the couch. “What are you looking for?” I asked, as I sat the glass on the table next to her.
“Kaylene brought the envelope to me. I figured the police are going to want to talk to her and find out where the package came from. We were talking, and I didn’t ask her any questions when she handed it to me.”
I sat next to her and pulled her into my arms. Sometimes at work, she would pull away, worried someone would see us together, but she didn’t this time. “Send her a text to come over,” I said. “Tell her to bring Jared. He’s going to want to know what’s going on.”
Jared and Kaylene came running into my office less than a minute later. “What’s going on?” they asked in unison.
“You might want a drink for this one.” Jared nodded, walked over to the liquor, and pulled out two glasses.
“You know that money Rachele stole from me this morning?” Jacob asked.
Jared shook his head. “Rachele stole money from you this morning?”
I spent the next twenty minutes telling Rachele, Jared and Lily the story about what happened this morning. Then Lily told Jared and Kaylene what she found in the envelope. Kaylene didn’t have any information about the
package. She said it was on her desk when she got back from the bathroom. Stuck to it was a sticky note with my name on it.
“How would she know I would open it?” Lily asked.
“You open all of my mail,” I replied.
Jared shifted in the chair across from us. “I don’t like that she’s still out there.”
The two detectives from earlier came walking into the waiting room with Sasha. The young cop laughed at something she said. It looked almost as though he blushed.
When the three entered the room, Sasha came over and gave Lily a hug.
“What are you doing up here, Sasha?” I asked.
“Lily texted about what happened. I’m here for her. And if that detective over there strips, I’m not going to complain.”
Detective Quinn turned and shook his head. “No stripping, Mama.”
“Will you call me Mama in bed?”
He didn’t answer and instead turned to me and started asking questions. They took the note and the envelope. We knew where the money came from, so the detectives said I could keep it. They spent another hour questioning Lily and Kaylene. By the time they were done, it was close to five o’clock. After the detectives left, Lily and I went to get Tommy from school. It was movie night, and I craved time with the two people I cared about. I didn’t want to have to worry about anything else.
“I want to be like Captain America when I grow up. He saves everyone from the bad guys. Mommy would never have to worry about my daddy coming after her again. And then Jacob might want to keep us for real.”
I blinked a couple times as I let Tommy’s words sink in. We’d just finished watching the movie. Lily’s eyes widened at her son’s statement. I turned to Tommy. “Why would you think I don’t want you here?”
Tommy’s eyes went to his mom. “Because we are only here until my dad goes to jail. Then Mom and I are moving.”
I turned to Lily. “Where are you planning on going?”
