by Maren Lee
“Whoa…’” she choked out.
“You're amazing. I love you, Red.” Jake reached for the key to the cuffs.
“I love you.” She smiled.
He released the cuffs and tossed them on the ground, rubbing her wrists softly to remove the indentations caused by the hard metal. Lane flopped down on the mattress and kicked her heels off.
“Will you get me some chocolate milk?” she asked sweetly.
“Of course.” Jake grabbed his jeans and threw them back on, just in case any of the other guys were back.
Jake was crazy about this woman. His woman. He couldn't wait to see what wild and crazy curveball life had in store for them next. For right now, chocolate milk at 1:00AM was it.
➰
It was 7:00am the next morning and Jake was in the kitchen getting breakfast ready for his future bride when he heard the front door open. He peeked around the corner.
“Katie! What the fuck! Are you just getting home?” She was still wearing clothes from the night before.
“No. I - er. No, I just ran out to the store. Had to get tampons.” Liar.
“What car did you take?”
“I walked.”
“In the snow?”
Katie sighed. “No. Fine, Jake. I had a little bit too much to drink last night. Smitty and Cole disappeared and I didn’t want to come back here drunk and get shit from you. So Ryan let me stay with him.”
Jake took a deep breath so as not to completely lose his shit. But he could feel his blood pressure rising. “Ryan?”
“Yes. It was fine, Jake. He was a perfect gentleman.”
“He better have been. He’s old enough to be your dad!”
Katie laughed. “Calm down, Jake. My dad is old. Ryan isn’t that much older than you. Besides, I have a boyfriend, remember? Your new best friend, Shiloh?”
Jake chuckled. “Yeah, can’t wait to hang out with that little bitch again.” Katie rolled her eyes. “Katie, no matter what, you can always call me. I would have come to get you and I wouldn’t have reprimanded you. But I’m glad Ryan got you home safely. I am going to kill my roommates for abandoning you, though.”
“I’m just gonna go lay down and punish myself for drinking too much.”
“Before you do that, can you be a little nicer to my pregnant fiancée? She’s not gross. She’s carrying your niece or nephew,” Jake narrowed his eyes at her.
“Oh no. Was she offended by that? I’m so sorry, Jake. I did not mean anything by it. I’ve just heard about all the gross things that happen during pregnancy. That’s all I meant by that, I swear!”
“Just make a better effort, okay?”
“Of course. I’ll apologize for the ‘gross’ thing. I love Lane. I can’t wait for her to be my sister, I promise! I’ll do it as soon as I feel human again.” Katie gave him a defeated smile.
“Hang in there, squirt. Let me know when you’re ready for hair of dog.”
Chapter 18
They had been following the mayor around now for weeks in the shitty seized vehicles that Bounty County had chosen to keep. The 1989 Ford Bronco II was not as cool and comfortable as Jake imagined it would be in the late 80’s - but at least it was incognito. It was two days before Christmas and Jake was getting tired of driving around in circles following this fucker from dive bars to fast food restaurants. He just wanted to be home with Lane. She was still super hormonal and could not be sexed enough (Jake was not complaining). She was glowing. Her small belly was gorgeous. Just knowing that his child was growing inside of her made him love her even more. Jake couldn’t get enough of her. He wasn’t sure he’d ever be able to get enough of her.
Katie was still in town and mostly staying at Jake’s. She’d made friends with Lane’s crew and a few of her own after a few nights at the Cadillac. Jake was trying not to be overbearing and constantly ask her where she was going. But where the fuck does she keep going? He was too busy to track his little sister down on top of Jennings. Jake had stern words with each of his roommates a few days ago. “You fuck my sister, you die.” They got it. He wished he could give the warning to the rest of the city of Imminence, but short of an op-ed in the newspaper, he wasn’t sure how to make that announcement. Katie had slugged him in the bicep when he’d said that out loud. He couldn’t wait to wrap the Jennings case up so that he could get more into his sister’s business.
And now it was December 23rd -- the day before Christmas fuckin’ Eve -- and he and Justin had been sitting in Bronco outside Frank's Alibi, a shitty bar with Friday night karaoke, for the last 45 minutes; Wesson was parked across the street. Snow was coming down, but Jake could see the mayor through the smoke stained windows. Jennings was meeting with Harry Crabtree, a repeat offender for drunk and disorderly, aggravated assault, domestic violence...you name it, Crabtree had done it. He watched the Mayor answer his cell phone, nodded, put his phone away and then shook Harry’s hand. He went in for a half a hug of sorts. Weird. Harry turned and headed for the door.
“You see that?” Justin asked.
Jake nodded and got on the radio. “2236, 2242.”
“2242 go.” Wesson responded.
“Follow Crabtree. The meeting and behavior afterwards isn’t sitting right with us. Justin and I’ll take Jennings’ tail,” Jake watched as Harry climbed into his beat-up Isuzu Trooper.
“2236, 2242,” Jake repeated.
Wesson rolled out of the parking lot following the suspect as he responded to Jake, “2242 go.”
“If you get any legitimate reason to pull him over, do it.” Jake gripped the steering wheel tightly as he rolled out behind Mayor Jennings, careful to stay a bit of distance behind him, so as not to raise any suspicions.
Jake’s phone alerted him to a text. It was Lane. She was shutting down the office and headed home. Since he’d taken on the Jennings assignment, he’d been working around the clock. He couldn’t wait until he was back to boring day shift and home making his sassy sex fiend baby mama some food and fucking her on and off all night. Their schedules were not meshing well right now and he hated every minute of it, but he wanted to figure this out. For Lane and for Imminence.
Jake followed Mayor Jennings to his house and put the vehicle in park a few houses down. They watched him as he unlocked his front door and turned on the porch light.
“Jennings’ house is dark and lonely nowadays, huh?” Justin chuckled.
“Maybe his wife leaving him for his younger brother after she found out he was banging Crystal is what sent him off the deep end?” Jake questioned out loud.
“No. This guy has smelled like shit from the start. This is karma.”
Wesson came in on the radio. “2242, Bounty County.” Jake could hear the sirens in the background. Wesson sounded on edge.
“Bounty County, 2242 go ahead,” he heard Dispatch respond.
Wesson spoke over the sirens to Dispatch, “We’ve got a two vehicle crash. Send an ambulance and 2236 to Rawlings and Bounty Road.”
Oh fuck.
Jake was on his way before Dispatch could even respond. Rawlings and Bounty Road. That’s a block from Lane’s office and Wesson was requesting him specifically. He immediately felt ill with worry.
“Lane?” Justin questioned. Jake nodded tightly.
He didn’t wait for Dispatch to direct him. “2236 in route.” Jake had the gas pedal pegged to the floor. The fucking Bronco II had no balls at all.
“Dude, slow down. You’re no use to her if you get in an accident on these shitty, slick roads,” Justin warned. He was right. Jake let up a bit. Just enough to be safe.
They reached the scene of the accident to find Lane leaning against the hood of her Land Cruiser her arms folded across her body. Wesson was detaining Crabtree, placing him in the back of his vehicle. Jake slammed the vehicle into park and jumped out, sprinting over to Lane’s side. The ambulance pulled in right behind him, the red flashing lights slightly muted with the two inches of snow coating them.
“Lane, baby,” he
pulled her into his arms. “Are you okay? Let me look at you.” He looked her over. Not even a scratch.
“I’m shook up and my back is pretty sore, but I think I’m okay.” Lane leaned into him, she started to cry.
Justin came up behind him and patted Jake on the shoulder. “I’ll go talk to Wess. You stay with your woman.”
Jake held Lane tight. Anger built within him as he looked into the back seat of Wesson’s patrol vehicle. That motherfucker was in for it. Jake had already been pissed and wanted to kick some ass earlier tonight, but this feeling of pure rage made him want to snap the motherfucker’s neck.
The EMT’s came over to them, “Can we have a look at you ma’am?”
“I think I’m okay. Thanks though.” Lane responded as she held onto him.
“Baby, let them look at you please, just to be safe?” Jake kissed the top of her head and then looked to the EMTs, “She’s pregnant. Don’t let her boss you out of making sure she and my baby are 100% okay.”
He walked Lane to the door of the ambulance and helped her get seated. Jake kissed her again. “I’ll go talk with Justin and Wesson real quick and be right back.” Lane squeezed his hand and nodded.
Jake nodded back and ran over to Justin and Wess. They were taking photos of the interior of Crabtree’s vehicle.
Jake looked around at the vehicle carnage. Lane’s Land Cruiser had obviously been T-boned. Just barely behind the driver’s door, the car was crunched in like a tin can. If the vehicle had made any closer contact with the driver’s door, the outcome of this situation could have been much worse. Thank God. The front end of Crabtree’s Isuzu was smashed, the windshield broken. The vehicle was unrecognizable from the front. Jesus.
“What the fuck happened, man?” Jake asked Wesson.
Wesson moved his head out of the suspect’s vehicle. “I was following him, looking for any reason to pull him over, like you said. We were about a half a block from here when he accelerated above the speed limit. I put my lights on just as Lane had moved into the intersection, but he didn’t stop. He ran the stop sign. He was probably going 45 when went through it. It was like he accelerated as soon as he saw her. They were both facing the opposite direction before he hit her, so they spun. I slammed my brakes, jumped out and went straight to Lane. I called for an ambulance and checked on her before I pulled that fucking prick out of his car.” He pointed at Mr. Crabtree.
Justin chimed in. “Guess what else Wess found? This asshole has ten thousand dollars cash on him. Where do you suppose he got that kind of money?” Justin asked, knowing full well where Crabtree got that kind of money.
Jake clenched his fists, “Jennings.”
“Wess, you think he intentionally accelerated into Lane?” Justin asked the question that was definitely on Jake’s mind.
“Definite possibility.”
“Fuck. We’ve got to get a confession out of this guy,” Jake pointed at Crabtree.
Wesson nodded his head in agreement. “I’ve got to take him to medical and have him checked out. I’ll have Brenden meet me down there and we’ll get the interview set up. I can get him on a few misdemeanors for now, that should buy us a day or two with him locked up.” Wesson looked at Jake, “I’m sorry man. I didn’t realize how serious shit had gotten with Jennings and the threat to Lane. Never would have thought he could possibly be behind something like this.”
Jake clapped Wesson on the shoulder, “Thanks for being here tonight.”
“Always,” Wesson put his fist out for a bump, “Now go take care of your fiancée.”
“Okay, I’ll meet you guys for the interview after I get Lane taken care of.” Jake started to walk away.
“No. Take care of your family. If we need you, we’ll call. You know that. We’ve got this. Jennings is going down,” Justin assured Jake. Wesson nodded in agreement.
“Thanks, guys.” Jake turned and jogged back to the ambulance.
He wasn’t going to leave Lane alone right now. Hell, he might not ever let her leave his sight again.
➰
The EMT’s had insisted Lane go to the hospital for a more thorough examination. All she wanted was to go home and go to bed, but Jake agreed with the EMTs and was freaking out over her, so home wasn’t going to happen any time soon.
Jake sat by her side as the doctor and ultrasound tech examined the images on the screen. The images were amazing. She could finally tell there was a baby, and not a cute little gummy bear, inside of her. She could hear the throbbing of the baby’s heartbeat and was immediately glad she listened to the EMTs (she’d never tell Jake that, though). Hearing her baby’s heartbeat gave her a comfort that she had never felt before. Relief. Everything was going to be okay.
The doctor had examined Lane’s back when she first arrived in the ER and determined that a disc had popped out of place during the accident. Lane opted out of the MRI for the sake of the baby. She’d do the exercises he’d given her and hopefully that would help with the pain. Even if it didn’t help, it’s not like she could have back surgery while pregnant anyway. Suck it up, buttercup.
Jake continued to hold and kiss her hand. He was like a magnet. A sweet, handsome, sexy, overbearing magnet. He didn’t want to leave her side even when she had to collect a urine sample. Jake took it too far when he offered to hold the cup for her. She slapped his arm and told him to leave her alone, but he followed her into the bathroom anyway. First time for everything, I guess.
She smiled as she looked over at Jake, his eyes moving back and forth between the screen, to her belly, and up to her eyes. God, she loved this amazing, obsessive, bossy, alpha man.
The doctor made notes on her chart and the ultrasound tech wiped the warm goo off of her belly. It wasn’t her usual doctor and it wasn’t Leah, the tech they’d seen almost two months ago. They weren’t as warm and caring.
The doctor spoke. “Everything looks good with him. We want to keep you overnight to observe and make sure there aren’t any signs of concussion or any other trauma. Any questions?” The doctor looked back and forth between them.
Oh my God. Did he just say what I think he said?
Lane looked over to Jake, his eyes were huge, “You said ‘him’, Doc. Is that my boy in there?”
“Oh. Errrr. Shoot. I’m sorry. I didn’t even think to ask. Yes, ultrasound shows it’s a boy. I should have figured you didn’t know yet at this gestational age. It’s hard to tell at 16 weeks, but not impossible. I got a good shot of it.” He looked apologetically at them.
Jake smiled from ear to ear, “No worries, Doc. That just means it’s pretty pronounced, right?”
The doctor laughed. “No, it usually just means he was in the right position for a picture.”
“Here’s a secret, Doc: a little ego boost goes a long way.” Jake laughed. He looked to Lane. “You okay, baby?”
Lane was in complete shock; she was having a baby boy. A little baby Jake.
“Lane?” Jake kissed her hand.
“Oh, sorry. Yes, I’m okay. Just a little surprised, that’s all.” She gave the doctor a tight smile. “Do I really have to stay overnight?” Lane asked.
“Yes,” both Jake and the doctor replied at the same time.
“Fine. I’m really hungry, though. For tacos.” Lane looked at Jake.
“Let’s get you settled in your room and then I’ll run out and grab you something, alright?” He kissed her sweetly on the lips.
“Okay.” Lane sighed, resigning herself to the fact that she was going to have to stay overnight and be patient for tacos. She sure didn’t want to be.
It took a bit for Lane to get settled into her room for the overnight stay, so Jake called Katie to bring them some tacos. It was almost 9:30 at night before Lane was finally able stuff her face with food.
Jake walked Katie to the door and thanked her for feeding them and made her promise to call him as soon as she got home in the snow. Lane’s mouth was too full to mumble anything coherent, but she made dramatic thank you gestures and
Katie giggled. Katie’s kindness and change in temperament was not going unnoticed.
After they finished eating, Jake turned on the television. Four Christmases was on. Jake scooted up onto the bed next to her.
“Can I snuggle you in this tiny hospital bed tonight?” he asked, wiggling his eyebrows.
“You can do more than snuggle me.” Lane replied, seductively.
“Baby, you just got in a car accident. I’m not doing anything to get your blood pressure up until we know everything is stable.” He pointed between her legs, “That area is closed until further notice.”
“You can’t tell me when my vagina is closed!” Lane shouted.
“Shhhh, don’t yell. The nurses will come kick me out of your bed.” Jake laughed, “I’m just practicing being the head of the household and all.”
Lane elbowed him in the ribs, “Shut the fuck up. That is not funny Jake.”
“It’s fucking hilarious, Red. Can’t wait to get back to bossing you around in the bedroom, baby.” He held her hand.
Lane shook her head and smiled. She couldn’t wait for that either. “Speaking of the head of the household,” Lane began, “When the EMTs were checking me out I kept thinking, ‘What if something serious had happened to me? Who would take care of everything?’ You know what? Legally, the state would have everything. I have no will and no designated beneficiary. If this happened after the baby was born, everything I own would have to go into a trust for the baby. And where would that put you? Like, oh my God, Jake. We need to do something to make this easier on you if something happens to me.” Lane was getting worked up.
“Hey, it’s okay. We’ll figure it out.” Jake tried to soothe her.
“No! It’s not okay. It won’t be okay until we’re married and I can make you the beneficiary to everything I have so that you can use it to take care of our son if I’m gone!” she started crying. God damn it. “It’s not much, but it’s something.” Lane moved to face him.
