40. Chapter Thirty-Nine
Today was one of the few days Janie had off from editing. She had previously marked this day off so she could spend it with Eleanor and just relax. Sometimes she needed those days. Days to rejuvenate and catch up on some much needed sleep.
They were currently headed towards the grocery store to buy a couple of things. Daddy was at work, much to his demise. He didnt like that she was going out without him but they needed a couple of things and he was needed at work. He would have liked for her to spend it in the office with him, where she was safe but she needed her own time.
She loved spending time with him but every once in a while they needed space. This was one of the times. Janie didnt realize how much she had needed this time. Daddy had asked if she wanted him to watch over Eleanor but Janie wanted her with her. She wanted to spend some one-on-one time.
Janie walked down the soda aisle. Maybe she could buy some without Daddy knowing. He didnt want her to have a lot of sugar or caffeine. He was trying to limit her so that she could drink enough water. But did Daddy not know that water was nasty? He tried to make it better but there was no making water better.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw her ex-husband walking down the end cap. Her breath got stuck in her throat as she stared at him. Crap. Did he know that she was here? Was he trying to get to her?
Ever since they had gone to the police station and gotten her order of protection, he hadnt contacted her. Maybe he was taking it seriously now and she didnt have to worry. Even though she knew that he could get in trouble, that didnt mean he was going to stop. She still looked over her shoulder as they walked out of any place. Was he going to magically appear somewhere? It was a question that was always going through her mind when they went anywhere.
Janie put her head down as he walked by. Maybe he wouldnt see her and she could quickly grab the cheese she needed and leave. She pulled her phone out and dialed Daddy’s number. He had told her that if she ever saw him in public to call him immediately.
“ Are you on your way back?” Daddy said as he picked up the phone.
“D-da-daddy,” she shakily said, still spooked that Donald was in the grocery store.
“ Whats wrong, Pinky?” He asked.
“Hes here. Im scared that hes going to try something. I have Eleanor with me.” it had never been a fear of hers until he started to threaten her. It was just over text, but what Donald said seemed serious.
“Go find a manager and tell him whats going on. Im on my way,” Daddy said.
Janie made her way down the aisle. Maybe somewhere soon there would be a worker that she could talk to.
“Im going to stay on the phone with you,” Daddy said. “ You stay on the phone with me until I get there. Do you understand?”
“Yes,” she whispered.
She turned right, hoping to find a worker or a manager. The only thing she found was Donald standing right in front of her. A gasp fell from her lips and her eyes went wide as he stared at her with a wicked smile. He knew she was here.
“Hello, Jane,” he said. She couldnt stop his use of her full name. Nobody had called her by her real name in years. It had always been her nickname.
“Go find a manager,” Daddy said through the phone.
Janie picked up Eleanor from the cart and held her close to her body. She needed to go find a manager and fast. Her eyes scanned the room and she tried to find a worker or anybody that could help her but nobody was there.
“Youre not getting away from me,” Donald said, his voice raising.
“I have an order of protection against you. You cant be this close to me or talk to me,” she said through a shaky voice. She was so scared that something was going to happen and Daddy wouldnt be able to get to her in time. There was nobody around them, nobody to save her if anything went wrong.
“I don’t fucking care about some stupid ass sheet of a paper,” Donald yelled. “You’re mine and you’re coming with me.”
She shook her head. She wasn’t going anywhere with Donald. Janie took a step to the side, but Donald followed her.
“You aren’t getting away from me that easily,” Donald screamed. Janie hoped that with him making so much noise, people would come check on her and see what was happening. “Let the brat go and come with me.”
“No,” Janie said.
“Go find a manager,” Daddy said. “Find someone.”
Janie took a step back, trying to put some distance between them. Maybe she could make a dash for it the other way and find somebody. But what she didnt expect was to hit a wall. She turned her head slightly and realized that she had backed herself into a corner and there was nowhere to go.
Donald took a step forward, a wicked smile broke out on his face. “You have nowhere to go.”
Tears filled her eyes as she realized she didnt have anywhere to go and she couldnt find anybody. Not that she had been looking hard because she wanted to keep her eyes on donald. What if he lunged at her and she wasnt paying attention? She needed to pay attention to him.
Before she realized what was happening, Eleanor was being ripped from her arms and both of them without a scream. The phone she had in her hand went flying as she watched Eleanor hit the ground, crying and screaming.
“Please, just let us be,” Janie said. “You arent supposed to be near us. I have an order of protection against you.”
He shook his head and smiled at her. “You are coming with me. We will leave the brat here. Somebody will take pity on her and take her home but we arent.”
She shook her head. “Im not going with you.”
Donald drew out a gun and pointed it right at her. “You can either come willingly or Ill shoot you and you can come.”
Tears filled her eyes. She didnt want to go with him but she didnt want to get shot.
“Better yet. You willingly come with me or Im going to shoot her,” he said as he pointed the gun at Eleanor who was still crying on the floor.
Out of the corner of Janies eye, she saw a man slowly walk behind Donald. Her eyes went wide as he got closer. But before he could do anything, a roar was heard and Daddy jumped in front of her.
Janie gripped onto his shirt as the tears spilled over. He had made it to her.
“Leave her alone,” Daddy said. “The police are right behind me. You arent getting away.”
“Well, better yet that youre here. That means I can just kill you and take her with me,” Donald said. I dont see or hear any police. You are a lying bastard.”
“I’m not,” Daddy said. “Theyre here, they just didnt want you to hear their sirens.”
“Im not going anywhere. Janie belongs to me and Im not leaving without her. Shes destined to be with me and she always has.”
Janie grips tighter onto his shirt. She had no clue what he was talking about. They werent destined to be together. They were destined to be apart. Donald pointed the gun at Daddy this time and she watched as his finger twitched.
“You either get out of my way or Ill shoot you,” Donald said.
But before anything could happen, the guy that had been creeping up on Donald tackled him to the ground. Before her eyes she watched as he disarmed him very quickly, throwing the gun towards the police.
Janie hadnt realized when the police had gotten into the store. Why didnt they tackle him sooner? Or Why hadnt they shot him in the leg to get him down?
Tears streamed down her face even faster as everything came laying down on her. She could have almost died. Eleanor could have almost died and so could have Daddy. She wasnt ready for any of them to die.
Janie let go of Daddys shirt and ran towards Eleanor who was still on the ground. She held Eleanor close as she picked her up. It hurt her heart to see her daughter getting thrown onto the floor. No Doubt she was going to have bruises all over her skin.
“Everything is okay,” Daddy whispered as he wrapped his arms around her. Daddy is right here and nothing is going to happen.”
She snuggled into his embrace as he held both of them. Her whole body started to shake as she thought about everything that had just happened. She could have lost the two most important people and her life. Donald could have shot them and she wouldnt know what to do with herself if they were gone.
“Dont think about it,” Daddy said. Dont think about the what ifs.”
She was no doubt crashing from the adrenaline rush she had before. Janie had been in intense situations and she normally didn’t crash for several hours but this was different. Daddy was with her and she didn’t have him before. She knew she was safe, that both of them were.
“Are you okay?” A female voice broke through.
“Please, step back and give her space,” Daddy said. “She needs to be left alone.”
Janie was grateful that Daddy was taking care of everything going on around them. She didn’t know if she had the mental strength to do that right now.
“Were you hurt?” Daddy asked.
She shook her head. “Eleanor needs to get checked over.”
“There’s an ambulance here and they can check both of you over.”
“I don’t need it, Daddy. I didn’t get hurt at all. Eleanor was the only one who got hurt.”
“You both are getting checked out. End of discussion.”
Janie sighed and snuggled into his side again. There was no use in arguing with him. He was going to make her get checked out no matter what.
“Let’s go get you two checked out,” Daddy said.
All of them walked towards the paramedics. She really didn’t need to get checked out, her baby did. They stood in front of the paramedics and waited for them to start looking over them.
“I just need you to check out my daughter, Eleanor,” Janie said. “She was the one who was thrown onto the ground.”
“She is also getting checked out,” Daddy said.
She turned towards him and glared. “Daddy. I don’t need to get checked out. I didn’t get hurt.”
“End of discussion. youre getting checked out no matter what.”
She glared at him again and turned towards the paramedics. She could see the amusement in their eyes as they watched her and her Daddy talk about things. It was dumb. Janie really didnt need to get checked out because nothing happened to her.
“What are you laughing at?” she said.
“Nothing, Ma’am,” the younger one said.
“Can you look over my daughter?”
The older paramedic nodded and started to look over Eleanor, taking her temperature, listening to her heart, and more.
“Can you tell me what happened?” he asked.
“She was in my arms and got ripped out and thrown onto the ground,” Janie said.
“Well, everything looks and sounds okay. She may bruise up. If anything gets worse, take her to the ER.”
“Thanks.”
Janie turned around, ready to walk towards the exit when Daddy stepped right in front of her. He took Eleanor from her arms.
“Hey! You can’t do that!” Janie said.
“I just did. She’s my daughter, as well. You’re getting checked out,” Daddy said.
Janie stared at him in shock. This was the first time he had verbalized that Eleanor was his daughter. Sure, it wasn’t blood related but that didn’t matter. She could see the love he had towards her daughter.
“Go on. Turn around and let Hardy check you out,” Daddy said.
She sighed, turned around and let Hardy check her out. “I really don’t need this. Nothing happened to me.”
“If my Little girl was in the same situation, I would have her checked out. Honestly, I would probably take her to the ER,” Hardy said. “Listen to your Daddy.” He took a step back and looked at Daddy who was behind her. “Everything looks to be okay. If you see any bruises don’t be alarmed. If she starts to feel weird, take her to the ER. It wouldn’t hurt.”
“Thank you, Hardy,” Daddy said. “Come by the club sometime.”
Hardy nodded his head and walked off. Janie turned around to Daddy. “Can we go home?”
“I actually need to get your statement in a second,” a police officer said. “Can you wait a couple of minutes while we get your ex-husband in the car?”
She sighed but nodded. This was proving to be exhausting as the time went on. How much longer was she going to have to be here?
Daddy pulled his phone out and called someone. “Rogan?”
Her ears perked up. Why was he calling Rogan? She had briefly heard about him from Monroe and Hedda and they made him seem scary.
“Can you take care of someone for me? He’s probably going to be going to jail,” Daddy said. “Yeah, he threatened and held a gun on my woman and my daughter.”
She watched as Daddy listened to Rogan on the phone. What was he saying? Did Daddy mean dead by taking care of?
“Donald is his name. Her ex-husband,” Daddy quietly said. “Thank you.” He hung up and gave her a smile. “Come to Daddy. Lean on me as we wait for the police officer to come back.”
Janie opened her mouth, wanting to ask him about his phone call.
“Don’t. You probably have already guessed what is going to happen. Just come lean on Daddy while we wait. Let me take care of you.”
And that was what she did.