CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Jagger
It was nearly noon before we came up for air.
We burned through two more condoms, and I ate Raina out like she was an all-you-can-eat buffet in Vegas. Then we had a sexy shower together where I ate her out one more time because I was never not hungry.
I was just tugging my shirt over my head in the guest room when my phone vibrated on the nightstand with an incoming call from Clint. Raina was in her room getting dressed.
“Hey,” I answered. “What’s the 4-1-1 on Soloman ?
“Good morning to you too.” Clint snorted.
“Myla wanted to coordinate someone on the other side to pick him up, so it took longer than we thought. He’s set to go over on the water taxi with Gabe Griswald.
Burke and Bennett are going to escort him at two o’clock, since Myla is the only cop on duty right now.
Everett’s out sick and they haven’t been able to find a permanent replacement since Fischer and Jenkins got what they deserved. ”
“I’d like to go with them,” I said.
Clint made a noise in his throat. “I don’t think that’s such a good idea. You’re too close to the situation, and considering that you technically assaulted the man, I wouldn’t be surprised if he tried to provoke you into doing it again—with witnesses this time.”
I growled, but didn’t disagree with my brother. All I wanted to do was put a fist-sized hole through Soloman’s face, then chuck him off the cliff at Heaven’s Leap and let the crabs have a feast.
“You coming home tonight?” he asked, his tone slightly playful.
“It’s Monday, I should be working,” I replied.
“That didn’t answer my question.”
“It’s complicated. I don’t want to not be here.
But we don’t want to mess with Marco’s head, or push things too quickly with him.
So yeah, I’ll probably be home to at least sleep tonight.
Probably come home shortly to get some work done.
Maybe come back. We’ll see. I’m taking Raina’s lead on things. ”
“The kids were all very curious where Uncle Jagger was this morning.”
“And what did you tell them?” I gathered up all my stuff and shoved it into the duffel bag Clint brought me.
“Just that someone came to Raina and Marco’s house and scared them.
So you offered to sleep in the guest room to make them feel safe.
We’ve all been through this before, bro.
The delicate dance of having a relationship while there are little kids to think about.
If it means anything though, everyone here is apparently ‘ shipping’ you guys pretty hard.
Even the kids, now that they know what ‘ shipping’ is. ”
Raina appeared in the doorway to the guest room, looking freshly fucked and as gorgeous as ever with her red hair up in another sexy, messy bun on top of her head. “I’m ‘shipping’ us pretty hard too, to be fair.” That earned me a big, beautiful grin from my little cactus.
“See you in a bit.”
“Sounds good.” We said our goodbyes, then I disconnected the call.
“That was Clint. Apparently, Myla is the only cop on duty, since Everett is out sick, and they’re struggling to find permanent replacements for Jenkins and Fischer.
There weren’t any cops willing to come over from the mainland for a few shifts here either. ”
“That strikes me as so odd. This place is paradise, and fairly chill. Why wouldn’t you want to be a cop here? I’d be terrified to be a cop in a big city like Seattle.”
“Totally agree.” I nodded. “Anyway, Burke and Bennett are going to escort Soloman back to the mainland at 2 o’clock. Myla was also waiting for confirmation that there’d be a police escort on the other side to pick him up.”
“I want to go down to the dock, see for myself that he gets on that boat.” Fear, but mostly anger burned like green flames in her eyes. “Will you go with me?”
I nodded before I even fully processed what she had asked of me. “Of course.”
“Thank you.”
Wrapping an arm around her shoulder, I pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “Anything for you, Elsa. And I mean that.”
Even though I really didn’t want to leave Raina, I did for a short time. I raced home, got a few social media things done, caught up on emails, and downed a protein shake and some much-needed electrolytes, before leaping back into my truck to go pick her up just before two.
She chewed on the side of her thumb as she sat in the passenger seat of my truck, staring blankly ahead as I drove down toward the dock. “Just because he’s leaving doesn’t mean this is the end of it.”
“We can alert the harbormaster, and all the ferry attendants on either side not to let him on,” I said, taking the final corner before the big hill that led down to the marina came into view.
“Besides smacking me, he hasn’t done anything illegal. It’s a free country.”
“Then we’ll file a restraining order.”
All she did was nod, but the way her shoulders rounded and her chin trembled told me she didn’t believe that a restraining order would keep Soloman away. To be fair, neither did I.
“Why’d he come now?” I asked, needing to keep the conversation going, to learn more about that part of her life, and just how twisted the people we were dealing with were.
I started down the steep hill toward the marina.
It was still really weird not to see any vehicles lined up on the righthand side, waiting for the next sailing.
The harbormaster was pretty good about updating the marina website and he seemed to think that by Monday next week, the terminal would be fixed. That is, if the weather cooperated.
“Josiah and Soloman were the only brothers of twelve children. Soloman had four daughters and one son—Elias. Elias was … different . He never got any kind of diagnosis, because the congregation didn’t believe in that kind of thing.
They believed everything could be handled and cured with more discipline—or prayer. ”
I shook my head. “Christ Almighty.”
“I don’t have a psych degree or anything, but I’m guessing he had what could be determined as Borderline Personality Disorder.
He was unpredictable, had anger issues, was very manipulative, and always lying.
Not that anything came of it, but there were rumors that he sexually assaulted several women in the congregation, including teenagers and even a ten-year-old. ”
“Fuck.”
She nodded. “Gabrielle typed in a bunch of his behavior traits and that’s what popped up.
Borderline Personality Disorder. Elias never married.
Not for lack of trying on Soloman’s part.
But no father in the congregation would marry their daughter off to Elias.
Which says a lot, because normally fathers didn’t give two shits to who they tied their daughter to, they just wanted to be rid of her. Make her someone else’s problem.”
I found a parking spot that was right behind the big rocks that spilled down into the water, and turned off the ignition.
“Soloman held out hope though,” she went on.
“Then Marco was born, and he scaled back his desperation to marry off his son. But he must have reapplied the pressure when Marco and I left. I’m not sure how Elias died.
But now, Soloman is without an heir. The entire Aaronson side is without an heir to carry on the family name. ”
“So?” I shrugged. “What is the big fucking deal about ‘carrying on a name’?”
“I don’t know. Something about being remembered, legacy, and never truly dying if your bloodline and name lives on. I actively scraped a lot of those preachings from my brain the moment I was free.”
“Fair enough. I’d probably do the same. Find a hypnotist to hypnotize it out of me.
Or just go for a full lobotomy.” I craned my neck around to glance up the hill to see, but I didn’t see Myla’s police cruiser yet, or my brother’s truck.
We were still five minutes early though.
I faced Raina again, still not quite able to believe this beautiful stick of dynamite was finally sitting in my lap. “Can I ask you about your family?”
“Not much to say. I had an abusive, overbearing father, and a shell of a mother. She’s a very timid woman. Lives to serve my father. Has never, and will never, speak out against him. Both are still alive, unfortunately.”
“Any siblings?”
I snorted. “Three older brothers. All just as terrible as my dad. They’re abusive to their wives and perpetuate the misogyny and toxic masculinity with their own sons. It’s honestly an epidemic.”
“Did your father try to marry you off again after Josiah died?”
“He tried. He and Soloman were in a discussion about me marrying Elias, but I got the fuck out of dodge before that could happen. I’d already been in contact with Aunt Dolores and Gabrielle, and they had an exit plan in place for me.”
“Thank fuck for that,” I breathed, spying the police cruiser coming down the hill in my rearview mirror. Bennett’s truck was right behind it. “Here we go,” I said, reaching across the bench seat for her hand.
She gave my fingers a squeeze and forced a smile just as Myla Bruce pulled her cruiser up beside my truck.
I glanced over at the cop, and she offered me a tired wave.
I couldn’t blame her. She was probably running on fumes, and the asshole in the backseat undoubtably wasn’t making it any easier on her.
Bennett and Burke parked on the other side of my truck and got out, joining Myla on the driver’s side of her car.
“We’re not getting out,” I said to Raina, still holding her hand.
“I know.”
Myla yanked Soloman, in handcuffs, from the cruiser. Then she, Bennett, and Burke, escorted the fucker down the ramp to the dock where Gabe Griswald, and several other islanders waited next to the big aluminum water taxi.
Raina sucked in a sharp breath through her nose and held it for a while. I untwined our fingers and unbuckled her seatbelt, then hauled her across the bench seat into my lap. She came willingly, and settled sideways, her legs extended toward the passenger door.