Chapter 77 Jacob - Give Away
seventy-seven
Jacob: Give Away
“Sargeant Ricks. Good to hear from you,” Lieutenant Stephens says when Mom hands me her phone. “Jess told me you’re deploying to Iraq again. I hope everything goes well.”
“You’ve seen her lately?” I’m relieved enough not to be jealous. Almost.
“I talked to Jess a couple of days ago, why?” He still has that tone when he talks about her—possessive. Maybe they’re already back together.
“Do you know where she is now?”
“I’m not sure I should–”
“Please, it’s important,” I say. “I think she’s in danger. I got a bunch of pictures from her old boyfriend. The one who was in jail. He’s been stalking her, and I think he’s getting ready to come after her.”
“Yeah. He’s been sending her messages too,” Stephens says.
I'm shocked. “What messages? When?”
“For a long time, actually. She got a card from him right after Matt was killed, and one on her birthday.”
“What?”
“She didn’t tell you?”
“No.”
“At first it was cards, then emails, lately it’s been texts, even a few phone calls.”
“That’s why she got a new phone number,” I say. It’s no comfort that she didn’t just get a new phone number to avoid me. For whatever reason, Jess didn’t feel like she could tell me that Brad has been contacting her for a long time, even from prison. But she told Michael.
“That makes sense,” he says thoughtfully. “Probably why she wasn’t up for dinner in public when I asked her.”
My head and my heart are battling for dominance.
My heart wants to keep Michael as far away from Jess as possible.
My head tells me he might be the only one who can keep her safe.
Steve is right. It’s stupid to think I’m the one who has to come to her rescue right now.
She didn’t even trust me enough to tell me about the messages from Brad.
“Where are you now? Are you close to her? Could you find her and make sure she’s okay?”
“Pullman, and of course. I’ll go find her right now.”
I take a long breath, feeling like I’m giving her away. Stupid, because she’s not mine anymore. “Promise me you’ll keep her safe. Promise me you won’t let him get to her.”
“Don’t worry, Ricks. I promise. I’ll take care of her.”