Harper
Four weeks later
“Wait… you what?” I stare at Mason, Dad, and Peck like they just told me pigs can fly.
“I took him down so hard, he’ll never be able to crawl out of the hole.” Mason smirks.
“Ok, but… like… can you explain what that means?” I scrub a hand down my face with frustration.
“We all know how I feel about human trafficking or running drugs and guns.”
“Obviously.” I roll my eyes.
“Well, I recorded the conversation between you and Evan. I had a gut feeling it could be important.” He grins to himself like he’s so proud of his gut feelings.
Honestly, he should be. Mason’s gut feelings have kept so many people I love and care about alive and for the most part uninjured.
“With the information he gave you, I was able to figure out where Dennis was running his operations out of. With the help of the boys in blue, we took him down. He’ll be sitting in a jail cell for the rest of his life. There’s zero chance of parole.”
“He was worse than the guys who took your mom and Kels,” Dad says softly.
“Are you serious?” I let myself fall into a chair as I keep my eyes locked on Dad.
Obviously, the details of what happened to Mom and Kelsey have been kept from me since I was little when it happened, but I’ve learned bits and pieces to know they’re lucky they got away. If Mason and Dad hadn’t been there, the two of them would’ve suffered for the rest of their lives.
“Dennis had a long rap sheet when I looked into him after you moved in with me. The guys who arrested him this morning told us it’s tripled since then.
And with the new charges…” He shakes his head.
“There were so many girls there, Harp. He had girls as young as six being held in the warehouses. We were able to save them and reunite them with their families.”
“But how many have gone through there already?” I whisper.
“It’s hard to say, but I think a few of the guys they arrested will rat on Dennis.
Anything to make sure they don’t have to do as much time.
” Mason folds his arms over his chest. “People like Dennis rule by fear. If he’s in prison, no one will fear him anymore.
These guys will roll over like puppies. They care about themselves, not their boss. ”
“I’ve already talked to some of them. The chief asked me to since I’ve been in their positions before.
” Pauly smiles softly. There’s so much guilt in his features and I'm sure he’s thinking about the awful things his family did to the people they took.
“I’m encouraging them to speak up. Telling them if they help us find the girls who have already been moved to their destination, they can avoid jail time. ”
“Is that true? They’ll be able to avoid jail entirely?” I glance between the men.
“No clue! But they shouldn’t trust some random guy, they should be asking for everything in writing. I’m not a cop, lawyer, or judge. I have no clue what can be done.” Pauly smirks.
“They probably won't avoid jail, but their sentence could be lighter than it would be without them cooperating,” Dad adds.
“What about Evan?”
“Evan will be in prison for a long time. He was dumb when he trusted Dennis. The gun he shot Maddox with is tied to multiple other shootings and killings. Dennis was hoping Evan would use the gun so the shootings would be linked to Evan instead of him. The man was smart.” Mason shakes his head. “But not smart enough.”
“Nope. You don’t mess with our families.” Dad grins.
“So, does that mean I'm safe now?”
“You’re as safe as the average person,” Mason says.
“Seriously, Mason?” Dad rolls his eyes.
“What? Every person is at risk to a certain extent! A serial killer could go after random people or blondes. I'm not telling Harper she’s completely safe because two people are locked up.”
“You know, you should really become a motivational speaker,” I deadpan.
“I could really go places if I was a motivational speaker.” He grins.
The front door opens and shuts. A moment later, Jackson enters the kitchen. He eyes the men sitting around our island, but doesn’t ask questions.
“Hey, baby.” He sweeps me into his arms and kisses me like we don’t have an audience.
Someone clears their throat, but it does nothing to stop Jackson.
“Ok! Stop mauling my daughter,” Dad groans.
“But she’s my wife,” Jackson murmurs against my lips, making me giggle.
When he finally stops kissing me, he spins me around so my back is against his chest. He keeps his arms wrapped around my waist. I swear if we’re in the same room, he’s touching me in some way.
“You got something in the mail.” Jackson holds out an envelope to me.
As soon as I see the return address, I freeze. I’ve been going back and forth about what I want to do now that I'm finished college. In a way, I want to stay at the bakery. I love spending my days with my friends and I’ve found I really enjoy baking and decorating.
I honestly wasn’t sure if I wanted to be a lawyer anymore, but I still applied to a few local law schools.
This is my first response.
“Are you going to open it?” Jackson peers down at me.
“I don’t know if I want to,” I whisper, still not taking the envelope from him.
“What are you talking about?”
“I don’t think I want to be a lawyer.” Tears fill my eyes as I finally confess what I’ve been thinking for the last few weeks.
“Hey, you don’t have to be a lawyer.” Jackson spins me so I'm facing him. He squats down until we’re at eye level and he cups my face in his strong hands. “You don’t have to do anything, Harp.”
“Then what am I going to do for work?”
“Whatever you want. You don’t have to work at all if you don’t want to. You can just raise our babies. Or stay at the bakery. Or open your own business. Or… I don’t know what else, but do whatever you want. We’ll be fine no matter what.”
“I want a baby.”
“Then we’ll have a baby. I’d love to start our family.”
“I don’t want to quit the bakery though. At least not yet.”
“I’m on board with that too,” Jackson whispers, swiping at the tears on my cheeks. “We’re in this together, beautiful. You’re supportive of my career and I’ll be supportive of whatever you want to do too.”
“What if she wanted to be a stripper?” Mason murmurs. “Will you still be supportive of that?”
“Are you kidding me right now?” Jackson glares at him over my shoulder.
“What is wrong with you?” Pauly chuckles.
“Seriously? Why am I even friends with you?” Dad shakes his head.
“Because I keep things real.” Mason shrugs.
“Well, let me give you some realness…” Jackson’s gaze meets mine and I find mischief staring back at me. “You should probably leave because we’re going to try to start that family.”
He lifts me into his arms and kisses me again.
I knew life with Jackson would be amazing, but I never imagined having a husband who’s so incredibly supportive and loving.
Though my life has had a lot of ups and downs, I wouldn’t change a single second of it because it’s given me this perfect life I have now.
We have our whole lives in front of us and we’ll enjoy every second we have together.