35. Cody
Cody
It’s been a few weeks and things have been quiet on the Jude front. Sure, he follows us every time we leave the house, but we only go to the stadium or Mulberry Lane. He can’t get through the gates to get close to us and he knows it.
He comes to every home game we have and is always sitting right against the glass. He parks outside of our house most nights and I swear I don’t know when he eats or sleeps. He’s always there.
He hasn’t made any attempts to get closer to us though. Uncle Mason told us we could file restraining orders, but it probably isn’t worth it. A piece of paper isn’t going to keep a mentally unstable man away. When the opportunity presents itself, he’s going to make a move.
“I'm so tired of being in this house,” Jax groans from his upside-down position on the couch. His head is hanging off the cushion and he looks like a little kid.
“Will you sit up? This is a serious conversation, Jax,” Uncle Mason lets out a sigh.
“I get it, but at this point, I'm about to jog to the end of the driveway and get in Jude’s car. I'm sure he’ll take me out for a fun night and I’d risk the chance of him kidnapping me just so I can do something!”
“I think it’s time we force his hand,” Maddox says carefully.
“We’ve been toying with this idea for a while and we all think it’s time,” Peck adds.
“This must be serious if all four of you are here.” Sloan glances between Uncle Mason, Maddox, Peck, and Pauly.
“It is. We think he’s waiting for you to be left alone. He’s being patient because he doesn’t want Jax involved. He won't do anything he thinks could taint Jax’s view of him.”
“So, what’s the plan?” I slip an arm around Sloan’s waist and tug her closer to me. I hate the idea of Jude even thinking about hurting my girl.
“You’re not going to like it.” Peck winces.
“Not even a little bit.” Maddox chuckles.
“That’s great, how about someone tells us what your plan actually is, then we can discuss how much we don’t like it,” Jax growls.
“We want you, Cody, and Pauly to leave like you’re going to the stadium. Sloan will stay here with the curtains open so Jude can see her. We’re hoping he’ll make a move and try to get inside the house.”
“Absolutely not!” I shake my head. There’s no way I'm going to put my girlfriend in danger.
“She won't really be in danger, Cody,” Uncle Mason sighs. “We’ll all be here, but we’ll be hiding. We’ll wait until he gets in the house to make our move. We’ll keep her safe.”
“Really? Would you let Aunt Kelsey do this?”
“Your aunt went through something a million times worse than this,” Uncle Mason hisses.
“Yes, but you didn’t willingly put her there. You actually tried to prevent her from ever being put in that position. So, I’ll ask again, would you let Aunt Kelsey do this?”
Uncle Mason opens and closes his mouth, but nothing comes out. He’d never put her life at risk and he knows it.
“I’ll do it,” Sloan says softly from beside me.
“Baby-”
“No! He’s right. We need to do something. We can’t spend the rest of our lives behind gates and locked doors. We’re barely living. This isn’t fair to anyone.” She glances over at Jax and her eyes soften.
She feels so bad that his life has been put on hold because of Jude. She wants to give him the chance to go out with our friends again. To be the massive extrovert he is.
“Sloan, you don’t need to do this.” Jax flips off the couch before taking a seat on the cushion like a normal person.
“I do though. Don’t you all get that? I'm tired of being scared of him. I want to be able to get married and have kids, I can’t do any of that with Jude breathing down our backs. I'm so tired of it. If he’s going to hurt me, I’d rather get it over with. This is stupid.”
“I'm not going to let him hurt you,” Uncle Mason growls.
“You can’t guarantee that.” Sloan rolls her eyes. “And I don’t want Peck here.” She points in his direction like we don’t all know who Peck is.
“What the heck?” Peck rears back.
“No, I don’t want to risk something happening to you. You just started your life with Sophia. I’d never be able to live with myself if something happened to you and your babies had to grow up without their daddy.” She shakes her head as tears fill her eyes.
“Cool, she’s ok with the rest of us getting hurt,” Pauly chuckles.
“I'm not-”
“He’s teasing you. I get it. I wasn’t going to let Peck be here either. The last thing I need is an upset Sophia Pecker. That woman will bite my head off if anything happens to her husband.” Maddox shakes his head. “That tiny woman scares me just as much as Kelsey.”
“It’s the Robinson genes.” Uncle Mason smirks. “You don’t mess with them or they’ll rip you apart.”
“Yet you expect me to be ok with this,” I scoff, sitting back in my seat.
“I don’t expect you to be ok with it, but we’re running out of options.
The longer this goes on, the more relaxed everyone is going to get.
You’re already used to having a stalker and him following you everywhere you go.
What happens when you let your guard down?
What happens when you try to use your hot tub or go out back and relax around the pool?
The first few times nothing might happen, but eventually he’ll notice and he’ll strike.
The danger is letting you get used to this.
The second you relax, he’ll blindside you. ”
“So… How do we do this?” Sloan asks.
“I don’t like this,” I murmur, holding Sloan a little tighter.
“I know, but I need to do this. I need him to be gone once and for all.” She runs her hand back and forth along my forearm.
We’re lying on the couch pretending to watch a movie. I don’t think either one of us even knows what’s playing on the TV, but I don’t care. I just want to lay with my girl in my arms.
“What if something happens?”
“Something will happen, but at least this way we’re prepared and it’s on our terms.”
“I don’t understand how you’re this calm.”
“I'm not. I'm scared to death, but I’ve been scared for weeks. At this point I just want it to be over. No matter what, tomorrow Jude won't be a problem anymore.”
“Unless he doesn’t take the bait.”
“He will. He’s so angry about losing Jax as a friend.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen such hatred in someone’s eyes as the night he got kicked off of Mulberry Lane.
I'm sure time has only fueled that hatred.
He sees me with you everywhere you go. He knows I'm spending time with you and Jax instead of him.
He won't hesitate to come after me when he thinks I'm alone,” she whispers, running her fingers up and down my forearm.
I hate the idea of this. Of putting my girl in jeopardy just so we can have a little bit of freedom again, but she’s right.
We’re not living. We don’t do anything outside of work and this is slowly killing us.
It would be impossible for us to go out on a date or get married.
There’s no way either one of us would want to have kids with a crazy stalker following our every move.
I don’t even want to think about what he might do to our kids.
“We’re going to park around the corner at Wheeler’s house and jump the fence to come in the back door. We won't be away from you for more than five minutes.” I hold her a little closer.
“No! I don’t want to risk something happening to you.”
“I don’t really care. I'm not leaving you for any longer than I have to. If I thought I could stay with you the entire time, I would. I won't let you get hurt, Sloan. I want to spend the rest of my life with you and the only way to do that is to get through tomorrow.”