Chapter 10
Mary
No word. There has been nothing more about George.
Not even a glimmer of him. He hasn’t tried to contact us in any way, which I was positive would have happened sooner rather than later.
But there’s been nothing. I don’t know what to think about that.
Honestly? I don’t give him a lot of thought anyway. I’m more concerned with Peter.
It’s been a few weeks since they came to look at the house to make sure it was suitable for Peter, and I’m getting anxious. I know it takes a while to do a thorough background check and get the approval, but knowing doesn’t make me any less anxious. I want Peter to come home now.
Jameson has been amazing, even if he doesn’t let me lift a hand to help around here. He just directs me back to the sofa to sit down while he goes about doing the things I wanted to get done.
He is proving to me that he wants to be here and will do everything to stay. He makes my life easier with everything he does. And I feel that’s the way he intends it to be, to make my life easier.
We haven’t had sex yet. Jameson, of course, wants to make sure the doctor clears me first. Being a nurse, I know this, I understand it. It’s what I would tell anyone else. But it really sucks that I get to curl up with his hard body every night and not do anything.
He won’t even let me do anything for him. What guy doesn’t want to get off? Oh, wait. My overprotective man. And it’s not even that he doesn’t want to get off. It’s that he wants our first time to be both of us together. How sweet is that?
Sighing, I shake my head at myself. At least I’m going to the doctor today. I should finally be cleared for all things, especially riding on the back of Jameson’s bike. He hasn’t let me do that either. Cheese and rice.
“Babe, it’s just about time for your appointment. Are you ready?” Jameson asks from the doorway as he leans against it to watch me sitting on the bed. I didn’t even hear him come in.
And dang! He is still watching me like a hawk. He must have an alarm set. I watch him watch me for a moment before getting up and walking to him.
He holds his arms out to me, and I walk into them. Closing his arms around me, he holds me close. “You OK?” he whispers in my ear.
Reaching up, I grab his face. “I’m alright, honey. Just anxious to get this done and hopefully hear about Peter,” I tell him before bringing his face to mine for a kiss.
Pulling away, we leave to go see Doc. Then I really need to go to work to talk to them.
“Are you wanting to go with me when I stop by work? I need to see what to do about getting back into it. And we should take the bike since we both know I will be cleared.”
“I’d rather you didn’t work, babe. Would you rather see what happens with Peter first? We can postpone it for a little while if you want.” Notably, he doesn’t respond to my comment about taking the bike.
“I’m torn. I feel like I need my job. But I also want to get Peter situated and comfortable. So, bike?”
“Is it that you feel like you need your job, or that your job needs you and you feel bad if you don’t go back? You know you don’t need the money.” Jameson says as he leads me to his truck and helps me settle.
Hmm. I haven’t thought of it that way. I’m not sure what to say about that right now.
“Think about it, babe. You don’t have to decide right this minute. After your appointment, we can grab some food, sit out by the park, and talk it through. Sound good?”
“That sounds great. Let’s do it,” I say as we take off for my appointment. In the truck, I might add.
***
As expected, Doc gives me the all-clear. Jameson is, once again, hanging on his every word. I tune them out because I already know the instructions.
As we are leaving, I turn to Jameson. “You totally should have listened to me and taken the bike instead. You knew I’d get cleared. Now, you are stuck in the truck again.”
“I will always do whatever I need to do to protect you. Yes, I knew you’d be cleared, but I wasn’t going to take the chance that you weren’t. You are my main priority. And, always, safety first with you. I have precious cargo,” he tells me while leading me outside.
Right out to his bike sitting there at the curb. What the heck?
Looking up at him, Jameson just smirks down at me. The little rat knew!
Jumping up and down in a small show of girliness, I run over to grab my helmet. Jameson laughs and comes to help me put it on. I’m so excited. Bumbling through it, I climb on his bike and wait for him to settle in front of me before sliding close and holding him tight.
“So, you ready to get some food and go eat?”
Glaring at him as he looks at me over his shoulder, I say, “Absolutely not! Let’s ride!!”
Jameson laughs, starts the engine, revs it a couple of times, making me tingle, then lights out of the parking lot like we have places to be.
I missed this so much. It’s so much more than just riding. I feel so connected to Jameson. I know he loves the ride so much. I also know it’s been hard on him not being able to ride. But he never says anything about it. Never complains.
We ride around for about an hour before picking up some food to take back with us. I can feel the tension in Jameson leak out the more we ride. The guys call it wind therapy. I get it now.
Going through the gate, I feel Jameson stiffen a bit. Something is going on. Looking around, I see several of the guys watching us.
Jameson pulls up to our side of the duplex and turns off the engine.
He helps me first, then gets off himself and grabs my hand, taking me inside.
“Babe, I need to go see what’s going on. I’m going to send Gemini and Kaylynn over with the prospects to keep watch. I need you to stay here and not go outside until I let you know it’s safe. Got me?”
“Got you. Please be careful.”
He’s out the door, and the girls are coming in.
**Casper**
The guys are all waiting for me as I come out the door. Gemini, Kaylynn, and the kids rush in, closing and locking the door behind them.
“I want you guys on all sides. No one gets in. Clear?” I tell the prospects.
“Clear!” Tommy says.
“Got it!” Gus says.
“No one will get to them, Casper!” says Finn.
All three of them disperse to take a spot to keep watch.
Walking up to Hydra, Cutter, Tiny, and Rosco, I ask, “What’s happening?”
Hydra says, “We received a package at the compound with your name on it. Chase found it, and he and Brain are working on where it came from. We are going to head over there to see what it is.”
“Let’s go!” I say as I head to my bike.
The ride is short, and I get a tingling sensation between my shoulder blades as we ride in. Looking around, I don’t see anyone watching. Doesn’t mean they aren’t, but I don’t see them.
Looking at the heavy-duty bins, zip-tied closed, my heart starts pounding so hard I think it may come out of my chest. It’s looking a little too familiar. It wasn’t very long ago that we had a similar one left here.
The difference is that this one is addressed to me rather than to Mary.
Opening the letter, I read it aloud.
Dear Casper,
I’m addressing this to you because I don’t want Mary to see the inside unless you feel she should. Though I believe she could handle some violence, she is a much gentler soul than my Gemini. Once again, you will not have to worry about anyone coming after Mary or Gemini. They are both safe.
Oh, and the second bin was a bonus. You’re welcome.
I will reveal myself eventually. Until then, keep the girls safe.
Yours,
Phantom
What the fuck? Looking around at the guys, I see they have similar looks.
“What the fuck does he mean by ‘My Gemini’?” Hydra yells. “She’s my fucking Gemini!”
Putting on some gloves, I cut the zip ties and open the top bin. Sure enough, it’s a, shall we say, very bloated and unassembled George. He’s very much in pieces.
Cheese and Rice!
Everyone gathers around to see what’s in the bin.
“What the fuck?”
“Jesus!”
Remarks start flying around.
“You did say you wanted to get a piece of him, didn’t you Casper? Too soon?” Tiny says as we stare at the mess of George.
Snickering, I point out, “I mean, I really wanted to be the one to do this to him though. I feel like Phantom has taken my fun away.”
Hydra and Cutter just shake their heads at me. I guess I did have a little whine in my voice as I said that.
Brain comes over and says, “Once again, our cameras were put on a loop. Nothing and no one was caught on camera during the dump. I don’t know how the fuck this guy keeps getting past our security measures.”
“Well, if it’s who we think it is, then I doubt we will be able to find him until he wants to be found,” Hydra says.
Cutter says, “It’s probably for the best that we don’t see him make the drop. Now let’s see what’s behind door number two.”
Moving over, we lift the first bin off and set it aside. Snapping the ties, I open the lid to bin number two and just stare. What. The. Fuck?
Tiny says, “Do you know this dude?”
Hydra says, “I’ve never seen him before. Anyone else?”
They all say no, but I am still stuck staring at the mess that Henry has become. He’s in much the same shape as George, bloated, in pieces. He also has a note attached to him in a plastic bag.
“It’s Henry,” I tell them.
“Who the fuck is Henry?” Hydra asks.
Fuck. No wonder he was looking at Mary that way.
“Henry came with Julie to do the walkthrough of our duplex to establish whether our home would be appropriate for Peter to stay with us. I wanted to beat his ass for staring at Mary. She also commented that he was weird after they left. I just thought he was a creep and needed an ass-kickin’ but didn’t want to make waves in getting Peter. Fuck!”
The guys all gather closer as I pick up the bag and open it to take the note out. It is paperwork showing he and George were stepbrothers.
“Well, now you might be able to get Peter home since this douche won’t be able to stop it. You should call Julie to see what the holdup is. He probably put a little wrench in there,” Tiny says.
He’s right. I need to get on that.
“Alright, first, let’s get them taken care of, and then I will call Julie.”
Cutter says, “We will take care of them. You call Julie and then talk to your woman. Let her know she is safe.”
“Thanks, man.”
Time to call Julie.
She picks up on the second ring.
“Hello, this is Julie.”
“Hi, Julie. It’s Casper. I was checking to see what’s going on with our status. Any word on approval yet?”
“Well, you were approved the other day, but I was waiting to call you because I’m still waiting on Henry’s report. I can see it in there, but there’s a hold on it. It just needs to be released.”
“What do we need to do to get that to happen?”
“Well, I haven’t been able to get a hold of Henry. I’ve been trying for the past two weeks. At this point, I will probably just release it myself,” she tells me.
“Are you able to do that?”
“They don’t usually like us to do that. But since I haven’t been able to reach him for a couple of weeks, I’m sure I could get my manager to let me do it. Let me get a hold of her, and I will get back to you. OK?”
“That’s perfect. Thank you, Julie.”
Hanging up, I tell Hydra what was said. Looks like we will have our boy soon.
Riding back home, I think about what I want to say to Mary about the bins. I know I’m going to have to go with the truth; she won’t accept anything less.
I open the door to find my house in chaos.
The kids are running around, laughing. The girls are sitting around the living room, laughing at the kids.
The sound, though unexpected, is not unpleasant like I thought it would be.
In fact, I feel a pang in my chest as I watch them all be carefree. This! I love this.
Hydra and Cutter stand in the entry with me and watch the chaos unfold.
“Daddy!” Ava shouts, making the girls look our way.
Cutter bends down and opens his arms for the little bundle hurling herself at him. Scooping her up, he holds her close.
“Have you been a good girl, baby?”
“Of course, Daddy! I’m always a good girl!”
The girls all snort at that, and Max shakes his head at her.
“She was alright, Dad,” Max tells him.
I’m looking forward to this type of play when we have our own kids here.
The guys grab their women and the kids, pulling them all out the door to leave Mary and I on our own. Not gonna lie. I’m a little nervous about this conversation.