Chapter 35
Jayce
I was still in shock over what happened three days ago. It was easily the best day of my life. Even though we’d had sex before, to me it was the first time. It was different; better.
She’d come back one day after work, but she refused to stay here every night. That was ridiculous and I was tempted to just have all of her stuff moved here while she was at the school, but I reined it in. There was no urgency. We’d finally made it to this point and I didn’t want to push her too far. If she wanted to take things slow, we could do that. I’d hate every second of it but for her, I would stop time.
My eyes felt heavy and I had to shake my head to keep myself from drifting off at my desk. Work felt tedious today, but I had a deadline to meet and I’d been distracted lately. I often had to remind myself that life was still moving at its normal rate outside of my Jayce-Alana-Erebus ordeal. Finally, I could put some of my energy into other things again.
Who knew you could get burnout from stalking? It was the definition of hard work and dedication.
I was too bleary-eyed for this shit. After closing out of the program, I got to my feet and stretched. I ambled into the kitchen and made myself a triple shot espresso. At this point, I might as well start doing coke, but coffee was cheaper.
Just as I took my first sip, my phone buzzed. Assuming it would be Alana, I checked it immediately. My brow furrowed when I saw the text.
Unknown: I need your help.
Jayce: Who’s this?
Unknown: Alicia. You’re the guardian angel.
I’d almost forgotten that I’d given her my number. I might have been shocked an almost ten-year-old could text, but she was born in 2015, so it made sense. While I typed out a response, I grabbed my boots. I didn’t have a good feeling about this.
Jayce: What’s going on?
Alicia: Mike. Angry.
Jayce: You home?
She sent a thumbs up, which was all I needed. If she felt the need to ask me for help, it must’ve been bad. I could only guess that this had to do with the case. My parents had their first visit with Alicia on Monday and he’d tried to make an appeal the week before to prevent it, but it was shot down.
But why was he angry now? It was Wednesday and it was a half-day for the district, so he’d probably been home for a few hours. I felt more concerned when I thought about Alana. Maybe he tried to talk to her today. I wanted to trust that she’d tell me if he did, but I wasn’t going to lie to myself. Judgment calls were not her strong suit.
I’d deal with her later. Her last text was only half an hour ago, so I knew she was safe. My priority right now was Alicia. Mike’s bad day was going to get a hell of a lot worse if I walked in on something I didn’t like.
*****
From the outside, it looked normal. That was never a good indicator of the things that went down inside. Alana’s parents were lovely when they were in public. In private, they were a shit show. Going to prison was what they deserved for hurting my girl. Just two days before that video, Alana’s dad slapped her so hard that she tumbled down the stairs. She tried to pass off the bruises as a bicycle accident because she didn’t want us to worry, but I got her to tell me the truth when we were alone.
I should’ve just killed the guy, but I was barely sixteen. I hadn’t graduated to that level of protection yet. That sort of thing took time. The me that existed now would turn the bastard into fertilizer. Probably her mom too.
On the way here, I went back and forth about the mask. It was how Alicia knew me, but I didn’t want Mike to be aware of that identity. It looked like she’d be meeting her uncle for the first time. Since they didn’t want to overwhelm her on Monday, she’d only seen my parents and Charlie.
To give him one chance, I knocked on the door. It swung open, revealing a haggard-looking Mike wearing an unbuttoned dress shirt. It smelled like he’d bathed in vodka. What a responsible way to spend the afternoon at home with his stepdaughter.
“What the hell are you doing here?” he demanded. His brows were drawn so tightly that they’d merged into one long caterpillar.
“I need to see Alicia.”
“The fuck you do. Get out of here.”
I shoved on his chest with one hand, making him stumble backward. Stepping inside, I glanced around. There were some broken picture frames on the floor and a half-empty bottle of vodka on the coffee table.
“That’s assault,” he bellowed.
Rolling my eyes, I continued further into the house. “Who’s gonna believe the man who’s drunk at home with a scared nine-year-old?”
“She’s not afraid of me. You don’t know what you’re talking about. Get out of my house before I call the cops.”
I scoffed. “Do it. That’s one less call I have to make.”
“You have no right to be here. When my lawyer finds out-”
“Alicia,” I called. “Where you at, kid?”
I continued down the hall, then stopped at her closed door. Mike’s footsteps thundered behind me. I turned around and grabbed both of his biceps, throwing him against the wall.
“Touch me or her and I will fucking bury you. Don’t make this harder on yourself.”
When I released him, he looked like he wanted to rip my throat out with his teeth, but he didn’t move. Satisfied, I slowly opened Alicia’s door. There was a sharp intake of breath and the covers on the bed moved, concealing her further.
“Alicia, it’s me. You might not recognize me right now, but do you remember my voice?”
She moved the blanket and poked her head out. Her eyes widened, fear taking over her expression.
“Dad?”
Shit. I didn’t think about that part.
“No,” I said softly, coming closer to the bed. When she flinched back, I dropped into a crouch a few feet away to make myself smaller. “I’m Jayce. You know what twins are, right?”
She nodded. “You have the same face.”
“I told you I’m not a stranger. You trusted me before. Can you trust me now?”
“I don’t know.”
“Listen to me, Alicia. Out of everybody in the world, I knew your dad the best. I know how much he’d be willing to do to make sure you’re safe.”
“He wasn’t here. He didn’t want me.”
My shoulders slumped. “He wasn’t here, but he did want you. Sometimes, being afraid makes us do stupid things and those things we do out of fear don’t always reflect who we are. Your dad messed up and I think he was afraid to own up to that. Maybe he was afraid to be your dad too. Do you get what I’m saying?”
“I think so.”
“I know my parents told you why we’ve never met you. None of us can make up for lost time, but believe me when I say that it doesn’t matter whether I’ve known you for years or days. You’re my family and I protect my family. I’ll protect you.”
There were tears in her eyes. I didn’t know if it was from her fear or my words. It didn’t matter. All I knew was that it awoke something familiar in me, the same feeling that made me want to protect all of the people I cared about, and Alicia just made it to the top of that list.
She flung the blanket off and rushed toward me. When she wrapped her arms around my neck, I straightened, holding her as I walked toward the door.
“What are you doing?” Mike roared.
“Do you want to go with me, Alicia?”
“Yes.”
“Are you afraid of him?”
“Yeah.”
Mike continued making threats behind us, but I ignored him. Nothing he said mattered. He was a danger to her, which meant she wasn’t staying. That was all there was to it.
I set her down on the porch and nodded to my Bronco. “Climb in and wait for me. Don’t come out, do you understand?”
She nodded and ran to the truck. When I turned around, Mike’s fist connected with my face. I laughed as blood trickled into my mouth.
“You stupid motherfucker.”
“ Sir, they should be arriving any second. ”
“Thanks, Pam,” I said to the dispatcher.
Mike’s eyes widened when he looked at my earbud. His gaze traveled over my shoulder where three cruisers pulled up to the curb.
“Just so you know, you reek of booze. What do you think your blood alcohol level is?”
“I’m in my own home,” he spat. “They can’t arrest me for drinking.”
“Maybe they will, maybe they won’t. The fact of the matter is, you were a danger to a child under your care. There’s evidence of violent behavior in the home right now. Alicia can attest to being afraid of you and the dispatch recording has that bit memorialized. Oh, and you assaulted me just now. I could press charges.”
His nostrils flared in and out. Footsteps behind me made me shift to allow the officers in.
“The kid is in the truck,” I said. One of them followed me to my Bronco. “Can she be placed with us?”
He shrugged. “You family?”
“Yeah. My parents are in a custody battle with the step-dad.”
“From other cases I’ve seen like this, when a child is removed from the home, they try to place them with a relative. A social worker will need to get involved, but that’s probably what they’ll do.”
That made me feel a hell of a lot better. “Is he gonna be arrested?”
“We’ll take him in, but I don’t know. They’ll probably release him if he didn’t hurt the kid. You could press charges, though.”
This guy’s life was about to really suck. And I didn’t feel bad for him at all. He touched what was mine. First, he went after Alana. Then, he scared my niece.
Mike was lucky that killing him would rouse too much suspicion. Otherwise, he’d be feeding my plants next summer. My patience was impossibly thin, though, so he’d better keep his nose where it belonged.