Cody
We drove by Sloan’s apartment again on our way home from the bakery. Jude was still waiting outside, but this time he was sitting on the steps to the apartment. He looked furious.
Jax did a great job at distracting Sloan and I don’t think she saw Jude, she just knows his car was still there. At a red light, I shot off a text to Uncle Mason, Maddox, and Peck.
Uncle Mason: He’s definitely unwell. Vic’s keeping his eye on him. He’ll report back if anything changes. I wouldn’t drive past her apartment again. We don’t want to risk him noticing the same car going by multiple times.
Maddox: Jax’s SUV isn’t flashy, but he might notice the dark tinted windows. Not many people can get tint that dark without getting pulled over by the cops a lot.
Peck: Keep her at your house. We’re visiting Jude’s dad this afternoon. There’s no telling how he’s going to respond.
I blow out a long breath as I read the texts. Jax and Sloan already went inside the house. I told them I’d be inside in a few moments. I don’t know what I'm supposed to do. I feel like keeping her here is dangerous, but he doesn’t know where we live.
Cody: Are we safe at our house?
Uncle Mason: Pauly’s already stationed outside your house. You probably drove right past him without noticing him.
Cody: Gray minivan?
Uncle Mason: That’s him… Did you notice him or just noticed a car? He’s normally pretty good at blending in.
Cody: There’s never been a car in front of my house. That stands out to me, but wouldn’t to anyone else.
Uncle Mason: Good. Lock your gate and keep all doors and windows locked, especially the door between the garage and kitchen. I don’t trust this guy. He’s going to do something drastic; I can feel it in my gut. I’ll call you after I talk to the dad.
I blow out a long breath and shut the garage door. I'm going to be on edge until I get this call from Uncle Mason. I’ll protect Sloan no matter what, but I'm not sure what that’s going to entail.
“What’s going on?” Jax asks softly as soon as I step inside the kitchen.
“Uncle Mason has Pauly out front. He’s watching the house and is there if we need him.”
“This is serious, huh?” Jax rubs a hand over his mouth.
“Uncle Mason says Jude’s going to do something drastic. He can feel it in his gut,” I whisper.
“Dang, we need to be careful,” Jax murmurs.
We both know when Uncle Mason says he can feel it in his gut; you need to trust him. His gut is never wrong. Not once. And that makes me even more uneasy.
“He said to keep all the doors and windows shut and locked, especially the door to the garage.”
“Because the garage is fairly easy to break into and most people don’t lock that door into the house.” Jax nods his head.
After everything with Zoey, our cousin, we were all taught how to keep ourselves safe.
Dad and Uncle Mason insisted on touring our house before we bought it.
They wanted to make sure it was secure for us, a place we didn’t need to worry about crazy fans.
We thought it was overkill, but now I'm really happy we got Dad and Uncle Mason’s seal of approval on our home.
It takes almost two hours for Uncle Mason to call me. As soon as my phone rings, my hands are a shaking mess as I attempt to answer the call.
“Hello?”
“Hey, put me on speaker so Sloan and Jax can hear me. This is going to affect all of you.”
I swallow hard as I place the call on speaker and position the device on the center of the coffee table.
Sloan is curled up at my side on the couch and Jax is sitting in a chair across from us.
We’ve been staying close to each other since we got home.
I think everyone is anxious about what’s going to happen next.
“What’s up, Uncle Mason?” Jax asks when he realizes I can’t find my voice.
“I spoke to Mr. Carpenter. This isn’t good.
Apparently, Jude is on medication for psychological issues.
Sloan, Mr. Carpenter spoke to you because he thinks Jude has stopped taking his medication again.
This isn’t the first time this has happened, but I guess he’s never dated an employee before so Mr. Carpenter felt the need to step in this time. ”
“So, what now?” Sloan asks softly. Her body tensed as soon as Mason mentions medication and psychological issues. Clearly, she had no idea about any of it.
“Well, you’re off from work for the foreseeable future.
I made it clear to Mr. Carpenter that it wasn’t safe for you to return to work or to your apartment to get your laptop.
He was more than agreeable. He’s willing to continue paying your salary and won't be touching any of your time off. Whenever you’re ready to come back, your job will be there. ”
“Mason… How crazy is Jude that his dad is willing to do all of that?”
“He’s very unwell, Sloan. From what Mr. Carpenter said, it sounds like Jude is bipolar with psychotic features.”
“How did I not know?”
“Because as long as he takes his medicine, his condition is well managed. You wouldn’t have noticed anything majorly being off about him. He would still have some manic or depressive episodes, but he might’ve been able to hide those.”
“Why did he go off the medication if he was doing well?”
“Jax.”
“What the heck did I do?” Jax scowls at the phone like Uncle Mason can see his annoyance.
“You didn’t do anything really. Mr. Carpenter thinks Jude believed you two were really good friends. He was afraid if you found out he was on medication to control his psych issues, you wouldn’t want to be friends with him any longer.”
“That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard of! Why would I not want to be friends with someone because they need medication for an illness? That’s insane,” Jax huffs as he settles back into his seat and folds his arms over his chest.
“Nothing Jude does is logical, Jax. Stop expecting him to do logical things… The longer he went without his medicine, the more obsessed he became with Jax. Jude told Mr. Carpenter that he thinks it’s Sloan’s fault Jax doesn’t want to speak to him anymore.”
“What happens now?” Sloan asks quietly.
“You can’t go back to your apartment or work, Sloan. Jude sees you as the enemy. It’s all your fault Jax doesn’t want to talk to him anymore. In his mind, you’re the only thing standing between him and what he really wants.”
“Dang, I always thought if I had a stalker, it would be a hot woman, not a dude. He’s not even hot, Sloan. Don’t you know about the crazy hot scale?” Jax scrubs a hand down his face and shakes his head.
“All three of you need to be extremely careful. Cody, in this state, Jude might think you’re Jax. You two are identical twins and though I can easily tell you apart, he might not be able to… I think Pauly should shadow your every move until we can do something about Jude.”
“How long is that going to take? He was sitting outside of Sloan’s apartment, can’t you just go get him?” I sigh, this is a catastrophe.
“It’s not illegal to be crazy. There’s nothing for anyone to do.”
“Until he tries to hurt one of us,” I finish his thought and squeeze my eyes shut as I pull Sloan a little closer to me.
“He’s going to focus his aggression on you, Sloan. You can’t go anywhere alone. I don’t think it’s safe for you to even stay at the house by yourself.”
“What should I do when Jax and Cody are working?”
“You go to practice or the games… I’ve dealt with men like this before. He’s not going to stop until he doesn’t feel like you’re a threat anymore.”
“Can’t I just pretend to be friends with him again?” Jax huffs out.
“That could be dangerous. He might think this is all a ploy and he could turn on you or get more aggressive towards Sloan. Almost like he’d have to get rid of her before she can turn you against him again.”
“Tell Pauly there’s a room ready for him. I’ll even put a freaking chocolate on his pillow every night.” Jax leans back and stares up at the ceiling. I can feel the tension rolling off of him in waves.
He feels like this is all his fault. He hasn’t voiced that, but I can tell. This is going to weigh heavily on his shoulders for a long time, especially if something bad happens. He’ll never forgive himself if someone gets hurt.