39. Sloan
Sloan
“I love you too,” I whimper as I hear a window slide open. I don’t even know what room he’s in, but I know he’s in the house.
A heavy boot lands with a thud on the carpet and I swallow hard. When are they going to pop out and grab him? I didn’t think they were going to let him get to me.
“Deep breath, Sloan,” Mason whispers.
“He’s in here,” I breathe, trying to stay quiet enough that he won't be able to hear me.
“I know, sweetheart. I need to have proof he’s trying to hurt you. That’s the best way to get him locked up.”
“You didn’t tell us that, Uncle Mason,” Cody growls.
“Sloan knew. We talked about it. She didn’t want you to know.”
“Are you kidding me?” Cody’s voice is deathly calm and it has the hairs on the back of my neck standing on end… or maybe that’s knowing my ex-boyfriend just broke into the house to hurt me.
“Everything will be fine. Calm down and shut up,” Mason hisses. “Keep acting like you’re on the phone, Sloan.”
“How am I supposed to do that?”
“Just talk to me, baby,” Cody murmurs. “It’s just the two of us. Tell me what you want to do when this is over.”
“I want to go out for dinner.”
“That sounds great. Where do you want to go?”
“I'm coming! I need to go out!” Jax whines.
“You don’t even know where we’re going.” I can hear the frown in Cody’s voice. I love how the two of them interact with each other.
“I. Don’t. Care!”
“I want to go get some amazing Italian food.”
“Catalino’s,” They both say at the same time.
“Yeah,” I chuckle. “Catalino’s.”
In high school, we’d go to Catalino’s all the time.
Sometimes it was a big group of us and others it was just the three of us.
Dating Cody meant there was always a high chance of Jax tagging along for our dates, but I never minded.
I love Jax like a brother and I like spending time with him.
I was fine with anyone tagging along, as long as I got to spend time with Cody. He’s all that’s ever mattered to me.
“Man, we’re going to have to work out harder,” Jax sighs. “Do you think I'm getting fat?”
“I'm sure you’re at least eleven percent body fat.” I bite into my bottom lip to keep from laughing.
“Eleven! Are you kidding me? I better not have eleven percent body fat! I'm an athlete! I better be under ten. Cody, you need to help me.”
“Jax, she’s messing with you. I'm sure you’re like a six.” He chuckles softly.
“The only time being a six is a good thing,” Jax grumbles under his breath.
“Dang, I didn’t think it would be this easy to get in here.”
I let out a shriek as I spin around and come face to face with Jude. His hair is a wild mess, sticking up in every direction. There are dark circles under his eyes, making him look like he hasn’t slept in weeks. But it’s the emptiness in his eyes that has me taking a step back.
My hand holding my phone slowly lowers to my side. My fingers are trembling so badly that I can’t even keep a hold on the device and it falls to the floor with a loud thump.
“W-What are y-you doing here, J-Jude?”
“I came to take care of you.” A sick smile spreads across his face as he cocks his head to the side and watches me carefully.
“What do you mean?”
“If you’re gone, Jax will want to spend time with me again. You won't be able to poison his mind anymore. I just need to get rid of you.”
“How are you going to get rid of me?” I swallow hard as my eyes fill with tears.
“Well, I was thinking of strangling you, but that means I’d actually have to touch you and I don’t really want to do that. You disgust me. I was thinking of just shooting you.” He lifts the hem of his shirt to show off the black metal of his gun.
“How do you have a gun? How did anyone sell you a gun?”
“No one sold me a gun. I could never get one with my medical history.”
“Then how did you get one?”
“I broke into my neighbor’s house. He’s a big hunter and has a nice collection of guns.
He had them locked in a safe, but the idiot left the key rather close to it.
It took maybe two minutes of searching to find the key and get in.
I had so many to choose from. This one was speaking to me though.
I knew this one could do the job and get rid of you for good. ”
“We’re moving in,” Mason murmurs in my ear. His voice startles me. For a few moments I forgot all about other people being in the house and how they’re ready to take Jude down. “Keep him talking.”
“Why do you want to get rid of me? I didn’t do anything!” I whisper as the first tear slips down my face.
“But you did. Don’t you see it?” He cocks his head to the side again as his brows draw together and he examines me. It’s almost like he can’t understand why I don’t get it.
“No! I don’t see it. I didn’t do anything!”
“You told Jax I was a horrible person. You put all these thoughts into his head. You made him turn against me. I saw it the day we went to Mulberry Lane. I heard you bad mouthing me to him.”
“I barely spoke to Jax that day. I never said anything to him about you.”
“Don’t lie to me, Sloan!” He barks, his loud voice making me jump and the tears fall even faster. “You put all of these thoughts into his head. You’re controlling him and turning him against me!”
There’s a loud thud down the hallway behind me. I glance over my shoulder, expecting to see someone there.
“Are you kidding me, Jax! Why is your room so messy?” Maddox growls in a low voice.
“Who else is here? You’re supposed to be alone!”
Before I can even glance over my shoulder at Jude, his arm is wrapped around my waist and there’s a gun pointed at me.
“No!” I whimper, knowing this is going to be the end. There’s no way he’ll let me out of here alive.
“He has an arm around her neck and a gun pointed at her,” Mason murmurs softly. “I have my sights on him, but if I take a shot, she could get injured. Especially if he’s tense and pulls the trigger.”
“He wants me. I’ll go talk to him,” Jax whispers.
“No. Do not go out there, Jax,” multiple voices say at once, the loudest being Wes.
“Who is here?” Jude growls in my ear, making my entire body shake.
“I-I don’t know.”
“Don’t lie to me!” He roars, hitting me in the head with the butt of the gun.
“Yeah, I'm doing whatever I want,” Jax mumbles as my world spins.
A moment later I'm tugged to the side as Jude turns to face the bathroom. Jax steps out with his hands raised and a frown on his face.
“Hey, Jude. What are you doing, buddy?” His voice is calm and collected, but I can see the fear in his eyes.
“Jax! I told you not to go out there,” Mason hisses.
I watch as Jax takes a few steps towards us, trying to get closer without freaking out Jude.
“I'm just getting rid of our problem.” Jude stands a little taller and his muscles relax the smallest amount.
“Eh, I think if you get rid of her, I’ll have a problem.” Jax winces, like this is paining him to say any of this.
“What do you mean?” Jude asks quickly. He’s practically hanging on Jax’s every word.
“Well, Sloan is Cody’s girlfriend. He’d be really upset if something happened to her.”
“I don’t care about Cody.”
“Yeah, but I do. He’s my twin.” Jax’s shoulders rise and fall with a shrug.
“Cody’s one of the most important people in my life.
After you, of course.” He motions to Jude.
“But it would really upset Cody if something happened to Sloan and that would make me angry. Do you want to make me angry, Jude?”
The way he cocks his head to the side and examines Jude, I can almost believe every word coming out of his mouth.
“No! Never!”
“Then I think it’s time you put the gun away.” Jax narrows his eyes on Jude, waiting to see how he’s going to respond.
“Yeah, ok. I can do that.” He slips the gun back into the waistband of his jeans.
“Let Sloan come to me. I need to make sure she’s ok.” Jax makes a motion for me to come and I glance at Jude, terrified he’s going to change his mind.
“Go, Sloan.” He nudges me softly.
I don’t waste a second, I fly across the room and into Jax’s arms. I bury my face in his chest as he wraps me in his embrace. My entire body is shaking with tears, but I don’t care. This is the worst day of my life.
“I was thinking of heading to Kennedy’s Pub tonight, do you want to come?” Jax asks like he’s talking to Cody and not his stalker.
“Yes! I’d love that.”
“Awesome.”
A creak in the floor draws everyone’s attention towards the hallway. Jude tugs his gun out as he spins to face Maddox. He points the barrel at Maddox’s head and all the air leaves my lungs.
“No! Don’t hurt him!” I sob.
Maddox’s a great guy. He has a wife and kids, I don’t want any of them to get hurt because of me. I need all of them to be ok.
“Who are these people, Jax?” Jude growls.
“They’re my family. It would really upset me if you hurt any of them.”
Jude spins around to face us again and his gaze narrows on Jax. I see the second it all clicks and he realizes Jax is playing him.
“You’re lying. You don’t care about me at all. She’s still poisoning you.” He trains his gun on us and I'm not quite sure if he’s hoping to hit Jax or me. It’s a toss-up at this point.
“That’s not true, I asked you to go out with me tonight.” Jax frowns like Jude doesn’t make sense.
Jude’s eyes move from us to Maddox and back. His gun always follows whatever path his eyes go and I don’t know what to do. We can’t make a run for it, even if we got to safety, I'm not sure Maddox would. I don’t want to risk his life.
“How about you let me take Sloan and leave. You can stay here with Jax,” Maddox offers.
“No! Jax is just lying to me. She’s poisoned him completely.” Jude hits the side of his head with his palm like he’s trying to make this all make sense to him. “I'm going to kill all of you. If I can’t have Jax as my best friend, none of you deserve to live.”
He glances at us before turning his attention back to Maddox and raises his gun.
“I don’t think that’s going to happen,” Mason growls as he steps into the kitchen with a gun trained on Jude. He’s not about to let anyone in his family get hurt. Maddox drops to the floor as soon as Jude’s attention is off of him.
Jude turns towards the new voice, but Mason fires off a shot before Jude can do anything. Two loud shots fill the air and have me covering my ears. It’s so loud. I blink, trying to focus on the scene in front of me.
Jude crumples to the ground, holding his chest. Mason doesn’t waste a second, he holsters his gun and hurries to Jude’s side. He kicks the gun out of Jude’s reach before squatting down next to him and placing pressure on Jude’s wound with a kitchen towel.
There are so many voices talking through the ear piece, but I can’t focus on any of them. I feel like I'm under water and I can’t focus on anything.
“Jax, I'm dizzy,” I whisper.
“What? Are you ok?”
“Sloan got shot!” Cody sweeps me into his arms as the room spins. “Stay with me, baby. I'm going to get you help.”
His face is the last thing I see as everything goes black.