Jason's Princess: A King Brothers Story (8 page)

“That’s a good idea, Sis. Let me get you some paper and a pencil; or do you want to tell it again and I’ll type it while you talk?” Charlie jumped up to get the supplies, eager to help out anyway that he could.

“Paper and pen is fine, Charlie. It will keep me awake.” She wasn’t sure if that was true, and she dreaded having to leave the comfort of Jason’s arms, but writing it down would give her something proactive to do. Maybe it would help her remember more details.

Halfway into her report Lauren breezed through the door.

Geez, it’s like I’m living in Grand Central Station
.

“I’m here,” she rushed in. “What happened, are you ok? Oh my god, Julie! You have the same forehead as your brother!” the witch cackled.

Why am I best friends with her again?

While she wrote, she listened to Josh fill Lauren in on the accident. Jason would pipe in here and there, keeping his arm around her, ready to help her if she needed it.

Someone knocked on the door just as she put her pencil down. Lauren hopped up to get it. Julie saw her friend’s demeanor subtly change when Jarod walked through the door. Was it her imagination or was Lauren preening?

Good lord, not this again
.

“Hey,” Lauren husked. Jarod just glanced at her and motioned towards Julie. “Oh, of course, of course. Please come in.” When she ushered the hunky lawmen into the living room, Julie noted the excited gleam in her BFF’s eyes and the sashay of her curvy hips. She started to roll her eyes at Lauren, but the stab of pain in her skull stopped her in mid roll. Lauren grinned like the vixen she was.

CHAPTER 7

LAUREN’S GOT A CRUSH

Jason handed the report to his brother. Julie was starting to look a little ragged. He frowned and got her situated comfortably again, then casually slipped his arm back around her shoulders.

Where it belongs
.

“What’d you find out?” Jason asked, all business again. He ignored Jarod’s raised eyebrow at the comfortable way he was snuggled up to Julie.

“Not a damn thing. Witnesses at the scene said that the truck looked to be in a hurry and didn’t like that Julie was taking her time. Plates were stolen. There’s a definite pattern but I have zero leads, Jason, and you know how I hate that shit. Pardon my language, ladies.”

Jason could relate to the disgust in his brother’s voice. It was so damn frustrating not knowing why someone was trying to hurt her.

While everyone sat in contemplation, Jason felt her relax against him. Her head had fallen against his shoulder and she was breathing deep and even. He grimaced to himself. He knew with a concussion that it wasn’t good for her to sleep too long, hating to wake her up. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly, wishing he could just sit here alone with her to think about everything. He looked around the living room and watched all the people who cared about her.

Charlie had moved his project from his bedroom to the dining room table, which was situated in their small “great room”. They lived in a small, older home where the living room, dining room and kitchen were connected in one big room at the front of the house, divided only where the carpet met the linoleum.

Jason noticed all the personal touches Julie had installed to make the small space seem homey and comfortable; a small electric “fireplace” that also doubled as a television stand, furniture purchased from a discount store that had fluffy, soft cushions to encouraged a person to relax and take a nap, like Julie was doing now. The walls had been painted in warm, earthy tones. There was a small bookshelf that held her paperbacks, some DVDs and some knick knacks. There were pictures of Charlie at all stages of his childhood, some of her and a few more of their parents. A small plant stand stood in the corner with a pretty pot on top.

Lauren, aways busy, fixed something to eat for his brothers. He wasn’t sure, but Lauren seemed to be giving Jarod a little more attention than normal. Huh. He’d have to talk to Josh about that and get his thoughts. Josh was much closer to the girls than he was, but he hoped that would change with Julie soon.

As he turned his focus back to the fights he had been watching on TV, his mind wandered to the past. Billy kept popping into his head. He hadn’t seen that clown since Billy left town and hoped to not set eyes on him again but Jason was getting a prickly feeling. Weird shit used to happen all the time when Billy was still around.

He remembered seeing the delight on Billy’s face whenever he would pull a stupid prank on some poor, unsuspecting kid. He could be quite elaborate in his schemes, too, even when he was in his early teens. Billy was a natural born liar and charmer. As far as he knew, no one had figured out how the plumbing got ruined in the high school. Jason wasn’t clear on exactly how Billy had coordinated the stunt.

By that time, Jason realized that Billy wasn’t cut from the same cloth as he and his brothers. He had no honor and only hung around Jason for a better social standing at school.

When Billy made his move on Julie before Jason really had a chance, Jason was done with him. He only stuck around to make sure that he didn’t hurt Julie. As time wore on, Jason realized that she had developed a hatred towards him. He had Billy to thank for that. It was one more reason to distance himself from the asshole.

“Why don’t you wake her a little bit before you let her get some more rest?” Josh had snuck up on him releasing him from his disturbing flashback.

“Good idea.” He carefully disengaged himself from her soft, warm body while Josh helped rearrange the pillows on the couch so she could lay down more comfortably.

“Wake up, Jujyfruit,” he whispered while gently rubbing her shoulder. Her eyebrows scrunched up in that adorable way she had when she didn’t understand something, like why Jason was laying her down on her living room couch, he thought with a smile.

“What are you doing here?” she asked sleepily.

“We’re all here, Julie. You were in an accident this morning, remember?” Josh said with concern.

“Oh. Right.” She laid there for a second before she started sitting up. Jason pushed her shoulders back down.

“It’s ok, babe. Just lay back down. Lauren is here too and Charlie is doing his homework. Just let the meds do what they’re supposed to do.”

Her fuzzy brown eyes tried to focus on him for a second before she relaxed back into the pillow. “Ok,” was all she could get out before her eyelids slid closed again. He pushed her soft, brown hair off her forehead exposing the bandage covering her wound. He waited for her breathing to even out before he stood up and followed Josh back to the kitchen.

Lauren handed him a beer.

“Thanks.” He watched her refill Jarod’s glass of ice tea. “So what’s up with you, Lauren?”

“Just worried about Julie. She’s been through so much. I don’t understand who would want to hurt her but when I find them I’m kicking their ass.” She closed the refrigerator door harder than necessary.

“Get in line,” this from Charlie. Jason mentally smiled at the kid, proud that he understood the importance of protecting his sister. Jason knew just how rough it had been for Charlie to be orphaned at twelve. He resented that his big sister had to take care of him, not understanding that she was a much better choice than foster care. The state would have taken him away if Julie hadn’t stepped up, and God only knows what would have happened to him then.

Josh witnessed the violent fight that led to Charlie spending the weekend with them, logging some man time. Jason had given Charlie a serious come-to-Jesus after Josh ratted him out. Charlie was big for his age and by the time he was twelve he towered over Julie by a head. According to Josh, Charlie had taken a swing at Julie and would’ve hurt her if Josh hadn’t stopped him. He had been filled with uncontrolled rage and grief. That week had been rough on Charlie, but by the time he was allowed to go back home he understood just how important it was to respect his sister and himself; Jason made sure of it.

Lauren slammed down her coffee mug. “Seriously, guys. What’s going on? First the attack at the construction site and then this? Today was no accident and now I’m convinced those men were after her specifically.” She looked at Jarod who just shook his head. Jason was about to ask a question when the phone rang.

“Hello?” Charlie answered. “Hello?” He sighed and hung up. The hair on Jason’s neck stood on end when Charlie said, “No one there again.”

“What do you mean by ‘again’, Charlie?” Jarod asked.

“I mean that we’ve been getting hang-ups or just silence on the line for the past few days. There’s usually a pause before either I hang up or there’s a quiet click. Not like it’s a wrong number where someone hangs up fast and not like when you get a robocall. There’s definitely someone there. It’s really starting to piss me off cuz I know it’s freaking out my sister.”

“How often are you getting them?” Josh asked.

“Um….” he thought for a moment. “Since Jason followed her home Monday night.”

Jason ran his hands through his hair. That was the day of the attack. Someone knew how to find her.

Son of a bitch
.

“I’ve been getting hang ups since then as well. They were bad enough the other night that I had to turn off my phone,” he admitted.

Jarod stood up and started pacing in the small kitchen. When he bumped into Lauren for the third time, who just smiled sweetly at him, he moved into the living room. “Have you received any suspicious calls on your cell phones?” Jason noted that his brother directed his questions to both him and Charlie. They shook their heads no.

“I don’t know about Julie, though… I don’t think so. Definitely none on my cell,” Charlie said. “I’ve been star-sixty-nining to see if I can get a caller I.D., since we don’t have that feature on our phone. But it comes up ‘caller blocked or unknown’. A business wouldn’t block their call, right? They’d want you to know their business name.”

“Not usually but it can say ‘blocked’. Mostly it’s either ‘unlisted’ or something close to that,” Josh answered as he put a reassuring hand on Charlie’s shoulder.

The more they talked, the more the hair on the back of Jason’s neck prickled. Billy’s face kept creeping into his mind. Quietly, he asked, “Has anyone seen Billy around lately?”

Silence.

“Why would you bring that name up, little brother?” Jarod’s eyes had become shards of ice as he looked at Jason.

“Just feels like I’ve seen this kind of crap before.” After a moment of silence he shrugged. “Hell, Jarod. You know as well as I do that we haven’t been plagued with this kind of stupid shit since the bastard left town. I was just thinking that this all seemed familiar.”

After a moment of contemplation, Jarod stood. “I need to get back to the station. I’m going to run a few names through the system and see what comes up. You let me know if anything else happens.” He started walking towards the door, Lauren hot on his heels, when he turned back to Jason. “Don’t leave her alone.”

Charlie began to argue when Jarod said, “No, Charlie. I want both of my brothers either here or close by. If you and Julie split up then I want a brother with each of you. If Jason is right, and it’s Billy who we’re dealing with, I’m not taking any chances with either of you. Got it?”

“Yeah, I got it, Jarod.” Charlie didn’t look too happy about it but he didn’t argue any further.

Jason would have to fill Charlie in on how spooky Billy could be. He doubted the kid was privy to all of Billy’s antics when he and Julie were a couple. Hell, Julie didn’t even know what Billy was up to half the time. That’s what made him such a threat. He was way too charming and could easily convince people to do things for him.

Billy was much more persuasive if he was in a romantic relationship with a woman. Jason had witnessed Billy cheating on Julie so many times and she just refused to believe that it was happening. The more he and his brothers tried to convince her that Billy was no good, the more she would dig her feet in and defend the prick. Even Josh couldn’t bring her around to the truth, saying that he had a bias against Billy because he was Jason’s brother.

He followed Jarod and Lauren,
For heaven’s sake what was her deal?
out the front door and onto the porch. “What do you want me to do?”

“Stay here today for sure. If you can finagle an overnight invitation, then take it. I would feel better if either you or Josh could be with them 24/7. I’ll run the names of the creeps Billy used to hang with through our data base like I said and let you know if anything turns up. I’ll also speak with the local police departments in nearby towns to find out if there’s been anything odd going on in their jurisdictions.”

“You mean like the break-ins?” Jason asked?

“Yeah, exactly like that… Shit, Jason. I didn’t put that together. I must be off my game.”

“What do you need me to do, Jarod?” Lauren asked.

“Stay close, be her friend and keep me informed of any and all odd reports that com through the station. We all know how stubborn Julie can be. But even worse, we all know what Billy is capable of if, in fact, it is Billy who we are dealing with.” Tipping his hat in goodbye, he stepped off the porch and headed to his cruiser.

“My God, that man is hot when he’s in charge.” She winked at Jason and stepped back into the house. Jason just chuckled and followed her inside. I guess Josh won’t have to fill him in after all. Lauren had it bad for Jarod. He wished her luck.

CHAPTER 8

OPTIMISTIC

After gently waking Julie for the second time to make sure she was responsive, Jason relayed Jarod’s instructions to Josh.

“Tell you what,” Josh said. “
You
need to stay the night, not me. Julie needs to learn to trust you and you need to be more honest with her about your feelings, right?”

“Yeah…,” Jason said but he was entirely too suspicious of Josh’s motives.

“And I need to meet up with Amanda Baxter tonight.” Josh smiled.

There it is
.

Jason chuckled, shaking his head. “Fine. But you need to do me a favor first.”

“Shoot.”

“Stay here as long as you can while I run an errand or two.”