“We’re on our way, Emma. He won’t call Jake. You don’t have to deal with that asshole anymore. Just stay in the house until we get there.” The phone clicked off. Emma grabbed her things and went downstairs to wait for what seemed like the longest ten minutes of her life. Her mind replayed when they made love, his tender touches, and then she cried again. That was how Abby and Butch found her in the library. Abby ran to her and hugged her as Butch grabbed her bags. They followed him out the door to the car. She looked back one last time at the house as they drove away.
Jake beat Mike to the restaurant. An empty glass and a bottle sat on the table. He’d tuned out the music until it became a dull noise in the background. He had already downed his scotch before Mike had even shown up and was working on a beer. He sat in a daze as he replayed the conversation he’d had with Emma. He just couldn’t wrap his mind around her abilities. When she’d mentioned Jane, he had been shocked. When she said that Jane didn’t blame him, it had really freaked him out. He shouldn’t have left Emma. He should have called Mike to meet him at the house.
Emma was probably worried he’d left without finishing their conversation. Jake knew he should have reassured her, but his mind had gone blank. He’d said the only thing that had popped into his mind. He needed to meet Mike. Mike was ten minutes late when he walked through the door and came toward his table.
“Sorry I’m late.” Mike handed the videotape and a manilla envelope to Jake before he pulled out a seat. He motioned for the waitress and waited for Mike to get his beer. He wanted to make sure Mike was relaxed when he told him what he needed to say.
“So what did you want to talk about?”
“I love your sister.” Jake put up his hands with his palms out. He knew this wouldn’t be easy for the guy. He could only imagine if one of his friends had done the same thing with his sister. He would have felt betrayed.
“Shit.” Mike stood, ready to leave.
“Now wait just a second, Mike. That’s not all, after I tell you what I did, then I’ll let you kick my ass.”
That stopped Mike in his tracks. He sat back down. “What the hell did you do?”
Mike grabbed Jake’s shoulder and watched the events unfold in his mind. No lies or half truths. He would know the whole, unedited story, just the way he liked it.
“You slept with her, you asshole. You were supposed to be keeping her safe, and you slept with her.”
“Let me guess. You have
gifts
too.” He used invisible quote marks in the air.
“Yeah, you schmuck. You slept with her, and when she trusted you enough to confide her secret, how the hell do you repay her? You walked out on her. I should kick your ass now!”
“She mentioned my sister, and I freaked. What would you have done? And what about you, asshole? You’ve probably been able to do this trick your whole life, and you never told me.”
****
Mike drained his first beer and ordered two more. He drew in a deep breath and exhaled. He didn’t want to be the one to tell Emma’s story, but it might help Jake understand.
“Emma told her teacher and classmates about her gift when she was little. They tormented her. Jake, she never got over it. She keeps all people in her relationships at arm’s length. She’s never trusted another soul unless Momma Mae insisted. That’s how it works. Whenever one of us is in danger, and I hate to tell you most times it’s me, she gets symptoms that affect her. She describes it like PMS and uses that excuse when she needs to. She gets severe headaches and cramps. You are the first guy she’s trusted. She must feel so betrayed. Momma Mae is another story. Emma doesn’t know why she’s here; she just is. Emma has accepted it like her second skin, even though she doesn’t understand it.”
“She said she loved me. Of course I told her I loved her first.”
“You schmuck, you don’t deserve her.”
****
Jake banged his head down on the sticky table. “Man, what have I done?” he mumbled.
“She deserves better, Jake. Someone that loves her for who she is, all of her.”
Jake looked up and into the eyes of the man he’d known for a long time and knew that this was important. He had to make Mike understand. “I’ll find a way to make it up to her. I have to. Mike, I won’t lose her.”
“You and I have been practically brothers for a long time. So, I’m going to tell you straight up. You probably already did.”
Mike’s phone ran, and after checking the caller ID, he answered. “Bennett.” After a few uh huhs, he said, “I know. I’m talking to Jake.” He could hear a female voice over the phone and snatched the phone from Mike’s hand. Before he put it to his ear, Mike said, “You don’t want to do that, buddy. Trust me.”
Jake ignored the advice and put the phone to his ear. “Emma.”
“No, asshole. It’s Abby.”
“Abby, are you at my house with Emma?”
“No, dipshit.” She paused. “Tell me, Jake, how were you going to keep my sister safe if you didn’t even know she left your house thirty minutes ago? Huh, Sherlock?”
Jake glanced at his watch. The alarm hadn’t gone off, which meant someone with the code had turned it off for her.
Butch
. “Abby, I need to talk to Emma.”
“Nope, not happening.Not tonight and possibly not ever. She cried herself to sleep, no thanks to you, you jerk.”
“Does Butch know about her secret?” he whispered, not sure how much he should reveal.
“No, and if you want to keep living, you better keep it that way. She trusted you, you ass, and what did you do? You left her alone in your house, and to go where? To a fucking bar!”
“Abby, I’m not going to tell him, but I need to talk to Butch. Please put Butch on the phone.”
“Fine!” she screamed in his ear. “The asshole wants to talk to you.”
Butch got on the phone. “What?” he snapped, foregoing the friendly hello.
“What’s your problem?”
“My problem? What’s
my
problem? Jake, haven’t you done enough? If you’re finished playing with the girl, just let her be. I don’t know what happened tonight, but I know what I saw when I picked her up. You destroyed her, dude. She wasn’t the feisty girl from this morning that knocked me on my ass. For heaven’s sake, I had to listen to her trying to conceal her crying until she fell asleep. Don’t worry, dude, I’ll keep her safe. You just leave her alone.”
“Sorry, bud, no can do. I love her,” he said with confidence into the phone.
“Dude, you’ve got a funny way of showing it.”
“Butch, I’m going to marry her if I can get her back. You better keep my future wife safe, or you’ll answer to me.” Jake clicked the phone shut and handed it back to Mike, who sat with his beer halfway to his mouth and his jaw almost touching the floor. He shook his head and put his beer down.
“I must not have heard you right, Jake. Did you just tell Butch you were going to marry my sister?”
“Yeah, I did, if she’ll have me. The ass kicking is going to have to wait until I sober up tomorrow though.”
“You do know what you’re getting yourself into? She’s stubborn, and she’s strong, and she isn’t going to take you back with just a light apology. You’re going to have to grovel, and you deserve everything you’ve got coming to you, but I will give you some advice…she likes emeralds,” Mike said with a grin on his face. “But I want you to remember, I’m still her big brother, and you’ll have to answer to me, if you hurt her again.
“I know it isn’t going to be easy,” Jake said as he stood to leave. A plan was forming in his mind on how to get Emma back. He had to get her back. She was everything to him. He couldn’t imagine his life without her.
“You’ve got your work cut out for you.” Mike said as he walked with Jake to the parking lot. Sleep wasn’t going to come easy to him tonight, but he hoped the alcohol would help.
The shrill sound of a phone ringing woke Jake up. He grabbed the phone at his bedside table and put it up to his ear. “Hello.”
No one responded. He looked at the damned thing and realized it was still shut. He rubbed his eyes and opened it. “Hello.” His voice sounded gruff to his ears as he lay in the bed and stretched.
“Jake, were you sleeping?” Briggs asked.
“I was.” Jake finished wiping the sleep out of his eyes as he climbed out of bed.
He padded his way down the long hall toward the kitchen. After the drinks he’d consumed, he was sure he would have slept harder, but he wasn’t surprised he had tossed and turned so much. Jake knew why. He was worried about Emma. He was going to need copious amounts of caffeine today. He might as well go ahead and start now. He turned the coffee pot on and waited.
“Jake are you still there?”
“Yeah, sorry dude. I haven’t had my coffee yet.”
“I’m surprised Emma doesn’t already have you up. Did she let you sleep in?” Briggs asked.
The memories of the night before slowly invaded his caffeine-deprived brain. “She left me last night.”
“Do you know where she is?”
“Yeah, she’s with Abby and Butch.” He placed his cup under the dispenser. When it was full, he pulled his cup and replaced it with the coffee pot.
He took a sip. The hot liquid burned his mouth. “Why?”
“I got the information you wanted, and you probably need to go get her. She might be in trouble.”
“What did you find out?” His brain was trying to keep up with the conversation, but when Briggs mentioned she might be in trouble, he stood up straighter, focusing all of his attention on the conversation.
“Mike told us Roger had a rap sheet. I started digging into the cases, and you’ll never guess who his attorney was.”
“Oh shit, it was Ben, wasn’t it?”
I knew the bastard was no good
.
“Yeah, and, Jake, this guy is bad news. Ben got him off on technicalities. He was a suspect in a lot of bad shit. Not just domestic abuse but possible rape and murder.”
“I have to get dressed. Text me Abby’s address. Bring Claire and meet me there.”
“Sure. She won’t give me a hard time when I tell her what I found out.”
“Hey, Briggs…I can’t let anything happen to her. She’s more than just special to me. I’m going to marry that woman if I have to haul her over my shoulder and carry her to the altar.”
“Oh, shit. Congrats, boss.
“Thanks. Call Mike, tell him about Ben and have him meet us there.”
He disconnected the call and downed the remaining coffee in his cup as he hurried to the shower. His stomach rolled, and he was unsure if it was from alcohol or nerves. He rushed through his shower. As he sat on his bed pulling on his boots, he looked up to see an old lady with silver hair standing in his room.
“Oh shit!” He jumped to his feet. “How the hell did you get in here?” He jumped up away from the semi-transparent vision. The blood rushed from his face as he backed up against the wall. She advanced toward him, and he put his hand out to stop her. She looked harmless, but looks could be deceiving. His hand passed right through her.
“What the hell?” His mind went blank. He was trying to process what he was seeing, and he couldn’t believe it.
“Jake, I’m Momma Mae.” She stopped her advance. “I didn’t mean to scare you. I planned on gradually letting you get used to me instead of just appearing, but Emma’s in danger.”
“No, she’s not. She’s at Abby’s house with Butch.”
The old ghost sat down in a chair by the window. “No, dear, she’s not. She got a call early this morning and left.”
“Where is she?” he demanded, but knew it was ultimately up to the ghost on whether or not she would tell him. Hell, he didn’t have any way of threatening her.
“I can’t tell you. I’m telling you too much already, but she needs your help. You have to hurry. He’s going to kill her.”
Just as suddenly as she appeared, she vanished. He ran his hand in the air in front of him then rubbed his eyes. If he hadn’t already had his coffee, he would’ve thought he was still drunk or dreaming.
“Oh shit.” He grabbed his phone and keys, hopping on one foot down the hall trying to put his other boot on as he went toward the garage.
He jumped in the SUV, threw it into drive, and hit the gas. In his haste, he almost took out the garage door before it had fully lifted.
He hit speed dial.
“Speak,” Butch answered.
“Where’s Emma?” Jake growled in the phone.
“She’s sleeping in the spare room. Why?”
Jake took a deep breath. It wasn’t going to help Emma if he was barking out orders. He needed to keep a clear head. “Please, just walk in her room and look.”
“Sure, hang on.” There was shuffling noise over the phone. “Jake, her room’s empty. Let me check with Abby and search the house.”
“Call Mike. We’re going to need her cell phone records for the last twelve hours. Have Abby check her guns and garage to see if anything is missing and call me back. Tell Mike to hurry; Emma’s in danger.”
He clicked the phone closed and pushed the pedal to the floor. His phone rang two minutes later. He hit the speaker button.
“Emma?”
“No, it’s Mike. How do you know Emma’s in danger?”
“Momma Mae paid me a visit.”
“Oh crap. You saw Momma Mae? She’s never shown herself to us. Did she tell you where Emma is?”
“No, she said she couldn’t, just that Emma was in danger, and he was going to kill her.”
“Did she say who?”
“No, she did say that Emma got a call on her cell and snuck out. We need to know who called her.”
“I’ll meet you at Abby’s in ten minutes. I should know by then. Jake, we can’t let anything happen to her. Emma’s the glue that keeps us together.” His voice shook.
Jake’s emotions were just as raw. He wouldn’t lose her, not now, not after he had just found her. He broke every driving law there was to get there fast. His stomach was tied in knots as he sent up a silent plea. “Please, God, don’t take her too.” He hadn’t prayed since he’d lost his sister, but he would for Emma. If it would keep her safe, he would do it every night for the rest of his life.