Love You Always (17 page)

I’m to meet with Agent Crowley in about an hour. He’s going to discuss what the kidnapper told them. He didn’t want to disclose anything over the phone, so I have no clue yet as to who tried to extort money from us. I’m chompin’ at the bit as to what information he has for me.

Laura had to take Jade somewhere on an errand so I’ll be making my visit to the FBI office alone this time. In a way, I’m glad that Angela will be away for a while because I don’t think Jade will help any with her recovery. She’s a selfish teenager who has no concern for anyone but herself and Angela shouldn’t have to deal with someone like that around her right now.

If she wasn’t Laura’s sister and I didn’t feel sorry for the girl, I would cast her out, but obviously she’s got no place to go and I surely wouldn’t send her back to her father. A good spanking is what she needs, but where’s my empathy? It’s obvious this girl has some major issues eating at her, yet can’t seem to tell Laura about them. Finding out what’s causing her to behave this way and helping her, is probably the better solution.

Yeah, I should have a little more compassion towards Jade and think of her as I do Angela, think of her as though she were my own kid sister.

I look at the time. I’d better head out to that meeting with Agent Crowley.

* * *

“This is William Cline—” Agent Crowley places a photo onto his desk in front of me “—and this is Jake Johnson.” He places a second photo next to the other.

“These are the two men who kidnapped your sister.”

I pick them up to take a closer look at their mug shots.

“What are their stories?” I ask, curious about them, wondering what their link was to whoever hired them.

“Cline worked construction before he was laid off five years ago. We don’t have much on him as to prior offenses, so it looks like he’s either managed to stay out of the radar, or this was his first crime, which I doubt since it’s highly unlikely that someone would hire a newbie kidnapper unless they knew him personally as a friend or family member.

“Johnson, the one that was killed, had a history of being in and out of juvie. His father abused him and his siblings, and when he was fifteen, he killed his old man, but it went down as self-defense. His mother was an alcoholic and turned to him for comfort, if you know what I mean. Social Services took the kids away from the mother when a family friend found out what was going on. From there, he was in and out of foster homes. He had some priors, mainly for assault, although many were dropped for various reasons.”

“Seems there’s a sad story behind every criminal,” I say. Although I have no sympathy for him, for what he did to Angela, I can’t help but think he too was a victim of his childhood that screwed him up. Some people just shouldn’t have kids. To abuse them like that, that’s just messed up.

“As far as who hired them? We’re still looking into it. Unfortunately, Cline gave us a name, but that name leads us to a false profile. Whoever planned this kidnap knows how to cover their tracks.”

“Will Angela be safe at the retreat?” I ask, worried whether one FBI agent will be enough to protect her.

“Yes, don’t worry. Even though we have only one agent escorting her around, we have others staking out the place as backup.”

That’s a relief to hear.

“The police have your place staked out also. You could be a target as much as Angela, although, because they needed you to carry out the transaction for the ransom money, originally kidnapping her was the more plausible.

“I doubt they’ll try anything again, since they must know by now that the kidnap was botched and security will be high on the two of you.”

Again, I sigh with relief.

“You don’t have the money still with you, do you?” he asks.

“Oh, no. I put it into my bank account right away. I wasn’t about to be holding that much cash around the house.”

He laughs. “I didn’t think so, but had to ask.”

“Will you be able to get your shares in your father’s company back?”

“I don’t know, but I don’t think so since they’ve been sold and I got the cash for them.”

“I’ll have my agents check into who bought your shares. There may be a connection.”

I nod my head, thinking that’s a good idea. Who else would know that Angela and I had at least five million worth in shares? Only someone from the company would. But who?

“I’ll be in touch when we find out anything,” Agent Crowley says.

“Thanks again for everything. If it weren’t for you, my sister might not be alive.”

“It’s what we do, son. And I’m glad we got to your sister in time.”

We shake hands as we always do, and I leave his office.

* * *

When I get home, Laura’s in the kitchen and Jade’s in the living room, lounging on the sofa with her earbuds and iPod. She sees me come in and I hold my hand up in greeting. She smiles at me.

I head for the kitchen and Laura’s there in the breakfast nook, running her finger over her iPad. She looks up when I walk in and smiles.

As I head over to her, Jade briskly walks past me and sits down across from Laura. I glance at her before my attention goes back to Laura.

“How was your day?” I ask her, giving her a peck on the cheek. I would do more, but Jade’s watching us.

“Okay,” she says. Obviously, it wasn’t too eventful by the sound of it. “How about you?”

I told her what Agent Crowley said.

“God, I hope they find out who’s behind this soon, so you and Angela can have normal lives.”

“I’m sure they will.” Yeah, I’m optimistic. I have to be. I don’t want to believe that whoever is behind this is going to get away with it.

“Is it true that your sister stabbed the guy who raped her?” Jade asks.

“Yes, she did.”

“Holy shit! That took guts. I wish I could’ve done that to the guys who raped me,” she says.

Both Laura and I stare at Jade with our mouths agape.

“When did this happen?” Laura asks, her voice full of concern.

“What does it matter? I got over it.”

“Jade, this isn’t something to be taken lightly. Talk to me, please. I’m your sister and I care about you. I love you.”

“Well, it didn’t seem like it when you left us.”

Laura’s face looks bewildered. “What do you mean?”

“When you went away and left Spence and me behind.”

“I went away to college. I couldn’t take you both with me.”

“Yeah. You left us. You didn’t give a shit about us.”

“How can you say that? I took care of you both practically all our lives, but I had to eventually leave when I was old enough to go to college. I had to do something with my life.”

“Before Mom left you were a sister. Yeah, you took care of us but you weren’t bossy. It was different. You were different,” Jade says, her eyes well up with tears. “It’s like when Mom left you took the roll of a mother rather than a sister. I don’t see why things had to change.”

“Oh, Jade, I didn’t realize that’s how you saw things. I never meant to be bossy. I guess the stress of losing Mom and having to deal with that, maybe I did change. I’m so sorry.”

Jade swipes the tears away from her eyes, almost defiantly, not wanting to appear vulnerable. This girl has been carrying a shitload of resentments—and secrets.

“I was glad she was gone! I wish Dad had left too! I don’t know why you missed her.”

“She was our mother, Jade. She wasn’t the best mother in the world, but she still loved us. Shouldn’t we love her too?”

“Why should we love her? She gave birth to us, but that was about it.”

“That’s not true. You just don’t remember the times she did things for us. There were some good times.”

“Whatever,” she says, sighing with annoyance. “You believe what you want, Laura.” Jade storms out of the kitchen, leaving Laura and I staring after her dust.

Whatever is going on with Jade, it seems like serious stuff. I hope Laura can help her. I’ll sure do whatever I can to help her too, but then again, it might be best if I just stay out of the way. I’m not too keen on the way Jade looks at me—she’s got illegal intentions on her mind.

Yup, thinking it over, I best let Laura handle her kid sis.

~* Laura *~

I don’t know why I defended Mom. Maybe I feel as though I’m suppose to—because she’s our mom, and I don’t want my sister to hate her. But Jade’s right, she wasn’t a good mother at all. The only good thing I can say about her is that she didn’t abuse us, and for that I can be grateful because things could’ve been much worse.

I push the chair out from under me to stand. “Marcus, will you excuse me?” I say as I face him. “I need to try and talk with Jade.”

“Of course.” He leans into me and kisses me on the lips. I wasn’t expecting that.

“Oh, that was nice,” I say, smiling my appreciation for his loving gesture.

“There’s more where that came from later.” His voice is so deep and seductive that it gives me an enthralling shiver.

He pulls me by the waist until I press against him. My heartbeats quicken at his touch, and the intimacy of his body sends my stomach fluttering with a hundred butterflies. I inhale his scent and my senses swirl in the rapture of his essence. Even clothed his sexiness and animal magnetism radiates from him and lures me into his lair—honestly, this man should have a label: ‘Hazardous to the Loins.’

“I can’t wait,” I reply in a voice soft and alluring.

We kiss again but this time with a little more zest, yet we don’t get too carried away, otherwise I’ll never make it upstairs to talk with Jade.

When he lets me go, I leave him and head towards the bedrooms.

I turn the knob but the door’s locked.

“Jade,” I call out, giving the door three raps with my knuckles.

She doesn’t answer.

“Please open the door. I need to talk with you.”

She still doesn’t answer.

“Jade, we’ve only got each other. There’s nobody else, not even Dad can replace you, for me.” I lean my head against the door. “Please let me in.”

It’s true. Jade means a lot more to me than my dad. I think the love I feel for him is only because I was taught, told, by society that I should love him. But he really hasn’t done anything to earn my love, nor Jade’s. Spence was the only one he ever made time for, cared about. As far as his daughters went, he probably never wanted us, and he made it apparent every day of our lives by giving us nothing—not his time or attention, not his support, and certainly not his love. It surprises me that he never chose to leave us. He could’ve easily up and left the way Mom did. Maybe he stayed around for Spence, but when Spence died, why didn’t he leave then? He was pretty broken up at Spence’s death.

“Jade,” I call out to her again.

She’s not going to talk to me. My sister can be very stubborn and she won’t budge unless it’s on her terms.

Marcus comes up the stairs and stands next to me in the hallway. “Do you want me to unlock it for you?”

I look at him with sad eyes while I sigh. “No, I don’t want to force her. She’ll come out eventually and I’ll talk to her then. She’s gotta eat,” I say with a smile.

“I don’t know, some of these teenagers can starve themselves for days, locked up in their rooms,” he jokes.

“Well, Jade’s never been one of those, so I’m sure we’ll see her by dinnertime.”

“Thank goodness she hasn’t tasted my cooking then.”

“You cook?” I ask him, crooking my eyebrow.

“Angela does most of it, she says it’s her contribution to the household duties, but on occasion, I’ve managed to concoct a few meals.”

While I’ve been staying with them, Angela and I have been taking turns doing the cooking, so Marcus hasn’t had to so much as stir a pot.

“Hmm, I’m tempted to see if you’re as bad as you say,” I tease.

“Well, if your goal is to draw out your sister with a good meal, then you best pass on my cooking, because one taste and she may end up locking herself in for a week.”

I laugh quietly, not wanting Jade to hear me through the door.

I beckon Marcus with my finger to indicate we should leave the hallway. He follows me back downstairs.

“Laura, you need to get your sister some help,” he tells me when we’re back in the kitchen. “If she was raped, she needs counseling. She may say she’s gotten over it, but I doubt that’s true. She’s suppressing things that are leading her to a very dark and lonely place.” His eyes show his sincerity about his concern for Jade.

I know he’s right, but I can’t force her to do what she doesn’t want to do. I pour us some coffee.

“She’s not going to agree to it,” I tell him.

“She’s still considered a minor, so your father can require it.”

“I’ve tried to talk to him about it before, but he doesn’t care about her. He thinks she’s just going through a phase.”

I sit down in the kitchen nook to the side of him.

“Phase my ass. There might be other teenagers going through what she is, but it’s not due to a phase. They’ve got serious issues that need proper attention.”

“I know, but I’m her sister, not her parent. I have no authority over her.”

He takes hold of my hand. “I realize how frustrating it must be for you. I’d be the same if she were my sister.”

I smile, thankful that he understands.

“Don’t worry, I’m not giving up. I just have to work my way towards getting her to go. It won’t be easy, though.”

“Yeah, I don’t envy you.”

We sip our coffee. I stare out the bay window thinking about Jade and how lonely she must feel holding all these secrets inside her.

I’m here for you, Jade. Why won’t you talk to me? Why won’t you let me in?

~* Jade *~

Why doesn’t Laura just leave me alone? It’s like
she wants to fix me. She’s always meddling in my life, asking me questions. But I guess it was my own damn fault for bringing up my rape. Shit. I don’t know why I mentioned it. I
hope she’ll cut me some slack now, but I know she’s going to keep pressing me now that she knows.

Yeah, it happened, even if I don’t remember it all that well. It was about six months after Spence killed himself. I was drunk and high on some drug they gave me—the boys, the popular jocks at school who never gave me the time of day before.