Unexpected Love (Jo's Story) (25 page)

“Good, really good.”

“You’re happy?”

“I am, why?”

“Just checking on you.  I told Jarrod I would make sure you were taken care of and I'm doing just that.”  I smile at him.

“Thank you for being a great friend Bobby.  So since you are here, what are you doing tomorrow night?”

“Nothing that I know of.  Why, what’s up?”

“Well, Barb and Luke are taking the girls for a few days and I was thinking it would be nice for some of my closest friends to meet the new man in my life.  Was wondering if you and Marie want to come over to his place for a cookout?’

“I can talk to her, but I don’t think we have anything going on.  Can I let you know tomorrow at the fundraiser?”

“Absolutely.”  My phone starts ringing.  I grab it out of my pocket and see that it is Chief Lorenz calling.  “I'm sorry Bobby I really have to take this call.  I will see you tomorrow?”

“Sounds good,” he gives me a hug.

I smile and turn back toward the house and answer my phone.  “Hey Chief, what’s going on?”

“Hey Jo, so they transferred Lewis up this morning.  He is getting settled in at the rehab center right now.  The guard there called and said he is asking to talk to you.”

“Ok, well Barb should be picking the girls up soon then I can swing over there and see him.  Do you know what he wants?”

“Not sure, the guard just said that he is asking for you.  Do you want me to send someone with you?”

“No, I will handle it.  Thanks for letting me know.”

“No problem.  Let me know if you have any problems.”

“Will do, thanks Chief.” I shut the door as I walk into the house.

“You know you should call your landlord and have him fix that wall,” Jake looks at me from the couch where he is sitting with the girls having a snack.

“I can’t,” I smile at him.

“Why not?”

“Because I am the landlord Jake.  I bought this place.”

His mouth drops open, “You didn’t tell me that.”

“Sorry, guess I never thought to tell you.  Been a little busy the last few days.  Is it a big deal?”

“Well, no not really, but I am just surprised is all.”

“Sorry, I didn’t tell you.”  I smile at him.  I look out the window and see Barb and Luke pull in and I know this is going to be a long conversation with them hopefully not to long I need to get over and see what is going on with Lewis.

They don’t stay as long as I thought they would.  They girls where anxious to go because they were hungry.  Barb said she would bring them back next Friday unless I called earlier.  I told her that I have a big case at work so it might be best if they do keep them all week.  I'm standing in the window waving to them when Jake comes up and kisses my cheek.  “All alone,” he smiles.

“Yes, but we have something to take care of.  Let me go grab some clothes and stuff.”

“Ok,” he smiles and follows me up to my room.  “What do we have to take care of?”

“Chief called me and said that Lewis is up here, but he is asking to talk to me.”  He sits on the edge of my bed.

“Something is off about this whole thing Jo.  I haven’t had a conversation with him like that in years; it is like he went back to who he was four years ago.”

“Jake, if he has been into drugs as bad as I think he has been then that does not surprise me.  You don’t know what a person is like once they are that bad.”

“I'm just worried about you.”

“Jake, stop.  This is my job.  That would be like me saying I'm afraid you are going to get hit when you are playing football.  I have a good team to protect me, and we work very well together.  I will be fine.”  I set my full duffle bag down next to him then go to my closet and grab my gun and holster and put it in my bag.  “Please don’t worry about me.  I have enough fussers in my life,” I smile at him. 

He laughs, “I will probably be the worst of them.” He looks nervously at my gun.

“Let’s go, I want to get you back to your place all for myself,” I bend down and kiss him.  I see his eyes light up when I say that and he follows me out the door.  I get in his car and so does he.   “Go to the rehab center so I can go in and talk to him quick.” I smile at Jake.

“I don’t like you taking that thing with you when you are with me,” he looks at me.

“Get used to it Jake, I have it all the time, whether I am on duty or not.  I haven’t had it the last week because I was on vacation.  It’s part of who I am,” I grab his hand.  “Are you that uncomfortable being around me when I am actually myself?”

“It’s not that,” he shakes his head.  “I just feel like you don’t need me because you are a cop and you can kick my ass.”

“I will always need you,” I lean over and kiss his neck.

“Not a smart idea,” he laughs.  “You do things to me and I don’t want to get into an accident.”  I smile and sit back in my seat and sit quietly holding his hand on the drive to the rehab center.  When we get there I take note that there are a couple squad cars sitting outside.  I grab my gun and badge and shove them in my pants.  I walk in the front door and see a lady sitting behind the desk.

“Hi, we are here to see Lewis Adams,” I say to her.

“How do you know him?”  She looks at me.

“Well, I am the officer on his case and this is his brother,” I nod toward Jake as I show her my badge.  “I was told he wanted to see me.”

“Yes Detective, he has been asking since he arrived this afternoon.  If you would follow me I will take you to his room.”  Jake and I follow her to the lock down area.  I think Jake is a little taken back by the rooms as we walk past them.  They aren’t much in this part of the rehab center, but they are only meant to detox people and make sure that the drugs are out of their systems.  “He’s in here,” she points to a door.  I look in the window and see him sitting on the bed.

“Why don’t you wait out here Jake, I will talk to him and see what he needs.”

“I don’t like that idea,” he shakes his head at me. 

“Well, I didn’t like you going into the interrogation room without an armed officer the other day but you still did it.  I am trained to handle this Jake.  I'm fine.”  I see him roll his eyes and sit reluctantly on the bench outside the room.  “Hey Lewis,” I walk into the room and shut the door behind me.

“Hey Jo, thanks for coming by.”

“Sure, what’s up?”

“How long am I going to be in this crazy tiny room?” He looks around nervously.

“At least until Monday.  I won’t have time to get together with my team until then.  We need to go over details and get some stuff figured out before I can allow you to have outside access Lewis.  I wouldn’t be surprised if the Warrens have already tried to get access to you.”

“I don’t like this room,” he looks at me.  “I feel like I'm locked in a box.”

“Sorry Lewis, but for your own safety, I think this is the best place for you.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right.  So what is the game plan going to be?”

“I'm not sure of details yet.  I have to sit down with my team and go over the case history that we have for them and then figure out the best approach.  Most likely we will have you try and go in and get as high on the chain as you can and try to take them down from the top.  The closer to the top you get, the easier it will be for us to bring them down.”

He is looking at me and looks almost scared. “He’s not happy you’re in here alone is he?” He nods toward the window.  I turn and look and see Jake looking in with a scowl on his face.

“No, not really, but can you blame him.  I mean you did try to beat the hell out of him the other night.”

“No, I don’t.” Lewis shakes his head.  “I think I would be protective too.”

“Well, I'm going to get going if you don’t need anything else.”

“I think I will be ok.  At least I know I'm not going to be stuck in here.  Thanks for stopping by.  My brother is a lucky guy,” he smiles at me.

“I wish someone would tell him that,” I joke.  Lewis laughs.

“I think he knows.  Maybe you will be the one to finally tame his ass.”

“I'm trying,” I smile.  I turn and walk back toward the door.  “If you need anything just have them call me.  Just be careful who you talk to, we don’t know how is on their payroll.  I prefer you only talk to me.”

“Sounds good,” he smiles at me then waves at Jake.  I see Jake nod at him in response.  I open the door and walk out then shut it.

“What did he want?”

“He’s not fond of his room.  But he is stuck there until he is detoxed.”

“Did you tell him that?”

“No, I told him I would get him out as soon as my team has a plan.  Which isn’t entirely a lie, but I want to make sure he is clean before I allow him out of there.”  We are walking down the hall when sirens start going off.  I see a couple officers come running down the hall.  I pull Jake into one of the empty rooms and close the door.  That can only mean one thing.  Someone is getting escorted down the hall.  I watch out the window and see them go across the hall from Lewis’ room and pull a guy out of the room.  They handcuff him and drag him down the hall.  I recognize the guy, but I don’t know from where.  Once the sirens are off I turn and look at Jake.  He is sitting on the bed with his head in his hands.  “Hey,” I kneel in front of him.

“Yeah?”  He looks at me.

“Are you ok?”

“Hell no I'm not ok.  I'm letting my girlfriend go in undercover with my druggie brother to try and bring down a drug dealing ring.  What guy in their right mind lets that happen?”

“One whose girlfriend is a trained detective and knows what she is doing.”

“What if something happens to you?”

“Like what?  I'm not going to be there for most of it.  Just the bust that is all.  If I was you, I would be more worried about your brother.  He is the one that is risking his life doing this.  Jake if they find out what he is doing god knows what they will do with him.”  I grab his hands.  “I have been working on this case for three years trying to bust these guys; they have gotten away from me too many times.  I will get them.”

“That’s what I'm afraid of.  What if you get too determined and get hurt taking them down?”

“I will be fine.”  I stand up.  “Now, you owe me dinner and a night of relaxing.”  He looks up at me and shakes his head.  He stands up and goes to the door.  He looks out the window to see if there is anyone there and then opens it.  I follow him out putting my hand on my gun out of habit and follow him to the front desk.  I say goodbye to the lady at the front desk and we leave.  I notice that the squad cars are gone and wonder what that was all about when they took that guy out of there.  Jake gets in the car and we are on our way.  He stops at the pizza place he likes and gets us a pizza and we go back to his place.  This is the first time I have been back to his house since the reports came out about us dating.  I see people standing outside the gate as his place when we pull up.

“Looks like they are looking for more to the story,” he says when he pulls in the driveway. 

“What are they doing here?”  I ask him, as I see flashes coming from the cameras they are holding.  I am extremely happy that the car windows are tinted.

“Well, one of two things, they are trying to get a sneak peak of us, or they heard my brother was arrested and are here about that.”

I watch out the window as he pulls up and types in the code to open the gate.  He pulls up the driveway and into the garage.  He is so calm about this whole thing with getting his picture taken and being in the news.  He gets out and walks around and opens the door for me and helps me out.  I follow him into the house and we go to the bar and sit and eat our pizza.  We don’t really say much because I'm not sure there is much to say.  I look at the clock on my phone and it is only 7:00 but I am exhausted.  I take the last bite of my pizza and look at him.  I can tell he is tired too.  I am willing to bet he has never had to deal with the stuff that he has with me.  “Everything ok?”

“Yeah, why?”  He looks at me.

“You look a little stressed.”

“You think?  We already discussed the reasoning behind that.  But I'm not going to win that battle so I am officially throwing in the hat on that subject.”  I smile.  I'm glad he isn’t going to try and fight me on it anymore.

“So what do you want to do?”  I ask him.

“Let’s go up to my room and watch a movie and relax.  After today I could use just time for you and me.  I think my stress level has hit the top and I don’t want to do anything but lie in bed holding you.”
 

“Baby, it’s time to wake up.” Jake is rubbing my back.  “We should get going if we are going to get to Town Street on time.”

“I don’t want to get up,” I look up at him.

“I don’t either, but we need to get going or we are going to be late.”  I roll over and look at the clock.  Its 9:00 and I realize we have to be there in an hour.  I get up and get in the shower.  I am standing in the shower letting the water run down my back and realize that I forgot to grab my clothes from my bag.  I finish washing up and grab a towel and dry off.  I am hoping that Jake has gone downstairs already.  I wrap the towel around me and go out of the bathroom.  There he is sitting on the bed.  I see his eyes get big when I walk out.  “I forgot my clothes,” I point to my bag.

“Likely story,” he smiles at me.  “I think you like teasing me.”  I watch him out of the corner of my eye and he is just staring at me.  I stand up from getting my clothes and walk back to the bathroom and take a quick glance at him before I shut the door.  I see him smile at me.  That was kind of fun.  I get dressed and mess my hair and put some moose in it.  I walk out and he is dressed and sitting on the edge of the bed this time watching some sports highlights. 

“Is that all you ever do is watch sports?”

“No, I just didn’t feel like watching the news because there are stories about my brother all over now.  Why is it that no matter what I do I cannot keep my family out of the news?”  He grabs my hand and pulls me onto his lap.  “Nice skirt,” he smiles at me.  “It shows off your legs.”  He kisses me and runs his hand up my thigh. 

“I thought you said we needed to get going?”  I pull back from him a little bit.

“Yeah, we do, but there is something I want to give you first,” he sets me back on the bed then goes over to his dresser.  He pulls out a box and hands it to me.

“Jake, I told you I don’t want you to buy me things.”

“Baby, that’s not going to happen, I’m going to buy you things whether you like it or not,” he hands it to me.  I shake my head at him but open it anyway.  Inside is a locket, I look up at him and he is just looking down at me.  I open it and look at the picture inside and it is of the girls and me from when we were at the beach.  Opposite of the picture there is something engraved, before I can read it he says what he had put in there.  “You’re always in my heart,” he smiles at me.

“Jake, where did you get this?”

“I found it at one of the shops when we were down at the beach.  When you and Lisa took the kids to the aquarium Mark and I went and did some shopping ourselves.  I wanted something that wasn’t too flashy because I knew you wouldn’t like something like that.  I saw this and fell in love with it.  I called Annie and asked her if she thought you would like it and she promised you would.”

I look up at him.  “Wait, how do you have Annie’s number?”  He smiles at me.

“So that is the only thing that concerns you is how I got her number?”

“Yes, because who knows what you two will cook up.”

He shakes his head at me.  “She gave it to me when she was over last Saturday so I could get a hold of her if I ever had any questions.  And guess what, it came in handy,” he sits next to me and takes it out of the box.  I lift my hair so he can put it around my neck.  “Looks good,” he smiles.

I stand up and walk into the bathroom and look at it.  It is beautiful.  White gold heart shaped with some very detailed etching on it.  “I love it, thank you Jake,” I am standing in the bathroom doorway looking at him.

He smiles and gets up, “I think it looks amazing.” He walks over to me and kisses me.  “Now, we should really get going, we have to be there in about fifteen minutes.”  I look at the clock.

“Yeah, don’t want to be late.” I smile at him.  I have to remember to kick Annie’s ass, yet again for going behind my back and giving him her number.  Who knows what those two could accomplish together.

We get to the fire station a little after 10:00 and I can see that a line has already formed outside down the side of the building and on the sidewalk.  “All these people are here to get your autograph,” I smile up at him. 

“That may be true, but they are also here to support the fire department,” he smiles back at me. Not just any smile, his make me blush instantly smile.  And of course I do.

“Hey Jo,” I hear Ed before I see him.

“Hey Ed,” I give him a hug.  “How is everything going?”

“Perfect.  We have so many people lined up outside.  I hope we have enough corn.  So are you going to help us, or are you going to guard your man from all those drooling women,” he laughs.

“I think Lucas, Annie, and I had planned on handling all the donations that everyone gives in order to get the autographs.”

“Sounds perfect, let me show you what Joan has all set up.”  He grabs my hand and I follow him.  Jake stays behind me just smiling.  I can tell he knows that I am grateful.  This is so much more then I could have hoped for.  When we get around the corner I see an older lady standing with Mark and two other guys that I don’t know.  I assume they are the other two guys that are here from the team.

I smile at Mark and give him a hug.  “Hey,” he says.

“Hi, thanks so much for doing this.”

“I wouldn’t miss it.”

“Jo, this is Joan,” Jake grabs my hand.  “The lady that makes sure I behave, for the most part.”

“Hi Jo,” she holds her hand out.  “I have heard a lot about you.” She smiles at me.

I shake her hand.  “I'm very grateful for you already,” I smile back at her.

“So what we are going to do is have the guys line up here by the trucks and sign autographs.  We aren’t going to allow any pictures because the press has asked that they get those rights.  This is a pretty big deal for these guys so we are working with them.  The autographs are going to be a $5 donation that goes directly to the fire station.  Jake and Mark have provided team pictures for everyone, I'm hoping that we have enough,” she smiles.  “You, Lucas, and Annie will give one picture to everyone that pays.”

“Sounds good,” I smile.  She goes over by the other guys that I don’t know and Jake walks up behind me.

“Want a free autograph?” He smiles at me.

“No, I think I'm good.  I have the real guy I don’t think I need a team picture with writing that I probably wouldn’t be able to read.  What did she mean when she said you and Mark provided the pictures?”

“That means he and I paid for them.  That is why it is so cheap for them to get the pictures and autographs.  We bought them from the team store and brought them as our donation.  Otherwise they probably would have been paying $15 each and the station would have only gotten a portion.”

“Well thank you,” I smile at him.  “I am going to go in and see the guys, make sure they are getting the corn done,” I turn and walk toward the kitchen.  I walk in and see Brandon and some of the guys peeling the corn and boiling it.  I also see Bobby and Annie in the corner talking and walk toward them.

“Hey,” Bobby smiles at me when I get closer.  “Look at you.  Wow, the beach treated you nice the past few days huh?”

“Yeah, I got a little sun time,” I smile.  I know he is talking about how tan I am.  I give Annie a hug and she still hasn’t said anything to me.  “Where is Michael?”

“He is hauling the corn out to the grills out back.  Jo, you look amazing.  I love that skirt.  You seem to glow,” she smiles.

“I got some sun, that’s all.”

“No, your hair is different, and I like the necklace,” she winks at me.

“Yeah, I have a bone to pick with you about that by the way.”

“Hey, Jo,” I hear Brandon.  He comes walking over to me and gives me a hug.  “Quite the big ordeal we have going on here.  I see a few all-star football players standing around out there.  Would you be the reason for that?”

“Well one of them is my doing, the other three volunteered.  Looks like you guys have stuff under control in here huh?”

“Oh yeah, we are doing great.  I heard your team is coming down to help out to?”

“Yeah, I believe so.  I heard Chief Lorenz may even stop by.  Hopefully this goes good.  There are a lot of people lined up outside.”

“I'm sure it will be great.  I have heard a lot of chatter the last few days.  A lot of people are excited.  We had to have all the parks bring over picnic tables just so we would have seating.”

“Good, lets fill those seats,” I smile at him. 

“Hey Jo,” I hear someone say.  I turn and see two people waving at me.  I'm not sure who they are so I wave back. 

“Who is that?”  Annie asks me.

“I have no idea.  If I had to guess I would say rookies.  Everyone tries to be extra nice to me at these things.”

“Well can you blame them?  You are the biggest supporter of this fire house Jo.  They probably have more money than any other station because of you.  You know I heard that the city was going to shut them down until you became their donor.”

“Yeah, I heard that too.  Jarrod told me a couple times that he wasn’t sure how long this house would be up because of financial issues it was having.”

“You do amazing things for these guys Jo.  Just remember that.”

“I know Annie, trust me Ed doesn’t let me forget either.”  I smile at her.  We stand around talking for a while.  I look around for Jake, but I don’t see him, I'm guessing he is hanging out with the rest of the guys from the team.  I see Ryan and the rest of my team come in and gather around by the food cart that they will be serving the corn from.  I look at Annie and she has a stupid grin on her face.  “What?”

“You’re so happy, I love it.”

“What are you talking about?”

“You haven’t wiped that stupid smile off your face since you got here.  Which means you are putting on a front for the guys here, or you are truly happy with Mr. Hottie!”

“He has a name, and yes I am happy.  This is way more than I ever expected to come from him giving me his number in the bar last week.”

“See, aren’t you glad I shoved you into him?”

“Yes, Annie, thank you for making me spill my beer all over the hottest guy in the state.”  I laugh at her.

“Yes, thank you Annie for pushing her into me,” Jake scares me when he walks up next to me.

“You scared the crap out of me,” I slap his arm.

“Sorry,” he smiles and kisses my cheek.  Annie is laughing and shaking her head at me.

“Jake, I like the necklace.”

“Yes, thank you for that as well Annie.  Although I did get in trouble when she found out you gave me your number.”

“I figured you would,” she smiles at me.  “But someone has to tell you what she likes, because I know she isn’t going to.”  I shake my head and stick my tongue out at her.  She is so mean sometimes.  But I still don’t know where I would be without her.

“Jo,” I hear my mom.  “Hey sweetie,” she gives me a big hug when she gets next to me.  “How was the beach?”

“Amazing,” Jake smile and gives her a hug.

“Good, I'm glad.  So where do you need me?”

“Not sure, I will have to ask Ed.  Is Lucas coming?”

“Yes, he will be here soon.  He had to swing by the restaurant quick to pick something up.”

“Oh, ok.  Well let’s go find Ed and see what he wants you to do,” I grab her hand and pull her with me.  I see Jake start talking to Annie and can’t help but wonder what they are up to now.  My mom and I find Ed and he tells my mom that she can help us to sell the pictures and make sure that everyone gets an autograph.  It sounds like they have a few security guys watching to make sure that no pictures are taken.  I can’t help but wonder if this is normal.  I would think the guys would be ok with getting their pictures taken, but this is big news for the fire department because they have never had anything big like this before.

“Alright, you guys ready to go?”  Joan walks up to the four of us standing at the entrance.

“Yeah, I think so,” I smile at her.  She is super nice.  I can see why Jake trusts her so much.  I look over at the tables lined up by the trucks and see Mark and the two guys I don’t know but I don’t see Jake.  He sure is doing a lot of disappearing today.  I am watching the guys and I see Jake come out from behind the fire truck shoving his phone back in his pocket.  He doesn’t look happy.  I catch his eye and he just smiles at me.  I can tell something is wrong though because he doesn’t seem to be in a good mood anymore.  I can see him call Joan over to him and they talk.  I see her nod then grab her phone.

“I will be right back,” I say to Annie.  I walk over to him and can tell that he is extremely upset.  “Hey,” I grab his hand.  “What’s going on?”

“The press is harassing my parents about this whole thing with Lewis.  I just got off the phone with my mom and she said that they have been outside the house since 5:00 this morning.  They can’t even get out of the house to go to work right now.”

“Jake, I'm sorry.”

“It’s not your fault.  I am having them come up here and stay for a few days until things calm down.”

“Who is them?”

He smiles at me, I'm sure he knows I am nervous about meeting his family.  “My mom and dad, Max, and Lindsey and Chelsea.”