My logical brain also knows I keep a baseball bat, a small club, and a few stabby knives under my nest, so it probably is at least a little safer.
I’m not sure how long I’m huddled there, long enough for my breath to slow down and my pulse to stop racing as much. The phone rings twice more, I can hear it from here, but I didn’t bring it with me. I should probably go call Jacks now that I have myself under control. I pull out my club and shuffle my way back to the living room, picking up my phone. It rings again and I scream, dropping it back on the couch, until I realize that the number on the screen is Jacks.
I scramble to answer, “Thank goodness, where are you? I need you.”
I can hear a car horn honking in the background, and someone yelling, Xan if I had to take a guess. “Are you ok, Candice? What happened?”
“I just…I need you, please. Can you come get me, I don’t…I don’t want to be a bother.” Now that I hear hisvoice, my tight control is fading and I can feel myself cracking again–my eyes burning with the need to cry.
“Little Lion, you’re never a bother. Xan and I are already on our way over. We’ll be there as soon as we can, ok. Just…stay inside, keep the doors locked. It should only be a few more minutes. Can you stay on the phone with me, talk to me until we get there? So I know you're safe?”
Warmth swells in my chest, I do feel safer just talking to them. My breathing is easier hearing any of their voices. Jacks keeps talking, and while I am focused on his voice, he is mostly talking about meal planning and going to the grocery store, and mundane things that help me stabilize and calm down.
A thought occurs to me, “So, wait, why were you on your way over before I called?”
The line goes quiet, and I hear Xan in the background, “Yeah man, wanna tell her why you were going to her house earlier?” He sounds like he is trying to make a joke, but the tension is still heavy in his voice.
“Ok, honey, we’re pulling up in your driveway now, can you come let us in?” Jacks’ voice is softer now, and I don’t hear as much background noise. I open my doorbell camera and wait until I see them, before rushing to unlock everything and throwing myself at Jacks. He pulls me close as he and Xan rush inside. Picking me up he carries me to the couch, and snuggles me into his lap. Purring loudly, his hands run over me, looking for any damage or injury.
Once he's satisfied himself that I’m safe he just holds me, swaying and purring. Xan walks around the house, looking in my office and the bathroom, sticking his head in my nest, and sniffing, before coming back to the couch and sitting beside Jacks, his hand finally coming to rest on my knee as Jacks continues to rock me back and forth.
Xan rubs his hand in circles on my leg, “Ok, brief explanation. I came home from work to clean up, Jacks was perving on you, and then we saw you looking upset and rushed over.” I’m still a little stuck on the part of Jacks perving on me, and turn my questioning eyes to him. He looks at me, then flicks his gaze up to my bookcase, where I have a security camera aimed at the living room in case anyone breaks in through the back door.
“How…um…how did you get access to that camera, and how long were you watching?” I can feel the heat in my cheeks and ears now, as embarrassment floods me.
Taking pity on me, or trying to save Jacks from my wrath, Xan abruptly stands up. “Ok, grab a bag with a couple changes of clothes, and your lizard…you can tell us what happened on the way back to the house, then I really need to get back to work.”
Chapter 24
Fuck Fuck Fuck!!
What the actual fuck! Now we have to get the cops involved. Again!
I dropped Jacks and Candice off at the house and head back to the garage to confer with Gabe. He is, understandably, pissed. He texts Leo so we are all in the loop, and then we get back to work. There is still a lot of catching up to do, but I can tell he is pretty deep in thought. I know he wants to insist that Candice stay with us. We all want that, but we don’t want to push her into something that makes her uncomfortable. Now, of course, it’s a matter of safety, but I don’t know if she’ll see it that way or not.
All three bays are open today, and all three are full. Gabe is working on a bigger project–replacing a head gasket, and sometimes I have to step over to lend him a hand. Trey is mostly doing the basic stuff like oil changes and tire rotations, but he seems to be having a pretty off day himself. We end up having todelay pickup on a couple of bigger jobs so that we can get all the oil changes done by the end of the day, and Trey can’t even meet Gabe’s eyes as he apologizes–before clocking out and leaving at 5. That’s fine, it’s been a fucked up day all around, but I have hopes that tomorrow will be better. I'll try to talk to him if he still seems out of it. We’ve been piling too much on him lately, and we need to do better about that.
I hate that Candice is going through all this, but at the same time I’m super excited that she’ll be staying with us for a couple of days. Gabe and I stop at the clinic to pick up Leo, and I take a few minutes on the way home to fill them in on the full situation of what happened today. I gave Gabe a brief version earlier, but with being so backed up, and Trey around, I just wasn't comfortable going into too much detail.
We get home and Jacks has all the doors locked, which is a first since we moved here. But I don’t blame him for not wanting to take chances with Candice being here.
Jacks is in the kitchen putting the finishing touches on dinner, and it looks like a comfort food night of pot roast and mashed potatoes. He went all out and made bread too.
Damn, I’m gonna have to actually start working out if he keeps cooking like this.
Candice comes down the stairs, her iguana wrapped around her shoulder, her eyes are red and puffy. She goes straight to Leo and snuggles against his chest. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t a little jealous. Leo folds her into his arms, and strokes her back, while Iggy scrambles up his shoulder.
“Hello, little friend, how are you doing?” He reaches up and scratches the iguana under the chin and its tail flicks back and forth, slapping Jacks in the face when he tries to hug Candice from behind. Jacks glares up at it, but then gives up and just drops to his knees, wrapping himself completely around Candice, burying his face against her back. Gabe is watching everything, a look of concentration on his grumpy mug–then he starts barking orders.
“Alright, here’s what's gonna happen. Candice, you’re gonna stay here for a few days, just to make sure you’re safe. Leo, can you call in late tomorrow?” Gabe looks at Leo who just nods, then he continues.
“Yes, good. Tomorrow Leo and Jacks’ll take you to the police department first thing to talk about the phone call you got today. I doubt they can or will do anything over one phone call, but better to get the ball rolling on it in case that fucker calls back.”
Candice is still sandwiched between Leo and Jacks, but she looks furious. “You can’t just tell me what to do Gabe, I have a life, I have work commitments I have to get done. I can’t uproot everything just because of some asshole.”
Gabe walks over to where her face is poking out from under Leo’s arm and squats down so he’s closer to eye level. “Little Omega, I know you don’t like this, and I know you think I’m bein’ an asshole, but I’m not gonna take a chance with your safety here. Jacks is a computer geek, he’ll take you home after you talk to the cops, and help you gather all the stuff you needto keep working. Xan can help him organize the office, or if we need to set up a different space for you to work, in the spare room…or if you need to swap spaces with one of us, we’ll do that. Just, whatever you need to be comfortable, alright?”
He reaches out to cup her face, “The point is, we want you here, we wanted you here before all this shit, and now I won’t be able to sleep unless I know you’re safe here, got it? We’ll get you whatever you need to work to make sure you can, but I need you safe, more than anything.”
