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“We can take him. He’s a drunken fool and I’m sure he’ll be passed out before we even get there. Jen will probably sleep through it all.” The lies slipped through my lips like water. Tim was a bulldog with a bone. He wasn’t going to give Jen up no matter what. And if he thought we were trying to stop him from getting his family back, he was the type of guy to kill for it. I could only hope that we were ahead of him where he was. And that Jen wasn’t a heavy sleeper. Because Tim was on his way.
Chapter 22
Jennifer
I needed Wes’s touch. With his arms around me, I felt whole. His lips traced my cheek and then down to my neck. A moan escaped my lips. How long had it been since I felt the touch of someone else? I leaned into his kiss when I heard a loud pounding at the door. Jumping off of Wes, I leapt from the couch and headed towards the door.
“Wait.” Wes said with authority. He got up and straightened his shirt. He passed me on the way to the door.
“I can get it.”
“It’s in the middle of the night. Who in the hell would be knocking on your door?”
I looked at my watch. Half past eleven. Hardly the middle of the night, but I guess he’s right. Is it Tim? I was surprised how normal I felt. My heart didn’t start to pound. Shaking knees seemed like a distant memory. Whatever fear I had for Tim had melted away. Wes was here and I knew he would protect me. No matter what was on the other side of that door. When the door swung open, it was like looking into a mirror. Jared and Frank stood on my steps. We all stood frozen for a moment, staring at each other. I spoke first. “What in the heck are you guys doing here? What’s wrong?”
They both stepped into the living room. Jared stared at Wes and a glance exchanged between them that I couldn’t recognize. The language of triplets. “Are you guys okay?”
“Why wouldn’t we be?”
Frank spat a reply. His face was red, and eyes were stormy. “Because you weren’t answering your phone.”
“I’m an adult. Is it okay for you to go five minutes without knowing where I am? How did you know I was here anyway?”
“We didn’t actually. The reason we came here was because of Tim.”
Jared’s words were an icy stab to the chest. “Tim?” What about Tim? Was he in an accident? Were my children fatherless? Was he finally out of my hair forever? Guilt seeped into me with that thought.
“No, Tim’s okay. We were worried because he said he was on his way over here. And we were afraid that he was going to do something to you. We didn’t know that Wes was already here.”
“Why would Tim have told you anything?” All three of them exchanged glances. Wait a second. What the fuck is happening. Tim knows the triplets? A million possibilities whirred through my consciousness. They were Tim’s spies sent to keep an eye on me. They were reporting back everything to Tim. Were they possibly even sent to seduce me so Tim would have something to blackmail me with and possibly take the children? Could Tim have been coming here to harm me? He was so calm the last time I saw him.
Jared came over to me and put his hand on my shoulder. “We don’t have time to talk about this. Come with us and we’ll keep you safe.”
“Are you out of your mind? You sound insane! What about the girls?”
“They can come with you. All of us. We’ll go somewhere and be safe. You know he knows where you are.”
“I’m not going to wake my girls up in the middle of the night and move them somewhere that I don’t know, simply because you’re being cryptic. I barely know you, so please forgive me when I’m still trying to wrap my head around the fact that you’re on speaking terms with my ex-husband.” My face was flushed, and my hands were shaking. There was no reason for them to know Tim. And even less reason to hide it unless they were up to something.
The triplets exchanged glances again, confirming my worst fears. Guilt was plastered across Wes’s face. Frank looked like he had swallowed something sour. Jared looked cool and calm like usual.
“I’d like you all to leave.”
Jared stepped forward. “We can’t do that.”
I raised my voice enough to let him know I was serious, but not high enough to wake the girls. “You can. And you will. Or I’m going to call the police. You’re not my husband, or boyfriend, or even friend for that matter. I’d like you to go.”
Frank opened his mouth to speak, but Jared cut in. “Okay Jen. We don’t want any trouble. We just want you to be safe. But here’s the thing. We’re not going to stop protecting you jus
t because we’re not inside. And if Tim shows up, we’re going to deal with him whether you like it or not.
“As long as you do it outside and away from the girls and I, I don’t care if you all pound sand.”
I watched them turn to leave and shut the door behind them. For the rest of the night, I strained my ears listening for any sign of an intruder. When the sun was finally light, I called my mother. I might not need protection from three nosy triplets, but I could feel it in my gut that something was about to happen. And when it did, I didn’t want my girls here. They’ve already been through enough. All I had to do was make it through the next twelve hours and the girls would have their grandma to care for them.
Chapter 23
Wes
