Jessica smiled and nodded. “I guess I am. Thank you all so much. I have no idea how, but I’m going to pay you back somehow.” She got up from the table and went to Val and Ransome and hugged them both at the same time. The hug was a long one and Justin glanced at Charity in time to catch the slight frown that knit her brow before she averted her gaze.
Jessica looked up at both of the men and said a heartfelt thank-you before hugging them again, and then burst into laughter. Val and Ransome both looked surprised and Jessica said, “I guess the baby thanks you, too,” she said with her hands on her abdomen. “He’s been really quiet all day up until now.”
Grace nodded as she stroked her own abdomen. “Maybe he sensed your nerves. You’re both in good hands now. I’ll contact my doctor, actually our doctor,” she said, gesturing around the room. “And let her know that you’re in town. I’ll see if she’d like to visit you with us to see how you’re doing medically.”
Tears filled her eyes and Jessica sniffled and nodded. “Thank you. I can have all my OB’s records transferred to her tomorrow. I’ve been so scared. I think I’ve worried this entire pregnancy that Trevor would somehow figure out where I was. He’s—he’s crazy. I hope that this doesn’t come back to bite any of you…hiding me like this.”
Chance shook his head and said, “You let us worry about all that. Just focus on taking care of that baby.”
“Yes, sir.”
Grace insisted that Jessica stay with them for the night and they could make the move in the morning after a good breakfast.
Justin stood with Charity, listening to his friends make plans and once again marveled at the way they looked out for each other, delegating the tasks that needed to be done to keep Jessica comfortable and safe.
Val and Ransome flanked him and Charity, and Val said, “Just like that, huh?”
Charity chuckled, evidently clueing in to what he meant about their friends closing ranks around them and this woman in need. “Yep. This is how it is around here, honey.” She squeezed Val’s biceps and then patted it. “We watch out for each other. And you’re part of this family now.”
Val met his eyes over Charity’s head and his chest rose and fell with a silent chuckle. Justin just nodded.
Yeah, that’s how it is. Welcome to the family.
* * * *
Trevor Dornan stunk of stale sweat and nerves as he picked the lock on the bitch’s apartment. It was his best chance to find his kid. He shot furtive glances up and down the hall, swearing retribution to anyone who came upon him.
“Come on, son of a bitch.” He growled in frustration as he stopped to wipe his greasy brow. He wanted a shower and something to eat before he got to work. No, first he wanted to beat the fucking shit out of the bitch that had given him the slip and proved how disloyal she was by testifying against him. Then he wanted a fuck. Then shower and food. And a beer. He grinned. That’d be perfect.
A truly disturbing thought occurred to him as he worked. Looking forward to all those things should’ve made him bone-hard but he’d felt only a slight tingle. His cock hadn’t been acting like normal lately and he was beginning to wonder if that wasn’t related to his disfigurement. He’d been able to get it up after he’d healed from the attack in jail and he’d figured he would just shoot blanks from then on but now he was starting to wonder.
He’d stayed off the roads since getting free of that dumb-ass sheriff’s deputy during a bathroom break. It was the dumb fuck’s own fault that his throat was cut and all his blood now soaked the asphalt outside that old gas station’s men’s room in some godforsaken stinking town in Southern Louisiana. He’d found his way to the interstate and laid low at a travel stop until he got lucky and stowed away on an eighteen-wheeler headed west in the middle of the night, when all the weigh stations would be closed. The truck hit Houston well before dawn and he jumped off at a traffic stop with the driver completely unaware of how he’d helped him.
It’d taken him a good two hours to find her place. All he could do was pray she was still at the address he’d taken her from before. Second time’s a charm.
Something finally clicked inside the lock and the knob turned for him. “Hell yes.” Glancing up and down the hallway, he silently slipped inside.
He grinned when he recognized the layout of furniture and the same pictures on her walls. He wanted to jump up and down and do a victory dance but he restrained himself. If his luck held out, she was sound asleep in her cushy bed, waiting for him.