“Me first.” He steps out into the back alley behind the theater. I start to follow him but he pushes me back inside. “Don’t come out” is all he says before he pulls the door shut, leaving me alone. I stand there not sure what to do. I feel uneasy for the first time tonight. Jameson made me feel so at ease and safe. The loss of him next to me has my palms sweating with worry. Not only for myself but, more importantly, for his safety.
After a moment I do what PJ would want me to. I pull out my phone and text her. She’s by my side seconds later. She doesn't hesitate. She pulls out her gun, pushing the back door open.
“Shit,” she half-shouts, making my blood run cold. Something must be really wrong.
“I already called 911. I didn't see anyone else.” I try to follow PJ out to see what Jameson is talking about. “Don’t let her out here.”
PJ turns to look at me, gesturing with her hand for me to stop.
“What?” I take another step toward the door. Then I hear Brandon groan. “Let me by.” I step around PJ to see Brandon on the ground with a gash in his head. “Brandon.” I drop down next to him. I grab ahold of his hand to comfort him. Or maybe it’s to comfort me, I’m not sure. What I do know for sure is that this probably happened because of me.
“I didn't see him coming.” Blood runs down his forehead. The sound of sirens grows closer.
“I was on the phone with the police chief,” PJ says with her eyes now trained on Jameson. “I don’t want her here when the police get here. It will end up everywhere. Take the car and get her out of here. He told me you’re safe.” Brandon sits up a little more. I can tell he’s going to be okay, but he might need a few stitches. Guilt settles into my stomach making me feel a bit queasy. Whoever attacked him had been looking for me. Brandon happened to be in his way. Brandon reaches into his pocket, pulling out his keys.
“I can’t leave,” I protest. This man is hurt because of me; I can’t just take off. I have to make sure he’s okay.
“Go,” both Brandon and PJ say at the same time. I fight an inner battle of what to do as Brandon hands the keys to Jameson.
“I’ll be in touch,” PJ reassures me as her gaze goes back to Jameson. “Don’t make me kill you,” she tells him.
He only smirks but gives her a nod. Before I can say another word, Jameson is lifting me up and carrying me to the car. The exhaustion from the night suddenly hits me and I don’t put up a fight. Instead I curl into him and let his body give me the comfort I need as he puts me into the car. Within seconds he’s speeding out of the alley, leaving everything behind.
5
Jameson
This wasn't how I thought tonight would go when my mom all but ditched me, but I will take it. Fuck, I hate that she was in danger but it also means that I am taking her home with me. Where I know she’ll be safe. Because I would give my life to protect hers.
“Where are we going?” Her voice is calm but she fidgets with her fingers in her lap. The need to soothe her has me putting my hand over hers. She wraps her fingers around it, holding on to me. “The hotel is that way.” She looks in the opposite direction of the way we’re going. I can tell she is tired.
“That’s where everyone will assume you are.” I take another sharp turn. My eyes flick to the rearview mirror to see if anyone is following us. It seems to be clear. I’ll be more positive of that the closer we get to my land. No other cars should be out around there and it’s too dark to drive without lights. I’ll know without a doubt if anyone is following us.
“So we’re going to another hotel?” She lets her head fall back. I can tell she’s tired. How can she not be with how she played on stage tonight? It’s been a long day for her.
“Home.” I pick up the speed as we hit the highway out of the city.
“You know I don’t have a home.” She keeps her head tilted back but turns a little to face me.
“You don’t have a home?”
She shakes her head no. “Only hotels and air bnb’s.”
“I hate hotels.” I hate them so much that I actually got a small condo in the city. I had to be there a lot early on when I used to be in the office daily. The traffic could be horrible getting back to the ranch so a condo worked out best. Now it sits empty for the most part. I’ve slowly been stepping back so that I don’t have to be so hands on with that side of business. I enjoy being on the land. It’s where I always feel the most at home. That city life isn’t for me. I don’t know how someone could go without having a place to call home.
“I think I do too but I hated home more.”
Every muscle in my body goes tight. “Are you okay?”
She squeezes my hand that she's holding with hers.
“Was it your father?”
“He was just a dick. He didn't hurt me physically.”
“There are other ways to hurt people,” I say. I wish it wasn't so damn dark. I want to see her face.
“Was yours a bastard too?”
“He was a piece of work.” He tried to rule our home with an iron fist. It didn't work so well the bigger I got. Then he tried to hit my mom. I wasn't as big as him yet but I did know how to use a shotgun. He’d taught me. He lived to regret that one.
“Mine was just absent. I did the boarding school thing and then college. He was always working and that was his life. I was an inconvenience to him. I hit it big my last year in college so I didn't have to go home. I had enough money to bounce around.” She lets out a long sigh. “Nothing ever felt right so I never made a home anywhere.” She shrugs her shoulders as though it’s not a big deal, but I know better.
“But now?” She said that tonight was her last show. I can’t see someone bouncing from hotel to hotel if they don’t have a real reason to. Doing it for work is one thing. Her job required her to move around the country. Now that is gone so it only makes sense that she should live with me. I don’t say that out loud. Her coming to stay with me is the first step I’m taking in convincing her that I’m her home.
“Now I’m going to try and find roots.” It’s a good thing that I know exactly where she can put down those roots. I have all kinds of land that she can settle into. Her roots could go on forever. Fuck, that sounds good. “PJ is going to flip when she gets back to the hotel and I’m not there.”
“I’m sure Chief Clark will tell her where to find me.”
“Shouldn't I be worried that I don’t know where we’re going?” She looks out the window. “We’re in the middle of nowhere. You live out here?”
“I do.”
“But you’re in oil, right? Shouldn't you have some fancy place in the city?” I’m not surprised she already knows something about me. I have no doubt PJ had filled her in on some things when she all but kicked us out of the room. I’d be disappointed in her if she hadn’t.
“Yes, I’m in oil but I also have a lot of land that I tend to. I’m taking you to my ranch, where you’ll be safe.”
“I’ve never been on a ranch before.” Her voice perks up. Damn, I really wish I could see her face right now.