Stranded with My Stepbrother Chapter 32

-Caleb-

I’d demanded to see Jacey until I was blue in the face, but the Mounties had treated me just like the killer they thought I was and threw me into holding with some very, very scary characters. One was so big and pumped up he could have snapped me like a twig. The other gave off a vibe that he’d shivved people from behind before and wasn’t afraid to do it again.

Luckily, we’d all decided to remain in our own bubbles and leave each other alone. Though, I thought the Mounties had hoped Mr. Stabby would have shivved me. They were convinced I murdered the two Mounties back at the lake.

If it weren’t for that detective, I’d have been screwed. I knew it.

And now, he was dead.

Jacey writhed against me, looking out the back window and screaming.

I clamped my arm around her and held her in my lap, putting my hand over her mouth. “It’s over,” I said. “Jacey, it’s over. There’s nothing we can do.”

“She done screaming yet?” Al asked from the driver’s seat.

I guess Al had the sensitivity of a rock. “Yes. I think so.”

“Good. We’ve got a long way to go, and I don’t like the screaming as a soundtrack for our trip,” Al said.

“Where are we going?” I asked, rocking Jacey as she whimpered in my arms.

“Taking you down to the United States,” Al replied.

I frowned. “That’s not what the detective said…”

“Well, Dick’s not here to argue, is he?” Al pointed out. “This is getting too dangerous for my taste.”

“What about testifying?” I asked.

Al cranked his head around to look at me. “Caleb, right? Well, Caleb, let me tell you something. You’re not testifying. Because you want to live. And you want her to live. Testifying is what the people who get caught with their hand in the cookie jar do. Innocent people forget about all this and go about their lives.”

“But… those people should have to pay for what they’ve done…” I argued.

Al looked back at the road. “Listen, kid. You’re still pure that way. Truth. Justice. The American way and all that. You think right prevails and the evil are punished and blah, blah, blah. That’s not how it works in the real world. You and your girl, having a chance at the good life, that’s the only justice there is to be had here. And I’m driving you down to it. Get home and stop poking the bear.”

“But…” I started again.

Al turned his head. “But nothing, kid. Take care of your girl here. You’ve had an awful loss, and she nearly died because of this. You don’t want to be involved. I’m getting you out.”

An awful loss? I looked down at Jacey. “Jacey?”

Jacey sniffled. “I really was pregnant, but it happened in my fallopian tube, so that’s why there was so much bleeding…”

“Oh… baby, I’m so sorry,” I whispered, gathering her close and kissing her.

“But… but I can still have a baby. When we’re ready.” Jacey gave me a watery smile.

Still, she’d gone through hell without me. I didn’t want that to happen again. I turned to Al. “All right. If they don’t bother me, I won’t bother them.”

“Good attitude.” Al fell silent then, and since I didn’t have any more questions for him, so did I.

Jacey curled her fingers into my shirt, and I held her closer.

I kissed her shoulder. “I’m so sorry I wasn’t there.”

“They didn’t give you much of a choice,” Jacey replied miserably.

I cupped the back of her head, cradling her against my body. “I still wish I’d been there. You shouldn’t have had to face that alone.”

Jacey sniffled then swallowed the rest of her tears. “Thank you,” she whispered.

“I love you,” I whispered back.

Al kept his eyes on the road, but I could see him roll his eyes in the rearview mirror. He was used to a harsher kind of life, I guessed. One that was not filled with many ‘I love yous.’

After a bit, Al handed back a change of clothes for Jacey, and respectfully kept his eyes forward while I helped her into them. We stopped only for gas and bathroom breaks. Jacey was still bleeding after her surgery. She assured me it was because her body was adjusting to the loss of the pregnancy. It wasn’t her period, and it wasn’t anything I should be alarmed about.

It didn’t stop me from worrying, all the way to the border.

“I’ve got two Americans here I need to drop off,” Al said to the border patrol as he stopped next to one of their booths in International Falls.

The border patrolman blinked and looked in the back where Jacey and I were sitting, now properly buckled up. “Drop them off?”

“Yeah. Eighteen-year-old girl, twenty-two-year-old guy. Lost their passports in Canada. I’ve verified them.” Al then flashed some sort of badge that made the patrolman’s eyes widen.

“Come on out,” the patrolman said quickly to Jacey and me. We stepped out of the car, and Al gave us a single wave before turning his car around and heading back the way he came.

The patrolman brought us to a main building and had us sit down. “Did you have a plan for getting back home?” he asked.

I looked at Jacey, who was hanging on my arm. “We both lost our wallets. We don’t have cab fare or anything like that. Honestly, I didn’t know Al was just going to drop us here.”

“Oh. Well, that makes things a bit difficult…” The patrolman frowned. “Is there anyone you can call?”

I sighed. “Not anyone’s number I can remember off the top of my head. We don’t have our cell phones, either.”

“Dang, that sucks,” the patrolman said.

“I remember a number.” Jacey didn’t look happy about it, though.

“Whose?” I asked.

Jacey swallowed. “Dad’s.”

I groaned. “Oh, FUCK no.”

“What’s wrong with calling her parents?” the patrolman responded. His eyes narrowed. “Is she really eighteen?”

“Yes, she’s really eighteen,” I said exasperatedly. “It’s just… our parents don’t exactly approve of us.”

“Because you’re older?” the patrolman asked.

I scrubbed my hand over my face. This was going to be fun. “Because they’re married. My mother married her father.”

“You’re… brother and sister?!” the patrolman gaped.

“Not biologically,” Jacey said quickly. “I was eight when my mother left. Caleb was twelve when his father got cancer. This all just… sort of… happened.”

“Hmm. Can’t say as I’d be happy about it if you were my kids, either, but it’s not illegal,” the patrolman grunted. He waved us both over to a desk then produced a phone connected to a landline. “Start dialing.”

I groaned. “Is there really no other choice?”

“No,” the patrolman said firmly.

Jacey lifted the handset and punched in the black numbers onto the yellow screen.

The patrolman put the call on speaker.

After a few rings, Hank picked up. “Yes?” he asked in a clipped tone. “Who is this?”

“Sir, this is border patrol. There’s been a handoff of your children from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to the United States Border Patrol. Your children don’t have their passports, or their phones, or any money with them. I have reason to believe they were rescued from a dangerous situation.” The patrolman eyed us both.

What kind of badge had Al been packing?!

“Are you telling me my Jacey and Caleb were doing something criminal?!” Hank shouted. “I knew it. I knew that bastard was going to get my baby into trouble…”

“Um… no, sir. In my experience, this kind of handoff only happens when good people end up in bad situations. I can’t go into detail. I don’t even know the details. But the kind of officer who dropped them off usually works in witness protection,” the patrolman said in a low tone.

“Witness…” Hank trailed off.

“Is that Caleb? Jacey?” I could hear my mother in the background. “Are they all right? Where are they?”

Hank sighed angrily. “They’re… which border crossing are they at?”

“International Falls, sir,” the patrolman said.

“We’ll be there in twelve hours.” The line cut.

“Are you all right, Jacey? Is Caleb okay? Oh sure, Hank, we’re just peachy,” I grumbled.

Jacey put a hand on my chest. “At least they’re coming to get us.”

“I can’t even imagine how much fun that car ride’s going to be.” I took Jacey’s hand just the same and kissed her fingertips. “It’ll be okay.”

“I don’t know about that. But at least we won’t get shot. Probably,” Jacey replied worriedly.

I kissed the top of her head. “Don’t worry. I’m the only one who might get shot.”

“Yeah, that was what I was worried about,” Jacey fretted.

“Are you saying you’re going into another unsafe situation?” the patrolman asked.

Jacey and I looked at each other. “Probably not?” I hazarded.

Jacey looked troubled. “Maybe this isn’t such a good idea.”

“No, you were right. We don’t have a lot of options. And could you please stop upsetting her? She just had a miscarriage,” I told the patrolman.

The patrolman gave Jacey a sad look. “Oh dear. I am so sorry. Is it because you’re brother and sister?”

I rolled my eyes and escorted Jacey back to our chairs. “We’re. Not. Related.”

“Right, right. But what happened?” the patrolman asked.

“You’re getting a bit personal here, sir…” I warned him.

Jacey patted my arm. “Ectopic pregnancy.”

The patrolman tsked. “My wife had one of those. Doctor said you should wait three months before trying again.”

“We’re not going to try again. We weren’t trying before,” I said flatly. “Jacey needs to go to college, and I need to finish.”

“Mm. Smart,” the patrolman replied.

Jacey looked up at me, her eyes troubled. “We’re not going to try again?” she whispered.

“Not now. I mean, sure, somewhere down the road I expect we will, but we need to get our feet under us first,” I said, stroking her hair.

Jacey gave that some thought, then nodded. “I’ll need to get on some kind of birth control. You’re not exactly great with condoms.”

I winced. She wasn’t wrong. “Well, according to this guy, we’ve got three months to figure it out.”

“You’re not going to touch me for three months?!” Jacey protested.

“I… we’ll talk to a doctor. I don’t want to hurt you,” I said softly.

Jacey sighed and leaned her head against my shoulder. “Caleb Killeen, sometimes I just don’t understand you.”