Stranded with My Stepbrother Chapter 79

-Caleb-

The door banged, shaking on its hinges despite the three deadbolts and the bar fortifying it.

I blinked awake at the same time Jacey did, both of us sitting up, naked. “Get in the bathroom,” I said urgently to her. “I’ll handle this.”

“What? Caleb, we don’t know who’s out there!” she hissed back at me. But I gave her a shove in the direction of the bathroom just the same, and she tumbled off that way, cursing under her breath. “If you get killed, Caleb Killeen, I will never forgive you!”

“Love you, too,” I called after her. “Lock the door behind you.”

It was only after I heard the lock turn that I padded over to the door and peered through the peephole.

There was an entire SWAT team waiting outside the door behind Bea and an older, well-dressed man who was likely in his sixties. Both of their outfits screamed FBI.

“Hi Bea,” I said through the door. “Just give us a minute, okay? We need to shower and get dressed.”

“No time. We’re attracting too much attention. Throw on what you’ve got, and let’s go,” Bea replied.

I sighed. I’d been afraid she’d say that. “Jacey? Get dressed. We’ve gotta go!”

“But… shower!” she protested.

“Bea says no,” I replied.

“Aww.” Jacey came out of the bathroom and started gathering up her clothes with an unhappy pout.

I traced my fingers down her naked back. “I’m sure they’re going to let us shower at the next location.”

“Oh, I know just what you want to do at the next location, Caleb Killeen, and don’t you think for one second we’re doing anything before I get a nice, hot shower,” she said primly, pulling on her panties.

“We’ll shower together and call it even,” I amended and she rolled her eyes at my grin.

“Fine,” she agreed.

I mean, it wasn’t as though either of us had harbored any doubts about it.

“Aren’t you going to get dressed?” she asked.

I’d been so engrossed in watching Jacey’s tits jiggle as she wrangled them into her bra that I hadn’t touched my own clothing. I was also now sporting a semi.

“Oh no you don’t,” Jacey said, her eyes zeroing in between my legs. “If there isn’t time for a shower, then there’s definitely no time for that.” She tossed my boxers at me. “Suck it up, buttercup.”

“Sassy.” I smiled at her and started pulling on my own clothes.

A fist banged on the door again. “Are you two ready yet?!” Bea called.

“Just about!” I zipped my jeans and helped Jacey hook her bra behind her back after she got frustrated. Then I handed Jacey her shirt. “Okay, shoes and let’s go.”

“I still just have the flip-flops,” she grumbled, slipping on a neon green pair.

“They’ll get you something better,” I assured her. I pulled on my tennis shoes, then undid the locks, moved the bar, and opened the door.

The older gentleman looked Jacey and me up and down, his lips pursed. “Well, at least you’re both still in one piece.” He poked his head in the room, looking past my shoulder. “I’m not seeing any condoms. Do we need to make arrangements for prenatal care?”

“Excuse me?” I gaped.

“We don’t have time to pussyfoot around. Just answer the question,” the older gentleman said.

“Not right now,” I said at the same time Jacey shrugged and said, “Mirena.”

“Mirena is an IUD. It’s a birth control that lasts five years. Jacey shouldn’t be getting pregnant any time soon,” Bea clarified.

“Good. It’s harder to move you around with a kid on the way.” The older gentleman stuck out his hand. “Hansen.”

“Caleb,” I introduced myself, shaking his hand.

Jacey shook hands next. “Jacey,” she said.

“Good. Now we’re all acquainted. Let’s get out of here.” Hansen made a circle-up motion to the SWAT team and we walked through the parking lot to a series of black SUVs.

“Do we have to go in separate cars again?” Jacey asked, sounding about as happy at the prospect as I felt.

“No. That’s what the team is for. We’re driving you to the airport. You’ll be met by another group in Minneapolis,” Hansen said. “Or, rather, we will. Bea and I will be your handlers from now on.”

“Do we know when and where Masterson’s trial is happening yet?” I asked.

“Different districts are fighting for the privilege, but doubtless this shit is going to make it all the way to the Supreme Court. You’ll probably be testifying several times, both of you,” Hansen said. “And, likely, we’ll have to move you around a lot. But so far, it looks as though they’re kicking things off in Minnesota, so we need you close by to give testimony when the time comes.” He held open the back door of an SUV for Jacey and me.

I made sure Jacey was sitting behind the passenger seat—the safest place in the vehicle—and then took my place behind the driver’s seat.

“I really do admire your courage,” Hansen said as he got in the driver’s seat. “A lot of people would have given up by now and refused to testify.”

“That asshole is going to get his if I have to keep telling the world about his crimes until the day I keel over from Alzheimers,” I gritted out.

Jacey put a hand on my knee while Bea got in the passenger seat.

The rest of the posse loaded up in the other SUVs. The convoy ultimately consisted of five black SUVs, with ours being the middle one.

“Good for you,” Hansen said, picking up the conversation again as soon as we were out on the highway. “I like that attitude.”

Jacey leaned her cheek against my shoulder. I could tell she was tired.

“Get some sleep,” I murmured. “I’ve got this.”

She nodded and closed her eyes, her breath evening out in mere minutes.

“I don’t think Jacey and I can have what we want to have without testifying against Masterson,” I confessed once she was asleep. “I certainly don’t want us living as his prisoners. He already made Jacey have a baby through invitro with his son.” I thought of Will and it was as though someone ripped a Band-Aid off a hole in my chest. I rubbed the spot with a frown.

“High body count on all sides over this,” Bea said sympathetically.

“Will was a good guy. No matter what his dad made him do, he was a good guy. I want to make sure the world knows that, too.” My voice was soft, and, I realized, choked with unshed tears.

“I don’t honestly know if he’ll come up in court at all, but if he does, you can tell them what a good man Will was,” Bea replied.

I rubbed tears from my eyes, tamping down on the horror and loss. There would be plenty of time to fall apart later. I needed to keep it together until this whole mess was over. “And, if possible, we’d like the baby.”

“Will and Jacey’s baby?” Hansen asked, craning his neck a bit to look at me.

“Yes. I don’t want him growing up under that asshole’s influence,” I growled.

“Well, as long as a DNA test shows Jacey is the mother, once Masterson has been put in prison—which is the hope, not a guarantee—then there should be little trouble getting Will Jr. into your custody,” he said.

“Good.” I took a deep breath. “And we need to get Hank, my mom, and our brother out of Masterson’s compound. He’s already hurt Hank badly enough to cripple him. I don’t know what’s going on with them right now, but I can only hope since Masterson can’t lord it over us, he’s not torturing our family right now.”

“Long list of demands you’ve got there,” Hansen snorted.

I would have shrugged, and almost did, but remembered Jacey was sleeping on me at the last second. I brushed a kiss over her hair, dragging in the sweet scent that was entirely her. “I just want everyone to be okay when this is all over. I want the trafficking to stop, but I also don’t want my mom living in fear every day of her life. If that makes sense.”

“Makes sense to me,” Bea said.

“We’ll do what we can, of course,” Hansen added. “But, like I said, there are no guarantees. Hell, I’m even afraid to guarantee your safety at this point after all the shit that’s gone down. But I can tell you we’ll do our best. And that’s pretty fucking good most of the time.”

I nodded slightly. “Thanks.”

Bea and Hansen nodded back, then the SUV descended into silence as Hansen and the convoy took us to the airport.

We drove right onto the tarmac to a waiting jet. I gave Jacey a little jostle when the SUV stopped, and she woke up and rubbed her eyes. “Are we home?” she asked.

“Not quite,” I said. “But we’re getting on the plane that’s taking us there. Wherever home’s going to be for the next… well, I’d expect at least a few days. Maybe we’ll be moving around a lot, but I think we can’t hope for better than being in Bea’s and Hansen’s care.”

Jacey nodded and followed me out of the vehicle, sliding across to the driver’s side behind me. I took her hand, and with a platoon of armed guards surrounding us, and Bea and Hansen by our sides, we boarded the plane.

“Next stop, Minneapolis,” Hansen stated once he got us all buckled in and settled.

“Home,” Jacey breathed, and looked at me.

I nodded, acknowledging her unspoken terror. Going back to the place where it all began didn’t exactly feel safe.

But we had to do it, or the madness that had become our life was never going to end.