Always with You (WIth You Trilogy) (35 page)

Wednesday
, 27th December 2013

I
didn’t want Jason to come but I knew he would. He wouldn’t want his Dad to hurt me. He’d put himself between his father and Ben and now he wanted to do the same for me. It was who he was.

I hated myself for getting caught in this situation and consequently putting Jason in danger. When I heard the door to the pub opening, my eyes turned in that direction. I was completely blown away by what I saw.

“Ian?” I whispered disbelievingly.
What is he doing here?

He came in side-by-
side with Jason, and Gregory made sure the gun was lodged snugly against my temple as they approached.

“That’s close enough,” he warned them. “Who’s this?” He demanded, his voice calm but the tense grip with which he held my neck betrayed him.

I could see Jason grinding his teeth and clenching his fists but he answered. “Jamie’s brother.”

“What are you trying to pull, son?” Gregory chuckled.

“He was with me when you called,” Jason explained grudgingly. “The Bluetooth in the car picked up the call. He heard everything.”

I frowned internally. That couldn’t have been true, Ian was on his way down to London to work.

“What’s one more body,” Gregory muttered, loud enough for all of us to hear him.

My stomach vaulted at hi
s words. He intended to kill us. All three of us. I looked at Ian and Jason in panic and was met by contrasting expressions. Jason looked fairly terrified, his eyes filled with regret. Meanwhile, Ian was the picture of calm and relaxed. He wasn’t in big brother mode, nor was he the stern soldier I was familiar with. This was something else.

“So which brother are you?” Gregory sneered. “You must be one of the older two.”

Ian just cocked his head at him, clearly not surprised that Gregory knew about our family.

“I’m guessing you must be Karl. You’re too built to be a filing clerk,” he continued.

I frowned in puzzlement.
What on earth is he talking about?
Ian wasn’t a filing clerk. I looked over at Ian and he gave me a subtle headshake that told me to keep my mouth shut. The more I thought about it, the more it made sense. Ian couldn’t exactly have his job title down as spy or assassin or whatever the hell it was he did.

“Military scum,” Gregory spat bitterly. “Just blindly following orders because you’re too stupid to think for yourself.”

I tensed and gritted my teeth, fighting back the urge to elbow him in the groin because the gun was still wedged against the side of my head. I gathered that he hadn’t exactly enjoyed his time in the military.

“Why don’t you tell me why we’re here, and why you’ve got a gun pressed to my sisters head,” Ian spoke for the first time.

“We’ll get to that,” Gregory smirked. “Jason, come here.”

Jason’s clenched fists were turning white and it took everything in
me not to go over to him and give him a hug.

“Now, boy,” Gregory snapped
, jiggling the gun against my head.

When Jason stood in front his father, Gregory pulled me up from the bench with his hand round my neck.

“Check him for weapons and don’t even think about trying to pull anything,” he ordered me.

I approached Jason gingerly, meeting his eye and trying to tell him that I loved him through my gaze. I could see that he was struggling. He needed me.

I squeezed him gently as I patted him down, the usual joy I felt from touching him was absent under the stress of the situation. Gregory’s attention was on me and Jason so I chanced a glance over at Ian. He met my gaze and I saw him signing over at me.

Keep calm. Don’t try anything. Help on the way.

I nodded subtly to let him know I’d seen. Completing my check of Jason, I stepped away, aware that the gun had been focussed on my head the whole time.

“Good,” Gregory’s slimy voice cooed. “Now check your brother.”

This time he aimed the gun at the back of Jason’s head. I slowly crossed the room to where Ian was stood. I remembered what Ian had said about carrying a weapon, I suspected he had one now.

My suspicions proved to be true and my hands stilled momentarily on the metallic bulge in the back of his waistband.

“It’s okay, Jelly,” Ian reassured me. “Just take it out, slowly.”

I glanced over at Gregory and he was grinning like the cat that got the cream. He obviously thought he’d caught Ian out and that he’d won this round. I had to agree.

He had me slide the weapon along the floor to him and he pocketed it with a smug smile.

“Now,” he smirked. “Down to business. You, come here.”
He gestured me closer and Ian signed to just do as I was told. When I was stood by his side again, he redirected the gun away from Jason and onto me.

“Now, you can explain this,” Gregory said, fishing something out of his pocket.

He handed me an envelope and my heart sank as I recognised my own handwriting on the front. I glanced guiltily up at Jason before removing the letter from the envelope. I already knew what it contained.

Hi,

My name is Jamie-Lea and I’m writing on behalf of my boyfriend, Jason Reed. His mother’s name was
Louisa
Reed, formerly Johansson. Jason hasn’t seen his mother in over eight years but I think it would be good if he could hear the truth about the reasons behind this. I think it would be beneficial to all parties that the truth comes to light. Please, if you are Louisa, or know her whereabouts, get in touch. My contact details are below.

Thank you,

Jamie-Lea

After I reread my own words on the paper, I glanced over at Jason.
My expression must have been loaded with guilt because he met my gaze with obvious confusion. The sick, uncomfortable feeling in my stomach crawled into my throat. Something about this letter was the reason we were all here. I was the reason Ian and Jason were in danger.

Gregory grabbed the letter out of my hand and tossed it in Jason’s direction. A few tears were lea
king down my cheeks as I watched Jason read. Hurt and confusion were evident on his face when he looked up.

“I’
m so sorry, Jason,” I whimpered.

Gregory backhanded me with the gun again and I fell silent
, praying to any and all deities that would listen that we would make it out of this alive.

“I don’t understand,” Jason almost whispered, his eyes on his monster of a father.

“So you didn’t know about this,” Gregory laughed. “Interesting.” He turned to me and forced my face up to meet his. “So you were planning on keeping the money for yourself, were you?”

“Wh… what money?” I frowned in confusion.

“Don’t play dumb with me, little girl. I can read between the lines. I know exactly how you were hoping the truth could be ‘beneficial’ for you. Problem is, I don’t take kindly to blackmail.”

I had absolutely zero idea what was happening. All I’d done was send a letter trying to find Louisa. I didn’t know anything about money or blackmail.

“I take it your intent is to kill us?” Ian asked with a small smile. Drawing Gregory’s attention back to him.

“Your sister has left me no choice, I’m afraid,” Gregory replied, his prim response in stark contrast to his violent intentions.

“I see,” Ian nodded, leaning casually against the bar. “Seeing as I’m about to be killed, mind at least telling me why. Seems only fair.”

Gregory eyed my brother suspiciously and understandably. Ian was calm in such a tense situation and it was almost disconcerting. It was like he went through the threat of death every day. That thought made me uncomfortable.

“You see,” Ian continued. “I know a little bit about you as well.”

Gregory’s eyes widened and I could tell he thought Ian was bluffing. I wasn’t so sure.

“Obviously, when these two,” he gestured to me and Jason. “Got together, I had him looked into. Family included. I disregarded you when I realised there was no contact but I revisited that information this morning.”

Ian paced as he talked, his eyes locked on Gregory. He kept a safe distance between himself and the bastard with the gun but I was sure he was getting a little bit closer each time.

“Tell me, how is it that somebody who hasn’t been employed for over ten years has a bank balance upwards of six digits?”

“How do you-” Gregory started.

“I’m an excellent file clerk,” Ian smirked.

In different circumstances
, I might have laughed but there was nothing funny about the cold metal barrel aimed at my brain.

“It struck me as odd so I looked a little deeper. You and I have a mutual acquaintance,”

“Oh?” Gregory retorted with an ugly snarl.

“Well, not so much an
acquaintance. Just somebody I made a promise to a few years ago,” Ian nodded. “I actually know you as well. Only I know you as Greg Stark; right hand man to Elliot Vanders. How does somebody who hates taking orders end up as a right-hand man? I mean, you were one month away from being discharged from the RAF for a lack of respect for your superiors and an inability to follow orders.”

I exchanged a look with Jason and it was obvious he wasn’t as shocked as I was to be hearing all this. Ian must have filled him in.
I recognised the name Elliot Vanders from the news. He was thought to be responsible for all sorts of violent and horrific crimes but the police were never able to pin anything on him because he never got his hands dirty himself and those who dirtied themselves on his behalf were either too loyal or too afraid to doss him in.

“I should have made the connec
tion when I saw the payment for the kidnapping came from Vanders’ organisation. That was my bad,” he glanced at me and I saw a flash of regret in his eyes before he got back in his super-badass spy mode.

Jason’s father had been the one to try and kidnap me. I wasn’t sure how to absorb this. My brain was already operating at overcapacity trying to function whilst I was terrified for all our lives.

“You talk a big game,” Greg snarled, obviously desperate to regain the control he was losing. “But I’m the one about to blow your sister’s brains out.”

“Yes, you are,” Ian agreed. “Why don’t you tell me why that is?” I had to hand it to him, Ian didn’t seem bothered at all by the prospect, but I knew better. He was keeping his head in the game and maintaining a cool façade but I knew the prospect of losing me was killing him.

“Why don’t you ask that little fucker?” Gregory stepped away from me and aimed the gun at Jason.

Ian was immediately beside me, shuffling me behind him and squeezing my shoulder in reassurance.

“I don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about, old man,” Jason snarled, standing up to his full height.

“I should
have killed you that night. Would have saved me all this hassle. But when you asked where she was the next morning, I realised you didn’t remember.”

The world around me stilled as pieces started falling into place. There was no trace of Jason’s mother, not since the day she disappeared. I remembered Jason telling me about his nightmares and I realised that they weren’t just cruel figments of his imagination. They were memories.

I looked at Jason and could see that he was putting the pieces together as well. His face morphed into horror as the images that plagued his nightmares played over in his mind.

“You killed Mum,” Jason whispered, staring at his father with all the hatred he’d been bottling up from a young age.

“Stupid whore tried to take you two away from me. I wasn’t about to let her take you. Somebody needed to beat some sense into you. You were fucking pathetic, both of you. Still are as far as I can tell.”

“You bastard!” Jason lunged forwards.

“Not so fast, son,” Gregory smirked, repositioning his weapon to aim for the middle of Jason’s forehead.

Jason
’s chest rose and fell heavily, his jaw tense with fury. I needed to hug him, needed to calm him down but when I tried to cross the room to get to him, Gregory forced me back with his finger on the trigger.

“So you were having Alan follow Jamie all because she sent you that letter?” Jason gritted out.

“You knew about that, eh?” Gregory chuckled bitterly.

Alan? Who’s Alan?
My eyes widened as I started to piece things together. Jason had acted weird once he’d seen that picture on my phone. He must have recognised the person in the picture as somebody connected to his father and realised that I wasn’t as safe as I thought I was. It said a lot that the first person he called was Ian. He knew Ian would do anything to protect me and my safety was always his first priority.

“When those idiots couldn’t even manage a simple kidnapping, I sent Alan to take care of it. He chickened out when he saw the muscle you seemed to have hired to follow her around
. Of course, he had a vested interest in quieting your little girlfriend as well seeing as he was the one that helped me get rid of the bitch’s body. But once he failed to get you, he had to go as well. He knew too much. And so do all of you.”