Jake (A Redemption Romance #2) (17 page)

Motioning to the bed, then to the rest of the hospital room, he answered, “Obviously, you’ve made that young man so angry that he did all this. I know you’re not expecting me to pay for your bad behavior.”

“What?” I shrieked, shocked that he’d think that Jake did this to me. “Jake didn’t hurt me; he’d never hurt me. I was attacked at my house; Jake wasn’t even there.”

“Of course, I’ve told you about women living alone, if you’d gotten married like I told you,” his words drone on and on, I tried to stay focused, to find a place to interject, to defend my choices, to tell him what really happened, but in my father’s usual style, he could rant for hours.

“You’re so stupid, Hope, I don’t even know why we try. You were better off with that boy Tim, he kept you in line, he didn’t let you back talk and go gallivanting all over the place. Now you act like your better than everyone else, like you don’t deserve to be taken down a peg. Thank god I’ve got your mother under control, you need a husband like your sister. Brian would never allow her to be going around, doing whatever she wants. She stays home and raises his children. That’s what you’re supposed to do, you need to be at home, with a husband and raising his children. Instead, you’re alone, roving all around like some whore. You should have never sent Tim away, filing a police report, you probably deserved the punishment he gave you that night, you need a heavy hand, you’ve always…”

My father’s words were cut off as the hospital room door slammed open, Jake’s heaving, furious form filled the doorway. The anger radiating off him filled the room. My father’s gaze swung to him and the man actually paled. I’d never seen my father bow down to anyone, Brian, my sister Faith’s husband always encouraged him. Now, my father stood frozen in place and I used the opportunity to say my piece.

“Father, you have no idea what you’re talking about. Tim was an abusive asshole, just like you.” My father’s shocked gaze swung to me, I could tell that he was about to yell at me for swearing, something I almost never did, but he didn’t get the chance, because I went on.

“Tim was a stalker, he hid in my house, I haven’t seen him in four years, but he hid in my house yesterday, hit me from behind, kicked me, slapped me, pushed me down and dragged me by my hair. Do you know what I did to deserve that? I didn’t do anything.” I paused to take in a breath, glancing over at Jake for a minute, checking to see how he was doing.

He was still angry, but I could see the pride lighting his face when he looked back at me. It was taking a lot for him to stand down, but he was giving me this, respecting me and knowing that I needed to speak my mind with my father.

“I’ve put up with you and your mouth for too many years, the only time I ever saw mom happy was when we went to visit her parent’s in Louisiana, you don’t make people happy. You’re a miserable excuse for a man, you’re a bully and a horrible father. If it weren’t for you, Christian would probably still be here.” I paused at the pain of thinking about my brother, it always hurt, but watching my father visibly gasp was enough to keep me going. “You are not in my life anymore. You are a vile person who doesn’t deserve the beautiful family he was given. You didn’t lift us up, you tore us down, you broke mom and I pray every day that she wakes up and leaves you far behind. Your hatred is being continued now, with Faith’s boys, Brian Junior and Jordan will be just like their dad, they’ll be just like you, abusive, useless assholes. I don’t ever want to see you, to hear from you or to know you again.”

Pausing, I took a deep, calming breath and waited for the tirade to come. Instead, I watched my father’s face turn a bright shade of red as he began to speak, Jake walked straight to him, stood behind him, placed a hand on each shoulder and showed him to the door.

“You’ll want to stay quiet now. Hope has said all she needs to say on the subject. You’ve been asked to leave and you are no longer welcome here.” Jake’s tone was so cold, as he escorted my father from the room.

Jake

Walking back to Hope’s hospital room, I was hopeful that I’ve given her enough time with her dad. I saw something in her eyes just before I left that made me pause and question, leaving the room, but I needed to let them speak in private.

Coming closer to the partially closed door, I heard a man’s raised voice going on and on, saying horrible things, was that – was that Hope’s father? Picking up my speed, I threw the door open, my chest heaving as I took in the scene. I was about to take that man out, I wanted to grab his shirt and punch him in his fucking face until he shut up, until he regretted all the shit he was saying to her. I’d heard him say that she should have been with Tim, how he kept her in line, what the fuck was wrong with that man.

She was pregnant, he was yelling at her and she was pregnant with my baby. How could any father speak to his child that way? How could Hope’s father, speak to
her
that way?

She was the most amazing woman I’d ever known. How did he not see that? Staring at him, menace burning in my eyes, I heard Hope speak. Her words were strong, sure and determined. Moving my gaze from the fuck-whit to her, my body relaxed slightly as she tore that asshole apart.

I was in awe of her, of her courage. I knew, listening to her, watching her now, I knew that this man had done this type of thing for her entire life. He spoke this way to his wife? What the fuck was wrong with him?

When I saw the idiot start to respond after she told him she was done, my feet moved of their own volition, I took a position behind him, placed firm hands on his shoulders and escorted the mother-fucker out. Hope didn’t need to see this man again.

Once we were in the hallway, I guided him to the elevator, I pushed the button, moving one hand off him, but moving the other, so my posture didn’t set off any alarms with the staff. The last thing I needed was to deal with my superiors because of this. He was a dick and didn’t deserve one more ounce of Hope’s attention, I had every intention of letting him know just that.

The older man sputtered a few times as I guided him through the lobby of the hospital, but my fierce glare shut him up before he got more than a few words out. He’d said more than enough.

“Where’s your car?” I barked out. The coward didn’t answer, just pointed toward an older model Toyota Avalon. Directing him that way, I waited until we got close before I took my hand away from him and began to speak.

“You are a moron. You took the most beautiful, the strongest, the most amazing woman in the world and tried to break her to your will. Your narrow minded views, you fucked up old man, you will never see her again. Don’t call her, don’t see her, don’t even think her fucking name or you will be dealing with me. Nod if you understand.”

The stupid man’s gaze was hard, hate filled his eyes. I knew that it wasn’t a hate solely for me, but a hate that filled his soul. In that moment, I saw what I could have become had Hope not come into my life. I could have been an old bitter, worthless man, but instead, thanks to Hope, thanks to Nolan’s letter waking me up, I had a future that I no longer dreaded.

“Don’t be stupid here. She just told you exactly what she thinks of you. I would love nothing more than to put my hands on you in a way that you definitely wouldn’t like, but I don’t have time to deal with you and your bullshit. I need to get back to my girl, I’d much rather be with her than with you.” His glare got harder, more hateful if that could be believed.

“In case you have any question, I love that girl and I will be there for her from now on, so she doesn’t need you, some cowardly dick coming around and trying to fuck with her head. I don’t ever want to hear about you being around or contacting her again. Nod.”

Finally, the douche nodded, opened his car and I stood watching as he pulled out of the parking lot. I raced back inside, taking the stairs two at a time, so I didn’t have to wait for the elevator, I made it back to Hope’s side, just where I belonged. Walking through the door, my heart melted when she saw me and her entire face, bruised and battered, lit up.

…

Hope had been home with me now for two days. The doctor had released her, after confirming that her head looked good and the pregnancy didn’t appear affected by the trauma to her abdomen.

I’d paid attention this time when the ultrasound had been done. Watching the little white blob blink and move, hearing the sound of our baby’s heartbeat fill the room had been the single sweetest moment of my life.

She’d taken leave from work, the doctor suggested she take two weeks, but Hope had decided to take longer. She didn’t want to go back looking as she did. With the clients she had, it could be traumatic for some of them to see her that way.

A knock sounded at the door, so I rose from the couch where I’d been sitting with Hope.

“Hey Dan, what brings you by?” I wasn’t really surprised to see him, but standing behind him was Christine. It wasn’t a shock to see her either, but I felt strange having her here. I was still pissed at her for telling Hope that I was bad for her, for spewing that bullshit about our past.

Deciding that I’d put it out of my mind, I greeted her professionally, which was kind of a dick move, but she was here in my house, with my girl, and I assumed that it wasn’t a personal call, so professional she would get.

“Is Hope up and around?” Dan asked as he scanned the room, then spotted her on the couch. She started to rise, but I moved back to her and encouraged her to sit back down. The doctor wanted her to rest for at least the next week, and I was determined that she’d do just that.

“Come on in, I assume you have news?” I asked, motioning for the armchairs across from the couch.

“Yes, I’ve got a lot of news actually. It seems that when Mr. Stone has Vicodin, he sings like the proverbial canary.” Dan’s grin was almost evil, even gleeful.

“Anyway,” he continued after opening up the file and pulling out some pictures. “Mr. James Stone, aka, Timothy Johnson, aka, Jim Johnstone is the man. Your ex-boyfriend,” he looked directly at Hope as he spoke; “went by the name of Tim Johnson in Mississippi. A protection order and police report had already been filed for James Stone at that time, so he decided to use an alias, got a fake ID and Social Security card.”

Hope nodded, encouraging Dan to go on, as I noticed Christine shift uncomfortably in her seat.

“Well, after you reported him in Mississippi, he disappeared, Timothy Johnson ceased to exist. He moved here, to Plano actually, and waited. He knew that you were from this area and that you’d return here. He planned to find you and to convince you to return to him. He stalked you for a while, but stopped when he met Vanessa. He and Vanessa married, though the legality of that union is in question since he married her with a fake name.”

He paused, and Hope asked, “Have you spoken with Vanessa yet?”

“Yes, we’ve just come from Freedom House. We wanted to let her know that Mr. Stone was in custody and that she was safe to return to their home if she wished, and to resume her normal life. Barring any surprises, Mr. Stone should be in custody for some time. He’s wanted in three states for all sorts of crimes, battery, theft and possession are just a few.”

“Oh, I’m so glad for her.” Hope breathed out, relief for the other woman obvious.

“So, Mr. Stone saw the news about Nolan’s death.” Dan glanced at me and back to Hope. Her body tightened at the mention of Nolan, but she stayed calm.

“He’d recently lost his job, which apparently, according to Vanessa, was the catalyst for his increased abuse. She fled, and James, Tim, whomever; focused his attention back on you. He knew where Nolan lived, but not where you lived, not yet. He watched Nolan’s house, saw Aurora going there, saw her talking to Sam, the owner of the yard service and noted the name of the company from the truck. He got a job with them, then after a couple of weeks, went back to Nolan’s house, broke in and set the fire in the kitchen, thinking that you would come and he could nab you in the chaos. When that didn’t work, he followed Aurora to her house, watched it and when you showed up followed you. That’s how he found out where you lived.”

“All this sounds crazy.” Hope stated, she was right. This guy was seriously whacked.

“He admitted all this? Even high on pain meds, I can’t believe he gave you all of this.” I asked Dan, looking for confirmation, for something that would convince me that all this was over, that Hope was safe, that our baby would be safe from the monster.

“Yeah, it was like he was proud, he wanted to brag about how smart he’d been. So, he knew where you lived, Hope, knew where you worked, but once you moved in with Jake he couldn’t find you. You were really smart to alter your path each time and keep an eye out, I think that saved you.” Dan’s smile was genuine and Hope returned it.

“After he left your house Saturday, he got in his truck and fled the scene, he was speeding and probably driving erratically and crashed that old truck into a tree headed back to Plano.”

“So, that’s why he was talking about his wife, he kept going on and on about her, I didn’t know what he was talking about, but now I understand. Vanessa said every time she left the shelter, she thought she’d seen him, I was worried about her, that she was suffering from hallucinations or something.” I could hear the regret in her voice as she mentioned Vanessa, I pulled her in tighter to my side and held her, giving her the only thing I had to offer.

“I told you that when I’d met him with the yard service, that he gave me the creeps. I noticed that on the security footage he’d keep his back to the cameras at all times. He worked really hard at that, it was obvious that he was hiding.” I reminded Dan, pretty sure I’d told him all that in the hospital, but it was such a blur, I couldn’t be sure.

Dan nodded in remembrance, made a couple more notes and looked toward Christine. Hope’s body stiffened, apparently remembering that the other woman was still in the room.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered, so only she could hear. She shook her head and smiled up at me.

“Do you have any questions or have any more information for us?” I asked, ready for them to go, I wanted to be alone with Hope, so she could rest and heal.

“That’s all, we’ll need testimony later of course and we’ll need to have you talk to the attorneys when it gets to that point, but I’ll let you know if we have any more questions.” Dan smiled and stood from his chair. Looking over to Christine, she rose too, and they headed to the front door. I kissed Hope’s cheek and followed them out.

“I’m really sorry for what I said, I shouldn’t have interfered, I know that Jake is a good guy and that he’d never hurt you.” Christine said as she passed by Hope.

“It’s okay, Christine, I don’t think you were trying to hurt me, I got the sense you only wanted to protect me.” Hope answered, her ability to forgive and move on astounding me.

I gave a sharp look to Christine, non-verbally encouraging her to get the fuck out of my house. She did, thank god.

…

Much later, that night, I held Hope in my arms in our bed. Neither of us could sleep, but it was nice to hold her here like this. Thinking back to that note, mentioning her dad, thinking about what she’s told me about Tim and what happened that night when she left him, or more importantly, what she hasn’t told me, I decide that it’s time. I need to know.

“Tell me, sweetheart, tell me what happened that night you finally left your ex.” I couldn’t say the fucker’s name out loud.

She hesitated for a long time, but she wasn’t ignoring me, I felt as her body tensed, she was thinking, pulling her thoughts together. She was so careful with her words, wanting to make sure she said the right thing, so I just laid there, holding her and waited.

“Tim was really sweet to me in the beginning. I hadn’t really dated much. My parents were really strict, Nolan and I dated for a couple of months during my freshman year, but my father found out and put a stop to it.” She took in a deep breath and I could tell she was preparing herself to continue.

“Anyway, he was really sweet, giving me a lot of attention. We met at one of the coffee shops near campus. After that day I seemed to run into him everywhere. I finally agreed to go on a date with him. He was so different from my father, I needed that. It was about a year or so into our relationship when he started to change, looking back, I can see it, but then I couldn’t. If I changed plans with him or he saw me talking to a guy, he’d get really angry, wouldn’t talk to me for days. He was possessive, but not in a normal way.” She rushed to explain as my body went tense. I thought about how possessive I was of her, and hoped that she didn’t see me that way.

She flexed her arm, tightening it over my chest. “He punished me, ignored me at first so I learned to not do that anymore. I wouldn’t ever engage men in conversation, even the ones I knew from school. He wanted all of my free time, I had stopped spending time with friends so those relationships crumbled over time. He isolated me from everyone until I just went to school, to work and then was with him almost all the rest of the time. Even if I was studying, he wanted me to do it at his apartment or in my dorm, and he would be there.” I knew where this was going, I really don’t want to hear it, I couldn’t stand the thought of what happened to her, but I had to know, for us to move on, I had to.

“Another year or so had gone by, it was just the two of us. Beginning the first semester of my senior year, one of my study partners was a good-looking guy, there wasn’t anything between us, not at all, but it drove him crazy. Every time I had study group or we would meet up for the class, Tim would get so angry. He went along a couple of times, just to see that I wasn’t doing anything. The thing was, he wasn’t worried about my safety, he called me a dirty whore and he didn’t want me spreading my legs.” I know that she’d seen the difference between my protectiveness and his obsession with her, but I appreciated how she explained it, like she was reassuring me that she didn’t see me in the same light.