Forever Mine

Chapter 16

CHAPTER 16

JAY

I woke up to 70s rock music and the smell of bacon. My eyes fluttered open and I came face to face with Dakota, whose eyes were half open.

He groaned, “My mom is here.” I frowned, not sure how he could tell.

“The music. She always listens to this when she cooks.” His eyes closed again and he nuzzled into my chest.

I held him tighter as all the events from early this morning came rushing back. I was already irritated and exhausted when I left the factory. It had been a crappy shift and all I wanted was my bed and Dakota. Then I noticed a few of my coworkers hovering in the parking lot and taking pictures. When I got closer, I saw it was my truck. My completely destroyed truck.

I squeezed my eyes shut and breathed Dakota in. He didn’t smell quite right, since he’d used his brother’s shampoo, but I didn’t care. It was still Dakota. I couldn’t think about my truck right now. It was destroyed. I couldn’t afford to get it fixed. The first and only thing totally in my name, my lifeline for all those fuckin’ years, was gone. Just like that.

The pain was threatening to suck me under, but I had to push it aside. My truck was just a thing. There was a fuckin’ psycho after my Dakota. Stalking him and threatening my family. That fucker had no idea what he had just done by threatening what was mine.

The music got louder, and Kota chuckled into my chest. “This was Ma’s MO growing up. If she thought we were sleeping too late the music would just gradually get louder, as would her singing, until we couldn’t ignore it anymore.”

I smiled at Kota’s affectionate tone. “Should we get up then?”

“Eh, soon. Just wanna hold you for a little longer.”

I kissed his head. “Sounds good to me.”

Like Kota said, eventually the music, and Shauna’s singing, got so loud that it was impossible to tune it out.

Groaning, Kota rolled away from me and out of the bed. “We’re coming, Ma! Jesus. Let us brush our teeth at least.”

The music immediately lowered. “Of course, honey. Hygiene is important.” Dakota rolled his eyes, and I snorted as I climbed out of the bed and we shuffled into the bathroom together.

A few minutes later, we walked into Declan’s main living area wearing borrowed clothes. I had gotten gym shorts and a t-shirt while Kota had gray sweats and a t-shirt. I guessed mine were because of my height, so I didn’t feel as ridiculous, which I appreciated. Though it did leave all my tats on display and I had to remind myself that Shauna legitimately didn’t seem to care about that.

Shauna had her back to us, humming in a much quieter tone to the music she had playing from her phone. She was flipping something in a pan. Declan sat at a table with bleary eyes from lack of sleep and the largest mug of coffee I’d ever seen. He up-nodded at us when we walked in.

Shauna turned her head and smiled at us. “Good morning, darlings. I see you’re finally up.”

Dakota grunted. “I wonder why that is,” he grumbled but still went over and kissed his mom on the cheek. “Morning, Ma.”

“Good morning.” She smiled at me, “Good morning Jay, there’s coffee on the counter.”

“Uh, thanks, Mrs. Kelly.”

She wrinkled her nose. “Please, call my Shauna. Or Mom.”

Yeah, I couldn’t do that last one. “Okay, Shauna.” She smiled softly, and I went to the coffee and started to fix up a mug for me and Dakota while he leaned over his mom to steal bacon from the pan.

She flicked the spatula in his direction. “None of that. I didn’t raise you to be a heathen. Go get your coffee and join your brother. We’ll eat and then we can talk. Your dad is on his way too. He just had something to take care of at the shop first.”

My stomach soured. I wasn’t looking forward to that. Dakota looked at me. “We should probably call Beck and Wes. I’m assuming they want to be in the loop, and I’d rather only tell everyone once.”

It was a good idea. “Yeah, okay. I’ll text Beck.” I looked over at Declan, “What’s your address? Oh, and is it okay if I invite them here?”

Declan rattled off an address, which I guess was consent to invite them over, and I shot Beck a quick text.

We all sat down to eat and were pretty quiet during the meal. I guess we were all in our heads too much for small talk. Fine by me. Just as we were finishing up, Dakota’s dad, Patrick, showed up. He hugged his sons and kissed his wife and nearly shocked the life outta me by squeezing my shoulder affectionately.

“I know you’re uncomfortable with hugs, but if that ever changes, I’ll greet you the same way as I do my kids.”

I had…no fuckin’ clue what to say to that, so I said nothing. Patrick didn’t seem to mind.

Dakota and I cleaned up after breakfast. I loved little moments like this with him. Even with this dark-ass cloud hanging over our heads, things seemed a little brighter when we were standing side by side, our arms touching as he washed and I dried. Kota spent the whole time grumbling that his brother didn’t have a dishwasher, but I didn’t mind. The first one I’d ever had was at our new apartment. I was used to this.

Just as we were finishing up, the doorbell rang. The sound felt fuckin’ ominous, and I knew the little bubble of peace we forced while we ate was about to break.

Declan opened the door as Kota and I walked out to the main area. Beckett, Riley and Wes were all standing there. Beckett looked as on edge as I felt and even Wes had some tension in his shoulders. Nobody was taking this lightly, which I appreciated.

“Hey,” Beck up-nodded Declan. They met briefly yesterday and Declan greeted him with a “Hey” before stepping back to let the group in.

Beck went right to me, ignoring everyone else in the room. He held my head in both his hands as he searched my eyes, making sure I was okay. I didn’t need to speak, we knew each other too well, andI couldn’t hide anything if I tried.

“We got this, bro. We got your back no matter what. Yours and Dakota’s.”

Something unfurled in my chest. I knew he would, but still, hearing it made me breathe a little easier. We’d kept each other sane for years. I wouldn’t let him fall, and the same went for him. Now, Beck just confirmed he considered Dakota part of our ever-growing family, and just knowing he and Riley had us, made everything a little easier to cope with.

“He got into Kota’s locker, man. He knew he wanted chocolate.”

I couldn’t get over that. How could he have heard that? No one was around. I checked. How the fuck did he get into the break room and know the code? It made me fuckin’ sick to think about.

Dakota came up to me and squeezed my hand. “Why don’t we all sit and we can tell the whole story?” I squeezed back, Dakota’s touch and Beck’s presence the only things keeping me present.

Thank fuck Dakota handled the introductions, and soon, we all took over Declan’s living room. I felt kinda bad about it, but no one else seemed to mind, including Declan, so I tried to let it go. Kota’s family was a different breed, I just had to accept it.

We then spent the next twenty minutes briefing everyone on what happened yesterday. Kota’s parents gave him some shit for not telling them about the flower, and I felt a little crappy about it. I never meant to throw him under the bus, I just couldn’t think straight when he wasn’t answering my messages, even if I knew he was likely just busy. All I could think of was what if that fucker got to him somehow? What if I was stuck at the fuckin’ factory with my destroyed car while he took my Dakota?

They didn’t seem too mad though, just more worried than anything. I’d have hated itif I’d done anything to mess up his relationship with his family. That was some special shit they had going on there. I wasn’t gonna be the cause of it fracturing.

Luckily, the focus was mainly on what happened and what to do going forward. Everyone looked at the pictures of my car and took a turn reading the note from the psycho. Wes even made Declan get the box of chocolates out of the car where we’d forgotten it last night. I didn’t know what he was gonna do with it, but he said he was taking it with him.

“I tried calling Luca but he’s still dark. Diego won’t tell me where he is or what’s happening, but he did agree to tap into the cameras at the hospital and the lot at the factory. They both have heavy surveillance, and it’s likely something got caught on camera.”

“Do you think it’s more than one person?” Patrick asked. “How did they get into Dakota’s locker and to Jay’s car?”

Wes shook his head. “It’s possible, but based on the notes that were left, I’d say it’s the same person. They were both stuck inside for twelve-hour shifts. Dakota said he hadn’t touched his locker in nearly seven hours since he was with that patient. The hospital and factory are only fifteen minutes away from each other, it’s feasible for one person to have gotten to one place and then the other.”

Shauna wrung her hands and leaned heavily into her husband. “Shouldn’t we go to the police?”

I scowled at that and was surprised to see Patrick making a similar face. Though I guessed, even if it’d been a while, he didn’t have the best past with cops either.

I was even more shocked when Wes agreed. “Yes, actually, you both should. Jay, you absolutely should press charges and have them investigate. I’m not sure how much they can do, especially for what’s going on with Dakota, but having it on record will be helpful. I’ll still investigate on my own, but I’d like to at least try to do things the legal way.” He looked tired too. I wondered if it was only this taking a toll on him. I had no idea what was going on between him and Luca, but having no way of knowing what was going on with him and if he was okay had to be hard. I’d lose my fuckin’ mind if I had to deal with that with anyone I loved.

“I’m going to say the same thing I did last year when we were in a similar situation, and this time I expect you all to listen.” He glared at Beckett, who had the decency to look embarrassed.

Last year when Mr. Chase was missing, we were all told to never go anywhere alone, and always make sure Skye or Maverick, who were acting like our bodyguards, knew where we were going. Well, Ri and Beck didn’t listen just once and Mr. Chase almost fuckin’ killed Beckett. Riley got there in time, but it was a close call. Nobody wanted a repeat.

“Stay fucking together. No one walks alone. If you have to be alone at home, doors must always be locked. Either me or Diego will be monitoring the security cameras. Don’t shut them off. Ever. I know you all have to work, but be careful and alert. Dakota, if you see anyone who seems off to you, call me immediately. If you can’t reach us, get hospital security. I’m also going to reach out to my contacts with the police and see if we can get any plain clothes sitting in front of your homes and work. It’s not ideal, but without Luca’s team around, it’s the best I could do. I don’t have the connections I used to have.” He shrugged, “It’s better to be paranoid than dead.”

Dakota frowned. “Is it really that serious?” He held up his hand before the entire room fucking attacked him. “Not like that. I know the threat is real, and I’m freaked out. I agree we should go to the cops, and I’m filing a report with the hospital too, but everything else? The guy hasn’t approached me or anything.”

“That you know of,” Wes added, “You could have spoken to him at a number of different places and not even realized it.”

“Besides, he’s escalating, honey,” Shauna added, “He may not have been violent toward you or Jay yet, but he vandalized property and was very threatening. I think we’d all feel better if you had some trained professionals keeping an eye on you.”

“It’s not overkill. You’re doing it,” I snapped, a little more harshly than I meant. Dakota raised an eyebrow at me, and there’d be hell to pay later, but I didn’t care. “Sorry,” I added because I did sound like an asshole. “I ain’t tryin’ to control you or anything, but I don’t know what I will do if somethin’ happens to you, sweetheart. I need you. I need you to stay safe. Please.”

Everyone was watching us, but I only had eyes for Dakota. He softened.

“Okay fine. I wasn’t going to say no anyway. I was just asking.”

We moved on after that and the conversation turned to who it could be. “Have you noticed anyone that seemed suspicious?” Wes asked, “Anyone who was where you didn’t expect them to be? Or maybe paid a little too much attention to you? Even just gave you a weird vibe?”

Dakota shook his head. “No, I don’t think so. I see all kinds of people at the hospital, but no one that stood out or felt like they’d be stalking me.”

Something about his words tickled at the back of my brain. I zoned out, trying to place why that was important.

“The hospital!” I blurted out.

Everyone got quiet and looked at me. “Huh?” Declan asked, chiming in for the first time.

“What about that guy at the hospital?” I asked Kota.

He tilted his head in confusion. “What guy?”

“When we stopped to get your wallet? You were talkin’ to some guy, and he was botherin’ you.”

It took Dakota a second to place who I was talking about, but then his eyes widened. “Oh yeah, the grocery store guy. There’s no way it was him though. I think he’s just lonely.” Which made him even a more likely suspect, but I stayed quiet. I was pretty sure Kota was still annoyed at me for snapping at him, I wasn’t gonna make it worse.

“What grocery store guy?” Patrick asked.

Kota waved his hand. “He’s a cashier at the store by you. Fuck, I can’t remember his name. It’s something really basic. Joe. Dave. No, John, I think? I don’t know. He was visiting his mom who had hip surgery and ran into me. It was no big deal.”

It seemed like Wes didn’t agree. “What else can you tell me about him? What does he look like? What’s the name of the store? Did he mention his mom’s name?”

Wes continued to grill Dakota, who didn’t have many answers. Even his parents couldn’t place the guy and they were at the store a few times a week. Kota was sure we were being paranoid, but I didn’t agree. Kota was really fuckin’ uncomfortable. If that guy had still been there by the time I got in, I woulda confronted him. I didn’t fuckin’ like it.

Eventually, Wes left, and Beckett and Ri went with them, after much persuasion. They agreed to stay with Wes, and Declan offered for us to stay with him for a few days. I wasn’t happy with that idea, but everyone felt more comfortable. If he knew where I worked and Kota lived, it made sense he’d know where I lived too. Obviously, this couldn’t last forever, but I think Wes was lowkey hoping Luca came back and could get better security on us or figure out who this fucker was.

After they left, Patrick and Shauna agreed to drive us to get Dakota’s car and then to the police station. Dakota and I sat together in the back seat holding hands.

“I’m sorry for snappin’ earlier,” I whispered in his ear.

He just smiled softly. “It’s okay. I get it. I’d probably do the same if it was you questioning it.” Relieved he wasn’t still mad, I brought him to my chest. We stayed that way all the way to the hospital, and then even as he drove to the police station, with Shauna and Patrick following us, we kept physical contact. I couldn’t bring myself to be more than a few feet from Kota. I had no idea what I was gonna do when we had to work.

Did I mention how much I hated being in a police station? I fuckin’ hate it. Even when I wasn’t a suspect, they did an amazing job of making me feel like I’m one. It didn’t help that the officer who took my statement had arrested me a few times before. He recognized me immediately, which was fuckin’ ridiculous, honestly. I hadn’t gotten picked up in nearly five years, and it was for petty shit. Didn’t Officer Dumbass have bigger and badder people to worry about than me? ’Course the last time I dealt with him I spit in his face, so maybe that was why. But the fucker put hands on Riley, who had nothing to do with anything. I wasn’t gonna let that slide.

Anyway, Officer Dumbass was not cooperative, and I almost lost my shit when the fucker suggested that I destroyed my own car to cover my tracks and I was the one stalking Dakota.

Luckily, I avoided trouble because Shauna was the one who lost her cool and went absolutely feral on the officer. To the point that Patrick had to escort her out so they didn’t arrest her. I was grinning ear to ear and feeling kind of special that she protected me like that.

The cops calmed down after that too. They even got a much more neutral officer, who didn’t look like he’d take personal enjoyment in seeing me behind bars, to finish our statements. I doubted they were taking it too seriously, but they let us file reports for both incidents, and I guess at that point, that was the most I could hope for. We didn’t even ask for protection, since Wes said he’d handle that. I was exhausted after we left though, and was ready for a fucking nap. But since we had no clothes or anything at Declan’s, we first had to go toDakota’s apartment to grab some stuff. I had enough there to last a few days and avoid a second trip. It shouldn’t have surprised me, but it did when Patrick and Shauna escorted us to Dakota’s place too. I wasn’t sure what they thought they could do to protect their son that I couldn’t, but I had to admit that Patrick could probably hold his own. He looked like he was a brawler back in the day. And Shauna was tough as nails. I’d be a little scared to meet her in a back alley. Okay, so maybe it was good they were coming.

I think we were all a little relieved when we got to Kota’s door and there were no surprises and it looked undisturbed. “If you see anything at all that looks off, make sure you take a picture of it so we can add it to the report and tell Wes,” Shauna reminded us as Dakota pulled out the key.

I was probably bordering on too protective, but I couldn’t help myself when I grabbed the key out of his hand, opened the door, and entered first. I could practically hear Kota’s eye roll, but he didn’t stop me.

My hand was on my knife the whole fuckin’ time as we walked through the place. I stayed one step in front of Dakota and his family, and took in every detail. Were those shoes left under the coffee table or were they moved? Did we really forget to put the cereal box away? I questioned every little thing, but nothing was obviously different. Finally deciding that the psycho hadn’t broken in, especially since the cameras were all still active and not tampered with, we both quickly packed a bag, anxious to get outta there. Which fuckin’ sucked. Kota’s place was starting to feel like home. It was his safe place, and now it wasn’t. How could we feel safe knowing that asshole not only knew where he lived but was listening in? Wes said he’d check for recording devices, and I couldn’t wait till we got some answers. I didn’t like waiting.

We finally were done and made it back to Declan’s place. He had work, so once Shauna and Patrick left, we were alone.

“I need a shower and a nap,” Dakota groaned. I wrapped my arms around him from behind and nuzzled his neck. He tilted his head to the side to give me more access and relaxed in my arms. “Can we take that shower together?” I whispered as seductively as I could manage. We both could afford to blow off some steam, and what better way to do that than blowing Kota in the shower?

He grinned, totally following my train of thought. “Hell fucking yes, we can shower together. Baby, I don’t think you understand, I’d be happy if I never had to do anything without you ever again.”

“Don’t be givin’ me ideas, Kota. My ass will think you’re bein’ serious.”

Kota stepped away from me and headed toward the bedroom. He glanced seductively over his shoulder. “Who said I’m not?”

He kept walking, and you best believe I fuckin’ sprinted after him.