-Caleb-
I stroked Jacey’s hair gently in the morning hours before I had to go work for the devil incarnate.
She stirred then snuggled into me more and tried to go back to sleep.
“Baby,” I murmured, my hand moving down her back. “If we want to be together before I go to work, we have to start now.”
Jacey grumbled and popped her head up off my shoulder. Her face was scrunched and adorable, so I kissed her nose.
“I love you,” I said.
“Mmm, love you, too,” she yawned.
I tickled the small of her back, and she giggled.
“It’s not fa
-Jacey-It was when the smoke detector went off that I realized something was wrong.I sat up in bed and blinked at the darkness. Caleb wasn’t home yet, and I’d decided to take a little nap before he arrived just in case he was in the mood for rigorous after dinner activities.Confused, I went to the door, but the handle was hot. My third grade fire safety knowledge came rushing back to me all at once, and I knew not to open the door. Smoke began pouring up from under the bottom of the door, however. Panicking, I reached for one of Caleb’s sweaters and rolled it up on the carpet to block the incoming smoke.Then I backed to the window. I tried to open it, thinking I could at least get the smoke out of the room and maybe be in position if a firefighter c
-Caleb-Wade was not my favorite person right now.As he laid Jacey carefully down on the sofa and checked for even pupil dilation, I paced the rug anxiously.“Sit down, Caleb,” Darren said after a while.“She’s fine. Maybe a very mild concussion, but she shouldn’t need to see a doctor,” Wade muttered, putting his penlight away. He got out a needle and some thread-like substance. “Dissolving stitches,” he explained to me when I opened my mouth to ask. He concentrated on Jacey’s grazed arm, carefully sewing the wound shut.“Look at her legs! What the hell happened?!” I demanded to know.Jacey, Darren, and Wade all lo
-Jacey-I spent most of the evening crying into my pillow. How could Caleb have said that? He made it sound as though I didn’t care about our family at all.The only times I left my bed were to go to the bathroom. Luckily, I had an en suite, so I didn’t have to go out into the hall and risk running into Caleb.At some point, I heard a scraping sound near my door, but Caleb did not try to knock or come inside. I wasn’t sure if I was relieved or disappointed.I crept to my door and opened it. No one was there. I was just about to close the door when I saw a food tray lying on the floor.Grilled cheese, a glass of milk, some potato chips, and carrot sticks.Tears we
-Caleb-“You’ve decided what now?” Darren gaped.“We’re going to get pregnant,” I replied. “So, please have the gyno come to make sure she’s well, but…”“... I won’t be needing an IUD,” Jacey said, leaning her head against my shoulder.Darren closed his eyes, his lips moving as though he was counting to ten. Maybe a hundred. “You’re just kids. Jacey, you’re nineteen. And you’re in witness protection. I think it might be best if you waited.”“We feel differently,” I insisted. “I mean, we’re going to be in witness protection forever, right?”Darr
-Jacey-I rested my head on Caleb’s shoulder as we drove away from the cabin. Masterson sat in the front seat with the driver, one of his goons. We were in the back with the other goon.“How stupid did you have to be to think you could escape me?” Masterson chortled.“Pretty stupid,” Caleb replied flatly.“Indeed. And you didn’t even jump states! Fools,” Masterson went on, still laughing to himself.The goon sitting just in front of us in the Escalade turned and grinned at us, enjoying Masterson’s little victory party. He also gave me the slow once-over, which I did not appreciate.Caleb punched him in the nose. “Eyes ahe
-Caleb-I sat cross-legged on the bed with Jacey sitting across from me while we ate rehydrated pot roast from ration packs. We balanced the food on our knees while our bottled waters rested on the floor next to us.We’d been picnicking this way for days. We’d also been doing it missionary style so I could hide most of Jacey from the camera. Or cameras. I wasn’t quite sure how many cameras were on us.They’d left us clothes as well, so Jacey and I spent most of our time in windsuits. When we weren’t fucking. We spent a lot of time fucking. Mostly because we were bored.There was no television. No phone. No computer. Nothing but Jacey, me, food, clothing, water, and a mattress. And the corner of our bunker that was a small bathroom. That shower had gotten a lot of miles,
-Jacey-I woke up in the dark. The first thing I noticed was that Caleb wasn’t there. I felt around for him, but the space I was in was tiny, only big enough for me to lie down, curled up on the floor. So, I knew almost immediately that I was alone. Without Caleb.Panicking, I felt along the walls for a way out. I found a door handle, but jiggling it did not cause it to yield.I banged on the metal door and screamed for help.The door swung open, and three black-clad figures stood before me, their faces covered by half-masks over their noses and mouths.“She’s awake,” one of them told the others.“Thank you, Captain Obvious,” another, this one a female judging by her voice, said.
-Caleb-I was just coming out of the shower, a towel around my waist, when I saw someone on my bed.The long, dark hair spread over my pillows reminded me so much of Jacey, it made my chest hurt. But I knew it couldn’t be her.It was another Spanish ‘snack’ the sheik meant to tempt me with for being a ‘good boy.’I sighed and braced one knee on the mattress so I could lean over and give the woman’s shoulder a shake. “Come on, you. Get up and get out. Make sure the sheik pays you well for your time, but I’m really not interested.”The woman rolled on her back, and I felt like I’d been punched in the gut. It was Jacey!&ldq