The Closer You Come

  As they pushed through the crowd, she withdrew her pepper spray from her pocket. Once...twice...she thought she spotted their target, but when they reached the spot he'd stood in, he'd already vanished.

  They checked the stalls that had been blocked off from the guests--and finally found West. A half-undressed woman sat on a bench before him, her back to the door, West's body between her legs. His hands were fisted in her long, dark hair.

  Beck cursed, and the woman jerked around. Her identity registered, and Brook Lynn scowled. Though Jessie Kay would probably pretend not to care, she was not going to like this. At all.

  Charlene Burns tugged up the straps of her dress and leaped to her feet. Without her as an anchor, West stumbled backward. His hair was mussed, his eyes bloodshot. Dark stubble dusted his jaw. There were smears of lipstick along the column of his throat, and his shirt was unbuttoned to the navel, revealing a set of washboard abs that might have been sculpted from granite. His pants gaped open at the fly, and Brook Lynn immediately averted her gaze.

  "Y'all here to chaperone?" Charlene asked with a sneer. "How sweet."

  Beck stomped over to West. "At Tessa's GED party? Really? At the party you wanted to throw for her, this is how you commemorate her? By picking your next two-month-stand?"

  "She's not my next. Was just fooling around. And you're one to talk," West replied. "You sleep with anything that moves."

  Beck was unfazed by the insult. "This isn't you, man. You need to pull your head out of your ass and think."

  "Just back off." West shoved Beck.

  Beck could have shoved back--or worse--but he merely held up his hands, palms out, a do what you feel you must pose. Still, his eyes were on fire with anger.

  Brook Lynn calmly faced Charlene and pointed to the exit. "Go. Now."

  "Hell, no." Charlene slapped her hands on her hips, though she barely spared Brook Lynn a glance, too enraptured by the guys. "West invited me back to the house, and I accepted. I'd be rude to leave him now."

  Must control myself. Shouldn't attack.

  "You will leave the party," Brook Lynn said, "and you won't contact West again. He's in a bad place, and you're taking advantage of him."

  "Advantage?" Charlene snorted. "He came on to me. I was talking to your sister and he interrupted, asking if I wanted two orgasms or three. I wasn't willing to settle for anything less than four, so we decided to get started right away."

  So...he'd come on to her in front of Jessie Kay, who crushed on him despite his abysmal treatment. That must have stung something fierce. Was Jessie Kay spiraling even now?

  "Get out," Brook Lynn insisted, fingers tight on the can of pepper spray. I will not use it. I will not freaking use it. "I mean it."

  Charlene looked over at West and Beck. West barely seemed to register her presence, he was in such a drunken daze.

  "Go," Beck said. "Now."

  "One," Brook Lynn said. "Two." She stepped forward.

  "Okay, okay." Charlene stomped from the stall.

  "Come on," Beck said to West. "Let's get you to the house and sobered up before you cause any more trouble."

  Brook Lynn tried to branch away from them, thinking to find Jessie Kay, but Beck grabbed hold of her wrist, stilling her.

  "You're going with us," he said.

  She shook her head. "I'm going to find my sister and stick by her. I'll be okay."

  He hesitated to let her go. "I don't want you maneuvering through the crowd on your own."

  "I don't care."

  "Fine. West and I will help you find her."

  West jerked from Beck's hold. "No way. I'm not going near Jessie Kay. Not sure whether I'll insult her or screw her."

  Screw her?

  Beck had to fight him to restrain him, gritting out, "I'll find her, then. And Jase, for that matter. It's time. Just do me a solid and stay here with Brook Lynn. Guard her. Don't let anyone approach her. I'll be back in a few minutes."

  "Fine," West grumbled.

  "Brook Lynn?" Beck asked, his brow raised.

  "I'm good with that plan."

  Beck took off without another word, and West leaned against the wall, only to slump to the ground.

  "You okay?" she asked.

  "Not even close," he said. "But I will be. Tomorrow." His head fell forward, his chin banging into his sternum.

  Falling asleep?

  Yep. The next thing she heard was a snore.

  Brook Lynn paced the small confines of the stall, kicking pieces of straw out of her way, as well as-- Gross! A pair of panties. Not wanting anyone else to discover them, she picked them up and, grimacing, flicked them into the trash can.

  A pair of brown boots came into view. Expecting to see Beck, she glanced up--and spotted Stan.

  Gasping, she scrambled backward. He'd changed the color of his eyes with contacts, and he'd shaved his head. His lips were chapped and pressed into a thin line. He wore a staff uniform, white button-up and black slacks.

  "Alone at last," he said, sparing the unmoving West a glance. "I've been waiting for this moment all night. Hell, long before. I heard about the party and decided there was no better time or place. Only fair."

  Only fair? "Dressing as a waiter. Is that how you got in the building?" she demanded, stalling as she scrambled to plan her next move.

  "After our little chat at the Inn, I knew Jase would be coming for me, so I moved in here, where you planned to have Tessa's party. You may have hired guards to keep me out, but I was already inside. Now sit," he commanded, pointing to a chair that had been pushed against the wall. "We'll wait for Jase together."

  Her heart seemed to tumble into her stomach as she locked her finger on the lid of the pepper spray. "I'm not sitting. I'm leaving." Actually, no, she wasn't. She couldn't leave the vulnerable West with this guy. And she didn't want to wake West up, either. In his current state, he might say the wrong thing, provoking Stan, and might get himself stabbed.

  Stan lifted the switchblade he held, the sharp silver glinting in the light. "You'll sit or you'll bleed. Your choice."

  Her legs trembled as she weighed her options. She could close the distance and spray him, risking being stabbed...or she could do what he wanted and risk being stabbed anyway. "I don't care what you threaten. I like where I am and I'm not sitting."

  West smacked his lips and mumbled something unintelligible, and Brook Lynn inched her way in front of him, blocking him from Stan's view.

  "Look, I don't want to hurt you, okay," Stan said. "I've never wanted to hurt you. I want to show you what he is, prove he's a monster. I want this town to know. I've heard everyone talk about him, and you'd think he wears a halo. So if you want to stand, stand, but one way or another you will be calling out for him, screaming his name. I've been waiting for this moment, and I know what will happen the moment he arrives. Everyone will find out what kind of man he really is."

  Her eyes widened. "You want him to beat you up?"

  "Why not? I'm happy to suffer the same fate as my brother, as long as Jase suffers in the end."

  Her stomach churned. Playing dumb, buying time, she said, "I don't understand. Your brother?"

  "My name is Stanton Gillis. The man you're planning to marry beat my older brother Pax to death. And for what? Taking what some skank bitch offered before changing her stupid mind?"

  Oh...no. No, no, no. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry for your loss, but getting Jase to hurt you isn't going to bring your brother back."

  "It might make me feel better."

  "It won't."

  "I think that it will." Stanton ripped at the buttons of his shirt. His chest and arms were covered in tattoos, and most of them were of Jase--being murdered. In one, he was being stoned. In another, he was being dismembered. In another, he had a gun to his temple. But mixed in with the many deaths of Jase were multiple deaths of him, Stan. He wanted to die?

  Tremors nearly shook her off her feet. The crazy pouring out of him was off the charts. There would be no talking him around. No reasoni
ng with him.

  "Pax had a brilliant future, but it was stolen from him." He took a step toward her, hate, rage and bitterness simmering inside his eyes. "Jason only had to serve nine years for his crime, but my brother is gone forever. Where is the justice in that?"

  Underneath the tattoos, she could see the tiny scars running up his arms. Like tiny pinpricks. Track marks? Was he high on top of everything else?

  "But Jase has been out for months," she said, doing her best to sound calm. "Why strike at him now?"

  "At first I didn't mind that he was free." Stan scratched at his arms. "I liked watching him, knowing he was miserable, suffering. But then you came along, and he smiled. He laughed. He shouldn't have laughed." Another step closer, more scratching. "You ruined everything."

  Have to act! Now!

  Brook Lynn jumped forward and reached out to spray him in the face. He hissed, dropping the knife to rub at his eyes. She tried to grab it, but she moved so quickly her foot sent it flying.

  A hand clamped around her calf, a shackle, tripping her. She fell, losing both the can and her breath upon landing. The guy maintained a hard grip on her and jerked her backward, even as she kicked. She slid across the floor, clawing for purchase, but he proved far stronger.

  Stan lumbered to his feet and yanked her up by the hair. As he dragged her to the chair, picking up the knife along the way, she remembered what Jase had taught her about fighting zombies. As soon as Stan faced her, she planted one foot while hooking the other behind his leg. At the same time, she grabbed him by the neck with one hand and latched on to his wrist with the other. Then she shoved and kicked in unison. He fell back, trying to take her with him, but she released him and popped him in the mouth.

  When he hit the ground, she raced to the doorway screaming, "Help us! Someone!"

  Stan scrambled to get to her, but West must have awoken at the sound of her scream and sobered, because he leaped into action, snatching Stan by the ankle, tripping him.

  "Brook Lynn, run," West gritted out, subduing his prize.

  "Brook Lynn!" Jase bellowed.

  No, no. "Stay back." She couldn't let him give Stan what he wanted. But he didn't stay back and she barreled into his chest, would have floundered backward if he hadn't wrapped his arms around her. He'd been running into the stall. He looked her over and then looked at Stan, who was still wrestling with West.

  "You hurt her." Just like that, Jase's entire countenance morphed. From concerned to maddened beyond all control.

  "No," she said. "He didn't hurt me. Let's call for the guards and wait for the cops. Don't go near him. Okay? Please. It's what he wants."

  He didn't seem to hear her. He stormed forward, as if he'd just been struck by a cattle prod. He wrenched Stan from West's grip and slammed him into the floor, following him down so that the two were a tangle of limbs. Jase displayed masterful skill as he disarmed the other man in seconds. He should have backed off then, but he just...started...whaling. Blood sprayed from Stanton's nose, filled his mouth.

  She knew, because he smiled, blood all over his teeth.

  Then Jase's fists rained again. Stanton's body jerked with each whack. People flooded into the stall, witnesses now.

  Brook Lynn tried to stop Jase but someone grabbed her by the waist and held her back. "Please," she shouted. "Please. You have to stop."

  He didn't stop.

  "Jase!"

  He only hit the guy harder.

  Around her, people gasped with horror.

  "Jase," West said. "Man, please. This isn't the way."

  "Jase!" Beck's voice now. He'd returned just in time for the finale. "Enough."

  Jessie Kay sidled up to Brook Lynn's side, taking her from whoever gripped her. "Calm down, sis. Just calm down."

  "Jase. I mean it. Stop right now." Brook Lynn broke free of her sister and raced forward, latching on to his wrist and tugging.

  He flew back, moving away from Stan as if he'd been kicked, even though Stan hadn't moved. He looked at Brook Lynn then at the crowd. There were crimson droplets splattered over his face and dripping from his knuckles.

  He was panting, struggling to rein in his temper. Meanwhile, the crowd whispered among themselves.

  He ignored them to grab fistfuls of Brook Lynn's hair. "Are you okay?"

  She'd wondered how she'd react if she saw him in that kind of a rage--if she'd be terrified of him. Well, she hadn't been. She'd only been scared for him.

  The lump in her throat prevented her from speaking. She managed a nod. She was okay, but he might not be. His parole...

  I can't lose him...just can't.

  Jase gathered her close. As she buried her face in the hollow of his neck, a sob escaped her. She clung to him, pouring out her fear of what could have gone wrong--and what was to come.

  "He's Pax's brother," she said. "He wanted you to hurt him and suffer for it. And if that didn't satisfy him, he planned to kill you."

  His arms tightened around her. She would have liked to remain in his embrace forever, but all too soon he handed her off to...Jessie Kay. She tried to hang on to him, but he kissed her cheek and stepped away from her.

  She soon discovered why. Sheriff Lintz had just stepped out of the crowd, his sights on Jase.

  *

  JASE WAS ESCORTED to Sheriff Lintz's office while Stanton Gillis was taken to the hospital. Knowing the drill, Jase refused to speak with anyone without his lawyer present.

  Sheriff Lintz promised to call the guy and left...and then just never came back. Hour after hour passed, Jase's tension mounting. His lawyer never showed up, either.

  Was this a Strawberry Valley interrogation technique? A form of torture?

  Whatever. Already been tortured tonight, he thought. This was nothing.

  Hearing Brook Lynn scream his name, pain and terror in her voice...and then seeing her with a bloody cut on her lip and a hard knot on her jaw... Yeah, he'd lost it. He'd been overcome by a rage far worse than the ones he'd once unleashed on Pax and inmates who'd attacked him.

  Jase's switch hadn't just flipped. It had fried, the circuits blown. By some miracle, Brook Lynn's pleas for him to stop beating Stanton had reached his ears, and he'd managed to pull back before he'd actually killed the guy. But honestly? He doubted the end result would matter. Assault and battery was assault and battery no matter how you sliced it, and it was a major violation of his parole. He'd be charged tonight, face a judge within the next few days, and then he would most likely be sent back to prison.

  He waited for panic to come...but...no. There was only a cold sense of calm. He'd protected his woman, and he would never regret that. As long as Brook Lynn was safe, he was at peace.

  Was Brook Lynn scared of him again? She'd wondered what would happen if his temper ever overtook him, and finally she'd gotten an answer. The worst possible scenario.

  Hinges on the door creaked, and Sheriff Lintz finally ambled his way back inside the room.

  "Lawyer" was all Jase said.

  The sheriff pushed back his Stetson, revealing a receding salt-and-pepper hairline. "You're free to go, son."

  Jase blinked at him. "Excuse me?" Was this a trick? The guy must know about his past by now. And he was just going to let him loose in the wild?

  "No charges will be filed against you at this time. Or at all," the sheriff added, striding deeper into the room, his boots thumping against the tile floor. He sat across from Jase, who hadn't risen. "Me and my boys talked to all the party guests. We were told time and time again how Brook Lynn and West were attacked and you came to their rescue. How you defended them. Now Stanton Gillis, on the other hand, is being charged with assault and, considering the things we found in the trunk of his car, attempted murder. He'll be locked away for a long time."

  Jase's relief was palpable, and any resentment he held against Stanton Gillis evaporated like mist. A day hadn't gone by that he hadn't felt sorry for the pain he'd caused Pax's family--and tonight he'd finally seen the extent of it. The guy had held on
to his bitterness all this time, letting it drive his every thought and action, and nothing good had come of it.

  "You know I'm an ex-con," he said, still refusing to believe that he was being freed.

  "That's right, I surely do. I've known who and what you are since the moment you moved to town."

  Jase blinked in surprise. The sheriff had known, and yet he had never harassed Jase. Never tried to convince him to move away. Never warned him away from Brook Lynn.

  "And the people of this town know, too," the sheriff added. "I made sure of it."

  Jase's heart almost stopped. How long had they known? Nobody had said anything or treated him any differently. "I get why you did it, but not why--"

  "No, you don't get it. People would have found out sooner or later, and then we would have had ourselves a lynch mob, one person's outrage feeding everyone else's. I decided to be proactive and save us all the trouble."

  "Save me, you mean. But why? You don't know me."

  "Son," the sheriff said, resting his boot on the edge of Jase's chair. "I like to think I'm a pretty good judge of character. I've seen the best, and I've seen the worst. I don't know you, you're right about that, but I've watched you. You got you some faults, that's for sure, but who among us doesn't? You've also got you some character, and that's more than a lot of others can say."

  It was almost too much to take in. This was the first time in his life he'd lived somewhere that truly felt like home, where he was accepted, faults and all. "You have to know there are conditions to my parole..."

  "Your parole hasn't been violated. Even ex-cons have a right to defend themselves and their loved ones."

  "I...don't know what to say."

  "Well, then. Don't say anything. Like I told you, you're free to go."

  Damn if tears didn't burn the backs of Jase's eyes as he pushed to his feet. Second time this week, when he'd gone years without shedding a single one. He'd become a puss, and he didn't care. "Thank you."

  "You've got a very concerned fiancee out there waiting for you."

  The sheriff opened the door. Jase shook his hand before striding into the corridor.

  Brook Lynn paced in the lobby, and when she spotted him, a whimper left her. She raced over and threw herself into his arms. He caught her and held on for dear life.