Chapter Ten
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Home Town,
Bandera County,
One and a half hours from San Antonio,
Texas,
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Jason was in agony and terrified for his life and for Trevor.
Grandpa had found out about Calvin and Jason's friendship and all bloody hell had broken loose.
The beating had been particularly cruel today with grandpa using the horse's whip this time to rip up Jason's back. The crop had stung but it hadn't hurt as much as the fact that his mama hadn't answered his screams for help. She'd just stood, watching, holding his sister and encouraging Grandpa to punish him harder to 'rid the sin from his disobedient body'.
To punish him for being friends with a black boy.
Tears of anger flooded little Jason's eyes at the injustice of it all. Mary, Walt and Calvin had cared for him, let him play in their house, fed him, helped him with his homework, taught him to tie his shoes good. They even let Trevor come round once for dinner but Trevor had refused to go back because he was too afraid of Grandpa's rage.
Jason should have listened to his big brother and stayed away.
He sniffled and got mad at himself for crying; boys don't cry, only girls do.
But then he thought about his daddy and the tears kept coming.
And coming.
And coming.
And he couldn't stop sobbing as he walked, his nose running as he desperately tried to stop himself from weeping. His breathing was gaspy and painful with his sore ribs and it hurt to wipe his nose because he was pretty sure Grandpa had broken it.
Oh god he wished his daddy had come home.
Why did his daddy need to die?
Why did he have to go to Heaven when people like Grandpa were nasty and old and closer to death?
Daddy had been a soldier, he'd been a good man and he'd gone to Vietnam to get the bad guys, Jason knew that much. He'd been a hero but he still had to go and die and Jason was so angry at him for leaving him with a sick mamma and a grandpa who hated everything different to him and-
"Mr Taylor?" Mary called, seeing Jason stood outside their back garden gate, crying his little heart out. She put down her wash basket and rolled her sleeves up over her wrists, "Jason, what happened?"
"Grandpa knows," Jason choked then wept openly when Calvin's mother ran over and tenderly held him, careful of all his sore bits. Her hands were black but they weren't bad like Grandpa said they were. No, Mary was very kind and careful of Jason, tentatively comforting him like Jason wished his own mother would do for him.
"You're bleeding," Mary gasped when she felt how damp his shirt was at the back, "Walter! It's okay, come inside, Calvin's with his tutor but you can still come inside and we'll clean you up."
"He's g-g-g-going to kuh-kuh-kill Trevor," Jason panicked, barely able to speak as his gasping cries only got worse the more care Mary showed him, "Trevor hit him with a rrruh-rrrruh-rock to stop him-," he breathed loudly, "hurting me. I ran. I ran and I ran and I don't know what to do."
"Walter!" Mary shouted with more urgency, "Jason, look at me Sweetheart, you're safe with me and Walter. We're going to go to the police and get Trevor and you're both coming to live with us. I swear it."
"He'll kill me," Jason wept, looking up when Walter appeared brandishing his hunting rifle. The father took one look at Jason's face and cursed which was when Jason realised he looked super bad; Walter had tears in his own eyes.
"Walter, his grandfather's got his brother; we need to help him," Mary insisted, letting Jason bury himself in her warm breasts, her hand in his hair, the other on his butt as she scooped him up and let him weep in her embrace.
"Who are the police going to help, Mary? Me or the town's pastor?" Walter mumbled and Jason felt him placing his hand on his shoulder, "Take him in and clean him up. We can't get involved-"
"He is a child, Walter!" Mary shouted, "It's our rights as parents to get involve-"
"Mary, don't fight me on this," Walter growled, "We've just settled and I'm going to be working here for a long time; do not ostracize us by adopting someone else's child."
"Go see if his brother is alive," Mary snapped, turning on her heels and carrying Jason inside their warm, safe house. He felt her try to put him back down onto his feet but he didn't want to ever be let go. Instead he wrapped his legs around her and tightened his hold of her neck, shaking his head as he sniffled.
"Okay, okay, Jason," Mary soothed, sitting down in her rocking chair by the warmth of the fire, bundling him back up in her arms, "You're safe with me, Child. I wont ever let you go; Mary's got you."
"H-h-he wants to send me to military school," Jason admitted to her then, finally moving his face from her chest to stare at the fire place, "I don't want to go; I want to stay with you and Calvin."
She was quiet then, rocking them both gently, the comfort and the warmth of the fire enough to have Jason's eyelids become heavy and tired. He kept fighting sleep, wanting to know Trevor was alive, but he was only little and his little body had endured so much.
"You would be safe in military school, Jason," Mary promised, "You would be away from him. We would miss you very much but we would write to you and send you food and depending where it is we would visit you; I know Calvin would love that. He loves you."
"I love Calvin too; he's my best friend," Jason yawned, looking over when the door opened and Walter came in again with Calvin at his side.
"His brother's fine; I spotted him outside the chapel," Walter nodded, "Black eye but he's okay."
"Hey, Jason, want to play soldiers to feel better?" Calvin asked, walking over to Mary and Jason, smiling brightly at him.
"Calvin, Jason's not in the mood just yet," Mary cooed, tightening her hold on Jason, "Go fetch me the blanket from my room."
"Okay, mom," Calvin nodded, leaning down and laying a kiss on Jason's cheek before running to get the patch work quilt from Mary and Walter's bed. Mary continued to rock him by the fire, stroking his hair with her other hand rested on his bum still, gently tapping it like Jason's own mamma did to Jennilyn.
The last thing Jason remembered was being swaddled in the heavy blanket, his eyelids dropping completely as he feel into a deep sleep, safe and comforted in the arms of the mother Jason wished he'd had.
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Present day….
12th June,
Morning time
Swedish Emergency Room,
Seattle,
Washington State.
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It felt strange to Gail to wake up without Jason in her arms, cuddled into her embrace like some overgrown child. She was so used to him insisting he cuddle into her that she felt oddly cold when she sat up and yawned.
Her head was aching worse than normal and she remembered she'd promised Jason that she would tell someone that she needed medical help urgency…but that meant admitting that she was incredibly sick and she didn't want to begin any form of therapy or medical treatment without her husband beside her.
"Gail, you're awake," Sawyer said and she smiled at him, knowing that she missed her Jason just as much as he was probably missing his wife and girls.
"Yes, I guess I am," Gail smiled, stretching and looking across the Family Room, "How's Ryan?"
"He's going to make a good, strong recovery," Sawyer nodded, sitting away from them all in the shadow cast from one of the two lamps, "Reynolds and Welch have the police on board; we're going to be moving you, Ana, Pheebs and Grey into a safe location provided for by our own security resources; Reynold's worried there's moles in the SPD."
"It'll be good to be somewhere safe," Gail sighed, "I know we've got about thirty armed police here at the moment but I still can't help but feel apprehensive. I really hope Jason and Teddy are okay."
Gail saw Sawyer's body tense and he cracked his neck, "Do you have any idea where Jason is taking Teddy?"
"Jason's got property in a lot of places, Luke. We have our own safe house, yes, but he made me promise never to tell anyone where that was. Even you," Gail sighed, shaking her head, "He wouldn't be stupid enough to take Theodore there, I'm nearly certain."
"We think he's going to the Yukon," Sawyer said, scratching his stubbly jaw, "Do you know where?"
"I can't say I do, Luke," Gail sighed, "My memory's not so great right now. He went on a lot of fishing trips with Trevor up in the Yukon, and of course he and Mr Grey go hiking in Canada a lot but," she shrugged, "I don't know, Luke."
That didn't help matters, Gail could see Luke was bitterly disappointed that she didn't have a fast track method of getting in touch with Jason. She was disappointed too, but she had faith in her man; he was exceptionally intelligent, more intelligent than he even gave himself credit for.
"How's Ryan?" Gail asked, wanting to change subjects.
"You just asked me that," Luke frowned.
"Did I?" Gail sighed, shaking her head and looking over to where Ana was still asleep, "I need to visit the bathroom, Luke. Will one of the guards at the door escourt me?"
"I'll take you," Sawyer said and walked into the light. His blue-green eyes looked red and sore as though he'd been crying, Gail thought, but she knew never to push Luke when it came to emotions; like Jason, he was often very firm about never crying.
"Thank you, handsome," Gail smiled, "Don't worry; this will all blow over soon. Teddy will testify in court once the authorities say it's safe to do so. Imagine that, eh? Our Teddy Grey, eye witness to Stefano Esposito murdering someone. If he testifies and Esposito is found guilty, Teddy will have had a very dangerous man put behind bars. What a fantastic moment that will be for Seattle."
"You're being very optimistic," Sawyer mumbled.
"And you're being uncharacteristically doom and gloom, Luke," Gail frowned and turned to face him. She reached up and stroke his cheek softly, seeing that the touch had his eyes filling with tears, "It's going to be okay. I know it's scary to think that our families can be in trouble but they're not. They're safe. I have every faith in my husband's abilities to ensure our safeties."
Luke finally smiled then but it was a sad smile, not his usual self. He took a deep breath and nodded in agreement but still couldn't speak.
"Has everyone checked in safely?" Gail pressed, knowing each couple had a means of confirming their safe arrival at set safe houses. Jason had a private free-mail account which Gail was to email when she got to their own safe house. She wasn't sure what everyone else had in place but she was certain that they all had means of getting in touch when safe.
"Craig and Mei checked in to Reynolds Safe House a few hours ago," Luke confirmed, "Nora's still in Tokyo so she wont be coming home until everything is safe. Problem is she doesn't know Ryan's been injured so Welch is going to talk to her and reassure her Ryan's going to make a recovery."
"What about Danni and the girls?" Gail asked, curious as to whether that was what was bothering him. She knew it was Luke's car that had taken Teddy to the concert earlier that faithful night; that put Luke's family in greater danger.
"They're fine," Luke said and shrugged, "We spoke. They're fine."
"I'm glad," Gail promised, squeezing his shoulder before going into the Ladies Room to freshen up.
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Meanwhile…
Esposito Townhouse,
Downtown Seattle,
Seattle,
Washington
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"You're telling me...some flashy little brat caught you shooting some little fuckface in one of our night clubs?"
Slick nodded, staring directly at the red antique desk which his aging father sat behind. Slick knew this was going to be bad but he could fix it. He knew he could and he almost had fixed it…until Grey's pretty boy bodyguard intercepted Slick's Sniper's bullet.
Hopefully they'd received the message loud and clearly that they were in the shit.
"Dad, one of my boys on the door identified the Brat. That's The Prince of Seattle's son; Christian Grey's heir," Slick pulled out a piece of paper with all the details he'd already gathered on the situation from their hostages. Grey's security team had tried to work fast but Slick's men got paid the big bucks for working faster and now they'd three hostages; a smoking hot blonde and two pretty little girls.
Slick cleared his throat, "Theodore Grey was last seen getting into a car with a Mr Jason Alexander Taylor, former Marine Corps with a James Reynolds. We've been unable to get more information about Reynolds; his file is encrypted so my guys reckon he's formally CIA," Slick read, showing his father the pictures he'd gotten from one of their moles in the SPD; CCTV footage of the car the three cunts had jumped into.
"Theodore Grey? No. Fucking. Way." Dad growled, rubbing his balding hair, shaking his head in utter disgust, "Stefano…how did you manage to get yourself into this sort of situation? You are my son but you're not immune. One wrong move and you'll be getting a cap in your ass if you do not fix this utter shit-"
"Dad, I'm going to-"
"Do not interrupt me!" Dad snapped, flaming his wrinkled fist down hard on his desk as he stood up, his greying eyes alit with anger, "You have three days, Stefano, or you're on your own. And I will not be able to protect you."
Slick gulped.
Three days?
"We've got a lead already," Slick said carefully once his father was seated, pouring a glass of imported vodka, "They left driving a blue and green Subaru Impreza; licence plate Sierra Four Whisky Yankee Romeo Six Nine."
S4WYR69.
"And what has that revelation yielded?" Dad asked with a spark of interest, lifting his eyebrow and studying Slick hard.
"We traced the address, an apartment in Downtown Seattle. Luke Nathan Sawyer, Daniella Louise Sawyer, Eden LeAnne Sawyer, eleven years old, and Isla Trixiebelle Sawyer, seven," Slick replied, looking at his paper once more just to confirm the ages.
"Where'd you find them? In the Confederacy?" Dad snorted, shaking his head, "Rednecks. Why are you telling me this?"
"We have them," Slick said and saw his father's jaw open slightly. "I had our boys run the plates the minute the car drove off. We didn't give them a chance; Bert and his boys snatched them before they had the chance to run."
And boy, were they squealers, Slick laughed to himself. Danni had told them everything the minute Slick's boy Bertie the Perv was introduced to the girls. The guy was a sleaze and a pervert; young girls a favourite. The Perv picking Isla up and going to take her through to the back room was all it took for the mother to tell Slick everything he needed;
The father was Luke Nathan Sawyer, former Navy, SEAL team one, and Close Protection Officer of Anastasia Grey. Jason Alexander Taylor was the girls Godfather and former Marine Corps, CPO to The Prince of Seattle; Christian Grey himself and would be taking Theodore Grey to a safe house, which she didn't know the location of, conveniently. Slick believed her though; after watching her eldest daughter being worked over by Slick's guys he was convinced the desperate mother didn't know anything which was a pity.
She did, however, know Gail Taylor, good ol' Jason's wife. She would possibly know where her husband was taking Theodore Grey. Even if she didn't know the location, Slick was sure that Gail could get a message out to her husband. And if Slick could get a hold of, say, Anastasia Grey, he was sure Theodore would come out of hiding.
"I've got a plan, Dad," Slick nodded, "Give me a week and I'll have that brat screaming to be shot."
Dad didn't look convinced, "How are you going to get close to the Greys."
"The Sawyer Father, Luke…he came to the building after the Sniper attack and made contact with my guy," Slick said, pulling a picture of Danni, Eden and Isla bound, gagged, crying and with guns to the daughters heads, "He's bringing me Taylor's wife and Theodore's mother."
"A week." Dad agreed and Slick left with a mission.
Sawyer would grab Gail Taylor and Anastasia Grey in exchange for his wife and daughters.
What was left of his daughters after Bert the Perv got his way.
Slick grinned and shook his head; Theodore Grey may be the Prince of Seattle's eldest child but Stefano Esposito Junior was the heir to his father's crime organisation.
Lets see who had more power, Slick smirked, prepared to prove to his uncertain father that he had the grit and stomach to take over the family business.
.
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Meanwhile,
Heading north,
Eating breakfast in an All American Diner,
Oregon,
.
Jason was sick with worry as he identified Ryan being pulled out on the stretcher outside Escala, unable to eat his pancakes as he watched the news reel over and over again giving the update on the Christian Grey situation.
Teddy was just as worried by the look of him, barely touching his own late afternoon breakfast, "They've not said that he's dead," Teddy finally said.
"Yup," Jason nodded, then shook his head, "You're right. They would say if someone had died by now and your father's press conference seemed positive; Ryan's not dead."
He looked up as the diner waitress came to their booth and smiled brightly, "Coffee refill?"
"Yes please," both Jason and Teddy said, holding up their cups for a top up. Because Jason wasn't able to use his bank cards, he was rationing the money he had until he got to the next drop box but they'd needed to catch up on the news so Jason had pulled over into a diner on the freeway. It was a busy little place, buzzing with tourists travelling between Washington and Oregon and Canada, with that All-American diner red colour, a milkshake machine, juke box and waitresses wearing Fast Food joint uniforms.
Oddly enough, however, Taylor had spotted a piano in the far corner, untouched by anyone. It seemed like an oddity in a place like this but still it was there. Because why the fuck not allow amateurs to play renditions of The River Flows In You or Kinderszenen or Avril 14th? Or why not just let children bang away at it for the shits and giggles too.
Thank fuck the Piano was untouched otherwise listening to the television would be a fucking nightmare. Of course, every news station they flicked through had 'Grey Assassination Attempt' as one of their larger stories and each was offering the same sort of information;
'Grey and his family were alive.'
'There were no fatalities.'
'Security guard in stable condition.'
'Police working hard to locate the people responsible.'
All the usual bullshit but it was really doing nothing to keep Jason calm. It was confirmation, to Jason, that Slick Esposito knew it had been Theodore Grey who'd witnessed him murdering someone. That meant, to Jason, that everyone closely linked to Teddy was in grave peril.
That then meant that Gail would need to relocate to seek medical care safely.
His stomach dropped and he took a drink of his burning hot coffee; he wished he was with Gail right now. In their bed, cuddled into her arms. She'd run her hands through his hair, tap his lower back above his ass and just make everything wrong in the world feel so right. So safe.
"How's Sophie?"
Jason looked at Teddy then, lifting an eyebrow, "Excuse me?"
"How's Sophie?" Teddy repeated, back to eating his breakfast fry up.
"She's still in Cambodia teaching English," Jason explained, "Her and her boyfriend, Mittapheap."
"Who?" Teddy frowned, glaring a little bit at Jason as though he'd slapped him in the face for telling him Sophie was spoken for.
Jason shook his head, "Her boyfriend. Mitt. He's a native," he told Teddy, taking a drink of his burning coffee again, "They've been dating for two years now. He's coming for Christmas this year."
Teddy looked even more pissed off, "Two years?"
"Yes, two years," Jason said firmly, rising an eyebrow when Teddy slammed his fist on the table, "Is there a problem, Son?"
"No, Taylor," Teddy grumbled, shaking his head, "No problem."
Jason just shook his head at the kid, unwilling to believe him completely, "You sure?"
"Well no, there is a problem; Sophie and I made out on my birthday this year," Teddy blurted out, "That was this year when she's supposedly in a relationship with some Mudheap?"
"Mittapheap," Jason corrected him, glaring furiously; this brat had touched his Princess? Fuck, Jason should break his fucking legs for laying a finger on his daughter. In their own fucking home too!
"Look, nothing else happened," Teddy back peddled, though Taylor didn't believe him at all, "I'm just saying that she should have been more honest about the fact she was in a relationship."
"Look, You're both adults. I don't care," Taylor lied, desperate to swap the topic, "I'm gonna have to leave you for five minutes. Think you can keep out of trouble long enough?"
"Where are you going?" Teddy demanded, Jason able to see his eyes wide with panic.
There was no reason to panic, however, "To shit. Believe it or not, I do go to the bathroom as well as require decent sleep and water." Jason mumbled, "Keep out of trouble."
He left Teddy with some money for a refill on his pancakes before he headed into the Head, taking up a stall close to the door in case he needed to make a run for it. He shocked himself by how glad he felt being able to take a shit in complete privacy; he'd previously resigned himself to losing all form of personal space with Teddy around. Yeah, first thing in the morning had been an experience, both of them trying to ignore the other shifting his morning wood around, but other than that they'd actually be very lucky in terms of maintaining boundaries.
He took his time and washed his hands thoroughly, washing his face and neck next then drying them on some paper towels before exiting the bathroom.
No gun shots.
No screaming.
Teddy hadn't fucked up and gotten himself kidnapped which was an added bonus.
However, Teddy was no longer sat at their booth. Instead he'd noticed the piano and was playing the most perfect rendition of Comptine d'Un Autre Été, one of Jason's favourite scores of music. Teddy played it perfectly, by heart, just like he'd learned to play for Jason's birthday as one of those gifts youngsters with no money gave adults. Teddy had learnt it especially for Jason a few weeks before the Accident destroyed their friendship. It was truly beautiful to watch Teddy create art with the unused piano…
…The only problem was that it was apparently not just Jason's favourite piece of music but also that of a ten-tourist strong circle formed around Theodore, all of which were recording him playing on their mobiles, the crowd growing as the playing got a little lounder.
Jason went to shut him up when someone suddenly yelled within the crowd, "Oh my god, that's Teddy Grey! I can't believe Teddy Grey is here! OMG Please can I get a selfie?!"
Fuck.
They'd been recognised.
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Afternoon,
Swedish Emergency Room,
Seattle,
Washington State.
.
Ana was fixing her hair in the mirror, fluffing it up as best she could, when Luke Sawyer walked casually into the ladies bathroom.
It was the ladies, right?
She jumped and turned around, staring the room down to be sure that she hadn't accidently walked into the men's room. But nope, there were no urinals, no traces of male anything. In fact, Ana recognised a tampon machine in the far corner of the bathroom; this was definitely female.
Luke was in the wrong.
"Sorry, Luke, this is the ladies," she said, sure of herself then as she smiled, "I think the men's room was down the hall."
"I know it's the ladies," Luke nodded, "I just wanted to let you know that Reynolds and Welch agree that I should take you and Gail to get some clothes for the long journey ahead of us."
"A long journey?" Ana echoed.
"To the Safe House in mind, Ana," Luke nodded, smiling at her, "I'll be waiting outside in my car with Gail. Please don't be too long?"
"I wont," Ana promised, "I'll be right out, Luke."
"Thanks, Ana."
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A/N; dun dun dun will Luke really betray Ana? Will Gail own up to her failing health? Will Teddy's location be discovered and made viral? Will Taylor be able to make it through one of my stories without being mortally wounded?
There is a reason for Jason's flashbacks, as well as Teddy's.
Hope everyone's enjoying this story! Thank you so much for all your lovely words and kindness!
Deck x
P.S...happy birthday to me