AN:
Okay so two things... alright three...
1) You love me.
2) I warned you Jason was the bad guy.
and
3) If you kill me now you'll never get to read the last chapter.
~Kelly~
PS
Uber special thanks to Lis for all her help with this chapter.
Chapter Eleven
Jason gently stretched from his vantage point. The Spencer woman had gone into the barn with Lorenzo hours ago. Fact is, they spent the night in there. He pinched the bridge of his nose before resuming his observation of the barn doors.
He saw the trees rustle to the left. It was the street side of the property. He looked around and for what caused it since it was a still night and there hadn't been any wind all night just light breezes.
He adjusted the binoculars to the night feature since it was still not quite light enough to see on his own. Soon it would be. The sun would be up in the next hour.
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Elizabeth looked over at Lorenzo and couldn't believe as the sky started turning from black to gray that they'd spent the whole night talking.
She couldn't remember the last time she'd spent this much time talking to anyone. And about art too! All these weeks and she'd not known he was once an Art History professor. It was great to be able to just relax and enjoy a conversation without having to be afraid.
"This was so great," she beamed at him as she stood from the blanket, "it was wonderful to talk to someone about art."
"I really would like to see your paintings someday," he rose in her wake and bent down to get the blanket.
Elizabeth grabbed one of the ends and they folded it together. "I don't paint anymore," she said quietly. "Maybe my Grams kept some, but all the others," her voice trailed off.
"What about them?"
"They were, uhm, well," she stopped when he held up his hand and put his finger to his lips.
He gave her the blanket and moved as softly as possible to the end of the stall where they'd spent the night. He reached, out of habit, to the small of his back but came back empty handed. Damn!
Peering around the stall's entry he could make out a slim form of a man. He didn't recognize the shape and he couldn't make out the face, but his senses told him this was not a friend.
"ELIZABETH!"
Lorenzo heard the soft intake of breath and turned toward the small woman who'd just drawn herself against the opposite wall.
"ELIZABETH!
"I've been watching this place for hours! I know you're in here with that guy! I know you're putting out for him! YOU'RE A WHORE!"
Lorenzo looked over at Elizabeth and saw her eyes glisten with tears and if it was possible he saw her body shrink as he watched.
"Get your ass out here you piece of trash!"
"Why don't you spew your venom at someone more your size," Lorenzo asked smoothly coming out from the stall next to the one they'd been in all night.
Fortunately for them they'd been in a birthing stall and it was longer than the others and had two entries. Lorenzo came out of the one furthest from Elizabeth and behind Lucky taking him by surprise.
As the irate cop turned toward him Lorenzo brought his fist up and connected with the jaw of the man he'd come to hate without ever having met him.
Lucky was knocked back without losing his footing, but Lorenzo could see him struggling to stay upright.
"You know," he chuckled, "it's always guys like you that have to beat up on women. How long until you beat up on Cam. How long before you break him the way you've tried to break a wonderful woman like Elizabeth?"
"YOU" Lucky leaned into Lorenzo, "have NO right to talk about her or my son! SHE'S MY wife!" He pounded his chest, "He's MY son!"
Lorenzo let out a snicker, "You mean the son you never bothered to spend the hour to actually adopt?" He was ready for the punch when it came and barely flinched which made Lucky even angrier.
"YOU know nothing," and Lucky let loose with a barrage of vile epithets about his wife and what they'd been doing in the barn. Lorenzo returned a few of his punches but realized too late that they'd been backing up toward the section where Elizabeth hid.
Elizabeth listened to the entire exchange and couldn't keep her tears at bay. As Lorenzo tried to steer them away from her she finally shouted out and drew Lucky's attention away from the agent. He wasted no time in coming for her just as she knew he would.
As he raised his hand to punch her Lorenzo caught it from behind flipped him around and smacked the palm of his hand into Lucky's nose.
The cop went down like a rag doll.
Elizabeth watched him sputter for a moment as his eyes started to roll back in his head and then stopped. The nurse in her screamed for her to do something. The mother in her cheered. And the woman in her just looked at the man she'd spend the night with bleeding from his lip as he caught his breath and went to him.
Lucky was already dead, the cartilage from his nose impaling his brain.
Lorenzo gathered Elizabeth in his arms and moved her away from the body. She didn't need to be anywhere near that asshole any longer. He moved them to the doorway of the barn.
The sun was starting to streak the sky with light and it played over her pinched white face. Lorenzo took her in his arms again and smoothed his hand down her back and whispered to her that she was free now. Free to be what she wanted, free of fear, free to be who she wanted to be.
He felt her nod against his chest.
"Now," he pulled back and lifted her chin, "Cam's going to be up soon. So," he dried her tears with his thumb, "we can't have him seeing his Mommy all upset, right?"
Elizabeth gave him a weak smile, "Right," she brushed her fingers under her eyes. "I better get washed up." She looked back into the barn, "What," she looked back at Lorenzo, "we better tell Stephen."
"You take care of you," Lorenzo told her with a smile, "I'll take care of the garbage."
She nodded and started to walk away, but turned back and gave him a soft kiss to his cheek, "Thank you."
Lorenzo smiled at the simple gesture, but he knew what it meant to her, "You're welcome."
Jason pulled the binoculars from his eyes. From the looks of Lorenzo and the bruise forming on his eye and the blood from his mouth he must have taken care of that idiot Spencer. Good riddance. Ass!
He picked up his rifle and adjusted the scope. He waited until the Spencer woman was inside the house. He checked the sound reducer and felt for whatever wind there was. Lorenzo stayed right where he was and watched Mrs. Spencer until the door to the house closed behind her.
Elizabeth never saw the man who just saved her life crumple to the ground. No one heard anything except perhaps a small thud.
Jason mentally ticked Luis Alcazar off his list. He was finished, Alcazar was dead. Within seconds Jason broke down his weapon, collected his single casing and putting his things in his duffel disappeared into the morning.