CHAPTER 37

Jace hold my hand as he knocks on the front door. He smiles softly down at me while we wait for someone to open the door; a few seconds later the door opens.

"What do you kids want…wait…you're Marks boy…what was your name again?"

Marks boy? Mark was only ten year older than Jace.

"Jace, my name is Jace…and this is my girlfriend Clary. Clary, this is Dave."

Dave extends his hand as he narrows his blue eyes at me.

"Pleasure to meet you Clary."

Dave claps his hand on Jaces shoulder and pulls him further into the room.

"So that pretty little thing is your girlfriend huh? I was under the impression that you belonged to Mark."

Belonged to Mark, what is that supposed to mean? Dave is probably in his late thirties or maybe even his early forties. He is about three inches shorter than Jace, but he is bulky; like he spends a lot of time at the gym. His hair is a medium brown color with a few specks of gray; and its cut into a neat crew cut; like a Marine's haircut. He has a moustache and a small beard that is also trimmed neat and flecked with the occasional gray. He is wearing green carpenter pants and an ugly sweater that has about ten shades of brown to it.

Jace chuckles softly at Dave's comment and says:

"There must have been a misunderstanding Dave."

"But he said…wait where is Mark? Didn't he come with you?"

"No he ended up backing out of the trip; he got hired on at the steel mill. He's a union man now; says he's going to fly the straight and narrow now. We sort of split ways a few weeks ago…he kicked me out of his apartment…I couldn't seem to stay out of trouble."

"What about her? Does she stay out of trouble? What is she twelve? Thirteen? Is that why you are leaving the country? To covet this young girl Jace?"

"I'm almost sixteen…I love him…I broke my probation…I don't want to go back to juvie."

Jace smiles proudly at me and Dave narrows his eyes at me again.

"Juvenile Detention? Probation? Sweet little thing like you doesn't seem to fit the bad girl stereotype."

"My P.O. told me my innocent looks; is the only thing that kept me from spending two years in juvie instead of six months."

"Two years! What the fuck did you do red?"

Jace continues to smile at me; but his eyes are a little uncertain. I smile sweetly at him; as if I am telling him with my eyes…I got this.

"I smashed a nineteen year old girl's face off of a sink in the bathroom at a McDonalds. The bitch was an employee there; and she was being rude to a girl in front of me. When I saw her go into the bathroom I saw my chance. I broke he jaw, shattered four of her teeth, and fractured her eye socket."

I smile proudly at my story. The story is in fact true; it's just not my story. The story belongs to a girl named Jessie; she was in the group housing with me.

"Was the girl your friend?"

"You mean the girl she was being rude to? No, I didn't even know her."

Dave laughs loudly and claps his hand on Jace's shoulder again.

"What did she do that made you decide she need her face rearranged?"

"The girl in front of me ordered a fish sandwich; and that bitch of a cashier started making fun of her. She called her names….she called her a butch lezzy…she called her a clit licker…she made the girl cry."

"Was the girl in fact a clit licker?"

I flare my nostrils at Dave; how dare he say that.

"I don't see why a CUSTOMER should be judged by her appearance. How would I know what that girl does behind closed doors? That is none of my business. That is none of anybody's business. The point is that girl was a paying customer that just wanted to order some lunch; and the bitch behind the counter made her cry and run out of the restaurant. She judged her just because of the way she was dressed…just because of the way she wore her hair."

"How was she dressed? What kind of haircut did she have?"

I narrow my eyes at Dave and cross my arms over my chest; refusing to answer his questions. Jace shifts his body closer to me and runs his fingers down my cheek before saying to Dave:

"My girl can be very protective of people. Growing up in foster care; she has seen a lot of bad shit. She is kind of a self-appointed guardian angel of sorts."

"I'm sorry for snapping at you Dave…it's just peoples sexual preference is a very touchy subject for me…I guess I don't see why it has to be other people's business. No one has a right to tell someone who they can and can't love."

Jace smiles proudly at me again. The complete look of respect in his eyes for me makes me return his smile with my own proud smile.

"Okay, okay…let's get down to business shall we? Jace am I to assume that she is going to need the works to get across?"

"Yes she will need everything."

"Okay that won't be a problem…the two of you together is going to cost sixty-five hundred."

"Wait, why sixty-five hundred? I thought you could do it for five…why is it more now?"

"The five grand was for you and Mark…Mark is a friend of mine…and she is girl…girls cost more…especially underage girls…sixty-five hundred is how much it's going to cost you. Is that a problem?"

Jace runs his long fingers through his hair and I can feel his anxiety spike. I decide maybe I can convince Dave to keep his deal of five thousand dollars.

"I don't think this is right…you told them five grand…you should stick to your word…I'm not a normal underage girl…I don't have anyone who will come looking for me…nobody cares about me…nobody but him…Jace is the only person who has ever cared about me…please reconsider Dave…we really need to get into Mexico and we only have the five grand to pay you…if we have to pay you sixty-five hundred then we will barely have gas money to get to Mexico. How will we eat? How will we have money to get a place to sleep?"

Jace is watching me; his eyes are glassy with fear and defeat.

"Clary…" He whispers.

"No Jace! Don't Clary me…maybe we should call Mark…Dave you said Mark was your friend, well we are friends of Marks…so he might be a little upset by you trying to take advantage of us."

Jace's eyes are filled with panic. Dave begins to chuckle and says:

"This girlfriend of yours sure has a smart mouth doesn't she?"

Jace hardens his eyes as he looks at Dave; but a second later his eyes soften and he smiles before saying:

"Her smart mouth is one of the reasons why I fell in love with her."

"Okay, okay…come on over here red…have a seat and smile for the camera."

Jace lets out a quite sigh; and I squeeze his hand as I make my way over to the stool to have my picture taken. Dave takes my picture twice; he said I smiled too big for the first one. He said I looked too happy. He said I need to look natural and indifferent in my photo. I do my best to scale down my smile and he takes my picture for the second time. He squints at the screen of his computer for a moment and clicks a couple of buttons before turning to me.

"That should be good…what's your name?"

"Clary…My name is Clary Fray."

"No, no…you need a fake name…you don't want to put your real name on these…too easy to track."

I look at Jace for help; he smiles at me before turning to Dave.

"Let her keep her first name…she can use the same last name as me. We will pass for young newlyweds."

"Okay, Clary Herondale it is then…"

"Clarissa…make it Clarissa Herondale…sounds more official."

Dave nods his head to Jace and turns to me with a smile before saying:

"Well, I got his stuff all done…it's going to take me a few minutes to get yours done…why don't you and your HUSBAND go and have seat in the living room while I work."

Jace takes my hand and leads me into the living room that is connected to the small office. We sit holding hands quietly as we wait for Dave to finish my paperwork. Jace absently stokes his thumb over the back of my hand as he glances around the room. I watch his thumb as it lightly traces little circles over my skin; all my nerve endings snap to attention from his gentle caress. Jace looks at me; his eyes are burning. He feels it too. He smiles wickedly at me before whispering in my ear.

"I can't wait to start our honeymoon Mrs. Herondale…"

I giggle as he starts to nibble my ear.

"Behave yourself…" I whisper.

Jace smiles at me and continues to stroke my hand with his thumb. His eyes burn into mine as he slowly drags my hand across his lap; and presses it into his hardness. I gasp and snatch my hand away. Jace throws his head back in laughter. I swat at him playfully.

"Shame on you…" I whisper.

"Sorry love…"

His words come out broken as he continues to laugh. I turn my face away to hide my red cheeks and my smile. Jace lean up and sees my face and starts laughing louder. I can't hold my laughter in any longer. We are both still giggling quietly when Dave steps into the room with both of his eyebrows arched at the two of us.

"You kids okay in here?"

"Yeah we're okay…just tormenting my wife a little bit while we were waiting…sorry if we disturbed you."

"Nah…its cool, I'm all done now."

Jace stands and pulls me up to his side in a small hug.

"Love why don't you go grab the envelope out of the glove box for me? I forgot to bring it in."

"Sure…"

Jace smiles at me as I step outside; I return his smile as I close the door behind me. I take my time walking to the car; enjoying the warmer weather on my face. The sun is shining bright overhead; and the fall wind is calm. Being this far south in November the weather is usually much nice than it is in Pittsburgh. I smile at the thought of living in Mexico. No more SNOW, well there is a rare occurrence of snow higher in the mountains of Mexico but usually by the next day you would never knew it had snowed the day before.

I open the car door and slide onto the seat before opening the glove box. Jaces 9mm gun stares me straight in the face when I open the glove compartment; I freeze for a moment and just stare straight back at it. The clip is in the gun and I can see that the safety trigger is off. The gun is ready to fire with just the slight squeeze of the trigger. I hold my breath as I gently slide the white envelope of money out from underneath the gun. Air shoots fast out of my lungs when I have the envelope safely in my hands and away from the gun. I take another minute to look at the gun before closing the glove box. I think I will ask Jace to get rid of it when we get to Mexico.

I keep the white envelope of money pressed tightly to my chest as I walk back to the house. I have never had this much money in my hand at one time. I have never even seen what five thousand dollars looks like. The envelope is surprisingly thin; must be all one hundred dollar bills. My body freezes mid-stride and I drop the envelope as I hear a loud crash and a scream from inside the house. I bolt towards the front door; abandoning the white envelope on the ground. When I open the front door everything looks the same in the small living room; except it is now empty. Dave and Jace are nowhere to be scene. Shouting from the next room snaps me back to attention.

"We can do this the easy way or we can do this the hard way kid…it's up to you."

I see Jace face down on the desk and Dave has Jace's hands pinned tightly to his lower back. Jace's face is twisted in anger and he has a stream of spit hanging from his bottom lip. His right eye is red and beginning to show signs of a bruise.

"Get the fuck off of me you sick bastard!" Jace growls through his teeth.

"Come on kid, it's this or you give me the sixty-five hundred that I asked for…come on it will be fun…she can watch while you suck me off."

Rage fills my body at Dave's words. I sprint across the room and begin pounding on Daves back. While still pinning Jace to the desk; Dave backhands my face and I fall to the ground. Jace roars with anger and I can see his whole body thrashing on the desk.

"You motherfucker! You motherfucker!"

"Relax kid…I'm sure she'll be fine."

"Let me go and I will get you your money…"

"Mmm…don't think so kid…I think I have decided that a blow job from your sweet lips is worth way more to me than an extra fifteen hundred bucks."

I quietly crawl out of the room towards the front door; leaving it open as I sprint towards the car. I rip the car door open and grab Jaces gun out of the glove box and sprint back into the house. Once inside the door I tiptoe quietly towards the small office. There is no more shouting coming from inside the room. As I round the corner I can see Dave's back. His pants are open and his belt hangs from each side of his hips. I fight back the urge to gag. I quietly take another step into the room and can see Jace kneeling on the floor in front of Dave. Jace has tears streaming down his face and a distant look in his eyes; almost as though he is making his mind focus on something else. I swallow hard as I feel bile climb up my throat. He is rubbing his palm over his thighs and is licking his lips as he tries to control his breathing. Dave raises his hand and begins to pull Jaces head closer to his open pants.

Dave's hand drops from Jaces head and his body crashes loudly to the floor as he groans loudly. Jace's eyes are huge and his mouth is hanging open as he registers what has just happened. His face and hair are spotted with blood. I can't move; my body feels like it's frozen to the floor. My ears are ringing loudly as Jace begins to slowly crawl towards me; his voice is muffled as he speaks to me in a soothing tone.

"It's okay baby…put the gun down…it's okay…please put the gun down love…everything is okay now."

Gun? What is he talking about? I take my eyes off of his and look at my outstretched hands. Sure enough there is the gun he was talking about; it feels heavy and cold in my hands. Reality begins to soak deep into my bones as I realize what just happened. I just shot Dave! My god is he dead? Did I kill him? My body begins to tremble and I see my hands shaking violently; my small fingers threaten to drop the gun.

"Easy Clary…don't drop it…easy…come on baby look at me…"

My eyes shift back to Jace and his eyes are no longer wide and filled with shock. All I can see in his eyes now is love as he slowly rises to his feet and places his hand lightly on my arm. He keeps his eyes locked on mine as he slides his fingers down to my hand where he grips me gently before raising his other hand and removing the gun from my fingers.

Somehow that gun was the only thing that kept me standing. As soon as I feel the metal slip out of my fingers; my body drops to the floor as I begin to sob uncontrollably. Jace drops to his knees and lays the gun on the floor before sliding in away from both of us. Jace scoops me up in his arms and begins to carry me out of the house as he whispers in my ear soothingly.

"Shh…it's okay now baby…we're okay…everything's going to be fine…"

Jace lowers me into the front seat of the car and cups my face in his hands. He kisses me gently on the lips and says:

"You stay here Clary…I'll be right back…"

"Where are you going?"

"I need to get this blood off of me…I need to get our passports and stuff…I need to get rid of the evidence…I promise I'll be right back okay…"

I nod my head and he kisses me quickly before shutting the car door. I watch him as he sprint back towards the house. He stops and bends down; scooping the white envelope off of the ground before tucking it into his back pocket. He disappears into the house for what feels like hours as I watch the open front door. I see him sprint down the stairs. His hair is wet and slicked back making it look darker. He has on a white t-shirt that hangs loosely from his body. He tosses a black garbage bag onto the hood of the car as he passes by. He ducks into a small shed and comes back out a moment later carrying a small red gas can; and disappears back into the house.

Two minutes later Jace is setting in the car beside me staring intently at the house. Smoke begins to pour out of the front door and after a few minutes I can see flames licking at the windows from inside of the house. Jace watches the flames for another minute or two and starts the car. I turn around in my seat and watch the flames consuming the blue house as we drive. I watch until I can no longer see the house; all I can see is the dark smoke rising towards the sky.

Jace leans forward in his seat as he drives; causing me to turn around in my seat. He pulls out the gun from the back of his jeans and places it on his lap. He reaches into his back pocket and pulls out the white envelope of money and places it onto his lap along with the gun. Jace leans across the seat while keeping his eyes focused on the road; and opens the glove box. He gathers the envelope and the gun in his hand and places them into the glove box before closing it.

Jace looks at me and finds that I have been watching his every movement since I turned around in my seat. I watch him as he reaches across the seat and unbuckles my seatbelt.

"Come here baby…" His voice is soft.

I remain in place as I look into his golden eyes. He breaks eye contact with me a few times as he glances at the road. His hand that is still close to my hip slide back across the seat and take hold of the steering wheel. He takes his eyes off of me and pulls the car to the side of the road before shifting it into park. I find my voice:

"What are you doing? You can't stop! We need to get out of here Jace!"

Like a flash Jace has his own seatbelt unbuckled and is across the car holding me tightly in his arms. His voice is shaky as he talks.

"I need to know you are okay…please tell me you are alright love…"

"I will be…just get me out of here Jace…just get us to Mexico…we don't have time for this…it's too dangerous…someone will see the smoke…we need to get out of here."

Jace grips my face tightly with his hand and kisses me hard on the mouth before sliding back across the seat. He fastens his seatbelt as he pulls the car back onto the road. He drives fast; just a little over the posted seventy mile an hour speed limit. Twenty minutes later I can see the sign that tells us we are approaching the border. Jace points his long finger to the black trash bag on the floor at my feet.

Get our passport and stuff out of there and toss the bag out of the window."

I quickly do as he says; once I throw the bag out of the window I hold out the passports to him.

"Set them on the seat for a minute…"

I do as he ask as he looks at me with question in his eyes. He sighs and reaches across the dash to open the glove box. He pulls out the gun and places it on his lap while he rolls his own window down. He picks the gun up and flings it hard out of the window. I spin around in my seat to see it bounce once in the bushes before it disappears into the high grass.

"Put that stuff in the glove box Clary."

I look at him in stupidity and he nods his head towards the passports setting between us on the seat. I scoop them up and place them in the glove box before closing it.

"Can you buckle your seatbelt please?"

I glance at my lap and realize that I don't have the brown belt draped over my body. I reach up and pull the belt across me and click it into place before looking at Jace again. His shoulders relax and one of his hands drops from the steering wheel. He holds his hand out to me with question in his eye. I place my hand in his and he smiles softly at me before turning his eyes back to the road.

"I love you…" He whispers softly.

"I love you too…" I whisper just as softly.

Ten minutes later we are waiting behind a line of cars at the entrance to the border. I feel my heart begin to pound with worry. What if our passports aren't good enough? What if they decide to arrest us? Jaces soft voice snaps me out of my mental questioning.

"Why don't you take a nap love…"

"I'm not tired…"

"I know…but you're starting to freak out over there…rest your head on the window and close your eyes…"

I decide not to argue with him because the truth is he is right; I am starting to freak out. I do as he says and rest my face against the car door and close my eyes. I keep them close as I hear him talking to someone through the car window. I keep them close when I hear Jace take our passports out of the glove box and hands them to the man on the other side of the open window. It's quiet for a moment; and then I hear the man ask Jace what our business will be in Mexico. Jace tells him that we eloped in Vegas and we are off to celebrate our honeymoon on the beach. The man then asks Jace to open the trunk of the car. I feel my anxiety spike. Shit the money! He's going to find the money!

The man returns to the window a moment later after I hear him shut the trunk. He asked Jace why we didn't have that much luggage. Jace told him we only had enough money to stay in Mexico for a couple of days. He then chuckles softy before telling the man that he doesn't think we will be needing too many changes of clothes. I hear the man laugh before he tells Jace to enjoy his honeymoon. He tells Jace that he has a beautiful wife. Jace thanks him and I feel the car begin to move. I keep my eyes closed as we pick up speed.

"Are you really sleeping over there?"

I open my eyes and lift my head to look at Jace. He has a huge grin on his face as he looks at me.

"We made it! Holy shit we actually made it! Oh baby we're going to be fine now…now more running…no more drama…just me and you…me, you, the beach and fruity drinks with umbrella's sticking out of them."

I find myself laughing hysterically; I can't stop. I grip my stomach in pain as I continue to laugh with tears streaming down my face. Jace is laughing too; only his laughter sounds nervous. My laughing turns to wails as I begin to cry with overwhelming relief.

"Oh don't cry love…everything is okay now…please don't cry…"

I do my best to calm my crying as I turn to him and smile.

"I'm just so happy Jace…I wasn't sure we would ever get here but we did…and I am just so damn happy…"

Once again Jace reaches over and unbuckles my seatbelt.

"Please come here Clary…I need to feel you close to me…"

I slide across the seat and hug him tightly and pepper kisses all over his neck. Jace chuckles softly.

"Mmm…that tickles."

"How long until we get to Mexico City?"

"Actually we aren't going to Mexico City."

"What? Why? Where are we going then."

"Easy love one question at a time…okay in about ten minutes we will be at the currency exchange…once I exchange our money then we are going to head for Tampico."

"How come that guy didn't find the money in the trunk?"

"Because the money isn't in the trunk?"

"It isn't? Where is it then?"

Jace point his thumb towards the back seat of the car.

"Behind the seat back there. The back seat of this car folds down so that you can get into the trunk. I cut the back of the seats open and shoved the money in there. I made sure that when someone opened the trunk all you would be able to see is the back seat."

"When did you do that?"

"One night when I couldn't sleep. Originally I was planning on hiding the money where the spare tire goes. I decided not to incase we got a flat; plus I didn't want to risk them checking there when we got to border patrol."

"That was smart of you. How far is Tampico from here?"

"About nine hours from here."

"What's there?"

"Well first of all they have a Hilton Hotel and Suites in the city; that's where we will be staying until I can get us something more permanent. I'd really like to get something on the beach if I can. I want to watch you walk around in the sand with a bikini on every day."

"What makes you think I would wear a bikini?"

"Why WOULDN'T you? You have a smoking hot body Clary; you should be proud to show it off."

"I just think you will run out of money too fast if I walk around in a bikini all the time."

Jace laughs loudly.

"What are you even talking about?"

"Think about it. All my pale skin exposed to the hot Mexican sun every day; can you imagine the money you will have to spend on sunscreen?"

"Mmm…you make a good point love…I rather enjoy your creamy colored skin…bulk containers of sunscreen it is then."

"Don't forget you promised to teach me how to swim."

"I didn't forget."

"I want you to teach me as soon as you can."

"What's your hurry?"

"I have more demons now…I think swimming might help keep them at bay."

Jace is quite and he hugs me tighter as he kisses my hair. He kisses my hair a few more times and then runs his hand over my back before saying in a soft voice.

"I'm sorry…"

"Don't be sorry…I'm the one who is sorry…I'm sorry he did that to you."

"You saved me though…I hate that I didn't see that look in his eyes the first time I met him. Mark saw it; that must be why Mark told Dave that I belonged to him. I think Mark wanted Dave to know that I was off limits…sick bastard."

"I told you I would protect you Jace."

"Yes you did love…I'm just still so shocked."

"Why?"

"I didn't even know you knew how to shoot a gun; let alone take someone out with a kill shot."

"I don't know how to shoot a gun…that's the first time I ever even touched a gun…I really don't even remember pulling the trigger…I just remember running outside to the car; and the next thing I know Dave's body falls to the floor."

"I think your need to protect me took over. I'm so proud of you…thank you for saving me…I'm sorry saving me means you have more demons now."

"Don't be sorry I'll take a thousand demons floating around in my head as long as I get to wake up to your beautiful golden eyes every morning."

"let's hope the collecting of demons is all over now. I just want happy days from here on out."

"Yep happy days, burned dinners and lots of eye bags."

"Sounds like Heaven to me."

"Yes Heaven…"