A/N: Thanks for the reviews you all are so awesome!
Part Four
AJ slept soundly her first night in the swanky hotel Punk put her up in. Mostly because she and Punk came back here and talked the entire night and it wasn't just about Jamie it was about her entire life. He seemed genuinely interested in learning about her. He fell asleep in the bed, fully clothed over her comforter and it was the first night she slept soundly in a long time. She opened the curtain to the hotel and marveled at the view.
"Damn, AJ." Punk groaned rubbing his eyes.
"Look at this view!" She smiled. "It's beautiful."
"Yea it is." He agreed sitting up. "Coffee?"
"Sure." She said and watched him read for the hotel phone.
"I have to get home and shower." He said after hanging up the phone. "I'll be by at 6 to come get you."
"What am I supposed to do all day?" She asked.
"For today? Stay in." He suggested. "Just let me get a better handle on this Jamie situation."
"I have to talk to Jeff." She told him.
"Jeff understands." Punk assured her as he put on his shoes.
"Ok." She said to him.
"Watch some TV, enjoy the air conditioning, go to the spa." He suggested.
"I'm not a spa kind of girl." She smirked.
"Well I'm going to have agents drop by probably Dean and Kofi just to check in here and there." He told her.
"You still want to risk taking me out tonight?" She asked him.
"Hell yea I do. You're worth it." He teased as she walked him to the door. "Coffee will be up in a few." He said and leaned down and kissed her. "Make sure you check the door before you answer."
"Believe me the last thing you need to coach me on is safety measures." She said to him and Punk felt his phone vibrate.
"Brooks." He answered. "Already? I'll be right there."
"What's that?" She asked.
"Jamie was bought in for questioning by local PD. He was staying at the motel across from the bar." He told her.
"You can't hold him." She noted.
"No I can't but I can let him know he's not wanted in Chicago." He told her.
"You won't be able to put him away until he hurts me." She reminded him.
"I'll get him on something from Jersey." Punk said simply. "I got this." he again reminded her then kissed the top of her head and left the room.
Punk knew more than anyone it wouldn't be that easy. This guy left his job to simply watch AJ. If they got him on the roadside incident he'd be in jail for less than six months. He'd be right back out and looking for her. This was a dangerous man but he didn't want to scare AJ. He pulled into the local station and walked in and saw Dean talking to a Detective.
"How did you find him?" Punk asked.
"He was drinking a beer on the street. It as a bullshit charge and he'll be out in a few hours but I know you wanted to talk to him." The Detective told him.
"I appreciate it." Punk said walking into a room and looking through the two way glass at the man sitting alone.
"He looks like a piece of shit." Dean offered with a shrug sipping his coffee.
"This is your area of expertise what's your assessment?" Punk asked him.
"I have to talk to him." Dean told him honestly. "These guys always look normal."
"Let's meet him." Punk said to him and Dean stopped him.
"I'll do it." Dean told him and Punk smirked.
"What are you talking about?" Punk asked.
"You're dating the victim and he knows that." Dean told him.
"He doesn't know that." Punk scoffed.
"Trust me, if he's as bad as AJ claims to be he knows." Dean said to him. "This is a mind game and your mind in on her and he'll see that."
"I can outsmart him." Punk said going to walk into the room but Dean again stopped him.
"You put me in charge." Dean reminded him.
"I'm still your boss." Punk reminded him back coldly.
"Yea and you got to the top by being smart. Let me talk to him first." Dean said passing him his coffee. "This is what I trained for after all." He mocked.
"I'm watching." Punk relented and Dean nodded and walked into the room.
"Why am I here?" Jamie asked seeing Dean walk into the room.
"You know why you're here." Dean said sitting across from him. "Public intoxication."
"I wasn't drunk. Those cops didn't even test me." Jamie spat. "I have things to do."
"You're from New Jersey." Dean said to him.
"I think you know that already." Jamie said to him. "I think you know a lot about me."
"I might." Dean remarked. "Why are you in Chicago?"
"To see my girlfriend." Jamie told him slyly.
"Who is your girlfriend?" Dean asked.
"April Janette Mendez." He recited.
"Is she?" Dean asked.
"She almost is." Jamie corrected. "She's a friend of mine from New Jersey. She called and asked me to visit."
"Yet you didn't visit her since you got here three days ago." Dean noted.
"I've visited her everyday." Jamie laughed a bit confused by the questioning.
"I'm sorry that was a confusing statement." Dean laughed himself. "You have been watching her from outside her job and apartment for three days."
"She invited me." Jamie said to him. "I've done nothing wrong."
"April Mendez is going to be getting an order of protection against you." Dean informed him and Jamie looked confused.
"That is ridiculous." He laughed. "We're close friends."
"I have your phone records." Dean told him and Jamie eyed him.
"Why?" Jamie asked him.
"You called Ms. Mendez 578 times." Dean said to him.
"We're friends." Jamie shrugged.
"That was yesterday alone." Dean added coldly. "You're calling the number she doesn't have anymore. But you know that. What are you looking to get out of coming here?"
"April is coming home I was just giving her a ride." Jamie said to him calmly.
"She's not." Dean said shaking his head slowly.
"You don't really know her." Jamie said with a chuckle.
"Tell me how you know her." Dean encouraged.
"We met three years ago we're neighbors." Jamie told him with a shrug. "We grew very close."
"You go out with her?" Dean asked with a grin. "Take her out, take her to bed?"
"No." Jamie said with a sad smile. "She's a good girl."
"So you drove across country to watch her?" Dean asked.
"I told you she called me." Jamie said to him.
"She didn't call you." Dean said to him.
"How did I find her then?" Jamie asked amused.
"You're private eye." Dean laughed and Jamie's face fell. "I ran your financial records too."
"How did you do all this so quickly?" Jamie asked. "That's a breach of privacy."
"I'm FBI." Dean introduced leaning over the table. "I know A LOT about you."
"FBI?" Jamie asked nervously. "I don't understand."
"Stalking is against the law. It's a federal crime since you crossed state lines." Dean pointed out.
"You have no proof of that." Jamie said simply.
"Are you calling Ms. Mendez a liar?" Dean asked him and he rolled his eyes.
"She's dramatic." Jamie said to him. "She's a woman who likes to play hard to get."
"I don't think she's playing." Dean said to him. "She seems very serious that she wants you to leave her alone. Do you understand that?"
"I don't." Jamie said to him casually. "She's a friend. We are friends and that's not against the law."
"It is when it's stalking." Dean reminded him.
"It's not stalking." Jamie laughed. "Women tend to be dramatic."
"Do they now?" Dean asked with a laugh.
"It's the world today." Jamie reasoned. "You can't even call a woman pretty or admire her without them freaking out."
"I'm sure when you're admiring them or hours upon hours outside their home nightly they really freak out." Dean noted.
"The street belongs to the City, not to April." Jamie pointed out.
"I think it's time for you to go home." Dean informed him.
"I don't want to." Jamie replied back.
"You're going to be served with legal paperwork and if you go near Ms. Mendez you'll be arrested." Dean informed him.
"Ok." Jamie said to him.
"Going to go home now?" Dean asked him.
"Nope." Jamie replied in the same tone. "I'll be in lockup a few hours. You can't break us up. You don't have that power."
"Oh, but I think you'll come to find out that I do." Dean remarked smugly. "I'm not your local cop."
"I don't want to talk to you anymore." Jamie said to him simply. "Either charge me and let me call my lawyer or you can release me."
"You're getting released." Dean told him and Jamie smiled cunningly at him. "But that doesn't mean you're a free man, you get what I'm saying to you?"
"We, thee are none of us free." Jamie recited.
"Great." Dean said standing up and walking out of the room.
"What is your feeling on him now?" Punk asked.
"He's smart, he has no fear and he's going to be a bigger problem than I thought." Dean said to him and Punk glared into the room.
Punk arrived at AJ's hotel a little before 6 and she opened the door for him in a short black cocktail dress and primped hair and beautiful makeup.
"Holy crap." Punk salivated.
"I thought about it and I don't want to go out." She said to him and he eyed her with confusion.
"So you're not dressed like that for me?" He asked painfully.
"No, I am." She confirmed as he still stood outside the door. "I just want to stay in. I'm not ready to go out."
"Ok." Punk agreed letting himself into the room and closing the door and AJ put the bolt on it. "It's a shame people can't see you like this though." He noted as AJ's fingers played with the buttons of his dress shirt.
"I don't want people to see me." She reminded him coyly. "I thought we'd order room service."
"Yea, ok." He said watching her open his shirt. "But not yet, I'm not hungry."
"I just heard your stomach growl." She smirked then kissed over his colorful chest.
"That's not my stomach." He said pushing her onto the bed and pouncing on her.
An hour later AJ's head was resting on Punk's chest as she looked up at the ceiling and caught her breath.
"You ok?" Punk asked her.
"I am." She confirmed.
"I really wish you'd let me take you out." He said to her. "He won't bother you while you're with me."
"It's not about bothering me." She said still looking straight up at the ceiling but he looked down at her. "I know that people don't find it to be a big deal and for the most part it's just creepy but it's invasive. I don't want to leave my home because I don't want him to look at me. I know what he's thinking when he watches me. I don't have any privacy. I'm a grown woman I should be able to go for a jog at night without a man following me in his car and talking to me. I should be able to go out on a date with a nice guy without him being apart of it."
"I get it." He agreed quietly.
"You met him today?" AJ asked Punk who sighed.
"I saw him. Dean thought it would be better if he spoke to him without him but I watched." Punk told her.
"Was he super sweet?" She asked still looking up. "Charm you like he did the local PD?"
"No." Punk chuckled. "I don't find him charming at all and I know Dean didn't." He told her. "He's twisted, I see that. But we'll get him I can feel it."
"Even if he gets arrested how long will he go away for?" AJ asked and Punk didn't answer her. "It won't be long and he'll be back out. And I'll be living with this man for the rest of my life."
"You won't." He assured her. "We'll figure this out. What are you going to do when we catch him?"
"Wow. I've never envisioned life without him." AJ admitted with a faint smile. "I guess go home and try to pick up where I left off."
"Back to Jersey?" He asked.
"Yea, I mean you're great." AJ said sitting up now and looking back at him. "We couldn't make this work long distance?"
"I doubt that." He smirked. "I guess I'll just enjoy you for as long as I can have you but I don't think it will be that long."
"Would you want me to stay here?" She asked him.
"I mean I wouldn't hate seeing you around town." Punk shrugged innocently.
"I don't know. I don't hate it here." She admitted. "I really like Cassie. She bought me the dress you literally ripped off of me."
"Oops." Punk laughed. "Don't tell her."
"How do you two have the same last name but different fathers?" AJ asked him.
"We have our mothers last name." Punk told her. "She was garbage our mother but her last name bonded us and we never wanted to change that."
"Why was she garbage?" AJ questioned.
"I don't like to talk about it." Punk groaned. "Ask me something else."
"Tell me about your ex wife." AJ asked instead and he laughed.
"Ok third times the charm." Punk said to her and AJ glared at him.
"I shared something very personal with you." She reminded him. "You can return the favor."
"I've told you about Amy." He remarked. "She was jealous a female coworker and pushed me away."
"Did you cheat on Amy?" AJ asked.
"No." Punk told her honestly. "But I did spend time with that coworker after we separated."
"What happened to her?" AJ questioned looking down at him as she sat up.
"She transferred to another office." Punk said simply. "She was just a rebound."
"Do you miss your wife?" AJ asked him.
"No." Punk laughed. "I miss the idea of being married. Having someone at home to go to, having someone to spend time with or talk to about work or just life and why it fucking sucks sometimes but I don't miss her. I also realized I really never had that with her to begin with."
"I miss that too." AJ confided and it hit Punk. AJ was living an incredibly lonely life as she self isolated from most of the people in her life. "I miss my job."
"You can write here." Punk encouraged.
"My stuff was personal. Dating adventures, social outings- I don't have those things anymore nor do I want to share my personal life with anyone anymore." She told him. "I miss Doxy most of all."
"What you've been through no one should go through." Punk told her. "Let's get you a dog."
"And live where with it?" She asked amused. "I live place to place I haven't had structure ever. The first time I went to live on my own look what happened? I'm terrified to do it again. Whoever I end up with in life is going to have to accept the fact that I have a lot of emotional baggage and won't put up with it." She teased.
"Whoever you end up with should realize how fucking smart you are and strong." He corrected seriously.
"I don't know. I'm a bit of a head case but I swear I used to be fun." She smiled.
"What was your favorite thing to do?" He asked her.
"Go on the lake in my little row boat and look up at the stars." She confided with a bright smile that instantly made him smile. "It's so relaxing on the water and at night it's like a movie. It was like I was in a different place."
"What if I can take you somewhere that I can guarantee no one else will be there?" He asked her sitting up and and getting dressed.
"What?" She asked with a laugh. "It's after midnight."
"I don't have work tomorrow." He said to her and she eyed him like he was crazy. "You gave me a really good idea and I want to show you something and I promise you'll love it. Do you trust me?"
"I do." She said even surprising herself and got out of the bed. "What should I wear?"
"Anything." He told her putting his belt on and grabbing his shirt. "Here." He said tossing her sweats she left on a chair.
"Ok, ok." She laughed getting dressed and he grabbed her hand and rushed her out of the room.
"I said I trusted you but now I'm worried." She teased as he kept a hand over her eyes after a twenty minute drive. She didn't know Chicago and had no idea where they pulled into but she got out of the car and lead her somewhere.
"Ok, ok." He said stopping and removing his hand.
AJ's eyes lit up and looked back at him.
"This is your boat?" She asked nodding at the small boat that was docked and he nodded.
"I'm an avid fisher." He remarked stepping onto the boat and then took her hand to help her aboard. "We won't go too far out I promised." He assured her before unhooking the boat and she smiled.
"I trust you." She said sitting down.
"Just far enough for you to see the stars." He promised and she anxiously waited for him to start up the boat.
As the boat left the dock a car watched from the lot and Jamie Myers was not impressed.
"She's always with these losers." He scoffed but jumped when he heard a knock on his window and groaned. "You've been following me all day." Jamie said to the nosy FBI agent he met earlier.
"Annoying, isn't it?" Dean mocked with a grin. "You think I like spending my time off like this?"
"So leave me alone." Jamie remarked.
"Can't do that." Dean told him. "As long as you're in town I'm going to be with you." He said to him lighting up a cigarette. "You can't park here." He informed Jamie who narrowed his eyes. "You can't." And he pointed to the sign that said the lot was for boat owners only. "But you can stay here if you'd like I'd love to have a reason to tow your car." He grinned.
"Fuck it." Jamie said annoyed and started up his car and sped out of the lot.
Dean grabbed his phone and pushed one button.
"Kofi, he's on the move." Dean said to him. "Yea that's him that's the plate. Let me know what he's up to. I'm going to hang around the dock and make sure he doesn't sneak back and try to confront Punk or AJ for that matter….alright bye."
Punk rode out for about fifteen minutes and they hit the middle of the water and there were the stars and AJ was in awe of it.
"It's beautiful." She grinned.
AJ was wearing sweats, her hair was still messy from earlier and makeup smeared but she was utterly beautiful to him in this moment. It was the most happy he had ever seen and he decided he wanted to see her happy more often.
"I've never really stopped to look at the stars before." He told her and she gasped.
"How? Look!" She urged excitedly tugging on his arm and pointing up to the sky. "Look at those stars its so peaceful and bright."
"Yea it really is." He agreed looking up but couldn't keep his on the stars, he just loved watching her watch the stars.
"I could stay out here for hours and watch the sunrise." She warned him
"I have no plans tomorrow." He offered genuinely.
"You have to have a flaw." She remarked. "You can't be this perfect."
"I really am just perfect." He teased in a serious voice. "Nah, I'm sports obsessed. My ex couldn't stand it. Hockey season is my season. I also get cranky when I don't eat."
"You didn't eat tonight." She pointed out.
"You make me less crabby." He confided and she moved to sit straddle him.
AJ wrapped her arms loosely around him and he locked his eyes with hers.
"You ever have sex under the stars?" She asked curiously.
"No." He admitted running his hands under her sweatshirt and pulling it over her head.
The boat wasn't large but there was enough room on the seats and he liked the idea of her in charge and on top of his lap. She didn't have a bra on and was now topless and leaned down to kiss him deeply as his fingers sensually ran up and down her spine.
For over twenty minutes they just kissed under the stars. When they finally connected their bodied under the natural light Punk pulled away from the kiss and decided that April in the stars was the most beautiful sight to him. He wanted to live on this small boat forever with her and relive this moment every single night of his life. Anytime Punk and AJ had slept together it was rushed and fun but this was slow and sensual and neither wanted it to the end. They both moved as slow as they could to make this last. Once they finally did reach their releases he wasn't anxious to leave her body just yet. They stayed connected as she rested her head on his shoulder and he held her close while doing so. He realized this time was different because even though they were out in the open they were completely alone. She had no fear of someone watching her and could actually enjoy herself. He didn't realize how always on edge she was.
Staying until sunrise was tempting but both were starving and after a little bit more time watching the stars they were back on the dock. AJ was giggling as Punk tried to help her off the rocky boat. He was laughing until he felt someone watching him and jerked his head to see Dean waiting on the dock.
"Is that Dean?" AJ asked.
"Yea." Punk said not letting go of her hand. "We good?"
"Yea." Dean said to him. "I just have to talk to you. Don't worry Jamie is at bar across town and Kofi is watching him hes not here." He assured AJ and Punk passed her his truck keys.
"I'll meet you in the car." Punk said to her and AJ just smiled and walked off. "How did you know I was here?"
"I was tailing Jamie and he led me here." Dean informed him and Punk frowned.
"I didn't see him tailing me, I looked." Punk argued.
"He's slicker than you give him credit for. These guys always are." Dean told him. "I scared him off as soon as you two got on the boat."
"When are we getting this order of protection?" Punk asked him.
"Tomorrow a judge will see her. I pulled a few strings and called in a favor." Dean told him and Punk nodded. "Get her to the courthouse by 12."
"I will." Punk assured him and looked back a the car and saw AJ sitting inside.
"So, the boat?" Dean smirked.
"The boat." Punk confirmed.
"How was it?" Dean asked in a whisper even though AJ wasn't near.
"I'm not one to kiss and tell." Punk said to him with a cocky grin.
"You know what you're doing?" Dean asked him.
"What do you mean?" Punk asked.
"I just hate to see you all sad and miserable when I lock this prick up and AJ heads to home to New Jersey." Dean said to him.
"I'm not invested." Punk scoffed.
"Right." Dean mocked.
"I'm serious." Punk said to him. "Worry less about me and more about Myers." Punk suggested then headed back to his car to meet AJ.