***Chapter 36***

**Jason's POV**

It was probably a good thing that Aria had come by this morning, despite the utter exhaustion that was dragging me down. I had forgotten to set my alarm and needed to get up and grab some paperwork from the office so that I could work at home today. I know that my dad didn't approve, but I was hoping that Charlie would make contact today. Sleeping through that would make me staying behind useless. I glared at the cop cars still parked outside the house. They were meant to keep an eye on Alison, but since she was gone they seemed unnecessary and might keep Charlie from seeing me.

I got a shower before heading to the office trying to wake myself up to better keep an eye out for signs of Charlie, there wasn't anyone there yet it was still early enough, so I just grabbed a few files. I scowled at the squad car that was parked out in front of my house, deciding it was time to send the officers away.

"Hey, didn't Lt. Tanner tell you that Alison is gonna be gone for a few days?" I asked, approaching the officer on duty.

"Yeah, but our orders are to stay here, just in case anyone tries to set anything up for when she gets back. As well as to offer protection to you." He explained, leaning his arm against the open window.

"You can take off. I don't need protecting." I told him, annoyed that they were going to be lingering when I didn't want them here. "You're here to keep an eye out for Alison, not me."

"Sorry, I'm just following orders."

I rolled my eyes but realized that they wouldn't be leaving any time soon, not by my word. I probably needed to talk to Lt. Tanner to get them to go away. My phone began to ring as I walked into the house, dropping the files onto the entryway table before reaching for my phone. Maybe it was Aria, we usually made plans for the day to see each other, and I hadn't told her that I intended to stay at home all day in hopes of meeting with Charlie. When I checked the caller ID though, it said that my dad was calling.

"Hey, what's up?" I answered, heading into the kitchen to get something to drink.

"Jason, I have your sister at a hotel, Charles shouldn't be able to find us." He informed me.

"I'm glad you and Ali are safe."

"Are the cops still keeping watch on the house? Making sure Charles can't get to you?" he questioned, causing me to sigh heavily into the phone.

"Just because you don't want to see him, doesn't mean that I don't." I barely kept myself from snapping into the phone, my words still came out through my gritted teeth.

"Jason, I told you he is not safe to be around. Please, don't try to see him."

I took a deep breath, trying not to yell at him. I had worked over the last few years to separate myself from the anger and rage that used to burn me up. Found a variety of practices that helped keep me even. Yet my dad always pushed me past the point where any of those exercises did anything to help. How could he possibly expect me to believe him after all the lies he told me over the years. Still though, I knew that it wouldn't do any good to argue with him. I must have been silent for long enough for him to worry, as he was now calling my name.

"Listen, I've got some work to take care of. I'll talk to you later." I hung up the phone before he could respond.

I ran my hand down my face, trying to wipe away the scowl that I knew had settled there when I talked to him. I tossed my phone onto the counter, figuring I may as well eat something now since I wouldn't be meeting up with Aria. I couldn't put her through seeing Charlie today, couldn't risk her being around if and when he tried to make contact. I remembered how she had shaken last night when she had first awoken, thinking that someone was going to hurt her. I was afraid to think about what Charles had done to her down there that had made her curl in on herself like that. She had frozen and flinched whenever someone moved to close to her or there was a loud noise since she had been back. I shook the thought away, I couldn't think about it right now. I needed to keep it separate for now. If Charlie made contact I needed to convince him to turn himself into the cops, not punch him out.

Ugh, I was tired. I gave a groan while waiting for the coffee machine to finish brewing. I wasn't sure that just coffee would be enough today. I had barely slept last night after my dad and Ali had left and with Aria showing up only a few hours after that, I was running on maybe three hours tops. I really wanted to just go back to bed, knowing that my sheets still smelled like Aria didn't help curb the temptation any. I shook my head, clearing the thought as I grabbed a mug. Today I needed to be awake and alert to watch for any sign of Charlie.

Once I had eaten breakfast and finished two cups of coffee, I settled into the office to get some work done. I had only grabbed a few files from the office, barely enough to keep me busy for a few hours on a regular day. But today I figured I would be distracted enough that just getting through the small stack would feel like an accomplishment.

Every few minutes, I got up from the desk, going to check the windows to see if there was any sign of Charlie. I had the news on in the background, thinking maybe there might be something interesting on there, but so far it was just the typical mid-day local news reporting, primarily on how a local vineyard made their signature wine. But it was either that or a soap opera. And I wasn't quite desperate enough for something to watch. Not that I was even really paying it any attention. It was mostly just background noise.

I nearly jumped when there was a knock on the door, half knowing that it couldn't possibly be Charlie with the squad car camped out front, but also wishing that this was what I had been anxiously waiting for. The door swung open and standing on my front porch was Lorenzo, I didn't understand why the cop was here, especially since he wasn't in his uniform. But he must have been coming to see Ali, something he had been doing since Ali had agreed to supervise a girls youth soccer program for the church. And not something that I really approved of. I know that Toby was his partner and dating Spencer. But though Lorenzo looked young, I doubted he was actually young enough to be spending so much time with my sister. He was at least a year older than me, if not older.

"Lorenzo, everything okay?" I asked, stepping out to meet him as he faced out at the squad car in front of the house.

"Yeah, is Ali here?"

"Uh, no she's not. She's out of town with my dad. He told Tanner." I told him, turning to face him and spotted a red balloon that was tied to the railing of the porch. I switched my attention back to Lorenzo, hoping that he wouldn't notice my slight distraction and question it.

"Do you know when she'll be back?" he pressed.

"I'm not sure, my dad didn't say." I replied with a shrug, wanting him to just walk away. "Sorry."

"I tried calling her a couple of times, but she hasn't called me back. She usually calls back by now."

"I didn't know you two had a usually." I couldn't help the protective tone that came out in my voice, we'd only had Ali back for a few months and part of that time she had been falsely imprisoned for killing Mona Vanderwaal. The fact that any guy was getting so close to her made me nervous, even if he was a cop. It also didn't help that Ali hadn't said much about their increasing friendship. Though I guess I hadn't really been there for Ali to talk to in the first place, I'd been spending most of my time either at the office or with Aria. Suddenly, I felt guilty that maybe Ali had needed me but I hadn't been there for her. I brushed the thought away, deciding that it wouldn't do any good to dwell on at the moment. When she got back into town then we could talk about it.

"Can you let her know I stopped by?"

"Will do." I told him, before my gaze landed on the squad car again. "And you can tell your guys they can take off. Ali won't be back for a few days."

"I thought you said you didn't know when she would be back." Lorenzo replied, making me regret that last sentence.

"I don't, but my dad said that it would be at least a few days and he would call when they are gonna be coming back into town." I told him, hoping that the lie would get rid of the police protection.

I gave Lorenzo a brief smile before he headed down the drive way back to where his car was parked. He didn't say anything to the cop who was staying comfortably in his car. I headed over to the red balloon, seeing a blue toy frog and a small envelope tucked into the string which held it to the railing. The red envelope held a children's birthday invitation. There was the usual information along with a note written into the place where the RSVP information should have been.

-Bring the girl or don't come at All.-

I frowned at the fact that there was a girl that I was supposed to bring to meet him. I had no idea who it could have been that he was talking about but it didn't bode well if he wanted me to bring a girl. It must have been one of Ali's friends, either that or Mona. I almost hoped that it would be Mona showing up at my door to be brought along with, at least the others wouldn't be in danger. I checked the time and realized that I still had several hours left before I needed to leave to meet Charles. So I settled back in to try and get some work done. Maybe now that I had a timeline, I could get this out of the way and then slip back upstairs for a short nap. I yawned, looking at the work ahead of me. Another cup of coffee it was.

**End Chapter**

It always bothered me that Jason coudn't come up with a decent lie to tell Lorenzo, how could he possibly have gotten none of the lying genes considering his siblings. Anyway, hope y'all like this one.