Claimed (For Her 3)

I rub my eyes, exhaustion hitting me. I want to close my eyes, but I know if I do I’ll be missing out on time I could be using to figure this out. What more can I do? There’s got to be something.

When Jay caught the discrepancies, she kept hounding Stein. When he dodged her, I went after him and got it. When I showed up at his home, he was reluctant to give me all the paperwork, and I know it’s because it wasn’t wiped of all the illegal information. He must have handed it over thinking I was just a hired hand, and then Jay would turn it over to Miles. Miles even said he called to let him know it was all set and just to sign them. What Stein didn’t count on was Jay. She’s like a dog with a bone, and she won’t let it go until she’s good and ready. The part that scares me the most is that if Stein is looking for revenge, Jay is the one he would go after. If he’s got her, then all I can do is pray we get to her before he reacts.

Summer had to be collateral damage. She was the bait to get Jay to come home, and she couldn’t be left behind. If she’s able to identify the person who took her, then she may not make it out alive. And the same goes for my Jay.

For a moment, a flash of her face drifts through my mind. Her smile as she’s laid out on my bed, her hair a mess of waves around her. Her chocolate eyes looking straight to my soul. The ache in my chest burns like there’s a knife inside, twisting in my heart. I don’t know how much longer this can go on. She has to stay alive. She has to. There’s no other choice.

I try to think of all the times I held her in my arms. I lean my head back and close my eyes, remembering the feel of her fingertips against my chest. I think about the curve of her hip as she lies on her side and tells me about all the places in the world she wants to see. I think about the sounds of her breathing as I wrap my body around hers and keep her safe. The memory of her legs wrapped around my waist as I sink deep into her body and make sweet love to her.

* * *

I’m jolted awake when my phone vibrates in my pocket. I look around, disoriented, and blink a few times. I must have fallen asleep. I reach down and grab my phone, almost dropping it as I slide the bar across the screen to answer it.

“Jay! Is it you, Jay?” My heart pounds in my throat, and I hear a throat clear.

“Jordan, it’s Pop.”

I sink against the wall as hope leaves me cold and alone. “Hey, Pop.”

I called him late last night and told him Jay went missing. He took it almost as hard as I did, and we stayed on the phone for a while and he listened to me cry. As soon as I hear his voice now, I feel like doing that all over again.

“Listen, Jordan, I’ve been racking my brain all night.”

“Me too, Pop. Thanks—”

“No. I’m trying to tell you I remember something.” His voice is stern, and I sit up a little.

“What?” I can’t understand what he means, but it could be lack of sleep.

“Last night I remembered something about my accident. It wasn’t an accident. Someone was there.”

My blood runs cold. “Pop, what are you saying?”

“There were two people. They came around the back of the house. Someone said the name Spencer. I didn’t get a good look at either of them because it all happened so fast. I don’t remember much else, but someone said the name Spencer, I’m sure of it.”

“Do you think this has something to do with Jay?” I ask, and I see Paige looking over at me as I talk.

“I think it might. I don’t know, Jordan, but I feel like it has to. Nothing was stolen from my house, they didn’t break in. It was like they wanted to create confusion.”

I’m nodding as he speaks. It has to be related. Why would someone harm my dad? It wouldn’t be hard for the person who did this to find out Jay and I were together. She doesn’t have much of a family to reach out to. So going after her parents wouldn’t have gotten the kind of attention going after mine would. I rub my face, feeling like the fresh information has reenergized me.

“Okay, Pop. Thanks for telling me. If you think of anything else let me know. But this is enough for me to do some digging right now.”