Page 64 of Stay, Swear.

Just before we get to the door of the building my feet turn and my hand shoots up to stop the two giant men flanking me. Both Kie and Dec stop in their tracks, each raising a singular eyebrow in question.

“Before we go in here I have a request. I need you guys tolet me lead. I have questions that need answered. After I get my answers you’re free to do whatever you need to do.”

Declan groans like a child being told to go to bed. “Come on, Pigeon. I’ve been waiting for this. Can we at least get his brother’s name while we let you ask your questions?”

I mull that over for a second before deciding, “Agreed.”

In true Byrne fashion he extends his hand, to shake on our agreement. With that settled, my attention turns to the man who holds my entire soul in his hands. I’m not stupid. I know he won’t deny me what I want. He only does that behind closed doors in a controlled environment.

“You deserve to have your questions answered, I’ll never take that from you.”

Pushing up on my toes, my lips skim the underside of his jaw, “Thank you, Mystery Man.”

“Anything for you, brave Girl.” He takes my hand and leads me through the door.

The warehouse looks much the same as it did the other day. The only noticeable difference to me is instead of Jackson hanging from a butcher’s hook, he’s strapped to a chair. He’s in the exact same spot Jerry was, the chair sitting perfectly over the covered drain in the floor. His head is bowed forward like he’s sleeping or unconscious. My eyes scan his body, his arms and legs are strapped to the arms and legs of the chair, held in place by a mixture of tape and rope. Whoever secured him also tied him at the waist to the chair.

At the sound of our boots on the cement floors his head springs up and a genuine smile takes over his face. Kieran and Declan make weird dude grunts beside me in displeasure but I smile back. I’ve liked having Jackson as a boss, he isn’t unkind, he’s a little nosy with what’s going on in my personallife, but it’s not creepy.

“Brittany, thank you. Please tell your guard dogs to back off .”

Both men tense beside me, but it’s Kieran who decides to growl like a dog before muttering, “Woof, you little bitch.” just loud enough for everyone to hear him, causing me to shoot him a glare, and catch a mischievous grin on his addictive lips.

Turning back to Jackson I nod, “Yeah, no problem, but I have questions that need to be answered first.” His face drains of all color and simultaneously my stomach turns uneasily.

“I’ll answer any questions you have.”

The nervous energy festering inside of me comes out in the form of pacing in front of him. Taking a deep breath I force out the question I’ve got to ask.

“Did you tell Robert, Eric, and David that I was coming in this morning?”

He looks shocked that I’d even ask him that, “No, Brittany, I would never tell them anything.”

“But they asked?” Declan bites out from a few feet behind me. This is why Declan came with us. He can see through the fog.

Jackson nods but his eyes are for me, “They’ve been asking me about you since you started working for me.”

“How did they know she was here? How do you know about them? Who are you? The truth this time.”

He gives us a solemn nod, “I’ll tell you everything. No more secrets.”

Jake Harris

Age Sixteen

This is bullshit. I have to go to his house again. The only reason I’m not completely throwing myself out of this vehicle is because Tripp promised to come too. He just turned eighteen and doesn’t have to go to our sperm donor’s one overnight a month anymore, but I’m not that lucky yet. We both know that he’s into some sketchy shit, and no matter how many times we call CPS they won’t listen. They stop by, check that the place is livable, then peel out.

Our mom hates this shit. She works three jobs to make ends meet, Tripp just dropped out to work full time at a steel mill nearby and neither of them will let me drop out to help. Every time I bring it up they shoot it down with the same argument, ‘You’re going to be the one to get out of this town. You’re going to be a hot shot lawyer, move to New York, and make something of yourself. You can’t do that if you drop out.’

Tripp’s beat up old pickup truck pulls off onto the long, shitty driveway of our father’s house.

“You ready? It won’t be too much longer and you never have to come back.”

I nod, but I know better, I’ll be here nineteen more times after tonight before I’m free of this shit. We both get out of the truck and shut the shitty doors with a little extra strength before heading to his front door.

I’m only court ordered to be here from seven thirty Friday night, to seven thirty Saturday morning, and you won’t catch me here a second longer. Walking up to his shitty pale yellow rancher, I notice he still hasn’t fixed the shutters that are practically hanging off the house. The screen door is broken and swings freely in the wind from a particularly brutal night between us a few months ago.

Before we can make our way up the dry rotted steps to the front door it swings open with so much force it bouncesoff the wall. Our father stands in the doorway looking at us in surprise.

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