Chasing Charli Read online

  Note to self: don’t ever get arrested because it looks painful.

  I remember then a little too late about Dodge as he grabs me off the bed and points a gun straight to my head.

  I don't even bother struggling as I look down to the ground and see Jax, blood drenching his shirt. His eyes are still on me though and wide with fear as he sees the gun pointed at me.

  He closes his eyes momentarily and I think he's passed out but he opens them again and mouths the words "I'm sorry."

  Dodge starts yelling at Finn and Marty telling them to release the boss, while he does this though he motions with his hand that holds the gun.

  I seize my opportunity and push my elbow into his chest as hard as I can, making him double over in pain. Then I throw my head back and crack him right in the nose.

  I instantly drop to my knees with the pain in my head; Jesus what is this guy made of?

  I crawl away from the gorilla that is made of what appears to be solid concrete and watch as Finn walks over and points his gun at him. Dodge drops to his knees and puts his hands behind his head in surrender knowing he is outnumbered; his final attempt at victory was a big fail.

  I put my hands on either side of Jax's face and see the colour draining, "You're going to be fine Jax, you hear me?" I reassure him, or maybe I'm just trying to reassure myself.

  He puts his hand on top of mine and smiles up at me, "I taught you well didn't I."

  "You really think right now is the time for jokes?" I say as I feel a tear slip down my cheek.

  "Hey, I'm fine" he groans as he tries to sit up straighter and then gives up. He wipes the tear off my cheek with his thumb and keeps his eyes on mine.

  I feel a hand pat my shoulder and look up at Marty, who is smiling down at the two of us. I realise then that there are more people in the hallway now and pulling the suit up to his feet roughly.

  "There are medics outside if you need brother" says Marty as he holds out a hand for Jax to help him up.

  "Brother?" I ask confused.

  Jax groans as he holds his wounded side and Marty pulls him up. He wraps his arm around me to help keep him stable but he seems alright on his feet, not even wobbly. Then I smile as I realise he just wanted his arm around me. We make our way out of the room and down the hallway that is now crowded with police.

  "Not literally, we know each other from a whole other life time ago" grins Marty. He then looks at my face and frowns, "you should probably get a medic to take a look at ya too, Dodge got a pretty good hit in earlier, you okay?"

  Jax tenses next to me and looks down at me, "That guy hit you?" he asks angrily.

  "Yeah I'm okay, took one for the team" I try to laugh it off with a thumbs up, but Jax practically growls and turns to make his way back into the room where the men are cuffing Dodge.

  I pull his arm to stop him and see him wince in pain, "Sorry" I say in panic and let go.

  Marty quickly grabs his arm and stops him, "Maybe you should get yourself taken care of first and look after your girl?"

  Jax looks at me and his lips pull up into a huge grin as he takes the few steps back towards me and wraps his arm around me again pulling me closer, "yeah, she's my girl."

  "You have been busy I see Jax" he says and pats his shoulder before turning to me and looking slightly embarrassed; "sorry about the underwear jokes" he says and shrugs.

  "What underwear jokes?" asks Jax sternly and looks between the two of us.

  "Ask him" I say.

  "Uhh..." says Marty but is called over by an older looking gentleman in a suit with a detective badge hanging on his belt.

  He quickly saunters over and they shake hands and start having a discussion about something. I think there was a whole lot more going on then I imagined and my evidence was just the icing on the cake to an entire crazy mess of a case with undercover cops and god knows what else.

  We finally take a step outside and a medic rushes over and takes us over to the ambulance. They start inspecting Jax and he motions for them to check me out as well but I brush them off and assure them I'm fine.

  I look over to the door and see another medic helping Drew towards the ambulance.

  "Oh my god Drew!" I jump to my feet and run over to help. He doesn't look too bad, just a cut on his forehead and a hefty black eye already forming. I pull his arm around me to help keep him up and walk over and sit him next to Jax.

  "I didn't say anything Charli, not that I even knew what the hell they were talking about; I'm so sorry" Drew says but I pat his shoulder gently and shake my head.

  "No need to apologise. I should be the one saying sorry for getting you hurt. Jesus Christ look at you."

  He shrugs then and looks over at Jax, "He the one you been busy swooning over instead of me?" he jokes and I can't help but laugh as Jax turns his eyes to me and smiles.

  "The one and only" I reply.

  The medic finishes checking Drew over and then looks over to me as she says, "We got to get this one to the hospital and stop the bleeding, you coming or staying?"

  "I'm coming" I practically yell and start to climb into the back of the ambulance just as a hand stops me. I look and see Finn standing by the doors of the ambulance and he places something in my hand.

  "I can see your kind of busy Charli but I just want you to know you did good in there, I'll keep in touch" says Finn as he steps away and the doors are closed.

  I look down in my hands and smile when I see the mints and a business card for a Griffin Stone, detective.

  I laugh when I realise he figured out the memory card was in the tin and have a sudden feeling of euphoria when the realisation hits me that everything is over, that Finn was never some creep but he was actually helping me in some way. I guess that explains why they didn’t find us at Jax’s apartment, or why in all honesty this didn’t turn out so much worse than it had.

  Now the only thing I had to worry about was Jax and making sure he was okay. I look over at him and see him lying back on the ambulance stretcher with an arm behind his head, his eyes glued to me.

  "Everything okay?" he asks and I frown as I see all the blood on his shirt.

  "No, are you going to be okay? Why are you still bleeding so much, shouldn't the medic have fixed that?"

  "Charli" he says and lifts his other arm, a clear invitation for me to snuggle up to him.

  "It's not as bad as it looks, I've had worse before; so stop worrying so much and come here."

  I sit on the edge of the stretcher and he pulls me up against him then softly kisses the top of my head.

  "I love you Jax" I say quietly and feel his arms tighten around me.

  "God, I love you too. I'm so fucking proud of you, you know that? You didn't even need me to save you."

  "Yeah I did, if you didn't come in when you did that guy would have crushed me, I couldn't breathe with him on top of me."

  "And somehow you were still awake and conscious after he hit you, unlike Drew here" he jokes. I almost forgot Drew was in the back of the ambulance with us until he speaks up.

  "Hey…he was a big guy, I took a lot of hits for Charli" he complains but laughs a little as he puts the ice pack back on his face.

  After that we make our way to the hospital in silence and Jax rubs his hand up and down my arm in a soothing gesture. I tuck Finn's card in my pocket and toy with the tin of mints between my fingers until we get to the hospital.

  14. Roomies

  Jackson

  I'm currently in a sedated state of bliss because of some pain medication; or maybe it's the fact I got Charli curled up nice and close to me on the shitty single bed in the hospital.

  She's refused to leave my side ever since we got in last night and after my quick patch up she's been curled up and sleeping against my chest.

  It's serenely quiet in the room and I watch as she breathes in and out evenly. She was incredible last night, maybe because we had help internally, or maybe not, maybe she was just that great on her own.

  I tuck some hair
behind her ear and just idly stare up at the hospital ceiling, enjoying her warmth tucked against me.

  After a while I hear the distinct sound of heels clicking down the hallway before someone quietly enters the room. I freeze for a second when I see its Charli's mum and then look down at Charli who's still sleeping in my arms, possibly faking just so she won't have to talk to her.

  Her mum clears her throat before taking a few steps closer and narrowing her eyes down at Charli in my arms. "I came down here to make sure Charli was okay and to thank you for keeping her safe as best you could. I see now that there's an entirely different reason I should be worried" she says sternly and I feel Charli tense slightly in my arms.

  "I am truly grateful for your services and I will certainly be passing on a positive recommendation to your agency but I believe now that the delinquents will be put away for good, you are no longer required ..." she starts rambling, but before she can finish her sentence I cut in.

  "Ms. Summers, I just want you to know that I never intended for this to happen. I know you gave me strict instructions to keep this professional, but in all honesty no matter who you hired, I'm sure they would have fallen for Charli too. She's one of the bravest and strongest people I have ever met and I'm truly lucky because for some stupid reason, she seems to love me back" I say and shrug.

  "Love?" she chokes out a little startled at the word, no doubt a word she hasn’t heard often.

  "Yeah, love. Charli is ...incredible and so fucking beautiful. Sorry...beautiful" I correct myself and smile when I see Charli trying to hide a grin from spreading across her face, knowing not many people drop the f-bomb on her mum.

  Her mum walks a little closer and brushes some hair out of Charli's face, "Charli...I may act like a total stranger sometimes, but I am still your mother; I know when you're pretending to sleep."

  "Crap" says Charli and opens her eyes but she has a smile on her face too. This is probably the most down-to-earth I've ever seen her mum, so that's probably saying something.

  Charli stretches on the bed but I keep a firm hold on her so she doesn't get up. Her mum looks from me to Charli and I can see her fingers are gripping her purse like eagle claws.

  "Charli can I speak to you…alone?"

  "Depends what you have to say" says Charli, and I think it's the first time I've heard her not drop everything she's doing for her. Her mum's lips purse into a tight line clearly unhappy, and she simply turns and walks out the room.

  Charli sighs and pulls herself off the bed carefully; trying not to hurt me no doubt even though I’ve told her repeatedly I’m fine.

  "You okay?" I ask her.

  "Yeah, I need to do this eventually anyway, might as well be in the hallway of a hospital" she smiles, but I see it's a little forced.

  I watch as she practically drags herself out the door and at first I only hear faint murmuring, until it starts to get a little louder and more heated.

  "Fine, it's about time I moved out anyway" I hear Charli say, but I don't hear her mum's response.

  "Don't you get it, I don't want that life" she keeps going, "I don't want to be like you, you're miserable."

  "Watch your tone Charli. I raised you better than this."

  "That’s the thing though…you didn't raise me at all, all the maids and nannies did. You were never proud of me, no matter what I did it was never good enough for you" Charli says as I hear someone else approach in the hallway.

  "Everything okay here?" says a guy's voice.

  "Yeah everything's okay. Unless you want to accept my choices mum, than I've got nothing else to say to you."

  The door opens and Charli is halfway through when the guy stops her, "Sorry miss, there's someone named Griffin here to see you. He's just in the waiting room."

  She nods and he walks back down the hallway.

  She quickly turns to me and holds up her hand signalling she'll be five minutes, then walks out and past her mum, who is still standing just outside the door.

  I wait patiently, knowing full well she's going to come in here, yell at me or something and probably fire me; not that I give a shit.

  Charli

  As I make my way to the waiting room I quickly rake my fingers through my hair and tie it up in a loose bun on the top of my head.

  I turn the corner and as soon as Finn sees me he stands up and walks over to me with a huge grin on his face.

  "Charli, you’re looking well" he says, obviously joking since I'm still wearing what I had on last night, covered in blood and a nice cut on my cheek and forehead from Dodge.

  "Yeah well...you don't scrub up so bad yourself" I say, referring to his now immaculate dress attire; certainly looks the part of a detective.

  He smiles wider at me and puts an arm around my shoulder, leading me out of the waiting room.

  "Let's go have a chat somewhere more private" he says as we walk into an empty hospital room a couple steps away.

  Before he can say anything I hand over the tin of mints and shrug, "I figure I can trust you with this after you helped save my life Finn. That's why you're here right?"

  Without a word he tucks them into his back pocket and leans against the bed next to me. "Thanks for trusting me, even after everything. You do understand why I was following you though right?"

  "So you wouldn't blow your cover?" I guess.

  "I tried doing everything I could to prevent them from getting you, without obviously looking like I was helping you. I knew you were in good hands with Jax too. Marty's told me a lot about him and the things they've been through."

  I just smile at him because I don't know what else to say. I don’t really know the full extent to Jax and Marty’s friendship other than that they trained together.

  "My main question for today, is whether you are still willing to be a witness against Morelli?"

  "Fuck yes!" I say, "Sorry" I add quickly and laugh.

  He pats my shoulder, "you don't have to apologise sweetheart, I'm sure I swear more than you do."

  "Ugh don't call me that" I joke and he laughs a deep loud laugh.

  "You handled yourself really well Charli; got a lot of stupidity though getting someone like Dodge pissed off but that takes a lot of guts. That kick you landed in the car...shit I thought you cracked a rib" he chuckles and pats my shoulder.

  All I can do is grin up at him and accept his compliments.

  "Your guy gonna be alright?"

  "Yeah, I think so. I think he's in there talking to my mum at the moment."

  "And that's a bad thing?"

  "You don't know my mum" I chuckle, "She gave him a strict warning I was just a job and somehow one thing led to another and well...here we are."

  "Yep...here we are" he shrugs and gives me a small smile of assurance.

  "You'll be fine. I'll keep in touch with finer details about all this, but Charli...you got nothing to worry about now. This is a case that's been going for almost 5 years now and with your help and the evidence you got, he finally came out of hiding and we got him right where we needed him. I can finally stop been a felon" he laughs a little, but it makes me wonder what things he had to do just to get in with those kinds of people.

  "You okay?" he asks as he grasps my chin gently and twists my face so he can see it better, "you took a few good hits, sorry about that."

  "I've been through worse...okay maybe not" I laugh, "but I'll be fine" I grin.

  He lets go of me and then takes a few steps towards the door – "You know Charli...you'd be pretty good in this field of work, you're tougher than people think you are."

  "Thanks?" I say, more like a question.

  "Seriously, you should think about it" he says and then steps out the room.

  It wasn't a half bad idea actually; I was already pretty fit from running and working out with Jax all the time. He's taught me the basics and I can certainly take a few hits it seems like without cowering away.

  I make my way back to Jax's room and hope my mum has finished lecturing him; I feel
pretty bad for leaving him alone with her.

  I open the door quietly and see that he's alone and asleep, he looks so gorgeous.

  I tiptoe over to the bed and just stand there looking at him, not sure whether to climb back onto the bed next to him or let him sleep comfortably; or as comfortably as one can be on a shitty hospital bed.

  I lightly trace my fingers against his forearm and before I can move any further down he catches my hands and pulls me down a little.

  "What are you doing?"

  "Touching...is that not allowed?"

  "Oh its allowed, but if you don't stop I'll be a little more than embarrassed when the doctor comes in and I'm sprouting a major hard on for you."

  "If it's for me, then by all means go right ahead" I laugh and continue trailing my fingers down his stomach.

  "Come here beautiful" he says and gently pulls me down onto the bed. I chuckle and curl into his side as best I can without falling off the bed. He wraps his arm around me and I lean my head against his chest, his heart thudding strongly beneath me.

  "I like that sound."

  "What sound?" he asks a little confused.

  I drag my finger up his stomach and stop on his chest near his heart and tap to the rhythm, "Your heartbeat."

  He laughs a little and then kisses the top of my head, "You're insane you know that? But I still love you."

  "Love you" I laugh a little as I realise something, "You know, not many people can say their man took a bullet for them."

  "Anytime babe, even if you are a pain in the ass" he says and we laugh together, curled up on the bed.

  "Did my mum talk to you?" He's silent so I turn my head and look up at him, "What did she say?"

  "Well for starters I need to find a new job" he chuckles.

  "I'm sure you would have quit anyway, it's a tough gig looking after me."

  "I think I handled myself well don't you?"

  I shake my head a little and laugh.

  "She also said you'd be better off with Nick. Is that that Donovan kid that always wore polo shirts and cheated on you?"