Page 36 of Half of My Heart
ChapterFourteen
I slowly makemy way back to my trailer, exhaustion settling into my muscles from the grueling shoot we had today. We’ve hit the ground running these last couple of weeks on production and so far, the schedule has been manageable. I’m able to join Jenna in taking Avery to school in the mornings, but nights are sporadic. The evenings I do have off, I join the girls at their place for dinner and partake in their nighttime rituals. Sometimes Robert and Layla are both there, other times just Robert, but it’s nice to get to know those two better as well. It makes me worry less to know that Jenna did have a support system without me, but it still doesn’t replace the fact that I should have been here from day one.
A couple of the nights I’ve been there, I’ve fallen asleep with Avery. Jenna usually wakes me up, but one night, she let me stay and woke me up at five in the morning to go back to my place to shower and get ready for the day. I still can’t get the memory of Jenna out of my mind that morning, waking me up and seeing her sleepy eyed in her pajamas. I immediately remembered what she looked like underneath that layer of clothing, what she felt like. My hands were burning to roam that beautiful body of hers and bury myself deep inside of her. And as I stared at her, trying to talk myself out of grabbing her and taking her back to the bedroom to devour her, I could see in her eyes that she remembered what it was like for us too. It took every ounce of strength to keep my hands to myself and walk out that door.
Being a good guy has never felt so fucking wrong.
I know she feels the same way I do and the tension between us has gotten even more strained with want. Jenna’s as loyal as they come and because of her commitment to her boyfriend, she’s back to treating me as a stranger. She’s always polite and cordial, but she never lets me catch her gaze for more than a second and she makes sure we’re never alone together anymore.
Tonight, she’s going to one of Jax’s home games and I’m supposed to take over babysitting duties from Robert as soon as I get off. The plan is to take a quick shower and then head straight to Jenna’s condo. I reach my trailer, unlock the door, and grab my phone off the counter. My stomach drops when I see I have five missed calls from Robert and a text saying I need to call him ASAP.
“We have a serious situation, Cal,” he states as soon as he picks up my call. His voice is filled with tension and immediately my heart starts to pound in panic.
“What’s wrong? Are the girls okay?”
“I just opened the mail and there is a death threat against Jenna and Avery,” he whispers in anger, his voice laced with urgency.
“Fuck,” I groan and quickly rummage through my trailer to find a bag to pack some clothes. “Did Jenna see it?”
“No, she’s already gone and I’m at her place with Avery. They sent it to our work P.O. Box and I was opening our mail. I quickly hid it so Avery didn’t see it.”
“Good, keep it hidden until I get there and whatever you do, do not tell Jenna yet.”
“Cal, I don’t like this.”
“I have a plan and we’ll strategize when I arrive.”
I hang up without saying another word, stuff clothes into a bag so I can take a shower at Jenna’s and race out of my trailer to my awaiting car. Fortunately, I’m not far from her condo and it only takes me twenty minutes to get there.
Robert and I feed Avery and take turns playing with her. When it’s time for bed, I read her two stories and stay with her until she falls asleep. Once I hear her steady breathing, I creep out of her room and silently shut the door.
When he sees that I’m back, Robert motions for me to meet him in Jenna’s office. I leave the door ajar so I can hear if Avery wakes up.and turn back to face him. He hands me a manilla envelope. I reach inside and take out a Ziplock bag that contains a photo inside. As soon as I flip it over and see what it is, my insides turn cold. It’s a black-and-white photo zoomed in on Jenna holding Avery. Both of their eyes have been cut out and there is a gooey red substance all over the photo. The words “DIE” are scrawled in the same red substance.
“Bloody fucking hell,” I growl, my breath catching in my chest at the disturbing photo. I put it back in the envelope and close my eyes, but it’s too late—the image is already etched in my brain. Rage starts to boil inside of me and I want to fucking destroy whomever is threatening to hurt my family.
“What do we do?” Robert asks anxiously.
“Unfortunately, death threats are common for celebrities, but I know what we need to do.”
“Yeah, well it’s not common for us poor ol’ civilians,” Robert sneers in sarcasm.
“My agent already has a contact with the FBI. Let me call him and see if we can meet with someone from the local bureau.” I dial up Philip and update him on what’s going on. He promises to have someone from their local offices call me within twenty-four hours.
The next phone call I make is to Chase to see if he’s heard if anyone in his circle is talking about a threat against Jenna.
“No, no one has said a word, Cal. When the fuck are you going to get her a bodyguard?” he asks in frustration.
“I’ve sent a contract to one and am just waiting for him to sign it, but he was in Europe finishing up a job, so he might not be here until next week.”
“Does Jenna know about the threat?”
“No, not yet. Robert just received it today and I told him not to tell her yet.” I look up at Robert, who’s looking at me with questions in his eyes. “I want to wait until after I talk to the FBI, which will hopefully be tomorrow.”
“She needs to know, Cal,” Chase warns and while I agree with him, I also don’t want to scare her, which will be inevitable anyway. I’d rather have a plan in place to give her some peace of mind.
“She will,” I assure him. “In the meantime, we need to keep a very close eye on her and not let her or Avery out of sight.”
I hand the phone over to Robert so he can re-confirm with Chase her schedule this week. Once they’re done, we hang up with Chase and go over both of our calendars. When I pull mine up, I groan out loud when I see I have late shoots the next three nights straight.