“Safe room, now! Daman, Hank, head towards the alarms, ignore the people at the gate for now,” R.D. yelled behind them.
The wall opened up like something right out of some movie and Logan flew into the room behind it. Jasmine had never seen the room before. Logan placed her on a sofa. “Do not leave this room till we come to get you,” he said holding onto her chin, staring into her eyes before bending and placing a hard kiss on her lips.
“Be back soon.” He turned and left the room, as did Cole. A heavy steel door closed and locked, sealing her and her mother inside.
She glanced around the room, seeing that it was filled with books, a fridge and there was even a bathroom. “Did you know this room was here?” Jasmine asked her mom who sat in a chair across from here.
“No, and I’m going to have a talk with my husband. Every time I turn around, he’s throwing something new at me, like this about my daughter. Why didn’t you come to me?” Her mother asked, her gaze moving around the room, scanning for ways out other than the door.
“There’s a vent above your head we could squeeze out,” she said and nodded. “I don’t know about the bathroom. I want to save my strength if we’re going to need it and I did try a few times.” Jasmine glanced at her mother and shrugged.
“I know you had a new life with Cole, but sometimes I was the third wheel, so I worked on making sure I could support myself without having to depend on anyone. I didn’t want you to have to take care of me…” she frowned and started to tap her fingers on the chair.
“You know all of this happening at once is a little bit too much… Why didn’t the courts make me go see father? Have you heard from him?” Jasmine grabbed the pad of paper next to the chair and nodded at the pens and pencils near her mother. “Can you throw me one of those please? I want to figure something out.”
Her mother grabbed a pen and moved to sit on the arm of the couch watching her. “I don’t know how Cole’s lawyers did it, but he did. You had to visit your father once in jail, before I met Cole, but I don’t think you remember it. You were sick that week and I tried to get you out of it, but I had no choice but to take you. That’s how I met Cole. We were on our way to the prison when I stopped for some medicine for you. Anyway, after that visit I started to date Cole and when his father found out about your dad, all he had to do was make one phone call. No more visits. That man loves you very much. I swear you walk into the room and it’s like night and day.”
Jasmine smiled and sat back in her chair. “He’s awesome. He’d come over and I’d crawl into his lap feeling safe, like nothing in the world could touch me. Sort of the way I did with Cole, but more. Cole’s father has this pull,” Jasmine laughed.
“I hate to say it, but R.D. has that too. Do you think it’s wrong that they want me? I mean technically we’re family already,” she asked her mom, who laughed and squeezed her shoulder.
“They are not blood and I couldn’t ask for two better men for my daughter,” her mother nudged her. “Two, wow. Are you going to be okay with this? I know it’s a lot to take in?” Katherine leaned in reading what she was writing. “What are those dates?”
“These are the dates, roughly when Nightmare Man was able to slip through the wall I created to keep him out. At least the ones, I remember. Now I don’t know if he could penetrate at night or not while I was sleeping. But I have a feeling all of this is tied together: the audits, the money missing from R.D.’s firm and even this attack or whatever is going on out there.”
“Think about it. Wouldn’t Dad hate Cole? I mean he took you away from him in his warped mind. Not to mention this thing has stayed in contact with father. Now, I don’t know when the money started to disappear, but I bet the dates will be similar. The first time I was contacted by Jared was a day after I felt his presence in my head. What I don’t get is if this creature knew all this, I know he could have found me. Why wait until now?”
“Because we were getting ready to claim you,” R.D. stated, coming into the room followed by Logan and Cole.
“What happened?” she checked both Logan and R.D. for any signs of being hurt, but nothing.
“By the time we got there, whoever had been there was gone, but they left this on your bed,” Cole held up the stuffed bear she had lost as a child that awful night.
***
He watched her eyes roll back in her head, the papers in her lap falling to the floor as his mate passed out. “Damn it, Dad!” R.D. growled, rushing to her and picking her up, cradling her in his arms as he carried her out of the safe room.
“How was I supposed to know it meant something to her?” his father snapped. “What is it?” Cole asked Katherine who was at his side.
“My father gave it to her when she was a baby. She used to take it everywhere,” Katherine reached over and took it out of Cole’s hands and growled. “It stinks, but it still has her scent on it. I searched for days looking for this and kept asking Jasmine where it was, but she wouldn’t say a word.” Tears rolled down her mom’s face.
“He
