Page 14 of Guarding His Home
“No. We’ll leave it where it is, and we can put it in a bag and take it to Greg. We know it came from Jenn and her mother, so that’s another nail in their coffin.”
“That’s a better idea,” Lucas agreed.
“How do you know about all this anyway?” Brendan asked. It was mind-boggling. “Are you really a spy or something?”
Lucas shook his head. “I was a bouncer in a gay club. I saw everything. People trying to sneak in liquor or cameras that they’d put in the bathrooms. People are weird when it comes to a gay club. You have the straight warriors who figure that the place has to be a den of iniquity, with people doing unspeakable things on the bar… with hamsters. God knows. So I guess I knew what to look for.”
“What did you see?”
“The eyes aren’t the same. One is black and the other is deeper. That one is the lens.” He took the chair next to Brendan’s. “Something is going on, and it could be nothing more than her trying to get some dirt on you so she could go back to court for custody. But now that we found it, you can use it as ammunition against her.”
“Okay. We also have the issues around here.”
“Jenn was out of town and the place was quiet. We had no issues and everything was smooth. That doesn’t prove anything, but it does indicate that we might be on the right track. I’ve checked out the cameras and set them up so that the system will keep the video for a day. After that it recycles it. But if something happens, we can copy off the video data. It seems to be working well, and I checked for the heck of it. Jenn pulling in was perfectly visible, as are people moving through the yard. Everything should be good to go.”
“What about at night?”
“You have outdoor lighting, and that should be enough to illuminate if someone is moving around. I hate to say it, but we need to wait until someone tries something again. Then we can catch them.”
Brendan nodded. “My thought is to call the police and give them the video. If it’s Jenn, getting arrested is going to put an end to anything she’s trying to pull.” He was just tired. “I hate all of this. Jenn needs to understand that she isn’t going to get everything she wants the way she wants it. Jameson has to come first, but with Jenn, it’s always her before everything and everyone. I need to call Lilly….” His phone rang, and he picked it up. “Well….” He showed Lucas the screen and then answered it. “Hi, Lilly. How are you?” he asked. He loved Jenn’s aunt.
“Exhausted.” He could hear her two kids in the background. “If you don’t stop fighting over the remote, I’m going to take it and you’ll watch what I want.” Damn, he did not want to get on her naughty list. “Sorry. I had my two hellions and Jameson for most of the weekend. Jenn drove over. My sister Grace stayed with us, and that was great. But Jenn got here, stayed maybe an hour, and then asked if I’d watch Jameson. After that, she spent the rest of the weekend out with her friends. But I’m guessing you already suspected that.”
“I did.”
“She said she was trying to go for custody of Jameson. That can’t happen. My niece is not fit to raise anyone’s kids. If it comes to it, you let me know, and I’ll do what I did last time.” She was one hell of a lady and a great mother. Too bad Jenn didn’t learn from her.
“I appreciate that, but I don’t think it will come to that. Jenn can do whatever she wants, but she doesn’t have a leg to stand on. This was the first time in six weeks that she took Jameson, and she didn’t even spend time with him.” He shook his head and thanked her again for calling.
“Any time. I want Jameson to be happy, and he spends all his time talking about you. Daddy this and Daddy that…. That’s how it should be. There is no Mommy says or Mommy anything. It just doesn’t exist.”
“I get that. He doesn’t have much of a connection with her. My lawyer is aware of all of this, and it will be in the documentation that we present to the court. Not that it will make that big a difference. She’s already cooked her goose, and it’s going to take a lot for her to get any traction on this.”
“Can’t she just sue you again?”
“Nope. She has to appeal the previous ruling, and that is a lot harder.” There were times when he was grateful to PA for its rules.
“Good. I love my niece, but I love Jameson even more.” The boys began yelling behind her. “I need to go before they bring down the house. But call me if you need anything.” She hung up, and Brendan set down the phone.
“It was as I suspected.”
“Okay. So make sure Greg knows.” Lucas got up, went to the refrigerator, and started pulling things out. “I’m not the greatest cook, but I was thinking of spaghetti for dinner, if that’s okay.”
“I like skettie,” Jameson said as he came in.
Lucas got a small cup of apple juice and sat Jameson at the table to drink it. He also brought a couple beers to the table and handed Brendan one. Finally, he could relax after an entire weekend wondering what kind of hell was going to open up at any second.
“I do too. Finish your juice and you can help me,” Lucas said. “We can have salad, and you can make the lettuce.” He brought over a stepstool, and once Jameson downed the last of his juice, Lucas got him set up with a head of lettuce and a bowl.
Brendan sat at the table watching the two of them, Lucas’s huge frame next to Jameson’s small one, both of them intent onwhat they were doing. It was a great view, especially when he let his gaze settle on Lucas. Yeah… one hell of a view. Almost enough for him to forget that Lucas was here to help him with security and because he needed work. It was only a matter of time before they figured out who was behind this, and Lucas decided to move on. After all, this kind of life wasn’t what Lucas was looking for. He was the kind of guy who turned heads standing at the door of a club full of guys. Here, Brendan turned heads, but only the horses in the barn when they wanted a treat.
ChapterSix
“Is Jamesonin bed?” Lucas asked softly, taking the beer Brendan offered.
“Yeah. I read him a story, and he fell asleep before I was halfway through. I don’t know what the arrangements were out there. I know Lilly looked after him, but I suspect he spent a lot of time with her sons, and they wore him out.”
“That’s a good thing. He needs friends and people to play with… and help him run off all that energy of his,” Lucas said, sipping his beer. “He’s a great little boy.” Lucas chuckled. “You know, he asked me, while we were making dinner, if you were going to get married again, and if you did, would she be the evil step-mother.” They both chuckled. “I asked where that came from, and he saidCinderella. It seems he watched it when he was in Pittsburgh. He told me he doesn’t want an evil step-mother.”
