The Protector Read online

  “That’s all you’ve got after all these years?” Jess teased.

  “Just getting warmed up, Sweetheart,” Clarice sneered. She had a plan to win this time. She would need her energy to get to the final blow.

  “How’s life?” Jess asked casually as they continued the dance.

  “You, know. The usual,” Clarice responded casually as she increased her striking momentum. “Tracking down your daughter to bring her in. Dad won’t let me kill her and put us both out of our misery, so I’m doing what I’m told,” she shrugged.

  Jess knew better than to stop her. “You deserve better,” Jess said as she barely missed a punch from Clarice.

  “Probably,” Clarice shrugged as they continued in combat with each other.

  “I have to ask,” Jess said slowly as she barely missed Clarice’s jaw with a kick. “Why do you hate her so much?”

  “I have my reasons,” Clarice snarled as she attempted some of her new maneuvers on Jess. She quickly slid under Jess when she jumped into the air to do a swing kick, catching her off guard. Clarice rolled on her back and pushed herself back to her feet into immediate stance.

  “Good to see you’ve been practicing,” Jess said with a hint of pride in her voice. “You’ll need it,” she added smugly and winked at Clarice.

  Jess took off at a run and flipped over Clarice’s head. She spun around and gut kicked Clarice forcing her to fall back a few steps.

  “Practicing in your grave?” Clarice grumbled, catching her breath.

  “Something like that,” Jess shrugged in response and took stance while studying Clarice carefully.

  “Why do you care if I like her or not?” Clarice snapped as she stood up and put her hands on her hips. Why was she fighting a ghost anyway?

  “Because she’s my daughter,” Jess said sternly, mimicking Clarice’s stance. “It would be nice if you two could get along.”

  Clarice laughed out loud and shook her head. “Not happening.”

  “What reason do you have to hate her so much? You don’t even know her?” Jess asked dropping her hands and pleading with her.

  “I know her well enough,” Clarice retorted back before turning on her heels, walking through the door, and slamming it behind her.

  Clarice opened her eyes to see she was back in her room, alone, and now very angry. “Nice try,” she mumbled to the ceiling before rolling over and going back to sleep. There were no more wooden doors or ghosts to haunt the rest of her dreams.

  “Well, that went well,” said a tall man with short brown hair and sad bright blue eyes, coming up behind Jess and putting his hand on her shoulder.

  “Clarice isn’t one to convince overnight,” Jess muttered with a frown of disappointment.

  “Is it honestly worth the effort?” Jack asked.

  Jess turned to glare at her husband. “She’s just really lost at the moment,” she snapped and shrugged his hand off her shoulder.

  “Hey,” Jack said more softly. “I just meant that it’s been a while, and she’s not been in the best environment.” He gave his wife a concerned look.

  “What’s the point in being able to reach them if we don’t try to make a difference?” Jess sighed in defeat. “And yes, I think she’s worth it,” she added stubbornly.

  “Honey, I’ll stand by you. Nothing will ever change that. However, there are rules, and we need to be careful. It does no good if we cause more harm than good,” Jack added with a warning.

  “Our daughter wasn’t the only one that got left behind,” Jess said defiantly with her arms crossed.

  “I understand that,” Jack assured. “We just have to be careful is all, my love,” he said walking over and kissing her on the top of her head gently.

  “I’m not giving up,” Jess mumbled with determination.

  “I would expect nothing less,” Jack chuckled as he took his wife’s hand and they walked back into the light.

  James watched Sophie in awe. He had so much appreciation for her stamina! Being on the run constantly was exhausting, and he missed his warm comfy bed immensely. There was nowhere else he’d rather be than by her side, though.

  Sophie watched Tina and Ben carefully from the shadows of the third floor of the State Library of Pennsylvania. The building stood four stories tall, with the typical grey brick exterior. Large marble columns lined the inside of the walls with gorgeously white laced balconies and a spiral staircase in the back center to match.

  Each level held multiple bookcases filled to the max with books. The main floor was comprised of large wooden tables and chairs down the center of the entire floor for studying. It was full of the warmest oranges, yellows, and golds, and large chandeliers hung from the ceiling. It was definitely a bright spot on this gloomy and rainy day.

  They had already visited several libraries along the east coast, but this particular library had one of the top genealogy websites in the country. Both Tina and Ben had insisted that it needed to be visited for the cause.

  Sophie wasn’t a fan of being in the larger cities right now. However, Harrisburg, PA was proving to be a very interesting place to visit. Broadstreet Market had provided a nice array of local culinary delights, conveniently crowded Thursday through Saturday every week with forty different vendors to choose from. Riverfront Park was beautiful no matter what time of day it was.

  Sophie also loved their current hideout. They had located a quiet bed and breakfast on Airbnb located strategically off the grid from the city.

  Her friends were exhausted and frazzled. Yet, they had kept up with her at an impressive rate. Tina had done nothing but live, eat, and breathe the information that had exploded from the SD card.

  Whenever someone offered to help, Tina just waved them away. So, Ben took to looking into the doctor aspect of Sophie’s life searching for clues, and James usually helped Sophie to keep watch from a far.

  “I want to do something for them,” Sophie whispered to herself softly.

  “What did you have in mind?” James asked curiously.

  “Suggestions?” she asked, looking deeply into his eyes. His knees nearly buckled underneath him.

  “I’d say a date night, but they can’t really go anywhere,” James said, tapping his finger to his lips as he thought. “They’d probably just settle for some extra sleep,” he chuckled to himself. “But Tina won’t do that until she solves this puzzle,” he added matter-of-factly.

  “We’re going to have to force her to take a break,” Sophie said frowning.

  “Good luck with that,” James snickered and rolled his eyes.

  Sophie stared at her friends deep in thought. Within seconds, she grabbed James by the arms full of excitement. “I’ve got it!”

  “This should be interesting,” James teased.

  “I’m going to make you a list of things to grab,” Sophie said while frantically searching for some paper and a pen out of the backpack that rested at her feet. “Just don’t get caught,” she added sternly before feverishly scribbling items on the paper.

  “On it!” James said, taking the piece of paper from her and saluting her before kissing her gently, grabbing the backpack, and rushing out the door.

  “Nerd,” Sophie giggled to herself. She went back to watching her friends from a far. They had come so far in such a short amount of time. She giggled thinking about the day they all decided they wanted her to train them….

  Tina had grabbed Sophie after they reached their first bus stop and insisted that they needed some self-defense training. Sophie had thought about it and came to the same conclusion.

  They had met in a vacant warehouse in the middle of downtown. It was supposed to be boys verses girls, however, when James walked over to partner with Ben it didn’t go very well. Ben threw his hands up and backed away immediately.

  “No offense, Bro,” Ben had stated as politely as he could. “I love you and all, but if an assassin is going to take me out, I think I’d rather have Sophie training me on how to survive.”

 
“Hey!” James shouted insulted. “I was top of my class for the CST Program.”

  “Yeah, and you dropped out,” Ben murmured back. James glared at his friend. “I’m just saying, Sophie’s been chased by these goons since she was in her teens. She has a little more experience is all,” Ben said shrugging.

  Sophie had seen the hurt in James’ eyes, so to stop the fighting she had Ben and Tina pair up and they both taught them. James remained disgruntled that his skills had been so easily dismissed by his friend. Sophie was still impressed by some of his moves and made sure to incorporate them into her training as well.

  Every couple of days they worked on the physical aspect of their new mission…surviving. Sophie made sure that the partners rotated, because “you never know who is coming for you or what they’re capable of” she had pointed out. Despite Ben’s hesitation, James did have quite a lot to offer. Sophie reminded him of that fact every night before bed.

  There was so much still to learn about James. Quite frankly, Sophie was still in awe that he loved her so much, man with the cane and all. Yet, James didn’t exactly give his secrets away freely.

  Outside of learning that he was recruited out of college to join the CIA, there wasn’t an explanation of why he quit. James had more walls than maybe even he realized, but as long as they didn’t die on this mission, Sophie was fine spending the rest of her life helping him dismantle, brick by brick. Heck, she still had her own gaps to fill in.

  Although an IT guru, Tina also had extensive self-defense training. She didn’t talk much about her situation either. Sophie was pretty sure that was determined by the government more than Tina, herself. She did take the time to share everything else with Sophie, and it was enough to make her feel like a sister.

  Ben’s only secrets were those imposed by James and Tina. He hadn’t officially started working as a doctor, so he didn’t have any specific patients to attend to. Sophie found him the easiest to talk to.

  Ben was definitely the brother she never had. However, spending time with him made Sophie think of Edward. She wondered if he was still alive, if he was okay, and if she would ever see him again.

  The last couple of days had brought memories of their time together as children to the surface. Sophie had nightmares about how much Edward suffered abuse both at school and at home. His dad was not a nice person, and looked for any excuse to take his frustrations out on Edward.

  Sophie knew he preferred everyone else call him, Eddie. However, she always felt like he had earned the right to have a more proper name. Edward was a survivor on so many levels and deserved the respect of having a formal name like the characters in the books Sophie always read. She smiled fondly at the memory of kicking Tucker’s ass just to get him to stop torturing Edward at school. She’d almost gotten suspended, but it was absolutely worth it.

  Sophie couldn’t stand bullies. They always thought they were better than everyone else. She understood that most bullies were usually bullied somewhere else in their own life, or simply weren’t taught to be decent human beings.

  Sophie had hated how it had somehow become acceptable behavior. No one ever wanted to stand up to the bullies for the fear of the repercussions. It was just easier to let them be mean and nasty than to tell them to knock it off for some reason. A reason Sophie didn’t agree with and had no fear in helping the bullies learn that their behavior was unacceptable.

  It was the start of a short but beautiful friendship with Edward. Her dad had forced Sophie to take him under her wing, so to speak, and Edward quickly became a part of the family whether she approved or not. Sophie knew her dad well and had loved his loving heart for the less fortunate.

  Jack had always supported her fighting, because he knew Sophie’s heart was in the right place. Her mother was a little stricter, and a lot less understanding about getting caught. Still, Sophie had been put in charge of keeping Edward safe. A job she was forced to abandon the night her parents were murdered.

  She wondered if they were disappointed in her for not keeping her word. Sophie hadn’t seen the wooden door or anything else from her parents since they had left Maine. She didn’t want to think about if it was some sort of punishment. Or if, even worse, Sophie wasn’t meant to see them again.

  She gulped down the lump in her throat and went back to watching Tina and Ben do their research below in separate corners. Man, did her mind wonder more when she was surrounded by books!

  Before the sun went down, each person left by themselves in 20-minute intervals. It helped them not look like they were together in any way. Sophie was impressed at how well James, Ben, and Tina could all ignore each other in public. Yet, they were so close and loving once they reunited in their rooms. James was already waiting for them when they arrived back at the Airbnb.

  “Did you get everything?” Sophie asked him eagerly.

  “Of course,” James shrugged with ease and confidence.

  Sophie excitedly rummaged through the store bags laying on their bed. “Thanks, Babe,” Sophie said, smiling her Cheshire grin and kissing him softly on the lips.

  “What’s in the bags?” Tina asked as she entered the room with her husband in-tow.

  “Well,” Sophie stated slowly. “I know being on the run constantly isn’t easy, and I wanted to reward you for all your hard work.”

  “Oooo!” Ben clapped his hands in excitement.

  “Soph, you don’t have to,” Tina said laughing, shaking her head at her husband’s response. “We would do anything for you,” she added taking Sophie’s hand into hers and squeezing it tightly.

  “I know. I still wanted to,” Sophie said smiling shyly.

  “Well, spill it already!” Ben said, unable to contain his excitement.

  “It’s not much,” Sophie said, giving Ben a warning look. “But we’re going to have a spa day in!” she exclaimed as she used some jazz hands, hoping that it would add excitement to her minimal surprise.

  “Ooooo!” Tina squealed.

  “A what?” Ben asked confused. Tina elbowed him in the ribs, forcing him to backtrack. “Oh! A spa day! Sounds great!” he added forcing a smile.

  “I’ve got you covered,” James winked at his friend.

  Sophie’s face dropped a little. She knew she couldn’t take them out like she wanted to. It was a lame idea. Tina glared at her husband before rushing to Sophie’s side.

  “Don’t let him fool you,” Tina said, giving Ben the evil eye. “He loves spa days even more than me. He’s just trying to be macho and not show it.”

  “Can’t I look at least a little manly in front of her?” Ben grimaced for good measure. James gave him a thumbs up behind the girls’ backs so they couldn’t see.

  “I know it’s not much, but since I can’t take you out due to the circumstances, this was the first thing that came to mind,” Sophie said staring at the floor.

  Ben felt guilt overwhelm him and went to give her a hug.

  “Tina’s telling the truth. It’s my favorite thing. I just don’t want you thinking I’m a sissy,” he whispered quietly in her ear.

  Ben felt Sophie relax immediately in his arms, so he stepped back, grinning from ear to ear, and went to join his buddy on the bed while he waited to see what torture lied ahead.

  “We thought we’d start you off with a wax job,” James teased as he elbowed his friend.

  “Anything for my girls,” Ben winked at Sophie, while continuing to pray to the heavens that he would survive tonight without any scars.

  “Actually, you and I are going to start with beers and getting caught up on some football,” James smiled at Ben. “Dinner is being delivered.”

  “And we’re getting our hair done, since that takes the longest,” Sophie smiled at Tina.

  “Score!” Tina said with excitement. “I’m ready to trade the blonde for a bit.”

  “Really?” Ben asked in both surprise and alarm.

  “We have to change it up some, so we’re not so easily traced,” Tina answered before Sophie could
. “And I can always go back to natural once all is said and done,” she assured her husband.

  “You might find her in a color that drives you even more crazy,” James offered as he cracked open some beers.

  “Not possible,” Ben said smiling at his wife, hoping to smooth things over with her as well.

  Tina sighed dramatically, grabbed the bags, and dragged Sophie into the bathroom before the boys could say any more.

  “Lots of options,” Tina said with excitement once they were in the bathroom. Sophie laughed.

  “We’ll have to be careful. Permanent dye can be a real pain, and this is a nice place,” Sophie added studying Tina.

  “I know I’m in great hands,” Tina winked.

  “I wasn’t worried about mine,” Sophie laughed as she started to drag everything out, including some cheap towels to help spare some unwanted damage.

  “Do me first so I can watch, and then I’ll do you,” Tina added with authority.

  “Yes, ma’am,” Sophie saluted. “Now which color would you like to be this month?” she asked doing her best Vana White impression. Tina picked out their colors, and Sophie got to work.

  “This should be interesting,” Sophie said before rolling up her sleeves and prepping the color.

  “What do you think they’re doing in there?” Ben asked with a hint of concern.

  “I try not to think about it,” James answered with a chuckle and took another sip of his beer.

  They laid on the king-size bed that was covered in a brown and gold 70s style printed comforter that matched the mauve vintage carpet and curtains. The flat screen tv they watched the game on looked incredibly out of place compared to the furniture, décor, and the lime green telephone on the nightstand.

  “You and Sophie seem to be doing alright,” Ben said trying to distract himself.

  “Nothing to complain about yet,” James shrugged not sure where this was headed.

  “I’m just happy for you,” Ben assured as he laughed and took a sip of his own beer.

  Just then, they heard the bathroom door open and turned to see what the girls had been working on for so long. Ben expected to see his usually blonde-haired wife. Instead, he was greeted by a 5’4” brunette, whose hair had been cut into a chin-length bob with the occasional blonde highlight poking through. His mouth dropped open, unable to find the words for such a drastic change.