The Unseen Enemy Series

Chapter 248

Dean Jessop stood over Chris Brooker, spotting the man as he lowered three hundred and fifty pounds towards his chest. Chris handled the weight easily, lifted it, lowered it again. By the ninth press, Dean saw the strain begin, and he leaned over his friend.

“You got this, man. Three more.”

Chris’ massive arms shook, every muscle defined and cut. He did two more reps, struggled on the last one. Dean helped him set the bar back on the holder and Chris sat up, stretching his chest.

“God,” he said. “I’m getting old, man. I used to be able to do that, no problem.”

Jim grinned as he taped his hands. “That’s why I stick to the punching bag. No showing me up when I can’t struggle through twelve reps.”

“Yeah, you may be on to something,” Chris mused as he wiped down the bench. “Or maybe I’ll go to the rowing machine.”

Dallas, Dean and Jim stared at him.

“Why?” Dallas said, aghast. “You might as well just hit the stairmaster.”

“Oh, I know.” Chris wiped his sweaty face with his towel. “Us military boys need to punch things and pump iron at the gym, huh?”

“Damn right,” they answered in unison.

“So.” Dean reclined on the bench, and Chris moved to spot him. “How’s Beth?”

Jim paused. “Honestly? I’m not sure.”

That got their attention and they all looked at him, waiting.

“She’s not as happy about Ferguson being dead as I thought she would be.” Jim looked at his friends. “I mean, I know what it says about me, but I’m f*****g thrilled he’s dead.”

“You didn’t want him taken alive?” Dean asked quietly, brushing his blond hair back off his face. “Didn’t want him to stand trial?”

“No.” Jim shook his dark head. “I knew if it went to trial, it’d drag on for years, most likely. Beth would have had to testify and that would have been a nightmare for her, having to talk about all the things he’d done to her.”

The guys nodded.

“She’d have to live with it every day that things were in court, and she’d have to see him… she'd sit there in the same goddamn room and just know that the monster who killed her baby and made her run for all those years was being defended. Like… like any of what he did was actually f*****g defensible.”

“Yeah,” Dallas said heavily. “And in the end, he may have been free in just a few years anyway.”

“Look what happened to Jenny’s attackers,” Chris said in a tight, low growl. “Eighteen months was the most any of them served for what they did to her.”

The guys were silent: they still hated to think about that part of Jenny’s life. She may have been moving past it with Chris’ love, but she was probably never going to get beyond it completely. She still had panic attacks sometimes when Chris touched her, and he was nothing but gentle and careful with her.

“Exactly,” Jim said. “Anything could have happened in the end, so maybe I’m a s**t human being, but I wished him dead so she could be totally free. And now he’s dead and she’s… she’s not happy.”

“Maybe it needs to fully sink in,” Dean said. “She’s been running for so long, man, maybe she needs to learn how to be happy.”

“Yeah.” Jim thought about that. “Maybe.”

“Maybe you should take her away for a week or two,” Dallas suggested. “She’ll relax, sleep late, drink too much wine.” His eyes sparkled. “You can make sure she never leaves the bed…”

“You know, she did say once that she’d love to go to New Orleans.” Jim stood up, stretched his taped hands. “Said she’d never been, but really wanted to see it. She was thinking about running there next, actually.”

“Yeah?” Chris said. “Maybe ask your boss for some time off then, take Beth away for a vacation?”

“Hmmm.” Jim looked over at Dean. “I dunno. My boss is kind of an asshole about time off.”

Dean grinned at him. “Shut it, Alden. Of course I’ll get your shifts covered if you want to take Beth away. Just say the word.”

“Yeah, maybe after Dallas’ wedding.”

“OK.” Dean lay down on the bench again. “Let me know… whatever Beth needs, man, we’ll make sure she gets it. Just ask.”

“Thanks, Dean.”

Dean nodded. “OK… so are we gonna work out or what? If we were just going to sit around and gossip like chicks, we might as well have had a coffee morning like the ladies.”

“Well,” Chris said. “Jenny did bake croissants.”

There was a short, jealous pause.

“Yeah?” Dallas said.

“Uh-huh.” Chris shifted his balance to help Dean lift the weight down for his first rep. “Plain, chocolate and jam-filled.”

“Hmmm.” Jim headed over to the punching bag. “So next time? Coffee at Dallas’ and we invite Jenny to come to our get-together. The ladies can fend for themselves on the pastry front.”

“Damn right,” Dallas said as he fell to the mat to do some more crunches. “That woman’s cooking makes working out to burn off the calories more than worth it.”