Chapter 58 - Hello Again, It's Been Awhile

 

 

 

Beth walks in the door and sees that there are lights on, but there isn't a sound.  She drops her purse and her messenger bag in the doorway and wanders off to find Jon. 

 

The last text that she got from him said I'm here.  She walks through the kitchen and checks the living room.  Not seeing him, she turns around and heads upstairs.  "He must be in the bathroom." she says out loud to herself.

She makes her way upstairs and into the master suite and hears the water running in the shower.  She walks into the doorway and stops, looking at him through the glass, she has a smile on her face.  "Got room for me in there?"  She startles Jon.

"Get in here." he says as he's rinsing the shampoo out of his hair.  "Hurry up, I missed you."

Beth strips and jumps in the shower with Jon.  He snatches her up, hugging and kissing her, "Hey hey - let me in the water, I'm cold now."  Beth says as she turns to get in the flow of the water.  She wets her hair and lets the water run over her face, "How long have you been home?" She asks the man that stands before her, soaking wet and sexy as hell. 

"Maybe an hour.  Just long enough to call the kids and tell them that I made it here." he answers, with his hands on her hips.

"Why didn't you come look for me?" Beth questions.

"When I got here and seen that you were out, I thought that I'd be clean shaven when I seen you."

She stretches and kisses his lips, "I'm glad you're here.  Thanks for coming out here." 

He soaps up her loofa and starts on her arm, she laughs at him, and he asks, "What?"

"I thought you wanted to shower?"

"I'll wash me next, unless you want to wash me." he winks at her, smiling.  He was right where he wanted to be, with who he wanted to be with, but he could never have prepared himself for what came next.

"We have to talk." she states, feeling the grip on her arm lighten a little.  Jon gives her his full attention because he can see in her face that what was coming, wasn't good.

"Talk." he tells her, holding her hand with his heart beating in his throat.  "What's going on?"

She takes a deep breath and wishes she had waited until after the shower to have the talk, but she knows that they can often get off of subject and if she would have let this one lie, she may have talked herself out of even telling him.  "Well" she squeezes his hand.  "Do you remember the assistant manager that I hired a couple of months ago?"

"The one that Vinny called you about?" Jon asks her, trying to figure out where she was going with this conversation.  "Thomas, right?"

Beth nods her head yes.  "Well, when I got here the other day, after I settled from the flight and had a few minutes to myself, I went to see Vinny."

 

"Okay." his confusion is turning to frustration, "Did he hurt you?"

 

"No Jon.  Vinny is on vacation, his assistant manager, Thomas was on sight."  she teases him a little, she doesn't want to blurt it out, she knows that the night is ruined   "The lesson to be learned here is to never hire anyone on the word of anyone or without meeting them first."  She tries to be funny, lighten the mood, but she can see that Jon is getting pissed.

 

"Go on."

 

"Thomas lied about his name and who he was." she gets that out before,

 

"Will you tell me what's going on?" he's now concerned, with his concern quickly turning to anger.

 

She takes a deep breath and tells him, "Thomas' real name is Dalton."  she winces, knowing that the Italian was coming out any second.

 

"Dalton?  What do you mean Dalton?"  he runs his hand through his hair, "As in THE Dalton?"

 

Beth nods her head again, "He was the assistant manager, until I found out."

 

"YOU SEEN HIM?"

 

"Yes."

 

"Here?"

 

"Yes."

 

Jon is beyond pissed now.  "What do you mean you seen him?"

 

"Jon, I went to check on the office and he was in the assistant managers office."

 

Jon shakes his head and puts his thoughts into words, "The man we hired was Dalton?"

 

"Yes.  He dropped his first name when he was set free.  Put a plan into motion to destroy me, but it seems that I foiled his plan."

 

"Whoa whoa, back up.  You talked to him?"

 

"I knocked on the door that says Mr. Patterson - Assistant Manager, he yelled for me to come in, so I walked in."

 

"Did he hurt you?"

 

"No, stop asking me that.  You're making me sound like a weakling."

 

"What did he do?"

 

"I walked into his office and was quite insulted that he didn't even turn around in his chair to address

me, and I told him that.  His response was disgusting and then when I seen it was him, I immediately walked out of the office and went outside and called the police."

 

Jon is looking at her like she had three heads, "You talked to him?"

 

"Before I knew it was him, I chewed his ass for the lack of respect.  As soon as I seen that it was him, I left and called the police."

 

"Why am I just hearing about this now?" he barks at her. 

 

Beth knows where this is going, so she rinses herself off and grabs a towel, "I didn't tell you until now because it really wasn't much to tell."

 

"You are in the same time zone as that asshole and you don't think that I would want to know about it."

 

Beth hands him a towel, after she watches him rinse off before getting out.  "Babe, it really was nothing.  I was caught off guard that it was him, but all I needed to do was call the police."

 

"What did they do?" he asks, as he takes the towel from her.  There is a silence and he breaks it with, "God damn it, why didn't you tell me?"

 

Beth walks into the bedroom, with the towel wrapped around her.  She knows that Jon is right behind her, so she keeps talking.  "As soon as they knew who I was and who he was to me, he was arrested."

 

"What did they charge him with?" he's right behind her, looking around. 

 

She sits on the edge of the bed and pats the spot next to her, "Sit." she asks him, watching his tension grow. 

 

"I'll stand.  What was he arrested for?"

 

"Sit and I'll tell you." she tries to smile at him, but she knows that he's not in the mood.  Jon takes a seat next to her, he looks at her and cant fight the feeling to pull her close.  He hooks her and pulls her closer. 

 

"I'm listening."

 

"Once they knew the whole story, he was charged with various things.  His biggest is parole violation.  He is probably back in prison already."

 

"Probably?"

 

"I don't know, I've not followed it up.  I know that they took him away in handcuffs and a cop car and that his parole officer was meeting them at the jail.  He said that he was going to violate him, placing him back in prison."

 

Jon is consumed with the thought that Beth was faced with Dalton and he wasn't there for her again.  He's thinking that she was terrified and he wasn't there to help her.  "You talked to his parole officer?"

 

Beth nods, "I did.  I wanted an officer of the court to know what he had been up to.  How he was here under an assumed name and that he was on my property."  She gets up and gets her robe off the hook, putting it on she adds, "I don't know what his ultimate plan was, but he had some plan in action."

 

"What do you mean?"

 

"Well, he managed to get a job working for me.  He was living with a fake identity and no one knew where he had fled to.  Hell, we didn't even know that he was released."

 

"Do we need to follow up with his parole officer?" he shakes his head, he has a million questions and a million feelings and they all come back to Beth being alone with Dalton.  "Are you okay?"  He walks over to her, with a hand on each shoulder, he kisses her forehead.

 

Beth leans into him and says, "I'm fine.  I amazed myself.  When I first realized it was him, I think my heart stopped but it was only momentary.  Quickly I felt that fear disappear and I felt stronger than I ever have before."  She slides her hands around his waist and pulls him to her.  "I wasn't afraid of him."

 

Jon holds her, cupping the back of her head.  He takes in the scent of her freshly washed hair and doesn't want the moment to end.  He missed her, he longed for her while he was in Florida burying his 'father in law'.  She was in his ever waking thought and not once did he think that in their time apart she would be faced with Dalton again.