Changing Affection

Chapter Eleven

Aubrey sighed for the thirteenth time that day. She sat in her house at her kitchen table with her head in her hands. It had been two days since she was brought back home, and Ezra was taken to jail. She was done crying. She couldn't anymore. Her father leaned against the counter with his arms crossed and shaking his head. They had just gotten into another huge argument about Ezra. She could tell he was getting annoyed with her, but she wasn't going to listen to him. If he wasn't going to listen to her, then she wasn't going to listen to him. 

"Dad," Aubrey huffed. "He's not the bad guy."

"Why didn't you tell me you had a boyfriend?" he asked with a hint of hurt in his voice, completely ignoring what she had just said. 

Aubrey looked up at him quickly, surprised and confused. "What?"

"Your boyfriend gave the police leads about your kidnapper," Mr. Hallquist explained. "Why didn't you tell me you had a boyfriend?"

Aubrey shook her head and leaned back in the chair. "I don't have a boyfriend, dad. Whoever told the police about where Ezra and I were is lying. He's lying to you and the police." She took a deep, shaky breath. She was on the verge of crying once again. "I don't have a boyfriend, dad."

Her dad shook his head. "Aubrey, your kidnapper-"

"He has a name, dad," Aubrey interrupted.

"He's going to jail, Aubrey!" Her dad pushed off the counter and raised his voice at her. "How can you sit there and tell me that you can call him your friend. How can you sit there and tell me that he protected you! He kidnapped you, Aubrey!"

Aubrey took deep breaths trying to control her breathing. "He never touched me to harm me, dad. The entire time, he protected me. The reason I was at that cabin was that Ezra was protecting me from his boss, Jearon. Ezra knew that Jearon wanted me to himself. Jearon was the one who was going to hurt me. He risked his reputation with his boss to protect me, Dad!"

"How do you know that that was his reason?"

Aubrey huffed. "Because he told me."

Mr. Hallquist shook his head. "You can't always expect the truth from people, Aubrey."

"I know he told me the truth."

"How are you so sure about that?"

Aubrey sigh impatiently. "I just know, Dad." She paused. "I trust him. You're not going to understand. I wish I could make you understand." She looked up and pleaded with him. "He never hurt me. He didn't do anything to me. He's not the same as the rest of them." She stood up and walked out of the kitchen. She was done with trying to make him understand.

Aubrey walked up to her room and closed the door. She flopped down on the bed and grabbed the hoodie that she was wearing when her dad and the police came to get her. It was Ezra's hoodie. It still smelled like him, but the smell was starting to go away. Since she came back home, she would sleep in it.

She missed him. 

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Ezra sat on the cold, hard bench in his cell. There were two other people in his cell, but he didn't pay attention to them. He kept his eyes on the cell bars in front of him. He needed to know if Aubrey was safe. He hated not being able to see where she is and how she is. She hadn't come to see him, but he didn't expect her to. He was sure that her father would make sure that she wouldn't come anywhere near him. 

A door squeaked open and footsteps came toward his cell. Two guards stopped and opened the cell door. 

"Ezra Pecora," one of them spoke up firmly. "Come with us."

Ezra stood up and held out his hands so they could cuff them. He knew better than to fight with them. He let them lead him out the door and to another room. They set him down in a chair and walked out of the room, leaving him alone. Ezra looked around the room and sighed. He was back in the interrogation room. He had already talked to the officers and told them everything they wanted to hear. He was just waiting now on Jearon to come and get him. He knew that's what all of this was. That's the only reason they haven't sentenced him yet. Jearon was wanting him. 

The door opened and three men walked into the room. Two were police officers and the man in the middle was a man that Ezra didn't want to see anymore.

"Nice to see you again, Jearon," Ezra smirked at him. Under the table, his hand clenched. He wanted to strangle him for taking him away from Aubrey. 

Jearon sat across from Ezra and folded his hands on the table. "Ezra, I'm very disappointed in you." He shook his head at him. A ghost of a smug smile spread across his face. 

"I'm sure you are." Ezra leaned back in his chair. 

Jearon smirked at him. The police officers were standing behind him and couldn't see his face. "Why did you do it, Ezra?" Ezra knew that the officers knew what Jearon wanted. Why was Jearon wanting to play this game with him?

"Do what?"

"Steal the girl that was going to be mine."

Ezra sneered at him. "She's not your girl and will never be your girl."

Jearon's hands tightened and he glared at him. "She's my girl. I was the one who planned the kidnap-"

"Are you sure that you want to be talking about this here?" He motioned to the two officers behind him. If Jearon wanted to play, he'll play along. Eventually, Jearon would get tired of it. 

Jearon rolled his eyes. "I've got this police station under my control. They have you and I'll make sure that they don't turn on me or anyone else in my gang." He took a deep breath. "As I was saying, she's the one that I wanted and you knew that I would do anything in my power to have her."

"You can't have her now," Ezra growled at him. "She's with her father. He won't let her out of his sight now."

Jearon smirked and leaned back in his chair. "You know that I have my ways."

"Did you find yourself another hitman?"

Jearon's smirk faltered for a minute before he composed himself. He leaned forward, a deadly stare in his eyes. "Don't worry about what I do. All you need to worry about is how you're going to survive without me."

Ezra shrugged. "I did well without you while we were in the mountains."

Jearon rolled his eyes. "You won't survive here for too long, Ezra. I'll make sure that you regret disobeying me."

"I'll be fine."

Jearon stood up quickly and walked towards the door. He turned around and gave Ezra a look of pure evil. "I will get her, Ezra. She will be screaming my name and you won't be able to protect her anymore." He turned back around before Ezra could react and walked out of the room with the other two police officers following after him.

Ezra's blood was boiling. If he laid a single finger on Aubrey, he'll make sure that Jearon would pay. He'd kill him. Once he settled himself down, he sat there staring at the glass across from him on the wall. He knew they were still watching him from the other side to see his reaction. Giving them any reason to hurt him.

A guard finally walked into the room and pulled him out. He pulled Ezra through the hallway and pushed him back into his cell. Ezra noticed that this time, his cell was empty. 

Ezra sat on the seat and thought about Aubrey. She was the only thing on his mind right now. She will always be the only thing on his mind until he took his last breath. He was going to get back to her. He was going to figure out a way to get back to her. He needed to. He wasn't going to let Jearon touch her.