Protecting John (earlier: Bad Boy Needs Protection)

CHaPTeR FoRTY FiVe

The moon peeked out of the darkness which engulfed us, guiding us back home.

"Hey, Daniel?" said Jules, breaking the long stretch of silence. "I need you not to be scared, but..." she trailed off as Daniel visibly tensed up and his hands gripped the steering wheel tighter, his eyes shifting between the rear-view mirror and the road.

"But what, Jules" he asked.

"I need you to watch out for werewolves. Be sure not to hit one on the road."

I burst out laughing and the two men sitting on my sides chuckled.

"What?!" "Daniel shrieked. "Seriously, Jules?!"

"Hey! It's a full moon! You never know." She shrugged and leaned back on to her headrest, singing a song about werewolves which I'm pretty sure she made up on the spot. I turned my head to look at John, confirming that he was still behind us. I was taking a huge risk by letting him ride alone in the night like that.

"How long before we reach?" she asked.

"You need to stop asking that every other minute Jules. I mean, I'm okay with it but I don't want to anger the two criminals riding with us." He shrugged.

After a very long journey, we eventually reached our town. Light was starting to scatter across the sky but the sun was still shy to show us its face. We pulled into an empty garage that Jules and I used for practice from time to time. The owner was a friend and we were sure that he would let us hide the two men here for a day or two, he was very familiar with our job.

"Thanks Dan!" I shouted back at the owner as I locked up the backroom with the two men inside. There was a bathroom and two pillows with no way to get out. Jules made sure that there was a mattress and a pillow for the old man to lie down on and some snacks for them to munch on.

I walked back to the car where the others were having breakfast sandwiches.

"What's our plan?" John asked me as he saw me walking towards them.

"I honestly have no idea."

We sat there, munching on our food, each trying to figure out the next step. A ping from Jules' pocket snapped us out of our meticulous planning/daydreaming.

"It's Levi's phone." she said fishing it out of her pocket.

"What does it say?" John voiced my thoughts.

Jules shrieked and handed the phone to John. "I cannot do this. Here. You take it."

John sighed and unlocked the phone, opening up the text message.

Got the message. Bag will be in the park behind the fountain. 7:30pm.

"Ooh, its getting exciting." Daniel did a little dance. "I cannot wait to get this all over with and just chill at John's place."

"Me too dude. Me too." John sighed.

"This is it. if Levi is expecting payment at four we should be there to stake out the area before the said 'boss' reaches there. We can catch them red handed."

Thus, a plan was made. We would all be in the park, waiting for this mystery person. All except John of course. He was to hide in our house and keep his life safe. That was his only mission.

The four of us made our way to Jules's and my place since we couldn't yet tell John's family about our early arrival.

Jules fished out the key from one of our flower pots and started unlocking the door.

"Seeing you guys' profession, one would think that you guys must be having excellent security and a little better hiding spot for the key." John said as he eyed the paint chipping off the door. "Just sayin'" he shrugged.

I ignored his remarks and walked in, taking a huge breath. "Aah, nothing smells like home."

"I'm sure you'll find the same smell at the dumpster." John said.

"So we forgot to take out our trash. So what? Its your fault that we were dragged into the middle of nowhere." I huffed and walked into my room, determined to take a shower to wash off that disgustingly long car ride I had to spend squished in between two strangers. Jules led the boys to the guestroom and I trusted her with the rest. I needed to get ready for the evening.

After a long hot shower, I pulled on my t-shirt with a pair of cargo pants, hiding my gun and a knife in the custom made loops and pockets I stitched a while ago. Gathering my hair into a ponytail, I got ready to catch this stupid mystery guy because of which I had to suffer such trauma with Mr. Jerkface.

As I got out, I saw that Jules and Daniel were ready too and Jules was handing over Miss Snugglybear to John to keep him company while we were gone.

"You guys ready?" I asked them while walking over to the kitchen, snatching the last slice of frozen pizza which Jules was about to pick up. I poked my tongue out at her while she huffed like a little child about to throw a tantrum.

"Yup. Let's catch this dude." Daniel said, lifting a bar of chocolate and holding it like a gun, whistling the James Bond tune.

"John, I need you to sit here and not take a step outside the home. Do not open the door to anyone and stay away from the windows." I said, holding him by the shoulders and looking him straight in his eyes. "I'm serious. This is almost over. We are about to catch the bad guy. Please just stay inside."

He nodded and shrugged my hands off, holding on to Miss Snugglybear and faced away with an angry look on his face.

I nodded to myself.

"Let's go guys. Time to catch this dude."