Chapter 21 The Watcher
JASON'S POV
I sat on my bike across the street from the church school waiting for Caitlyn to come out. This had become part of my routine now. Three days a week I would park here and watch her leave work. I knew it was obsessive and probably crazy but I could not stop myself.
Marcus kept telling me I needed to let it go but he did not understand. That was my kid growing inside her. My child, whom Hayes was claiming as his own. I could not just walk away from that no matter how much sense it made.
The school doors opened and Caitlyn walked out with her bag over her shoulder. She was showing now, not a lot but enough that I could see the small bump under her loose dress. Something tightened in my chest seeing it. Pride mixed with pain and anger all at once.
She looked tired. More tired than the last time I had seen her. There were dark circles under her eyes, and she moved more slowly, like everything took more effort than it should. I wondered if Hayes was treating her okay or if he was making her life hell.
She got into her car and I waited until she pulled out before I started following her at a distance. I had gotten good at this over the past few weeks. Staying far enough back that she would not notice me but close enough that I could see where she was going.
But I was not the only one following her. Hayes had someone tailing her too. A black SUV with tinted windows stayed three cars behind her at all times. I had noticed it a few weeks ago and it made my blood boil. He was having his own wife followed like she was some kind of criminal.
Caitlyn drove to the grocery store and parked. I watched as she got out of the car and went inside. The SUV parked a few spaces away and the driver stayed in the car watching the entrance. Hayes's man, probably reporting back every move she made.
I wanted to go over there and drag that guy out of his car. I wanted to tell him to leave her alone and let her have some peace but I could not do that without blowing my cover. If Hayes found out I was watching Caitlyn he would do something to stop me.
Twenty minutes later Caitlyn came out with two small bags of groceries. She looked around the parking lot like she was nervous about something. Her eyes passed right over me but she did not recognize me in my helmet and sunglasses. She got in her car and drove home.
I followed at a distance watching as she pulled into the gates of the Hayes estate. The SUV followed her in and I stayed outside on the street. This was as far as I could go. Once she was inside those gates I could not see her anymore.
I sat there for a while just staring at the house. Caitlyn was in there somewhere probably putting away groceries or resting or doing whatever pregnant women did. And I was out here unable to do anything to help her.
My phone rang and I answered it. "Yeah."
"Where are you?" Marcus asked.
"You know where I am," I said.
"Jason, you need to stop this," Marcus said, and he sounded frustrated. "Sitting outside that house every day is not helping anyone."
"I am making sure she is safe," I said.
"Safe from what?" Marcus asked. "Hayes is not going to hurt her while she is pregnant. He needs her to have that baby."
"You do not know that," I said. "Hayes is unpredictable. He could do anything."
Marcus sighed. "Listen I get it. You care about this girl and you care about your kid. But you are driving yourself crazy with this surveillance routine. You need to either make a move or let it go."
"I am not letting it go," I said firmly.
"Then make a move," Marcus said. "Talk to her. Tell her the truth about Hayes, give her a reason to leave him."
"And put her in more danger?" I asked. "If Hayes finds out I contacted her he will lock her up somewhere I cannot find her."
"So what is your plan then?" Marcus asked. "Just watch her from a distance forever? Wait until the baby is born and then what?"
I did not have an answer to that. I had not thought that far ahead. All I knew was that I needed to keep eyes on her, I needed to know she was okay even if I could not actually protect her.
"I will figure it out," I said.
"You'd better figure it out soon," Marcus said. "Because this situation cannot last forever. Eventually, something is going to give, and when it does, you need to be ready."
He hung up and I put my phone away. He was right that I needed a plan. I could not just keep watching her forever, but every time I tried to think of what to do next, I came up with nothing. Every option seemed to put Caitlyn in more danger.
I started my bike and rode back to the clubhouse. Some of the guys were hanging out in the garage working on their bikes. They looked up when I walked in but nobody said anything. They knew where I had been, they knew about my obsession with Caitlyn even if they did not understand it.
"Any news?" one of them asked.
"Nothing new," I said. "Hayes still has her on lockdown. She goes to work and the store and that is it."
"He is scared," another guy said. "He knows you are out there somewhere and he is trying to keep her away from you."
Maybe that was true. Maybe Hayes suspected that I was watching, and that was why he had Caitlyn followed everywhere, or maybe he was just a controlling piece of garbage who could not stand the thought of his wife having any freedom.
I went to my room in the back of the clubhouse and sat on the bed. I pulled out my phone and looked at the pictures I had taken of Caitlyn over the past few weeks. She left work, and she was at the grocery store. Her walking to her car.
In every picture, she looked sad, tired, and alone. Nothing like the girl I had met at that bar who had been so full of life. Hayes was crushing her spirit and there was nothing I could do about it.
I think it was time to stop watching and start acting. I could find a way to talk to her, tell her the truth about who Hayes really was. Give her information she could use to protect herself.
But every time I thought about approaching her, I remembered Hayes standing over her parents' bodies. I remembered the way he had framed me for their murders. If he would
What would he do to her parents if she tried to leave him?