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AN HOUR AND A HALF passed before Jags stirred again. Cam jumped to his feet and poured a glass of chocolate peanut butter smoothie.
Jags propped himself against the headboard. "Hey."
Cam held out the glass. "Drink."
"Heck yeah."
"I want you to drink all of it this time." Cam waited for him to empty it before setting it back on the end table. "How you feeling?"
Jags gave him a thumbs-up. "I need a favor."
The last time Jags asked for a favor, Cam ended up with a wife and a daughter. To what end will this favor bring?
Jags coughed into his fist. "I need you to talk to Maggie's father."
"Me and him ain't the best of friends."
"You married his daughter. You must have some pull with the guy."
"On the contrary. I married his daughter. That's why I have no pull with him. And what the hell would I want to talk to him about?"
"Ajay's gonna join the police academy. When he graduates, I need you to use your pull with the mayor and make sure he gets a job in Cut and Shoot."
Cam shrugged. "Done."
"Great. Because I'm not."
Fuck.
Jags had a plan. For what? Cam had no clue, but this was step one to putting that plan into action, of this Cam had no doubt. From the expression on Jags' face, he also had no doubt that he was not going to like said plan.
"Give Ajay a job," Jags said.
Cam contemplated whether he'd passed into an alternate universe.
An unnatural quiet passed for several long moments. "You're serious."
"Have me met?"
Cam laughed.
Laughed some more.
For once their situations were reversed. Cam was ecstatic and Jags was furious. Cam bent over, grasping his stomach. He gasped for a breath and wiped a tear from his eye. "That was so fucking funny." As another bout of laughter overwhelmed him, he stood and walked in a tight circle, his hand on his hip. "Whew. My side hurts. That felt good." He exhaled. "I haven't laughed like that in a long, long time."
"What's so funny about giving Ajay a job?"
Cam heaved a sigh, plunked back down on the bed. "Where do I start? Well, thanks to the rumor shit-mill that is Copper Creek, I just found out Ajay tried to fuck my wife."
"Recently?"
"Not the point." He continued. "For two, the guy has been a ticking time bomb since he got home and we both know it. I'm not particularly keen on one my guests being the trigger that sets him off."
"I had a vision. I know what sets Ajay off and it's not one of your guests at the restaurant. Does that help?"
Cam smiled. "There's no way I'm giving him a job." His smile widened. "I don't give a fuck what you saw in your vision." He stood and paced beside the bed. "We could be on the brink of a nuclear war, natural disaster or economic meltdown."
"But . . ."
"I don't give a shit."
"Just hear me out . . ."
"I'm not giving him a job." He walked toward the bedroom door. "Since you're doing better, I'm gonna check on things at the restaurant. I'll be back later."
"Cam!"
Bedroom door slammed.
––––––––
OUTSIDE THE CLOSED office door, dishes banged, grease sizzled and the wait staff bitched. An hour had passed since he told Jags to go fuck himself. When he realized Jags was serious, his fit of laughter turned into a special simmering of pissed-the-fuck-off.
Ajay shrugged. "You said you wanted to see me?"
"Yup."
"If this is about fucking Lisa in the walk-in, I can explain."
"I'd rather you didn't."
Ajay began to stand. "So we're done here?"
"Sit the fuck down."
Ajay sighed and dropped back into the chair. "What?"
"Want a job?"
Ajay's head tilted, as if trying to computer a math problem. Or maybe the cure to cancer. A slow smile formed. "Say that again."
Cam shook his head.
"You're offering me a job?"
"Jags told me of your plans to join the police force. You could work nights here while you train during the day."
Ajay burst into laughter. He leaned forward, hugging his midsection, gasping for air.
Cam watched and waited for the prick to stop laughing and prayed he'd do so before Cam shoved his boot up his ass.
Ajay must've seen the warning in Cam's heated glare, because he suddenly slowed his laughter to a crawl and then a stop. Ajay blew out a breath. "Jags put you up to this."
"Figure that all out on your own?"
"I do appreciate what you and he is trying to do but this may be one of those times that Jags just isn't right."
Cam arched a brow.
"He's been sick," Ajay said, "He's not thinking right."
Cam stared at him.
"We'd kill each other the first day."
Cam threw up his hands. "You think I don't know all this?"
Ajay scoffed, shaking his head. "I'm sorry. I just can't do it. I won't work for you."
"Fine." Cam stood and opened the office door. "We're done here."
Ajay looked at Cam and then at the open door. "That's it? You won't fight me on this."
"Nope."
Ajay shrugged. He stood and stepped toward the doorway.
Cam clapped him on the back. "But you have to tell Jags."
Ajay groaned. He tapped his forehead against the wall. Tapped again. And Again. "Shit."
"That's what I thought." Cam waved at the chair Ajay had just vacated. "I'll get the necessary paperwork."
––––––––
A CRASH WOKE STAR. She jolted from the couch and ran to the bedroom.
Both her lamps had been knocked from the end tables. Jags' rigid body convulsed off the bed. His eyes rolled back in his head and his limbs flailed aimlessly.
Star couldn't find her voice. She glanced around the room. The one time she wanted Jags' brothers here and they were gone. She snatched her purse from the kitchen chair, dumped it on the floor and fell to her knees.
She flung her wallet.
She flung her makeup bag.
She flung a package of tissues.
She flung a bottle of hand sanitizer.
Finally! Found her phone!
Dialed her sister.
Second ring and she answered. "Hello?"
"He's having some kind of seizure! I don't know what to do!"
"First, you need to calm down," Tilly said. "Do you have a clean cloth you can put in his mouth to keep him from biting his tongue?"
Star nodded, dashed to the bathroom and pulled a cloth from a drawer under the sink.
"Star? You still with me?"
"Uh huh."
"Have you put the cloth in his mouth yet?"
"I'll try but he's thrashing so much I don't know if I can."
"Yes you can. Put the phone down and tell me when you're done."
She approached the bed. Tears fell.
Jags' arms were stretched to the side and his legs were stiff and straight. He looked more like a wooden puppet than a person.
His head jerked side to side with such force she worried he might break his neck. Clenching her teeth, she shoved the cloth in his mouth and put the phone to her ear. "I did it!"
"I knew you could. Now—"
"He stopped moving!"
"Is he breathing?"
Star put her ear to his chest. "I-I d-don't think so. Oh my god! Oh my god! He's not breathing!"
"I'm on my way. Are Ajay and Cam with you?"
"I think Jags sent them away while I was sleeping."
"Call them now."
––––––––
"WHAT DO YOU NEED ME to do?" Ajay asked.
"Spend a day at each work station," Cam said, "One day behind the line. One day in prep. One day in pantry. And one day in pizza. That way when you're managing these people you'll have an idea of—" Cam checked his vibrating phone. It was Star. "Yup."
"He's . . . he's . . ."
"Spit it out!"
"Dead!"
Cam cursed, clipping the phone to his hip. "I knew I shouldn't have left him."
"What's going on?" Ajay followed Cam from the office.
Maggie stood in front of the expo line, calling out tickets. Karl, a new hire and friend of Ajay's stood at the grill. Mike was on appetizers. Jason was on pizza.
Cam inclined his head at Karl. "Call Carina and get her in here. You're in charge until then."
Cam eyed Maggie. "It's Jags."
She gave a nod to Connie who took over at expo.
The three of them sprinted across the parking lot.
Ajay tugged on Cam's tee, directing him toward the Jeep. "I'll drive. It's faster than the Expedition."
Cam leapt over the passenger door. Maggie jumped in the back. As the vehicle skidded from the lot, Cam said, "He better be dead, because if he's not I'm going to kill him."
––––––––
CAM BURST THROUGH STAR's front door and into the bedroom. He walked to the side of the bed where Star was seated in a love seat, weeping into the crook of her arm. He sat on the side of the mattress, pressed two fingers to Jags' neck. He looked at Ajay and shook his head.
Ajay began pacing. "I can't breathe."
Cam picked the lamp off the floor and hurled it across the room. "Fuck!" He pounded the wall with closed fists. Saliva dripped from his snarling lips, curses whistled from his clenched teeth as he stalked around the room, kicking the debris Jags had hit and kicked while in the throes of a seizure.
Cam glanced at Maggie briefly, before continuing to pace, his hands balled into trembling fists, his hair saturated with sweat, his shirt damp under his arms and around his neck.
Suddenly, he stopped.
He stepped toward the corner of the room.
With his back to the wall, he bent his knees and allowed gravity to pull him to the floor.
Maggie ran to him. She dropped to her knees and threw herself into his arms. "I loved him too."
Ajay leaned over the dresser, his arms covering his head. "I can't breathe."
Maggie looked to Star. "Call Nate."
"I already d-d-did." With the rag she had stuffed in Jags' mouth earlier, she wiped tears from her eyes and snot from her nose. "He should be here any second. Jags' f-f-father too."
Star sat on the bed and took Jags' hand. She kissed his cold, stiff lips, nudged her face against the crook of his neck. Trembling lips. "I love you."
In two weeks, she'd broken off a five-year engagement, almost died in a car accident, fallen in love and now she'd lost that love. How much could one person take? She stretched out beside him, put her head on his chest and closed her eyes.
Maggie rained kisses on Cam's face, his eyes, nose, mouth, his forehead. "Baby. I'm so sorry."
The front door opened and slammed.
Everybody looked to find Nate standing in the threshold of the bedroom doorway.
He strode to the other side of the bed and sat across from Star. Expression bleak, he pressed two fingers against Jags' neck. He slid the sheet down and used stethoscope on Jags' bare chest. "Thank fuck. It's faint, but there."
Cam jumped to his feet and leaned over Nate's shoulder. "Is he going to be alright?"
Nate shushed him, still listening. "It's getting stronger by the second."
"He's in stasis."
Everyone looked to doorway where Jags' father stood. "This is the last stage. How long has he been like this?"
"About an hour," Star said.
Warm fingers tickled her neck. She flinched.
"Sexy," Jags said, his voice raspy, "I love you too."
He yanked her on top of him. She gasped, startled by the strength in his pull. Before she could utter a protest, he took her mouth in a passionate kiss. Clumsily, he grabbed for the sheet to cover their entangled bodies and flipped her beneath him. "I want to be inside you." Before she could respond, he lifted himself to his hands and knees. "May I be inside you?"
Ajay laughed. "He told me he was pent up, but damn."
Doug waved everybody toward the door. "Let's give them some privacy."
"Should he be doing this?" Cam asked, "He was just on death's door."
"He wasn't on death's door," Doug said, "And this is exactly what he needs to be doing." He waited for everyone to exit before shutting the door and turning back toward his son. "Jags."
Jags stopped kissing Star but kept his focus on her. "Not now."
"Yes now."
Jags peeked his head from beneath the sheet. He shimmied himself up the headboard, situating a red-faced Star to sit beside him, his arm draped possessively around her shoulders.
"Pureka?" Doug asked.
A slow smile formed on Jags' sweaty face. "Yes."
Doug took Jags' hand in one hand and Star's in the other. He lifted their hands high, spoke in a clear and ceremonious tone. "Praka preker, beko feteras." He kissed her palm and did the same with Jags. With both of their hands pressed to his lips, he kissed their knuckles and announced "Grataka!" Doug kissed her on the forehead, and on one cheek then the other. "Me filka!"
He bowed at the waist, turned and left.
Star glared at Jags. "What just happened?"
"My father asked The Maker to bless our union and our future children and gave his own blessing."
"Union?"
With his head cocked, Jags glanced at her as if she was a child who just asked why the sky is blue. "Why do you look so worried?"
"I know so little about you."
"Do you love me?"
"Yes, but it almost seems like he was," Closing her eyes, she shook her head, "I don't know what I'm saying."
"Yes you do." With his finger on her forehead, he traced a circle around her oval face. "You're so beautiful."
"Jags?"
"Yes Sexy, he married us."