Chapter 101 - You Can Sleep While I Drive

"We go along for a few weeks with everything going great and them wham, we get hit with shit like this."  Jon tells Dave, exhausted, confused and scared.  "I don't know when and if these people will ever leave us alone."  He looks at Dave and gives him a fake smile.

Dave stands up, straightening his pant legs, he replies, "I hate to say it, but it's kind of the price of fame."

"That's bullshit and you know it.  These people have taken stalker to a new extreme.  You have no idea what they have done, what they will do or even what they are capable of."

"I do know some of what they have done, Jon and that's why you're getting my best."

"I know.  I know."  Jon leans forward.  Resting his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands, "I just want to get on with our lives.  I want to give Beth the life that she deserves and the life that I know she has wanted her entire life."

"You will.  We'll get these assholes and then you and Beth can live in wedded bliss."  Dave walks to the door.  "I'm going to go check on my guys.  Will you be alright?"  He looks back at his long time friend and employee.  

Jon nods his head, "Yeah.  Go do what you have to do.  I'm going to go check on Beth."

Dave leaves Jon and goes to check on his men that were scouring the premises for cameras, bugging devices and GPS devices.  Jon waits a few minutes and then heads up the back stairs to peek in on Beth.  

Inside their bedroom he stops in the doorway and watches her sleep.  She's wrapped tightly in her favorite 1000 thread count sheets, wearing just her panties and tshirt like she always does.  He can see that she is in a deep sleep, as her breathing his deep and slow.  His heart hurts for her, his heart aches for her  - he knows that she is torn up inside and there isn't anything that he can do to help her.  It was a nightmare that they all were living, they all had to get through.

At her side, he sits next to her and brushes some of her blonde hair off her face.  With gentle caresses he gets lost in the warm, softness of her skin.  He goes deep in thought and decides at that moment that they are going to sit and wait for the crew to hit.  He's getting his family out of New Jersey and then he will deal with them when they are all safe and tucked away.  He knows in his heart that it's the right thing to do.  Trying to get on with life as if nothing was happening would be a mistake.  They can't get on with life, with the possibility of another nightmare looming over their heads.  

After he pulls the iphone out of his pocket, he scrolls through his many contacts and finds Dawn, his assistant.  Quickly he types her a message:

 Please contact Chris.  I need the plane ready to fly out of the executive airport first thing in the morning.  Tell him I will give him my destination at the airport.  Cancel all appointments that I have.  Please contact Sunshine and get the number of the tutors that he uses for Jenny and Scott.  I need two advanced tutors on the road, leaving tomorrow.  Also, please call Steph's and Jesse's school and let them know that they will be gone for a couple of weeks.  I'll call you tomorrow.  Thanks - j  

Once he's happy with his message, he presses send and then moves onto the next text.  This one was to Pete:  

We're leaving town tomorrow to get away from any possibility of harm from the assholes that are out to get us.  I can fly you home to family if you want, or you are more than welcome to go with us.  Either way, we will be gone for a couple of weeks.  Please don't say anything to Beth or the kids.  I don't know how to tell them.  He presses send again.

He sits with Beth for a few more minutes and then gets up to go find the men that were protecting him and his family.  As he passes through the house, he can hear the twins laughing and playing with Pete.  The music that was to his ears was short lived as he can see and hear Stephanie bolt down the stairs half asleep.

"DAD THERE ARE MEN WALKING AROUND OUR HOUSE, HURRY CALL THE COPS!" he can hear the terror in her voice and he can see it on her face.

"Steph those are Dave's guys.  It's okay."  Stephanie goes to her dad and hugs him.  Jon holds his daughter close, "It's okay Rose, they are here to check the house and keep us safe."

"Why are there so many?" she asks through her heavy breathing.

"We're a big family and they are the best."

"Are those the guys that are going to school with me?" she steps back from her dad, "Those guys are scary dad, I can't take one of them to school."

"Steph....." he wants to reason with her, he needs her to see the importance of the threat that they are under.

"Dad, look at them." she points out the window from the front foyer, "They are huge, in all black with no expression on their face."

"Stephanie, can we not do this now, please.  I need to get out there and talk to them."

"Dad...."

"Rose."

"Fine." she says as she walks away from her dad.  With a deep relaxing yawn, she adds, "I don't need any bodyguard."

Jon watches her walk in the direction of the kitchen and chuckles at her early morning drama.  When she's out of sight, he continues outside to talk to Dave and his men.

He sees Dave coming up from the shore, walking with two of his men.  As they head in his direction, Jon mentally second guesses his decision to take the family away.  To take his family and hide.  For a moment he can feel his heart beat hard in his chest, but he can't let that get in his way.  He knows that he needs to take charge, he needs to be the solution to the problem that hasn't even started yet.  Dave and his guys get to Jon, "Hey, what's up?  Is everything okay?"  Dave asks, extending a limp hand to shake Jon's.

Shaking Dave's hand, Jon starts to tell Dave about Stephanie's reaction to seeing the starnge men lurking around her house and that makes Dave laugh.  But Jon sees it all a little different now.  "I was thinking that I might just grab some tutors and take off with the family.  We can't live under the thumb of protection forever."

"Who said it would be forever?"  Dave leans on the fence and looks over at Jon, "You need to be proactive instead of reactive, you know that.  This isn't your first rodeo, Jon."

"I know.  I just want to disappear with all of them and not have to look over our shoulders."

"Let me and my guys do what we are good at.  We can protect all of you while you figure out what to do to get these guys to go away." 

Jon rests his head on his arm, leaning on the fence next to Dave.  "Guys, can you excuse us?"  Jon asks Dave's hired guns, "I need to speak privately with Dave."

"Absolutely."  says one guard as he takes a step away.

The second guy waits his turn and tells Jon, "Yes, sir.  We'll go walk the grounds, unless you would like us to go inside and sweep the house for bugs and cameras?"

Jon thinks for a moment, "I think that would be alright.  Give me a minute and I'll take you in."

The guard nods and walks away.  Jon stays there with Dave.  When the men are far enough away, Jon picks up where he left off.  "We are good people and we try to do right by everyone, why does this shit keep happening?

"It's who you are."

"So, because I'm Jon Bon Jovi I should just accept this as the way it's supposed to be?" Jon looks down at the ground, "My kids don't deserve this and neither does Beth."

Dave reaches over and rests him hand on Jon's arm, trying to show Jon that he's concerned for him and that he understands how he feels.  "Do you remember that L.A. show where you had that crazy chick in your dressing room that had the loaded gun?"

Jon looks up at him, "Yeah."

"Did you ever follow up with that, to see who she was?"

Jon shakes his head no.  "When the police took her, that was the last thought that I ever gave her.  Why?"

Dave takes a deep breath and shakes his head a little, "Well, I happened to think about her when you went to check on Beth, so I called a friend that's on the force out there."

"AND?"  Jon is getting upset.  He's not thought about this girl in years and is starting to wonder why Dave did.  "What did you find out?"