Chapter Four
I glanced down to see what I had missed. “Oh, shit! Well, it’s…uh…”
Jake’s eyes met mine. “Did aliens invade your pants and leave crop circles in their wake?”
Heat filled my face. “It’s a botched trim job. I forgot about it. If it’s a problem, then we can stop…” I tried to roll out from under him, but he clamped his hand on my shoulder and held me there.
“I work for the Federal Bureau of Investigation,” he reminded me. “It’s my duty to investigate this, er…sighting…to the best of my ability.” He grinned.
Wiseass.
“Stay here,” Jake said. “I’ll be back.”
“Oh, come on! It’s not that bad.”
Once again, his eyes flitted down and back up. “No, but it isn’t that good, either.”
“Then don’t bother.” I tried to nudge him off me, but he didn’t budge.
He lowered his mouth to mine, kissed me hungrily, and then traced his tongue to my ear. “I’m just getting a condom,” he whispered, his voice aching with desire. “Rules of Protection, right?”
“Oh,” was all I said as he pushed himself off me.
He stood at the end of the bed and looked me over again, shaking his head with a smirk. His pants were undone, hanging loosely onto his waist, and the black boxer briefs outlined his raging hard-on.
Hmmm. Impressive.
Jake watched me lick my lips. “Hold that thought,” he said, then stepped out of the room. Several minutes went by before he returned—with his pants buttoned. He snatched my clothes from the floor and threw them at me. “Get dressed,” he ordered.
“What’s wrong?”
Jake pulled his T-shirt on. “We’ve got company.”
My first thoughts were that our escorts had returned to check on us, or maybe my babysitters had arrived early. Then Jake grabbed his gun off the table and stuffed an extra clip into his back pocket. I threw my clothes on faster than he had pulled them off me.
“Who is it?” I asked.
“I don’t know, but they aren’t FBI or U.S. Marshals.”
“How do you know?”
“Because they’re walking the perimeter of the house, looking through windows,” Jake said in a low voice. “Any agent would know doing something stupid like that would get them shot.”
“Are you going to call in backup?”
He shook his head. “Too far away. I need to concentrate on getting you out of here alive first.”
“Are we safe as long as we stay inside?”
“We’re sitting ducks. If we can get to the Explorer in the garage, then we’ll make a run for it. If nothing else, I’ll pick them off one by one.”
“What if they pick you off first?”
He stared at me point-blank for a moment. Though he didn’t say the words, I read his thoughts. Then we’ll both be dead.
“Jesus,” I said with exasperation. “Your crime prevention program sucks!”
Jake clamped his hand around my wrist, pulled me to the bedroom door, and peeked down the dark hallway. He gestured for me to stay quiet as he yanked me into the hall, keeping me behind him. As we got near the stairs, Jake lowered into a crouch, so I did the same. He looked around constantly. I leaned into his back, crowding him, and tried to look over his shoulder.
“Any sign of trouble, I want you to run to the garage and take the vehicle,” he whispered. “Don’t wait for me. You understand?”
I nodded, though I knew I wouldn’t leave him behind. I didn’t want to be left completely defenseless. And I didn’t want Jake to die.
We flattened ourselves against the wall and tiptoed down the stairs. Jake peeked around the corner, then motioned for me to follow. We went through the dining room and into the kitchen, where the door to the garage was located.
As we rounded the corner, a gun became visible. A man in the kitchen pulled his weapon up to shoot us. Jake reacted with speed, grabbing the gun and pointing it away from us as the gunshot rang out. The bullet went wild, ricocheting off the stainless steel refrigerator and embedding into the tile over the kitchen sink. They each fought for control of the gun, bumping into me and knocking me backward onto my butt as the man aimlessly fired again.
I’d hit my lower back on the counter and tweaked my ankle as I went down but ignored the pain. I crawled around the island to the other side, ducking my head. I could no longer see what was happening.
Both men breathed heavily, grunting and fighting, until another round fired and someone landed with a thud on the kitchen floor. I was afraid to look, afraid of what I might find if I did look. What if Jake was the one who…? No, I couldn’t finish the thought. It wasn’t Jake. It couldn’t be.
I scrambled to my feet. Jake stood over an unknown man slumped on the floor near the island. A dark red stain on his chest grew larger by the second, like a rose blooming in the midday sun. Still alive, his eyes were open. He gurgled frothy-looking blood from his mouth.
Jake barely glanced at me when he lifted his gun and pointed it at my head. Surprised by the quick movement, I didn’t have time to flinch. He pulled the trigger, and a shot zinged past my ear. A loud crash came from behind me. I spun around with wide eyes to see a man lying on the floor with a knife in his hand and a bullet hole in his head.
Gunfire erupted through the kitchen windows, and Jake lunged for me, knocking me back to the floor. In a split second, our safe house had turned into a house of horrors, a dire situation filled with incalculable risks. He covered my head with my face turned toward the dead man. I got an up-close view of the bullet hole, which made me gag.
Once the shooting stopped, Jake ran for the nearest window, keeping himself to the side and peering out. I rolled away from the corpse.
“There must’ve been only three of them,” Jake said. “Someone jumped into a car and is driving away.” Jake walked over and checked on the man with the chest wound. “He’s dead, damn it!”
“That’s a bad thing?” I asked weakly, having a hard time finding my voice.
“It is when you need to question someone. Dead people have a tendency not to answer.”
I kept my eyes on the window. “Is he coming back?”
“Doesn’t matter. We aren’t staying to find out. Your location’s been compromised, so my main concern is getting you out of here. I’ll go upstairs with you and stand guard while you throw some things in a bag. You’ve got two minutes.”
“Two minutes? That’s not enough—”
“That’s all you’re getting. Take it or leave it,” he said, walking up the stairs ahead of me with his gun still in hand. I marched after him, making a mental list of everything I should grab.
Jake checked out the room before he relaxed a bit, but I ran back and forth trying to fit everything into a suitcase. It was hard to do with shaky hands. He grabbed his laptop from the desk and threw it into the bag as well. Next, we visited his room and did the same with his limited amount of clothing.
Then, cautiously, Jake led me down the stairs and into the kitchen. I don’t know why I was surprised to see the two dead men still lying on the floor. I mean, where were they going to go? I guess it’s because, in the horror movies, the bodies are never in the same spot as before. And this situation was as creepy as any thriller.
Jake surveyed the garage first, allowing me to enter after he deemed it safe. I tried to open the passenger door on the blue Ford Explorer, but he grabbed my hand to stop me. I watched as he slipped under the vehicle for a few seconds. Then he slid back out and popped open the hood.
“We don’t have time for an oil change,” I said with sarcastic frustration.
He closed the hood. “I was looking for a bomb,” he said, his tone cavalier, as if it was an everyday thing.
“A what?”
“Don’t worry. There isn’t one.” He grabbed the suitcase and chucked it into the backseat. Then he walked around to the driver’s side. “Get in.”
“No.”
He lowered his gaze to look through the car windows at me. “Emily, get in.”
“No fucking way! I’m not getting into a car that might blow up.”
“That’s why I checked. It’s not going to blow up. Now get in.”
I stood there, still not moving. Jake sighed and marched back around the front of the vehicle. “This is the last time I ask you nicely,” he threatened.
“You’re insane if you think—”
He snatched me up by my arm, opened the car door, and then manhandled me into the front passenger seat, slamming the door closed. Jake muttered expletives and shook his head as he walked back around to the driver’s door. He got in and ripped the GPS off the dash, tossing it out the window.
I shook my head with disgust. “Feel better now, you big baby?”
“Tracking device,” he explained.
When he cranked the Explorer, I nearly jumped out of my seat, waiting for an explosion that didn’t happen. Then he pulled out of the garage, and I slid down in my seat, waiting for the stray bullet that didn’t come. By the time we got to the highway, I was pretty sure I wasn’t going to die. At least not tonight.
“Why haven’t you called this in?”
“Because.”
“Generous with words, aren’t you? Care to elaborate?”
Jake glanced over at me. “Nope.”
“Well, then at least tell me where we’re going.”
“I need to hide you somewhere safe.”
“And where’s that?”
“I don’t know yet.” He shook his head, as if contemplating something, then blew out a breath. “Shit.”
“Something wrong?”
“I know somewhere I can take you. No one will find you there.”
“Yeah, you said the same thing about the other place,” I reminded him.
“It was safe, but things changed. I promise you, Emily, I don’t make the same mistake twice. Once we get a few hours down the road, I’ll need to stop.”
“Wait, aren’t you going to rename me?”
“The only identification you have is for Emily Foster. So, no, I’m not going to rename you. You aren’t a pet turtle.”
…
“Are you sure we’re safe here?”
“We won’t stay long. I need to check a few things on my laptop and make some phone calls. You can get some rest, if you want.”
I peered around the room, wrinkling my nose. “If you wanted me to actually use the bed, then you should’ve chosen a more suitable motel.”
Jake shrugged. “Nothing wrong with this one. It’s functional.”
“Sure, if you don’t mind bedbugs and pubic lice,” I said, glancing at the yellowed walls, dingy carpet, and stained comforter.
Jake didn’t say anything as he opened his laptop.
“I guess I’ll go rinse off, though I’ll probably end up with fungus on my feet afterward,” I said.
“Don’t lock the door.”
I could’ve taken his comment to mean he’d be joining me, but since he didn’t look up, I figured I was on my own. Probably a good thing, since I couldn’t imagine the bathroom being any more hygienic than the rest of the room. I didn’t want an infected vagina any more than he probably wanted a sore on his dick.
I hurried into the shower…then hurried right back out. It was as disgusting as I’d imagined. Hardened soap scum coated the walls, rust stains encompassed the drain, and there were black, curly hairs in the bottom of the tub, none of which belonged to me. Instead of bathing, I used one of the washcloths—though it smelled funny—and sponged myself off at the sink. It took longer, but was more sanitary. Barely.
He sat at the small table, still looking intently at his computer. I plopped into the chair across from him and admired the new brown do Agent Rawlings had given me in the mirror on the wall. The cut was perfect and, although I never thought I’d look good as a brunette, I loved it.
When I got bored with that, I flipped on the television. Sounds of a girl moaning blared from the television well before the black screen turned to a live color shot of a couple having sex. I tried to change the channel, but the button on the remote crushed inward and no longer worked. Frantically, I hit more buttons, including the one that turned the volume up. The man had a ginormous penis and pounded it into the poor girl while he slapped her rear end, making her scream like a…well, a porn star.
Jake looked at me with a raised eyebrow.
I smiled and shrugged my shoulders, but my face had to be as red as the girl’s ass. I banged the remote on the table, smashing my finger in the process. Jake shook his head with irritation, crossed the room, and hit the power button on the television. Why didn’t I think of that?
“We need to get on the road,” Jake said, packing up his computer.
Outside, a man stood near the room next to ours, smoking a cigarette. He made a lewd gesture with his tongue, then winked at me. I got into the Explorer and locked my door.
“Did you see that?”
Jake nodded. “Want me to shoot him?”
“No, but you could show him your gun.”
“Those walls are paper-thin. I’m sure that’s what he thought I was doing to you. Why do you think he needed a cigarette?”
I gave him a dirty look, but it was dark enough in the Explorer that Jake missed it. Good thing, since it meant he couldn’t see me blushing again.
“How did those men get inside the safe house?” I asked as we pulled out of the motel parking lot.
“Since the alarm didn’t go off, I assume they had the code.”
“How?”
“Someone must’ve given it to them, along with your location. Makes sense, otherwise, they wouldn’t have known where to find you.”
“Who, the agents who escorted us from the plane?”
“I’m not sure. I checked out their explosion story. They told the truth as far as I can tell.”
I twisted in my seat, trying to get comfortable, though my sore, achy back wouldn’t allow it. I made a small grunting sound as I shifted.
“Problem?” Jake asked.
“I can’t get comfortable. When I fell in the kitchen earlier, I hit my back on the counter and twisted my ankle. I feel like someone threw me down three flights of stairs.”
“So much for witness protection,” Jake said with a laugh. “You keep getting hurt. You even smashed your finger in the motel room. Any other injuries I need to know about?”
I didn’t tell him I almost shit my pants when he pointed the gun at me in the kitchen. That would’ve hurt, but only my pride. “I think that covers most of them.”
“Maybe I should ransom you off to Frankie Felts. You might stand a better chance of escaping injury with him than you have so far with me.”
He was kidding, but his words made my heart stop and my stomach churn with queasiness. The psychological implication of being abandoned weighed on me, making me wonder what would happen if Felts found me. Then I made the mistake of wondering how I’d die. Maybe I should’ve listened to Jake when he said I didn’t want to know how the other witnesses had died. I had pressed him to tell me, but now I regretted it.
My mind tapped into the residual memories of the past twenty-four hours, and the sharp crack of reality split me in two as vivid pictures flashed through my head. Sergio’s death replayed automatically, the images standing tall and casting a shadow over the more pleasant thoughts I conjured. Like him, I’d be dead. No gray area, just the black and white of it all. I’d been marked. Frankie Felts would do everything in his power to make sure I didn’t live much longer.
Then I made the mistake of imagining my cold, lifeless body lying in a cornfield. The image overwhelmed me, making me numb, as my eye twitched uncontrollably. I couldn’t take it anymore. My pulse raced, and my breathing deepened until my lungs stopped functioning properly. I hyperventilated in rapid succession until everything around me distorted.
I don’t remember Jake pulling the car over, but he must’ve. I stood on the side of the road, doubled over, as my chest convulsed with spasms. I wanted to scream, but I couldn’t in between all of the sobs bubbling in my throat. Wracked with fear, I became practically inconsolable.
“Don’t panic,” Jake whispered, trying to soothe me as he rubbed his hand on my back. “Take deep breaths.”
It felt dreamlike, as if all of this had happened to someone else. I’d watched Oprah enough times to know the ugly cry wasn’t attractive on anybody. Yet, I was on the side of the road doing just that.
Jake stood close with his arm around my shoulders, wrapping me in comfort and security, as well as compensating for my unbalanced posture. I was a crumbling mess under his hands. He tried to smooth over my rough edges, a further distance than the wheels of responsibility should’ve taken him. It was bad enough he saddled himself with the impossible, foolhardy task of keeping me alive—something he’d barely been able to do.
“I…I’m fine,” I choked out, not wanting him to see me this way. “Leave me alone.”
Jake grimaced. “Bullshit. Emily, I can plainly see you’re not fine. Tell me what I can do.”
He may be responsible for my physical well-being, but my mental state wasn’t something he should have to deal with. It angered me that he looked at me with his eyes full of pity. “For one thing, stop calling me Emily.”
“It’s your name.”
“No, it’s not!” I shrieked. “My name is—”
“Not anymore, it isn’t. Your name is Emily, even if I have to beat it into your head before I’m through with you. Now get in the car.”
Never one for following orders, I resented Jake for issuing one. Annoyed by his demand and in the middle of a nervous breakdown, I underwent a mental time-out and said the first stupid thing that came to mind. “I hope the FBI has an extra-large dildo because all of you can go fuck yourselves.”
I angled past him, walking away from the car, but Jake snatched me up before I could get far. “Don’t be stupid. Are you trying to get yourself killed?”
I didn’t answer him. In fact, I was careful not to look at his face until he stuffed me in the passenger seat of the Explorer. He stood there glaring, still waiting for an answer.
“Who cares, Jake? I’m dead, no matter what.”
His hard expression softened around the edges. “So that’s what this is about? You think you’re going to die?”
“Looks that way, doesn’t it?”
“Emily, I know your world just became more stressful with having to be relocated for a second time, but I’m not going to let anything happen to you. You have my word.”
“I don’t want to die.” I straightened my face and tried to get ahold of my emotions, but a few stray tears rolled down my cheek. “I didn’t even get my birthday sex.”
Jake looked at me strangely, swiped the drops away with his thumbs, and then snagged a strand of my hair, pushing it behind my ear. His hands rested on both sides of my neck as he leaned toward me. “I don’t know what the hell that means, but I can assure you that you’ll have plenty more birthdays ahead of you. Trust me, okay?”
I nodded quietly.
Jake flashed a grin. “I love the sound you make when you’re silent.”
He was only trying to make me feel better, but I couldn’t force myself to smile back. A flicker of light in his dark eyes called to me. How he had responded to my emotional needs stimulated me, and I desperately needed more. I inhaled his scent—a mix of soap and something unmistakably male—with every breath as I leaned slowly toward him. But before my lips touched his, he shifted away.
“Emily, it can’t happen again.” Jake wore a self-deprecating look. “It shouldn’t have happened the first time. It was an unguarded moment, one where I should’ve considered the consequences first. I could’ve gotten you killed.”
“But you didn’t.”
“Not this time, but I need to keep a clear head. And having sex with you is the exact opposite of that. We can’t become intimately involved.”
“You’ve already seen my vagina,” I reminded him, sarcastically. “You can’t get much more intimate than that.”
His gray eyes liquefied to molten steel. “Wanna bet?”
My inner muscles contracted enthusiastically, and a hot wave of lust ran up to my breasts. I bit my lip to keep from asking him to do a show-rather-than-tell format of his theory. “I don’t understand.”
“You know what I mean.”
“Not that. I mean, I don’t understand why we can’t—”
“Because there are rules about these things. I’d lose my job.”
“But as long as it’s off the record, then…”
“No.”
“Jake, I’m a big girl, and we’re both consenting adults. It’s not like you’re corrupting my soul or something.” God, I sounded desperate.
“No, but fraternizing with a material witness could get the entire case thrown out of court. My choices are a reflection on the bureau, as well as on me. I have to do this right. It’s important.”
“I get it. More important than some piece of ass you’re stuck babysitting, right? I’m glad you’ve made that clear.” Nope, I was wrong—way past desperate at this point.
“Damn it. Why do women always have to analyze or overthink everything?” He shook his head at me. “I didn’t say you were some piece of ass.” He blew out a breath. “I’m attracted, okay. I’ll admit it. Attracted enough that I can’t deny it, but some things are better left unspoken. I’m not saying it won’t happen…but later, after the trial. Until then, let’s keep things platonic.”
“I guess that’s your ‘let’s be friends’ speech? And I’m supposed to wait for you to lift this sexual embargo?”
“That’s all you can do. I won’t change my mind. I need to put Felts behind bars.”
“Wow! You’re a fucking marvel. The backbone of our relationship,”—I used my fingers to signal air quotes—“is dependent on whether I live or die?”
“That’s not what I meant.”
“It’s ridiculous. You’re prolonging this because you’re afraid of being that guy.”
“Which guy?”
“You know, the one who falls for the witness who gets killed.”
“Damn it, Emily. I’m responsible for your safety.”
“Then wear a condom!”
“Jesus,” he said, breathing out hard. “I was right before. You definitely have multiple personalities.”
My eyes narrowed. “Yeah, well maybe I do, and none of them like you!” I folded my arms across my chest and resisted the urge to gaze back at him.
Jake slammed the car door and stomped around the front of the vehicle, stopping long enough to bang his fist on the hood before getting in. His hand tightened into a death grip on the steering wheel, but he didn’t try to strike up another conversation. I quietly stared out the passenger window as we got back on the road. I didn’t have to look at him. I could feel him next to me. His anger vibrated the air and danced on my skin.
An hour later, we still hadn’t spoken. Isolation fueled the depression I desperately tried to push away. The blahs tend to multiply when you are silent for long durations. I counted the bug splatters on the windshield to pass the time until we crossed into Oklahoma on I-35, and then, before I knew it, my eyelids drifted closed.
When I woke up, we were in a rest area parking lot. Jake leaned against a payphone outside my door with his back to me. Guess he didn’t want to risk being tracked by using his cell phone. So much for his supposedly secure line.
He had left the car running and the air conditioning on high, which explained my icy-cold skin, goose bumps, and hard nipples. I turned the air conditioner down a few notches to keep from getting hypothermia and cracked open the window. That’s when I heard Jake talking.
“It’s a solo mission, but she doesn’t have a bullet hole in her head. At least not yet.”
What did he mean yet?
“We aren’t exactly on speaking terms at the moment,” Jake commented. “She trusts me, though. I’m good at this. Her decision to cooperate sealed her fate. Now it’s up to me to make sure things go as planned.” He paused for a second, listening to the person on the other end. “No, nobody knows her whereabouts or where she’s going, including her.”
Who the hell was he talking to?
“Yeah, I’m bringing her in. In fact, it won’t take us much longer to get there. Probably another couple of hours. Get your guns ready,” Jake said. “She’s a live one. We may have to draw straws to see who gets to shoot her first.” Then he chuckled.
The deep timbre of his laughter jolted through me like a high-voltage shock wave. Jesus Christ. I thought I was safe with an FBI agent and, all along, he planned to kill me. I thought Jake kidded when he said he should turn me over to Frankie Felts, but I was wrong. He was going to let me die. That shrewd, double-crossing bastard! I knew he was a weasel. No wonder he didn’t want to have sex with me. I was practically dead already.
And he knew it the whole time.