Jess
The motel staff were nice enough to charge up my phone for about twenty minutes after Thorn left for the prison. I wasn't sure exactly how far away the prison was or how long he would end up staying there talking to his ex, but I knew I had to do things quickly.
I had had enough. I didn't plan to go to the authorities, even though I knew that was probably what I should do. I was too worried about what they might do to me, though, too worried about all the things that Thorn had said that morning. But surely if I removed myself from the situation, if I went back home and resumed my normal life, then even if Thorn got caught delivering the packages or something else happened that wasn't supposed to happen, surely the authorities would see that I had no involvement in this, that I hadn't wanted anything to do with it.
Without a car, I didn't really know how I was going to escape.Until I realized that I knew someone who was probably still there in the area and willing to help me out. I sent Emmanuel a text asking him to meet me in the hotel lobby as soon as possible.
I went back upstairs to shower, wishing that I could just wash away all of this nightmare, but the longer I stood there under the spray, the more I regretted that text to Emmanuel. I didn't want him to think I wanted him. I didn't want him to think I was some damsel that needed rescuing. And as much as I was frustrated with him at the moment, I didn't want him to be implicated in all of this as well. By asking him to meet me here, I was making him a liability, and that wasn't right.
When I went back out to my phone, though, ready to tell him not to come, there was just enough battery left to show me his expected arrival time, twenty minutes from now. Then, the battery died again, the screen fading to black. I swallowed hard, staring down at it for a long moment, and then I reluctantly got dressed and went down to the lobby to meet him.
Emmanuel breezed into the lobby with a smug air about himself. “Darling,” he said, kissing my cheek and then cupping my face in his hands. “You can always tell me when you're in a bad situation, you know,” he chided. “You don't have to make up stories and try to save yourself. Of course that man wasn't your secret lover. Don't think I believed that for a second.”
I thought back to the previous night, wondering what Emmanuel would think if he knew that I had actually had sex with Thorn. My gut churned unpleasantly, and I shrugged off his hands, pulling back away from him.
“Emmanuel, I don't want to be in a relationship with you,” I told him, proud of the way my voice didn't quaver even in the slightest. “And I thought that I needed your help, but—”
What perfectly horrible timing, I suddenly realized, eyes widening in horror as Thorn stalked back into the motel lobby, a look of murder on his face as he saw me standing there talking to Emmanuel.
“What the hell are you doing here?” he growled.
Emmanuel, to his credit, stood up tall, although it was obvious that Thorn could break him in half if he wanted to, especially given the garish bruise Emmanuel was currently sporting from yesterday's encounter. “Livy asked me to meet her here,” he said.
Thorn turned his furious gaze on me. “Is that true?” he asked, and I could tell from his tone that he knew exactly what I'd been planning to do. But I still tried to deny it.
“I wanted to tell him that I couldn't be in a relationship with him,” I said lamely. “I know things got a little heated yesterday, and I wanted to apologize to him about that while you weren't around. And I wanted to tell him that I'm fine and that he can leave me alone with you and go back home. That's it.”
Thorn looked almost convinced, but I could still sense a little suspicion from him, and I didn't blame him for that. I'd have been suspicious too. I ducked my head a little, feeling ashamed that I had even thought to text Emmanuel. It had just seemed like such a great idea for a moment, to just leave this all behind me. Of course things wouldn't work that way. I was stuck in this now, whatever happened.
“Well, I suppose I had better leave, then,” Emmanuel said, his voice like acid. “I wish you all the best, Jessica.” But I could tell from his tone that he really would rather ... well, probably if he had known about the plan, about the gun parts and Katia Sin, he'd probably be pretty happy to see me locked up in jail with the rest of them.
I swallowed hard, trying not to let that hurt me.
“Upstairs,” Thorn growled at me, catching my wrist and dragging me along with him.
In the room, he whirled on me, looking even more furious, if that was possible. “What the hell were you thinking, having him come here?” he snarled, tossing his backpack off to the side.
I frowned at it, hearing the pieces rattling around inside. “You didn't deliver the package,” I said, wondering what that could mean. Had Thorn somehow realized what a dangerous venture this was? But what would Gabi do to us now, since he hadn't gone along with the plan?
“There was a minor setback,” Thorn snapped. “Don't try to change the subject.”
I hung my head, feeling like a chastised schoolgirl. “I know I shouldn't have messaged him,” I said. “I just got so scared this morning when you were talking about me doing prison time, and I thought that maybe if I went home and pretended I had had nothing to do with any of this ... well, I thought that maybe you'd all just let me go. I don't think what you're doing is right, but I wouldn't go to the cops, I just want to…” I trailed off, fighting back tears. But in the end, it was futile.
I sobbed, feeling ashamed and overwhelmed and confused. “I just want to go home.”
Thorn did nothing for a long moment, just stared at me as I continued to sniffle. Then, something in his demeanor changed. He deflated a little, looked a little less angry. He moved slowly over to me and pulled me into his arms, cradling me there against him. He sighed heavily.
“I know this hasn't been easy on you,” he said, his voice surprisingly soft. “I know I've asked a lot of you, and torn you away from everything you've ever known. But it'll all be over soon, and then you can go back home, all right? I'll take you back myself.”
“But nothing will ever be the same again,” I whimpered. “I'm going to have to quit my job and move, just so you and Katia and the rest of your lot can never find me again. And I'm going to spend the rest of my life in fear that the authorities will somehow figure out my part in all of this and come knocking on my door one day with a warrant for my arrest.”
Thorn sighed. “You've clearly watched too many of those crime shows on TV,” he said, trying for a little light-hearted humor. But the words fell flat to me.
I shivered a little against him, pressing closer to his warmth. “There has to be some way we can turn this whole thing over to the authorities and be done with it,” I said.
“I couldn't do that,” Thorn said grimly, shaking his head. “I'm sorry, Jess, but that's out of the question. Not only would Katia be furious with me, but I can't give up my allegiance like that. I've sworn oaths to the Sigma Saints that I can't bring myself to break.”
“So what are we going to do?” I asked, finally pulling away from him and wiping at my tear-streaked face. “What happened with the delivery today?”
Thorn shrugged a little. “They're about to do a full search of the prison, so it wouldn't make sense for me to bring in the packages now. We'll wait until later in the week and try again. In the meantime, we hang tight here.”
I sighed, suddenly feeling exhausted. “All right,” I said, seeing no other way out. “All right.” I lay back on the bed, staring up at the ceiling, my mind racing with horrifying scenarios of us getting caught. But knowing that Thorn wouldn't listen to me no matter what I said, I remained silent.