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“I’ll be watching,” I tell her.
“What about…” She gestures at the bodies, but she won’t look at them. I hope she doesn’t. I hope she never has to have those gruesome sights scarring her mind.
“You don’t know anything. There was a gunfight. You’ll both be in our cell when they arrive.” I almost laugh grimly, but it’d throw off civilians.Our cellsounds so strange. “Okay? When you’re home, I’ll come to you.”
Lena grabs my hand when I turn away. She’s probably too flooded with adrenaline to think about the fact her mom is right there, staring at us. She doesn’t know what her mother and I discussed. “Jamie—”
I lean down and kiss her. I can’t stop myself. I know it’s wrong, but that’s the story of me and Lena. Wrong, but right. Yes, but no. Now and forever. She returns the kiss and holds my hand tighter. Simone is purposefully looking at the wall. Lena swallows and glances at her mother.
I press the gun into Lena’s hand. “Wait here.”
The basement is bigger than I would’ve guessed in the dark, with several cells along it. I won’t free the prisoners. The police can do that. They’ll bring medical assistance, too. I open the slots in the cell, shining my flashlight into each one. No dead people or people who look close to dead. Just hollow-eyed prisoners. I probably look just like them.
Once it’s all clear, I lead Lena and Simone to the cell. It breaks my heart, closing my woman into the darkness, but it’s the only way.
“I love you,” she whispers as I close the door. Or, at least, I think she did. I’m not sure if she’s talking to me or her mom. I’m about to leave when Lena yells for me. My blood runs cold. Is there a guard in there I somehow missed?
“Jamie,” she says.
“Yeah?”
“I left a message on my neighbor’s machine explaining everything and telling her to call the cops if she didn’t hear from me.”
Good precaution. “Give me her address,” I say. I’ll have to pick the lock and erase the message. Even if her alarm goes off, I’ll still have enough time to do it, but only once I know the cops are here.
Lena gives me the address. I walk down the corridor and up the stairs. The doors are opened from where the other guards must’ve come running when they heard shooting. Looking around, I see a payphone, jog to it, and dial911. Then I hide in a nearby alleyway, waiting as theSWATvan pulls up. After, I disappear into the night.
I need to find another pay phone, call in a favor, and catch a ride. Get home and figure out how to end this crap so I begin my life with Lena.
CHAPTERTWENTY-SEVEN
Lena
“The cop car’s still outside,” I tell Jamie over the phone.
“I know those officers,” Jamie replies. “They’re good people. They won’t let anything happen to you, but as an extra precaution, you have two paid security operatives watching the premises, too. The police might hesitate. These won’t. If anybody tries to hurt you, they’re dead.”
I swallow, looking up and down the street. The sun is almost setting. It’s been a wild day since the police arrived, going to the hospital, and repeating our story several times.
“I don’t see them,” I whisper.
“That’s good,” Jamie says. “You’re not supposed to, but they’re there.”
“Where areyou?” I ask.
That’s all I wanted to know as the police processed me, Mom, and the other captives. All I cared about was getting my hands on Jamie again. I’ve showered twice since the basement, since that man walked in, and I…He was going to kill us. My wrist still hurts from the recoil of the gun.
“Following up on some leads,” Jamie replies. “The lease of the butcher leads to a shell company. There are a few listed owners, two of which are in the city. One of them is going to tell me who the fuck arranged this. I have to get to them before the police do.”
“Why?”
Jamie’s tone goes dark. I can’t believe he’s still going after what he’s been through. Mom was on an IV for much of today to replace her fluids. She’s got a bandage around her arm from where one of the men must’ve grabbed her too hard. “The cops won’t cross the lines that need to be crossed,” Jamie snarls. “These men have to talk, but the cops won’t make them. They have limits. I don’t.”
I swallow, glancing over at Mom. She’s sitting on the couch, staring numbly at the TV. She saw me kiss Jamie. I didn’t even think. My ears were still ringing from the gunshot. I could smell the stink of the gunpowder. I just wanted to melt into him. “I want to see you,” I say selfishly.
“Soon. Tonight. It might be late. Keep your phone on.”
I wonder if he heard what I said in the darkness before he closed the door.I love you.With the fear pumping through me and the darkness consuming us, it felt like the last time I might see him. It felt like I had to say it right then.
