Rules of Protection(24)

“It’ll take me a few extra minutes. I want to splash my face with some water while I’m in there.”

“Two minutes. Don’t make me come in there to get you.”

His threat irritated me, but I smiled agreeably. “Okay, Jake.”

I walked into the bathroom, but stood by the door listening to Jake’s shoes clomp away. When I could no longer hear him, I peeked out to be sure he left. Since Jake was nowhere in sight, I scuttled out the door.

The moment I got outside, I sprinted for the highway. Traffic zoomed steadily by, and I had to wait for an opening to cross. I looked back and saw Jake come out of the building. He looked my direction, spotting me.

Gulp. It was now or never.

I had an overwhelming sense of imminent danger. I wasn’t sure if it was the cars roaring past me at seventy miles per hour or the sinister face on the man running to catch up. I took my chances with the cars.

I shot across the highway and climbed over the concrete divider, but had to stop and wait for more vehicles to pass. Jake made it out to the highway quicker than I did, but still had to wait for his chance to pass. Once he had an opening coming, I couldn’t wait any longer for the traffic on my side to clear.

I darted across too soon as Jake yelled out. A tan car headed straight for me. Standing frozen on the hot asphalt, I braced myself for impact. The car barely slowed, zigzagged around me, and sounded its horn relentlessly. I rushed to the shoulder of the road and observed Jake jumping the concrete divider.

Without wasting any more time, I ran away from the highway and into an open field. Long blades of grass went up to my knees, but didn’t hinder my movement. Or Jake’s.

He caught up quickly, tackled me to the ground, and straddled my waist. I immediately became combative, swinging my arms and trying to scratch out his eyeballs, but he captured and pinned my wrists above my head. His red face lit with fury, his eyes filled with hostility. “What the hell is wrong with you?”

I pulled my head up and tried to bite his arm.

Jake flicked me on the nose. Hard. “Damn you, Emily, if you don’t stop trying to bite me, I’m going to cut off your head and send it to a lab for a rabies check.”

Now, this is how hearing and listening are two very different things. I listened to what he said, but all I heard was he wanted to cut off my head.

“Help! He’s going to kill me! Help me! Help—”

Jake muzzled me with his hand over my mouth, but he seemed confused. “Simmer down. What the hell’s your problem?”

I started to cry, which shocked him into removing his hand from my mouth. “Please…don’t kill me!” I begged.

“What?”

“I thought you wanted to help me,” I sobbed. “You said…”

“Emily, I don’t understand why you think I’d want to kill you. Well, besides the obvious reasons.”

I sniffled. “You said you were going to shoot me.”

“What? When?”

Jake relaxed his grip on my wrists and allowed me to pull them free as he eased off me. We both dripped with sweat.

“On the phone.”

“Oh hell, I was kidding around,” he said with a laugh. “That’s why you ran? Why didn’t you just say something?”

“Oh, yeah right. I’m supposed to ask a murderer if he’s going to kill me before I run. Give me a break. How was I supposed to know you were joking? And what the hell is funny about that, anyway?”

“I was talking to my uncle. We’re staying at his house until I can figure out what’s going on. Frankie Felts went underground after shooting Sergio. Someone on the inside must’ve leaked information to him about our location. I’m not taking any chances by putting you in another safe house. Apparently, they aren’t very safe.”

“So you aren’t going to kill me?”

“No, but I might line you with bumper pads to keep you from killing yourself,” he said, his voice as coarse as steel wool. He rubbed at his temples, then ran his hand through his unruly hair. “Come on. We need to get on the road.”

“Uh…Jake?” I waited for him to turn around. “One problem. I still have to pee.”

He half-smiled. “Yeah, me, too.”

“I thought you went already.”

He shook his head. “Never made it. I knew you were up to something.”

“How?”

“When I said I was giving you two minutes, you were too agreeable. You didn’t argue. And you always argue.”

Jake led me across the highway and toward the building that housed the restrooms. He kept a firm hold on my upper arm as we passed a small crowd that had formed. Two teenagers stood there, skateboards in hand, eyeing Jake with uncertainty.

“Man, he caught her quick. That dickhead can run!” one teenage boy said as we passed them.

Jake’s fingers tightened around my arm. All I could do was grin.

“How am I the dickhead?” he asked, tossing me a sideways glance. “You ran from a federal agent.”

“Well, to start with, you tackled a woman. Or maybe it’s because you’re an agent. Take your pick.”

When we stopped at the women’s restroom, Jake glared at me. “All right, I want to hear you say it. No more surprises, right?”

“No more, I promise.”