“Shhh.” He shakes his head. “I know. Everything you’re going to say, I already know. I know Mancini’s been tipped off. Don’t worry—I only went back to my cabin to grab my things and go.”
He reaches into his boot and pulls out a Swiss Army knife. He pops the blade then goes behind me to cut the tape. I hear the blade slashing through the tape just before a sharp noise makes me turn to the left. The direction of the bedrooms.
“Christ, I can’t believe you came back for her.”
Oh my God. It’s Chase.
I glance at Jake, who is still clutching his rifle, although it isn’t raised. I wonder if he’s a better shot than Chase. I have a terrible feeling I’m about to find out.
“Drop the gun, Decker,” Chase says.
Jake hesitates.
“Drop it,” Chase says through his teeth. “Or else I swear to God, you will watch Natalie get shot in the face.”
Jake lowers his rifle to the floor. If I were the one in charge, I would have told him to kick it away, but Chase doesn’t do that.
“I can’t believe you came back.” Chase shakes his head as he gets closer to us. Another mistake on his part, if you ask me. He doesn’t want to be within striking distance of Jake. “You could have run—saved yourself. But you stuck around. For her.” He snorts. “Risking your life for a woman… I can’t think of anything stupider than that.”
Jake is silent.
“That’s the ironic part.” Chase grins at him. “You always try to be the hero, but now you’re infamous for being a crooked cop. Quite the legacy.”
I look up at Jake’s face, but there’s no emotion. He’s not letting Chase get to him. But it doesn’t matter because it’s clear he’s lost the upper hand. But we do have one thing going for us:
Jake cut the tape on my wrists. My wrists are free.
I have to be very careful though. If Chase were to discover this now, I’d lose that advantage because he’d simply bind them again. I have to wait. Maybe until they’re asleep again, but then I risk them noticing my wrists are free.
Chase turns his head and yells in the direction of upstairs: “Drew! Get down here!”
My brother doesn’t come. Not that it’s any surprise. Drew is impossible to wake up when he’s sleeping one off, which he almost always is.
Chase calls him again, but it’s clear he’s not coming down. Chase glances upstairs, but he seems reluctant to take his eyes off of Jake, which is a smart move on his part. After a good minute, he lets out a sigh.
“I should just kill you now, Decker,” he says. “But Mancini was clear he wanted to deal with you himself. And as you know, I don’t want to get on the guy’s bad side.”
“No,” Jake says quietly. “You don’t.”
“Have a seat.”
Jake obediently sits down in a chair next to me.
“Hands behind your back.”
Jake complies. He’s so calm. How can he look so calm? My own heart is thudding a million miles per hour in my chest. Chase grabs the duct tape, juggling it while keeping his hands on his gun. He doesn’t put down his gun while he’s taping Jake’s wrists, but once he’s got his wrists restrained, he places the pistol down on the kitchen table.
If I ever had a chance, this is it. Jake knows it too. He raises an eyebrow at me, nodding in the direction of the gun.
Don’t chicken out, Natalie.
I rip my wrists apart as quickly as I can, knowing any hesitation or stumble will be the end. My wrists pop free and now I can reach for the gun Chase dropped on the table. My fingers close around it, and I lift it in the air, unsure exactly how to hold it or what to do with it aside from pointing it at the thing I want to die.
Chase steps back, his eyes wide and shocked. “Natalie?”
My hands are trembling as I point the gun in his direction. “Put your hands up in the air.”
Chase looks down at Jake, now restrained in his chair. Then he looks at me—trembling like a leaf, gripping his gun for dear life. He knows I’ve never shot a gun before. He’s teased me about it.
And then that confident look surfaces on his face. God, I hate Confident Chase.
“Natalie,” he says in that smooth voice of his. “What do you think you’re doing with that gun?”
I take a step back, even though I’m the one with the gun. “Stay back.”
Chase laughs loudly. “Are you seriously going to shoot that thing? Do you even know how?”
I look at Jake for support, but he has gone silent. I could really use his help now. Like, how about some instruction on how to use this gun? It’s not like there’s a manual I can consult. Anything would be better than silence.
Chase takes a step toward me. I take another step back.
“You should just give me the gun now, Natalie,” he says. “You’re not even holding it right. If you shot it, you’d probably end up accidentally shooting yourself.”
“It’s pointed at you.”
“Trust me. I’ve spent enough time at the firing range. When you don’t know what you’re doing, that’s when people get hurt.”
Chase reaches out for me. I take another step back. My leg hits the sofa.
I have to shoot him. If I don’t, he’s going to take the gun away from me and kill me. But can I really do that? Can I really shoot my former boyfriend? Or anyone, for that matter?
“How about this?” Chase says. “You give me the gun and I won’t even kill you. We’ll work out some kind of deal. Would that be easier for you?”
I shake my head vigorously. “I swear to you, Chase. If you come any closer, I’ll shoot you. I’ll do it.”
My finger is on the trigger. At least, I think it’s the trigger. I assume all I have to do is squeeze it and the gun will fire. It’s pointed at Chase’s chest.
Chase is reaching out for the gun. If I don’t pull the trigger, he will take it from me. And he will kill me and Jake. I have to do this. I have no choice.
Pull the trigger, Natalie. Do it! Do it now!
The gunshot echoes through the cabin, and Chase screams so loudly, I stumble backwards and fall onto the sofa. I look at him and see crimson spreading across his upper thigh. Oh my God, did I actually shoot him? I didn’t think I pulled the trigger. Also, I thought I was aiming for his chest, although I might just have really awful aim. That’s possible or even likely.
Except then I look up and see Jake standing behind him, holding his rifle.
“Life lesson,” Jake says to Chase, who is writhing around on the floor. “If someone’s wrists are six inches apart when you tape them together, they can usually get out.”
Chase responds by letting out a horrible groan.
Jake lifts his eyes to look at me. “Give me the gun, Natalie. Before you shoot me in the foot by accident.”
Good point. My hand won’t stop shaking as I give him Chase’s pistol. He quickly empties it of bullets and tucks it in his pocket. His eyes dart around the room, catching sight of my brother, who was roused from sleep by the sound of the gunshot. Drew stumbles down the stairs, his hair wild and his eyes bloodshot, but he wakes up quickly at the sight of Jake holding a rifle. He tries to go back to his room, but Jake shakes his head and aims for his chest.
“Nope,” Jake says. “Hands on the back of your head then get on the floor.”
For once in his life, Drew does what he’s told.
_____
I duct tape both Drew’s and Chase’s arms and legs as well as taping their mouths, while Jake checks my work. Of course, Chase can’t put up much fight anymore, and Drew probably wouldn’t be a match for Jake, even if he got his hands on a gun. After the two of them are restrained, I call for the police.
“The roads are a mess, obviously,” I tell Jake, “but they think they can have someone here within the hour.”
“Great.” Jake looks down at his watch. “In that case, I’m leaving.”
“Leaving?” I look over at the two men restrained on the floor, then back at his face. “Where are you
going?”
“I need to disappear, Natalie,” he says patiently. “I’m wanted by the police and I’m wanted by the mob. Remember?”
“Yes, but…”
“I don’t have a choice.” He rubs at the back of his newly shorn hair. “Not if I don’t want to die slowly and painfully.”
“But…”
“But what?”
I can’t make myself say what’s in my head, which is that I don’t want him to leave. Jake has saved my life twice in the span of three days and I’m realizing I don’t want to be without him. He’s the sexiest man I’ve ever known. He’s the only hero I’ve ever known. He’s the best person I’ve ever met. I’ll never find anyone else like him for as long as I live.
I don’t want to let him go.
“Is there any possible way that you could stay?” I plead with him.
He shakes his head sadly. “There isn’t.”
“If we talked to the police…”
“You really think it’s that simple, Natalie?” He squints at me with his good eye. “I was indicted for homicide. And even if that went away, Freddy Mancini is far more dangerous. I could take care of these two idiots, but I’m no match for him. You have no idea what kind of resources that man has.”
“But if the police search the cabin, maybe they’ll find something to clear you…”
“If I thought there was enough evidence here to clear me,” he says, “don’t you think I would have called them by now?”
“So…” I chew on my lip. “You’re just going to disappear forever? Just like that?”
His shoulders sag. “It’s not like this is easy for me. It wasn’t easy the first time. And now…” He lowers his good eye as he takes a shaky breath. “It’s not like I needed one more thing to make it painful to leave.”
“Jake…”
Instead of arguing with me further, he lowers his lips onto mine. I melt against him as his rough hands draw me closer, my heart aching at the thought that this will be the last time I ever kiss Jake Decker. It will be the last time I ever see him. Three days ago, I had no idea who he was, and now the thought of being without him is physically painful to me.
I made a mistake once. I’m not going to make it again.
“Jake,” I whisper, pulling away from him. “What if I go with you?”
“Go with me?” He frowns. “What are you talking about?”
“Wherever you’re going.” I square my shoulders. “I want to come with you. Before, at your cabin, you asked me to stay. I want to stay.”
“Right, I asked you to stay in the cabin,” he says. “Not go on the run with me. Shit, Natalie…”
“Isn’t it my decision?”
“It’s not actually.” He takes a step away from me. “Do you have any idea what it’s like on the run, Princess?”
Princess again. Uh oh.
“You could barely make it two days without electricity,” he snorts. “What are you going to do when we’re spending the night in a sleazy hotel with drug dealers at the entrance and a mattress wrapped in plastic? How about if we’re sleeping in a tent out in the woods with only a campfire to keep us warm?”
I hesitate. Granted, none of that sounds appealing. But I’m not a delicate little snowflake. I have been out with a lot of men in my life and I know if I look a million years, I’ll never find anyone else like Jake.
“I’ve got money,” I say. “That could help.”
He shakes his head vigorously. “You can’t use that money. It will give away our position. I’ve got the law and the mob looking for me. Do you get that?”
“I don’t care.”
“No.” He’s still shaking his head. “Trust me—you don’t want this.”
“I want this.” I lift my face to look straight at him. “You said you know my tell, right? Look at me and tell me I don’t want this.”
Jake stares at me for what feels like an eternity. He knows I mean it—I want to come with him. I want him to give in. I want him to tell me it’s not over forever between us. But when he does speak, all he says is, “It’s not up to you.”
“Jake…”
“Goodbye, Natalie.” He nods at Chase and Drew, still bound and gagged on the floor. “Good luck with… all that.”
“Please don’t go…”
Jake leans in to kiss me one last time, but this time it’s soft and brief, his lips lingering on mine for barely a second. I see the longing on his face, which echoes what I’m feeling right now, but he just shakes his head and pulls away.
And then before the cops show up, he disappears forever.
Chapter 25
The two cops who arrive an hour later are plainly shocked to show up and find me sitting on the sofa of the cabin, holding my chest and shaking, while two grown men are bound and gagged on the floor. They look like they’re not entirely sure who they’re supposed to arrest. I purposely made sure the guns were not anywhere near me.
“Miss Rochester?” the older of the two cops asks. He has a craggy face but very sharp eyes. “Were you the one who placed the call?”
I nod.
He glances down at Chase and Drew. Chase is lying in a pool of blood, still conscious but very gray in complexion. Drew’s eyes are bloodshot, but he’s fully conscious. “How’d you manage this?”
“I… there was someone else here who helped me.”
The officer’s eyes are instantly more alert. “There’s someone else in the house?”
I shake my head. “He left.”
“And who was this individual?”
I hesitate. I don’t want to give anything away about Jake and betray him, but I know Chase will tell the police everything about Jake. Worse—he’ll tell Freddy Mancini’s people everything. This is my only chance to defend Jake.
“Jake Decker,” I say. “He’s a detective. He rescued me when I was being held hostage.”
The younger officer, who is short and baby-faced, narrows his eyes at me. “And why did he leave?”
“He…” I don’t know how to explain this one. “He knew the house was secure.”
The younger officer looks at the older one, his brow furrowed. “Jake Decker. Why does that name sound familiar?”
It obviously sounds familiar to the older officer. His jaw is twitching as he works it out. “That’s the cop who disappeared a few years back. Isn’t it? The one who shot those witnesses.”
“He didn’t shoot anyone,” I blurt out.
The younger cop ignores me. “I thought they said the mob iced that guy?”
The older cop raises his eyebrows at me. “Apparently not.”
Now I finally get it. I get why Jake felt he had to disappear. In the eyes of these two cops, he’s a guilty man. And even though he saved my life twice in the last few days, nobody will believe he’s a hero. If he stuck around, he’d just get thrown in jail.
Or worse.
I know at this moment, I’ll never see Jake Decker ever again. And somehow, even though my boyfriend and my own brother betrayed me in the worst possible way, that’s the most devastating part.
Chapter 26: Two weeks later
The taxi driver leaves me on the corner of the small street in Fresh Meadows, Queens. I don’t think I’ve ever been to Queens in my entire life, and I love how quiet it is on this little street in the middle of the day. There’s a narrow path shoveled in the snow through the middle of the street and I follow it briskly, stuffing my gloved hands in my pocket.
When I come to the four-story brown brick building in the middle of the street, I hesitate at the front door. It’s a humble building—definitely not a tenement, but not the sort of place anyone in my family would ever be caught dead.
Well, my parents wouldn’t. Or Drew. Not that Drew gets much say in where he’s going to live anymore, considering he’s currently in the county jail, just like Chase. The two of them are being held without bail given they are considered significant flight risks. Also, they’re being held on much more than just kidnapping charges
. As it turned out, Chase and Drew were both involved in money laundering schemes with the Mancini family. It all came out after their arrest. Currently, they’re trying to cut a deal to reduce their sentences.
It’s been in all the headlines. My parents are absolutely mortified. You’d think they’d be more upset that their son tried to murder their daughter, but it’s worse that it’s in the papers.
I’m still trying to wrap my head around what Drew did to me. My brother. My best friend. How could he? He’s apparently desperate to talk to me, but I won’t give him the chance. After what he did, he doesn’t deserve it.
And Chase—well, all I can say is I’m glad I didn’t allow my family to pressure me into marrying the guy.
I look up at the building, my finger hovering over the intercom button that says DECKER. I used our family’s private detective to find Jake’s parents, although he got their address for me so quickly, I wondered if I couldn’t have just Googled it. I flew down to LaGuardia last night, then caught a taxi here this morning. I’ve had plenty of time to think about what I want to say, but the words still aren’t coming to me.
Can I come up? It’s about your son.
Before I can work up the courage to press the button, the door to the building swings open. An elderly lady looks over my expensive coat and shoes and holds the door open for me. Apparently, I’m someone who looks trustworthy.
If only she knew what rich people are capable of.
Jake’s parents live on the third floor of the building, and there’s no elevator, so I hoof it up the stairs. By the time I get to 3B, my heart is slamming in my chest and I’m regretting my Michael Kors boots, which aren’t much better than my Christian Louboutins. I really thought they seemed comfortable when I tried them on in the store. If Jake could see the blisters on my feet, he’d be making fun of me.
God, I miss him—I can’t stop thinking about him. And it’s only been two weeks.
I ring the doorbell, yanking off my gloves and stuffing them deep in my pockets. At least I remembered gloves this time. I fiddle with my earrings and smooth out my blond hair. After a minute, a female voice calls out, “Who is it?”
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