by Nicole Fox
“That doesn't mean anything,” I said. “The packages contain bits of plastic that could be assembled into who-knows-what, and I'm delivering them to Gabi Gonzalez. As far as I'm concerned, Katia has nothing to do with it.” It was exactly the story that I'd stick to if I was caught in this mess. Not that I anticipated being caught, though.
“You'd have a hard time proving that one in court,” she said, rolling her eyes. “You know exactly what you're doing.”
I was silent for a long moment, thinking back to the phone call with Dorian that morning.
Before I could respond to her accusations, though, there was a knock on the door. I blinked and then shrugged. It was probably housekeeping or something like that. I had already arranged to stay for another night since I wasn't sure when exactly Gabi would contact me.
I rose and went over to the door, pocketing my phone as I went. When I opened the door, a posh-looking man stood outside, scowling at me. He was wearing a well-tailored suit — I'd seen enough of them to know that what he was wearing had to have cost an arm and a leg. And his hair was styled so that it swooped off to the side in a cascading wave. He had a thin, pale face and was the opposite of me in nearly every way.
“Hello?” I asked, wondering just who the hell he was. He definitely didn't work at the motel, that was for sure.
Jess came up behind me and made a noise of surprise, pushing me off to the side a little. “Emmanuel, what are you doing here?” I wasn't entirely sure how to read the tone of her voice. She sounded at once relieved but also nervous.
Emmanuel looked back and forth between the two of us, his eyes finally settling on Jess. “Who is this?” he asked, sounding scandalized.
Jess gave me an almost fearful look, clearly uncertain how to proceed.
“This is none of your business,” I snapped, making to close the door.
Emmanuel stuck a foot out in front of the door, though, and even though I knew I could force the door shut anyway — the man was practically a twig — the last thing I needed was for him to complain down at the reception desk. Or worse, to go to the police and tell them about the strange man in the room with his not-quite-girlfriend.
“I thought you were just on vacation,” Emmanuel said accusingly to Jess. “And now I find you alone in a room with a man who… Well, to be honest, either you have something you've been hiding from me or else you've been, I don't know, kidnapped or something! Tell me the truth.”
Jess gave me another fearful look, and he looked triumphant. “That's it, I'm calling the police,” he announced, already pulling out his phone.
I wanted to reach out to smack the phone out of his hands, but surprisingly enough, Jess beat me to it. “There's nothing to get the police involved with,” she said icily, and I gave her a surprised look. She tossed her head haughtily, and I wondered how this brave, arrogant woman pretended to be so meek and humble most of the time. “Emmanuel, this is Thorn. I decided that since you weren't ready to call me your girlfriend, it was time to find someone who wasn't afraid to be seen in public with me.” She gave him a challenging look, and I was almost ready to applaud her, having seen how upset she was talking to the man the night before.
Emmanuel sneered at her. “And this is who you picked? This hulking brute? Don't lie to me; I know that's not your type.”
“How would you know?” Jess asked. “You've never once asked me about anything that I like. It's always been about what you like and about what you want. You pick where we go on our dates, which aren't really dates I guess since we were never actually dating. You pick who I'm allowed to socialize with. You control every aspect of my life. Maybe that's why I'm not more spontaneous, because you don't let me be spontaneous. Did you ever think of that?”
“I don't believe you,” Emmanuel said, shaking his head, his arms folded across his chest. “I don't know who this man is, and I don’t know why you feel the need to protect him, but I don't believe you.”
“It's not any of your business,” Jess said, scowling at him and mimicking his posture. “We're not dating. I can do whatever I want to do with whomever I choose.”
“Darling, if you're in a bad situation, you should let me help you out,” Emmanuel said, his tone disgustingly condescending. I wanted to intervene, maybe to throw a few punches because how dare he treat Jess like that. But I held back, letting her work things out for herself.
“What, you don't believe me? I'm sleeping with Thorn,” Jess declared. To my surprise, she turned towards me, twisting her fists into the front of my shirt and yanking me down into a surprisingly heated kiss.
It was as though all the tension of the previous few days was spilling over into the kiss. Our tongues battled against one another's, and our teeth clashed furiously. There was almost too much pressure where our lips collided with one another's, but neither of us wanted to ease off and give the other person control of the kiss. Jess's hands stayed fisted in my shirt, and I brought my own hands up to cup the back of her head, tilting it at an angle to give me better access as I licked and sucked and thoroughly explored every inch of her warm, wet mouth.
The kiss seemed to last forever, but it was probably only a minute or so before she was pulling away and fixing Emmanuel with a triumphant look. “See?” she asked, and I was pleasantly surprised to hear that she was a little out of breath. “I'm telling you, we're sleeping together. Now if you wouldn't mind, I have better things to do than talk to you right now. I don't even know how you found me.”
“You didn't sound okay on the phone last night,” Emmanuel said, his eyes blazing furiously. “You sounded like you might need help — like you might not even be in a situation where you could ask for help without ... repercussions.” His eyes slid towards me for a moment. “But Jess, do you really mean to tell me that you're totally okay with this? He's not ... beating you or anything like that? Tell me the truth.”
Jess laughed a little. “He's not beating me,” she said. “I wouldn't have kissed him if he was. I wouldn't be in that sort of situation.” She sneered at Emmanuel. “Do you really think I'm that attractive, that a man like him would be that desperate to get into a relationship with me? Do you really think I'm the type of woman who would be kidnapped? I'm mousy and plain, aren't I? You've said it yourself.”
“Well, of course you are,” Emmanuel said matter-of-factly, “but—” Whatever he was about to say, he was interrupted by my punching him in the face.
“I've had enough,” I snapped, scowling down at him where he huddled, a hand pressed against his face. “Don't you dare talk to Jess like that. In fact, don't you dare talk to her again. I'm sorry that you were too spineless to call her your girlfriend when you had the chance, but that door has closed. She's mine now.”
I didn't really know where the anger was coming from, and I definitely didn't know where my words were coming from, but I couldn't deny that it'd been an incredible kiss. It took a lot for a woman to catch me by surprise the way that Jess just had, and I was undeniably aroused by what had just happened.
Jess was staring back and forth between Emmanuel and I, looking momentarily bewildered, as though she could hardly comprehend what had just happened. “Go home, Emmanuel,” she finally managed to choke out. “Just...go home.”
Chapter Ten
Jess
If there had been nervous tension between Thorn and I over the previous few days, it was nothing compared to how things felt after Emmanuel finally picked himself up off the floor and left, disgust and anger in his wake.
I turned towards Thorn, unable to meet his eyes. “Sorry about that,” I said quietly. “I mean, about Emmanuel showing up, and about the...” I couldn't bring myself to say the word 'kiss'. “But I did okay, right? You don't think he's going to go to the police or anything like that?”
“If he does, it'll be to get me brought up on assault charges,” Thorn said, sounding unconcerned. He was avoiding looking at me as well, I realized. I frowned, trying to figure out what he might be thinking. But I didn't rea
lly want to just ask outright about the kiss.
The thing was, that kiss had felt ... right, in some strange way. Nobody had ever kissed me like that before. Then again, I had never kissed anyone like that before either, so I supposed it was only fair. It felt like we connected, though.
But we were going to deliver the packages to Gabi later that evening, and then Thorn and I were going to go our separate ways. There was no way I could spend even another week with someone who was so unconcerned about human life and everything else that was the foundation of my moral code.
I frowned and walked back over the seat I'd been sitting in before Emmanuel had arrived, sitting gingerly on the edge of it. Thorn followed me back across the room and sat just as gingerly on the edge of the bed. “Jess—” he started.
I shook my head. “I don't want to talk about it,” I told him, before I even knew what exactly he was going to say.
“Okay,” he said, his voice impossibly gentle.
I looked up at him in surprise, finding something unreadable on his face. I shook my head again. “Look, let's just get this package delivered this evening and then you never have to see me again, all right?”
“Sure,” Thorn said, still staring.
We were silent for a long moment, and then suddenly there was another knock on the door. Thorn sighed and stood up, seeming resigned to the fact that Emmanuel had returned — maybe with police reinforcements, given the forceful nature of the knock.
I swallowed hard and stood up as well, ready to intervene if it was Emmanuel back again.
Instead, Emmanuel was nowhere to be seen, but there was a police officer standing there at the door. My heart instantly started racing. Thorn was sure that they'd be there to press assault charges against him, but were they going to search the room as well? My eyes slipped over to the three packages which were stacked on the table in the corner. It wouldn't take much for them to find the gun pieces, and I wasn't sure what would happen then. Plus, somewhere was that letter that Thorn had threatened me with, the one that claimed my involvement in this whole scheme. They were sure to find that as well…
“Officer, what can I do for you?” Thorn asked, as though he hadn't just punched Emmanuel out in the hallway. He seemed ready to go along without a fight, though.
The officer stared at him for a moment, hands on her hips. “Thorn Riley?” she asked. Her eyes slid past Thorn, coming to rest on me. “And…?”
“Jessica Harper,” I said, mouth gone dry with nervousness.
“Jessica Harper,” the officer responded. “And just what are you doing here, Jessica Harper?” Her eyes moved back and forth between Thorn and I, and I wondered what Emmanuel had told her.
“I'm sleeping with him,” I blurted out bluntly, pointing to Thorn. I blushed. “I mean, I'm not a prostitute or anything. He's a good guy. He doesn't, like, beat me or whatever else Emmanuel may have told you.”
The officer looked more confused. “Who is Emmanuel?” she asked Thorn.
We all sort of started at one another for a moment before Thorn cocked his head to the side, catching sight of the officer's name badge. “Gabi Gonzalez?” he asked.
Gabi raised an eyebrow at him. “Of course,” she said. “Who else did you think it might have been?”
Thorn exhaled noisily and pulled her into the room, shutting the door behind her.
Chapter Eleven
Jess
Gabi stared at me in disbelief after hearing Thorn's explanation of who I was. “You've dragged an outsider into this?” she hissed, and although the question was directed at Thorn, there was no denying the threat in her voice that was directed solely at me.
“Well, what was I supposed to do, Gabi?” Thorn asked, sounding just as exasperated as he had when he had asked that question to Dorian. “She overheard me on the phone. I couldn't exactly let her walk off after that. Anyway, she's been my cover in some ways. No one gets suspicious about a young couple looking to book a motel room for a night or two, but they do get suspicious when a guy like me shows up on his own on a motorcycle and needs a place to stay.”
Gabi frowned and turned her gaze back to Thorn. “You may have compromised our mission enough as it is,” she snapped. “Who exactly is this Emmanuel guy that you thought might have ratted you out?”
“That was for something else entirely,” Thorn said defensively. “He doesn't know about the packages or anything like that.” When Gabi continued to stare at him, clearly expecting an explanation, Thorn rolled his eyes. “He's Jess's ex-boyfriend, I guess. Sort of. They weren't really dating. Anyway, he showed up here not too long ago and I ended up punching him in the face. I thought he might have sent you here to arrest me for assault or something like that.”
Gabi looked even more dismayed. “And what happens to me if the cops show up here and find me talking to the two of you?” she asked. “How are we going to explain that? I'm in uniform, after all.”
“Why are you dressed as a cop anyway?” I blurted out. “Wouldn't it have seemed less conspicuous if you had just come in your normal clothes?”
“I just got off work,” Gabi snapped. “As Thorn should've known, I'm a prison guard at the prison where Katia is being held. How did you think we were going to get the packages to her anyway?”
“Wait, the packages are going to Katia?” I asked incredulously, staring at Thorn. “She's trying to get out of prison, isn't she? And you're helping her!”
Thorn scowled at Gabi. “See, she didn't know everything about the mission.”
“Just enough to jeopardize it,” Gabi shot back. “What do you think Katia’s going to say when she finds out you’ve dragged this girl into the mess as well?”
I could feel panic rising inside of me again. “Look, I don’t really have anything to do with this. He kidnapped me at gunpoint; I’m the victim here. As a prison guard, I would have expected you to have better morals than to harass an innocent bystander.”
There was a long silence where they both just stared at me. Suddenly, I wondered if Gabi might reconsider her role in this. If I could only make her see how wrong this was… There must be some good inside her if she had decided to become a prison guard. I couldn't see why she had gotten herself tangled up with the Sigma Saints to begin with, unless it all had to do with money…
“What are they paying you?” I suddenly asked her.
“What do you mean?” Gabi asked.
“To work for the Sigma Saints, to help Katia Sin escape,” I said. “What are the Sigma Saints paying you? I know they want their national president back. I assume they've offered you quite a bit of money. But maybe we can make some sort of a deal.” I didn't want to use all my inheritance money paying her off, but I also thought that might be a fair trade off in exchange for my life.
But Gabi sneered at me. “It's not about money,” she said. “The Sigma Saints aren't paying me anything. I'm paying them, and I'm helping to organize this.”
“But why?” I asked. There had to be some sort of reason…
“Katia Sin has my kid sister working as a prostitute for the Sigma Saints,” Gabi said finally. “She's promised that if I get the package to her, she'll let my sister go.” She bit her lip, momentarily looking human. “Jamie deserves something more in life than to be passed around as a prostitute by a bunch of crusty biker dudes.”
“Oh,” I said quietly. I looked towards Thorn, hoping he would help me out a little, but he was still staring impassively at Gabi.
“I want you to deliver the first package to me tomorrow,” Gabi said to Thorn, her tone level. “I'm working near where Katia is being held, and I should be able to get it in to her. The rest of the packages will be delivered to me at work over the course of the week. As for where to make the deliveries, you'll come in during visiting hours. There will be a man there at the desk who will want to check your package to make sure that there's nothing in it that the prisoners can't have. You'll hand over the package; he'll confiscate it. I've already taken pains to ensure that it's R
omeo Barrows on the desk checking packages. I'm sure you've heard his name around the Sigma Saints before; he's been useful to us.”
Thorn grunted a confirmation. “Who am I there to visit?” he asked. “Surely you don't want to link Katia to any of this.”
“Of course not,” Gabi said, giving him a look of disgust as though she couldn't believe he even had to ask. “You'll be there to see your ex-fiancée, Grace Talbot.”
Chapter Twelve
Jess
As soon as the door closed behind Gabi, I rounded on Thorn. “Your ex-fiancée is a criminal too?” I snapped. “Kept in the same high-security prison as Katia Sin?”
Thorn rubbed at his temples and reached for his wallet and keys. “I need a drink,” he said, looking ashen and exhausted.
I reached out and caught his wrist. “You need to go to the authorities!” I cried. “This is getting out of control. You're smuggling weapons into a prison!” And somehow I was mixed up in all of it.
