I hissed and yanked it away to see if she’d drawn blood. It felt like she had.
She squirmed and kicked as I held her securely against my chest with one arm. “Let’s get something straight, little fox. I am not the bad guy here, but you’re more than welcome to think that I am. Frankly, I would rather look like a bad guy and keep you alive than have you die because you were just trying to do something good.”
She opened her mouth and sucked in a breath, preparing to scream, but I was faster. I cupped her cheek, pressed my thumb to her lips, and put my mouth to the finger that separated us, feeling her startled breath tangling in my beard.
To anyone driving by, it looked like we were kissing. Maybe the security cameras had caught a fun game of cat and mouse.
But this wasn’t a game. When daylight broke, we were going to be hunted by people who wouldn’t even blink before pulling the trigger. I needed her to understand the gravity of that. We couldn’t waste our head start.
“I’m going to tell you four things. You can choose whether or not you believe them, but they’re the truth.” I paused as she jerked again and waited until she stilled. “First, when we get back in the truck, I’m going to turn that phone back on and confirm that your brother is safe for now.” Her eyes widened, and I slowly removed my thumb and put a little more space between our mouths, but I never moved my hand away from her cheek.She was so soft. Like cashmere.“Second, I’m not going to hurt you. I promise. Believe that promise or don’t. It doesn’t change the fact that I will not hurt you. Third, we’re going to be on the road for a while, but I promise I’m taking you somewhere safe.”
“Are you taking me to Joel?” she asked with an edge that told me she was likely to bolt again if I didn’t give her the answer she wanted.
But I wasn’t in the business of lip service. “No. It’s safer if you two are separated.”
Amelia swallowed, the corner of her mouth trembling.
“Now,” I said. “Will you walk back to the truck with me? Or do I need to throw you over my shoulder?”
Her nostrils flared, her expression immediately morphing from fear to anger. “I’ll walk.”
I nodded and kept a hand on her back as we started across the parking lot. “You’re going to share your pretzels with me,” I muttered as I kept an eye on her bare feet. I debated going back into the gas station bathroom for her shoes, but her high heels would only be a hindrance if we needed to make a fast break. I also had a feeling she would run again if I left her unattended.
“That was only three things,” Amelia said as I escorted her back into the truck. “Unless the pretzel thing counted. And if it did, I’m not sharing.”
I hopped behind the wheel and begrudgingly handed her the snacks, even though I wanted to be petty and keep them for myself.
Trust. It’s about trust.
I cranked the engine before reaching into the bag for the burner phone. “Fourth is that your life is going to change. But I’m trying to make sure that you’re alive to live the rest of it. I need you to trust me.”
Amelia lifted her chin in defiance. “Then you can’t keep me in the dark. I need to know what’s going on. You can’t call me a teammate and treat me like a hostage. If you treat me like a hostage, I’ll act like one. This trust thing goes both ways, Jude.”
I kept my gaze firm, our eyes locked in a standoff, but inside I was unraveling at the sound of my name on her lips. “Then I guess we’ll just have to work on that.”
14
AMELIA
Friday, May 23 | 3:36 a.m.
Without another word, Jude stepped on the brake. If he thought I was bluffing, he was sorely mistaken.
I wasn’t going to be taken willingly.
The moment he put the truck into drive, I shoved open my door and jumped. Jude swore loudly, his frustration getting the better of him. The sparse gravel on the cracked asphalt bit at my bare feet. My heels were useless when it came to making a getaway, so I hadn’t cared about leaving them in the restroom.
I wasn’t making a getaway. I was making a point.
Maybe a smarter woman would have bolted into the gas station and screamed for the cashier to call the cops, but I had no idea where I was and no way to keep Joel safe if I didn’t know where he was being taken.
Keeping Joel and me apart gave Jude leverage. He knew I would do anything to keep my brother safe. As long as we were apart, I had to comply.
And then there was the other thing to consider: the part of me that truly believed Jude wouldn’t hurt me.
If he was going to hurt me, he would have done it by now. There was something else mixed in with his frustration.
Desperation.
