“Storytelling.”
“Yes,” Jude said. “I don’t know how Cole got him out, but he said that he could do the job and get him to safety. I trust he did.”
At this point, that was as much as I could hope for.
Reluctantly, I climbed back in the truck and buckled my seatbelt. Jude dialed with one hand while pulling out of the lot without a moment’s hesitation—probably in case I jumped again.
He pressed the phone to his ear and waited, but it wasn’t long until Jude said, “Is it done?”
“Put it on speaker,” I barked, loud enough for this “Cole” to hear.
Jude glared at me, then pulled the phone away from his ear, tapped a button, and held it between us. “Go ahead,” he grumbled as he pulled back onto the highway, driving west as the midnight sky behind us began to turn a deep navy.
“Target secured. En route to a safe house.”
“A” safe house. Not “our” safe house or “the” safe house.That meant there was more than one.
Jude huffed. “Can you provide proof of life?” He peeled his eyes off the road just long enough to glare at me. “I have a really annoying hostage who’s threatening to make me run.”
“Dude, you hate running.”
“Yeah,” Jude groused.
There was a pause. “He has a broken nose, but he’s alive.”
“What?!” I shrieked. “You broke my brother’s nose, you sick basta?—”
“Is he”—Jude glanced at me, gauging my reaction—“awake?”
“He’s taking a nap.” Cole cleared his throat. “And I’m sorry to your hostage for what I did to her apartment. But the blood from the broken nose helped sell the story.”
I dropped my head into my hands and groaned. “I’m not getting my security deposit back, am I?”
“If we make it out of this, I’ll pay you back your deposit myself,” Jude said.
“I’m holding you to that,” I grumbled.
“Uh, not to butt in on your lovers’ quarrel, but I’ve gotta go. I need to make it back up north and get your boy stashed,” Cole said. “I grabbed your girl’s money in case someone comes looking for it. I’ll keep it in the safe at HQ.”
My throat grew tight as exhaustion, grief, and fear warred for the front seat of my mind. “Please keep him safe,” I whispered, more to myself than to Cole. The money was worthless at this point.
“I’ll do my best, ma’am,” Cole said before hanging up.
It was thema’amthat struck me as odd. “How do you know Cole?” I asked Jude as I preemptively wiped the tears that were welling in my eyes.
“We used to work together,” Jude said with an uncanny calmness as he turned the phone off and tossed it back in the bag.
“In the mob?”
He let out a snort. “In the military.”
Well. That was something. “How long were you in the military?”
“Little while,” Jude said, offering nothing more. Not even what branch he served in. “Not everyone leaves college and can immediately land a job with the mob. The entry-level jobs suck. If you want to get a middle-management position, you’ve gotta come in with some experience.”
I stared at Jude, blinking.
Had he . . . Had he just made a joke?
