“Enough talking, Princess,” she begins, and I realize I like that nickname a lot less coming from her mouth. “Hand over the backpack, then you’re gonna be nice and helpful while I tie you up.”
“Sorry, I’m not really into that kinda thing,” I reply cheekily. Likehellam I making this easy for her. If my time here has taught me anything, it’s that I’m done running when things get tough. I stifle a smirk when I catch Jack’s single arched eyebrow at my response to Jerrica.
My chest thuds with giddiness—I did it. I distracted her long enough till Jack got here. I’m sure I’ll process yet another real threat of death later when I cry in the shower and vow never to go that long without washing myself again. But for now, I can revel in this small victory. I may not have had the physical skills to defend myself, but I usedmystrengths. While I’d happily give it my all and wrestle Jerrica to the ground, it’s clear who’d come out the victor in that situation. My noodle arms are more useless than they were four days ago.
Silent as a ninja, Jack maneuvers himself behind Jerrica, wiggling his fingers as if he’s psyching himself up for the forthcoming physical contact. His eyes flick to mine, and he winks before a blur of movement ensues. I hold my breath, but no more than five seconds later, a cloud of dust begins to settle, and Jack has Jerrica disarmed on the ground.
“Get off me!” she yells, writhing while Jack digs a knee into her back and zip ties her hands behind her.
Ignoring her curses, he straightens, wiping the sweat from his brow with his arm. He picks up her gun, unloading it before approaching me, eyes blazing with pride. This look could motivate me to do crazy things.
I return his smile, breathing heavily and grateful to be bullet-free and standing in front of this man. I hope I get to see this look for months to come—maybe even years.
With my hand on my hip, I hinge forward, fighting a wave of nausea. I guess the threat of danger is hitting me sooner than expected. Or maybe it’s the knowledge that even though I was in danger, I didn’t freak out.
“Where’s Chad?” I strain out while Jack crouches, concern etched on his face.
“He’s a little tied up. You okay? Are you hurt?”
“Nope. I’m fine. I might hurl, but I’m good.” I throw him a thumbs up in lieu of the kiss I was plotting on, since I’d rather not test my stomach at the moment. Jack fans my face before carrying Marigold near so I can drink from my hydration pack. I straighten, sipping slowly as he watches me carefully, looking like he’d hunt someone down if I asked him to.
“It’s just the adrenaline. I promise I’m okay. I freaking did it, though! I was prepared to judo chop her if I needed to, but thankfully, you showed up just in time.” I grin, and he flashes me a dazzling smile in return.
“You did so well, Lo. You should be proud of yourself.” He steps closer like he’s going to hug me, then stops and clears his throat instead, to my disappointment.
The thing is, Iamproud of myself. For the first time in a reallylongtime, I’m proud of the decisions I made instead of hiding or second-guessing them. And I kind of wanted to prove to Jack that I’m not a liability and that I won’t be one in a relationship. But as much as I’m willing to fight for something with him, there has to be something to fightfor.And maybe, to Jack, I’m just not worth fighting for right now.
“Thanks.” I nod, rolling my lips in. “So, you tied Chad up?”
“Seems Jerrica had already taken care of that for me.” He tips his head in her direction. She’s rolled herself to a sitting position, sending death glares our way.
“She found him trying to make his way to the rim, then tied him up and left him in a cave…while we were…” His eyes bounce to the side and then the ground before he lowers his voice a fraction. “Distracted.”
“You’re the one who shrieked,” I say, turning to Jerrica, “To separate us. But when you saw Jack without his backpack, you came after me.”
“We really would make a good team, you know.” She hangs her head, sinister eyes peering from under hooded brows and half a smile. “It’s not too late to get those matching uniforms.”
Jack is busy typing on his SAT phone, probably checking on the ETA of the helicopter. I fold my arms as well as I can with one in a sling and turn to scowl at Jerrica, because her selfish motives have officially ruined my last chance at walking out of here.
Jerrica still looks a little too smug for my liking as Jack hauls her to her feet. “You’re looking at jail time, you know that, right? I hope this was all worth it,” he tells her.
“It still might be,” she answers, that unnerving tilt to her lips making the hairs on my neck stand up.
“And what about the murder charges?”
She scoffs. “I tied the man up, I didn’tkillhim.”
My mouth pulls down in a frown, and I’m ready to ask her what she did to Brandon, but I snap my mouth shut when Jack signals with a small head shake from behind her.
Are you freaking kidding me? I never thought I’d pray that the person standing two feet away from me is a murderer, but this seems like arather the devil know than the devil you don’tkind of situation.
Which means this drama still isn’t resolved.Someoneis lying.
DidChadkill Brandon and fake the whole being oblivious thing?
Jack secures his backpack, helping me with my deflated version of Marigold before he gets Jerrica standing.He checks his phone one more time before leading the way and shoving Jerrica out in front of him, keeping some space between us and making it less likely that I’ll scratch her eyes out if she sneers at me one more time.
The canyon has awoken feisty Willow.
