“Maybe,” she said, “doesn’t mean I’ll stop worrying.”
“Doesn’t matter if you will worry or not,” he said. “Just make sure you keep it all in check, so that you don’t panic.”
“I wasn’t planning on panicking,” she said. “It’s just so frustrating. If we were back in the US or if Jessie hadn’t done this, everything would be that much easier.”
“True, it would be easier, but that doesn’t mean that it would be over. What we don’t want is to leave any threats hanging that could come to haunt America.”
“But why? Why would Jessie and that man care?”
“We’re still responsible for taking down that human trafficking ring,” he said, “so we don’t know exactly whether this thumb drive theft is connected or not.”
“I can’t see that Jessie would want anything to do with the women slavery option,” she murmured.
“But you don’t really know that, do you?”
“No, and I think Jessie’s probably going through her own issues right now,” she said, “because, when you think about it, all of this likely happened before she found out she was pregnant.”
“Maybe, I don’t really care,” Jerricho said. He walked over, shouldering a big duffel bag that she had already seen him pack with weapons. Weapons that she didn’t know where they came from, but were here anyway. “We will be back soon.”
She watched, as they headed out.
He stopped at the doorway, looked back at her, and said, “Your dinner’s here.”
She bounced to her feet in shock. “So fast?”
He nodded, and he spoke with somebody outside, and he pulled in the trolley. He looked at her and said, “As soon as I leave, you lock this door.” He stared at her and waited for her nod. When it didn’t come fast enough, he growled, “Do you hear me?”
“I hear you. I hear you,” she said, walking over. Then the door shut, and she bolted it and turned her attention to the tray. She wasn’t very hungry. She had just been looking for something to compensate for the fact that she was being left behind. She didn’t want to be left behind, and she didn’t feel any safer behind a locked door. But, at the same time, she could hardly complain, when they were heading out to do part of a job. She was part of a job as well, but her part had been completed at this point.
It still felt off though. She pulled out her phone and, unable to help herself, sent him a text message. Take care of yourself.
She got a response back almost immediately. I will. Remember. This is what I do.
She smiled at that, because, of course, it is what he did. It’s what he’d done for years and years and years, and she’d been the one who had been out of the loop for a long time. But it was amazing just how good it felt to have him back in her life again. She smiled and sent him another message. Okay, I’ll try to trust.
Do that. And, when I come back, we’ll talk about tomorrow.
She sent him a question mark.
But he sent her a heart emoji back. She stared at that heart with a silly smile on her face for the longest time. It was really, really stupid of her. But she couldn’t help but think that maybe, just maybe, something was here. And, of course, something was here. Something had always been here. But she hadn’t thought that it would be coming her direction because she’d already blown the one chance she’d had with him.
He would probably tell her that she was being completely foolish and to stop chastising herself for being human. She laughed at that and walked over and pulled the trolley closer to the small table, where she lifted the lids off the plates. There was enough food for three people; maybe he’d sent the wrong message. But she was more than happy to dig in and to serve herself a nice plateful. By the time she sat down before her dinner, she felt a whole lot better. She tasted the dinner and smiled.
“At least money’s involved,” she said, “because you can’t get this service without it.” And, with a happy smile, she dug in. After she was done and had everything back on the trolley, she found a coffee service underneath. She bent down and picked it up and placed it on the table. The carafe was full, and she poured herself a cup. Even cream and sugar, if she wanted it, but she wanted plain black coffee right now, to get her through until they got back. She didn’t know if he expected her to wait for him or not, but no way she would sleep if he were in danger. He put himself in the line of fire time and time again to save her. No way she would let him get hurt now unnecessarily.
As she thought about that, she sent Killian a message. Make sure Jerricho gets home.
Killian sent back an answer immediately. I will.
She smiled at that and could just imagine the two men talking about it. Her phone buzzed again. This time it was Jerricho, and she could almost hear the exasperation in his voice as he responded. Stop. Worrying.
She laughed out loud and picked up the remote and turned on the TV. If nothing else she could possibly drown her worries in the news. It was depressing news, but, hey, it was something. As it was, she flicked through several channels, found a movie, and tried really hard to forget what the men were doing. When there was no contact after two hours, she got up and started to pace. Surely they had some answers now. Surely somebody would know something. She paced, paced, and then paced some more. Finally she couldn’t stand it, and, three hours after they’d left, she sent him a quick message. Are you done?
The response came back. Yes.
She sighed with relief. And you couldn’t have told me? she typed, snapping at him.
Coming back soon. See you at the hotel in about fifteen.
“Jesus,” she said. She curled up on the couch and just rocked from side to side, as she waited for them to show up. A text said, We’re here, and she heard a hand on the doorknob. She bounced to the door, a big smile on her face, as she flung it open. And she stopped because it wasn’t Jerricho or Killian. It was a stranger. Or maybe not a stranger. But she didn’t get a chance to say anything, as something was slammed over her mouth, and an arm wrapped around her neck, and that was the last thought she had before darkness took over.
Jerricho walked up the stairs instead of the elevator; he was still too keyed up. As an operation went, it had been a complete failure. No, maybe not complete in the sense that they’d breached the warehouse. It was the right place, but the targets were missing. And Jerricho and Killian had spent extra time searching to make sure. And ever since they’ve been on the way home, worry nagged at Jerricho. By the time he opened the top stairwell, Killian stood there, waiting for him. “Problems?”
“Nope, haven’t got there yet,” he said. “Ended up with a group on the elevator who stopped at every floor.”
“Right. Don’t you hate that?” They walked toward the hotel room, still talking. He stopped, when he got to the door. “I suppose she’s still awake.”
“Are you kidding? After she hassled me to make sure that you came back okay?”
He grinned, unlocked the door with his key, and pushed it open. “Unless she finally fell asleep,” he whispered. He looked at the living room but found no sign of her. He walked through to the bathroom and then realized she must have gone to bed to sleep. At some point, everybody crashed. As he walked through the bedroom, he found the bed empty. He raced back to the front. “No sign of her,” he snapped in a terse voice.