Body of Trust - Jeannine Colette Page 0,75
until we slam into a brick wall.
“Shit!” Jesse gripes as I turn around, only to come face-to-face with Salinger.
“Where are you going?” He ambles toward us with fake concern on his face.
Jesse draws his gun making Salinger put his arms up in surrender.
“We need to get out of here. The plan worked, and now, I can get you two to safety.”
My scalp prickles as fear and adrenaline course through my body. “You’re working with them,” I say back.
His dark gaze narrows. “Of course that’s what you think. I’m playing both sides, pretending I’m in on this with them. I was just about to take out Lugazzi when you showed up. The Feds are about to chopper in here.”
I look at Jesse, watching as his brows curve in. Salinger is a man he trusted with his life. For Salinger to have given that kind of oath, too, must make it hard for him to see through the lie he’s telling.
“Don’t believe him, Jesse. He drugged me,” I plea with him.
His eyes are glassy as he tries to make up his mind.
“You heard what he said to Lugazzi. He wanted us dead.”
“It was undercover work. Jesse knows that as well as I do.”
He takes a step toward us, and I back myself against the wall. I don’t have a gun. If I could, I’d shoot the man myself.
“Lower your gun, and let’s walk out of here together.”
Jesse tightens his jaw. I can see the pain of the situation weighing heavily on him.
“Don’t trust him. He’s not good. Not like you!” I cry.
“I know,” Jesse says and fires a bullet at Salinger but not before the unrespectable director raises his own firearm at Jesse.
“No!” I scream and throw myself over the man I love.
The bullet pierces my skin, and I arch back at the burn it leaves.
A series of shots echoes in the small space as I fall to the ground.
Jesse is quickly at my side, dropping to his knees and grabbing my cheeks. “Amelia!”
My shoulder is throbbing, but surprisingly, I don’t feel as bad as I thought I would after being shot. Looking up into his tortured face, I can see he’s okay. Salinger, on the other hand, is lying on the floor, gasping in pain.
“I’m okay, I think.” I slowly stand up, and Jesse quickly assesses my injury.
“You’re one lucky girl, you know that?”
“Sure, I guess you could say that.” I point over at Salinger, who is flinching like a man who’s been electrocuted. “I thought you didn’t want him dead.”
“He’s not. Shot him in the leg. He’ll live if we get out of here in time to call a bus.”
He takes the hand of my uninjured side, and we race out of the tunnel with Jesse kicking Salinger’s gun out of reach.
“We have to go back to that room. It was the only way out that we found. Maybe they’re gone, looking for us,” I suggest.
“Stay close.”
It takes a while, but we manage to make our way back to where we saw Salinger in a standoff with Lugazzi.
“It’s empty,” I whisper.
Jesse lifts his gun. “Never trust an empty room.”
We walk further, passing the grate where we can see into the room and come upon an opening. The closed garage doors line the other side of the vast space. SUVs are parked near them. That’s our way home. Just cross the room, and we can be free.
It all feels too easy.
We look up and around, back and forth. No one is here as we crouch and run through the space. We’re almost at one of the black trucks when a voice comes out on a loudspeaker.
“Not so fast!” Carlo’s voice shouts.
Two thugs appear from the other side of the SUV, forcing Jesse and me to back away. He protectively puts his arm around me, and I flinch at the pain in my shoulder.
If Jesse was right, now that I’m shot, Carlo will never turn me into the police. Being convicted as a criminal is better than death, and I can’t even be afforded that luxury anymore.
“Drop your weapon,” Carlo commands.
Jesse does what he said. “I’m sorry, baby. I tried,” he says, but I won’t hear it.
“Never apologize. We had a short time together, and in those moments, I learned more about myself, about life, and most importantly, about love. I’d never trade that for the world.”
The pain in my shoulder be damned, I hug him, pulling myself into Jesse’s chest and melting into his embrace one last time.
“What the hell is