Love On the Run Pt. 04

The man made decent money, what the hell did he want to inherit an empire filled with nothing but death, evil, and destruction? Damn it, George was the man who'd taught Julian how much damage the cartels could do, how precious life was. They both had no pure moral objection to drugs, but the swath the resulting crime cut through the streets was what they fought.

Overriding all those thoughts was worry for Jessie. A search of the bodies had produced the contract, and basically whomever knocked Jessie up first was the frontrunner for heir to the west coast drug trade. If anyone had touched her...he would make their deaths slow and painful.

"At least we know she's there," Henry aid in the silence as the car screeched around a corner, heading back towards the center of town.

Julian had made sure to grab one of the henchmen before he bled out and confirm George had Jessie and what was planned.

It was a ten minute drive in light traffic, twenty in normal, and nine the way Julian drove, but it seemed to take forever. They screeched to a halt around the corner and nearly slammed into the car in front of them.

Julian was out before he turned the engine off and Henry tumbled after. The neighborhood was typical, quiet, clean, and the only people out were those walking dogs or pushing strollers down towards the park.

It was quiet, and after the noise of the shootout at Henry's it was too quiet for Julian. He drew his gun and they ran towards the house. Not wanting to draw attention Julian motioned Henry to follow him to the door from the yard into the garage. He kicked it in and inside they found a strange chair with shackles on it and cut ropes laying close.

Seeing red, Julian still cut off Henry's bellow of rage. "Stay behind me, don't leave yourself exposed. Gun up."

So far the lawyer had proven to have impressive street smarts and Julian felt he could trust him to do as instructed. He opened the door the kitchen and it was clear. Julian had been inside this home dozens of times and everything looked as it always did. Orderly, neat, if a little Spartan in traditional bachelor style, though George had accrued more furniture since his divorce was finalized.

Suddenly they heard a scream, a masculine cry, and a thud.

"Jessie!" Julian was running, all his training forgotten as he followed the noises to the basement.

He'd never been down here before and there was one large area and a hallways filled with doors. The large room was empty and so he went crashed down until the last room revealed a vignette. Jessie stood there, bruised and shocked over the prone body of a man. A pool of blood was spreading by his head and there was a hammer on the floor next to her feet. Clutched in the man's hands was pepper spray.

"Julian," Jessie called. Then her eyes rolled back and she fell.

Jessie woke up shaking. She was in Julian's arms on the floor and behind him Henry stood. Both men looked concerned and enraged.

"The linebacker will be back soon," she said, sitting up. "Agent Soto is working with him."

"The linebacker?" Henry asked.

"George, my boss. Jessie, this is his house. We have to get you to safety. Henry, take her to the office. I'll call Agent Klein to meet you."

"And what will you do?"

"I'll wait here for George."

"No, Julian!" Jessie gripped his arms. "You don't know what these men want. You're the only one who can keep me safe."

Henry sighed. "Thanks for the vote of confidence."

She glared at him. "They said my uncle is some drug czar-"

"Salazar. We know, Jessie. It's a long story on our end too. Henry, go. Don't take her to a hospital, take her directly to the field office."

Henry picked her up. "Hey! I can walk."

Henry smiled at her. "Let me pretend to be white knight just this once." He gave a solemn look to Julian who nodded back.

She wanted to rail about sexism but the truth was she'd been so terrified and was now so relieved that her body was giving out. "wait, Henry," she said as they reached the door. "Julian, be safe."

The look he gave her was raw, and for a moment she didn't give a damn about the differences in their lives. She loved him, and he had saved her.

"Get out of here," Julian said roughly.

On the drive over she cried, refusing to speak to Henry. Was it true her mother had never told her about her uncle? She had never mentioned her family beyond they had died while she w as young. And if this Salazar was really her uncle, how could he basically order her rape? Advertising that her child would inherit an elicit empire was basically a wide open invitation to such.

She was numb. All Jessie could wonder was what was Julian doing at that moment? Even as Henry led her inside, even as the off-putting Agent Klein took charge of her, all she could think about was Julian. For many moments she had thought she was dead. Despite the threats of rape, Jessie would have fought to the death, the rapists or hers, never submitting. Knowing that, Julian had been the one hope and simultaneously the one regret in her mind.

The interrogation was lengthy. There were six men and women in and out. They made her pick their boss out of a photo book and sent police to the house. She had to recount the story a dozen times. Jessie kept asking, but no one would tell her where Julian was. At one point she learned Soto was dead, so were the henchmen working for George. It grew late into the night and someone brought her coffee and a cigarette, then someone else got a sandwich and a coke, and still no one would tell her anything about Julian.

Only when she was falling asleep did Henry intervene.

"Damn it, Klein, she's told you everything and she's exhausted."

"All right," Klein threw his hands up. "We need to keep her here. She's going straight into the custody of the marshal service, but agent Vasquez has requested we hold off until he gets here."

"Come on, Jessie."

"No, wait." She turned back to Klein. "What is going on with him?"

He smoothed his shaggy dark hair back. "He's tying up loose ends. Look, Jessie, I know there's...something between you. But you're going into witness protection and he works for the DEA. You should prepare to tell him good bye."

"Look, today I was kidnapped, tortured, caged, nearly raped, and probably killed a man in self defense. I don't need any life lessons from you."

Klein sent a pleading look to Henry, and Jessie lost her temper. "Fucking men!" She stormed out and after encountering a terrified peon in the hall found Julian's office. She locked the door, closed the blinds, and curled up on his loveseat. After so many hours, she finally let the tears fall.

"Jessie?"

She woke to darkness, but the voice cut through the fog. "Julian?"

As soon as she said his name they were kissing.

"Casi te perdí hoy," he breathed against her mouth as their lips slid together.

That he said "I nearly lost you today" in Spanish told her just how worried he was.

His desperation ignited hers. She grabbed him and tried to rise and they fell to the floor. Julian braced her weight but when they hit he rolled her to her back. He was already hard, and Jessie needed the affirmation of life that was the joining of their bodies.

They reached for their pants at the same time and it was awkward, but neither laughed. They kissed any bit of flesh available, ears, neck, shoulders, and at last he tugged her pants down. His were open and she had one second to palm his hard length before he slapped her hands away. She wrapped her legs around his waist and then Julian slammed in.

He gave her no quarter, slamming in and sliding out quickly. She clutched at his shoulders as he plundered her mouth. Arching her back Jessie met his thrusts, his jeans rasping her clit. It was a heady race but Jessie luxuriated in the feel oh him so hard between her legs, so strong around her. She pulled his hair loose and bit his lip, urging him on and he growled.

Suddenly the climax gripped them both, and neither could have said which came first but their orgasms fed on one another. They cried out into one another's mouth and rode it out, fingers digging into flesh, arms locked as steel bands.

Eventually they collapsed, but felt one another's heart beat intimately.

"Julian," Jessie murmured when she could talk, brushing his dark from his bright eyes.

He bit her chin gently and licked it, still given to his animal passions.

"I love you."

He froze for a long, silent moment as she felt her pulse fill her mouth. "Say it again," he growled.

"I love you."

He was still hard and pulled out not all the way. "Again!"

"I love yo-oh!" He slammed back in and it began again.

This time was slower, and every time he said "Te amo," she thrilled to it.

When it passed they lay tangled together, sweaty and replete.

"It's over," Julian said at last, rolling aside. He stood and went to his desk, opening a drawer.

"What do you mean?" She sat up and he handed her tissues. "Thank you."

"I waited for George. I've never been so angry." He cleaned himself and sat in his chair. "I wanted to kill him, just beat him to death. But Klein called. He told me you were here and safe. He set up a perimeter, kept out of the way, and talked some sense into me. I did beat him senseless, resisting arrest." His smile was dark and made her shiver as she pulled her pants up and sat on the loveseat. "But he's in custody."

"Oh." She wasn't quite sure how to feel about that.

"It means you can leave tonight. He'll cut a deal for reduced time, but I'll make sure he serves hard time. But with his testimony we don't need you. Through him we can get Diego and Salazar. Henry's testimony will help and even Soto's mother is willing to testify about what she knew. Soto is dead."

"Oh," was all Jessie could say.

"I have to stay and oversee this. But you can go. The marshal service will be here soon. You should go to college, they'll make sure it happens."

It hit her then. "And I'll never see you again."

"Jessie, it has to be like this. Unless you go into hiding you'll never be safe."

"What about if you can put Salazr away?"

"Because of you we'll be able to take down the two biggest drug lords in this part of the world. But when they fall someone will take over, and they'll come looking for you. I can keep you safe, we'll just keep cutting them down until you're safe."

She felt numb, understanding his gesture, but that part of her that would forever be a scared little girl was whining that she would rather have Julian than be safe.

"What if you came with?"

"Jessie, the only way I could would be if we were married."

"Would that be so bad?"

He looked shocked. Jessie swallowed harshly, her throat thick as he stood and crossed to her. Julian knelt at her feet and took her hand in his, but from his expression she knew she was about to be disappointed.

"Jessie, if I stay I can keep you safe. That's my gift to you. I love you, and I want you to be safe. What kind of life would we have if we spent all our time looking over our shoulders?"

She felt tears and turned from him, jerking her hand free. "Klein could do it, they don't need you. You just don't want to come with me."

He cupped her cheek and forced her to meet his gaze. "I just don't trust anyone to keep you safe. The only two things I know how to do are go to war and this. I'm no good for you, Jessie. It was a mistake to sleep with you, to fall in love with you, but I don't regret it."

Her temper frayed. "Well I do."

He opened his mouth to reply but a knock came on the door. "Marshals are here," a strange voice said.

Jessie rose and opened the door. Some nameless agent stood there with two more suits behind him. She glanced back at Julian but said nothing. There was nothing left to say.

Her last final exam was a bear, but Jessie made it. Evanston was a nice town and she enjoyed normally walking along Lake Michigan, but she was eager to get home. Freshman year was behind her and she felt like the oldest freshman at Northwestern, so home had become an escape.

In the end, she had decided not to go with the U.S. Marshals. Instead Henry had helped her the way his father had now eleven years earlier. Sebastian Kellner had been a friend of Henry's when he had gone to Northwestern and though he lived in the Virgin islands now with his wife and son, he had a family home in the city.

It was a strange townhouse, split in half and allegedly a long sordid family history had filled it. She lived there alone in the left half and often felt lonely, but the neighbors had become friends. Henry had seen to it she got into school on probation, and after two semester with a high average just short of perfect A's she was off probation.

She'd signed up for summer school, wanting to barrel through her degree. Chicago was a nice change, but she felt lonely. Henry came to visit and they had settled into easy friendship, but she wanted to pay him back. Student loans paid for her schooling now but she promised Henry that as soon as possible she would pay him back.

Despite being twenty-nine surrounded by people ten years her junior she'd had opportunities to date but found herself comparing every man to Julian. Maybe it had been a short, torrid affair, but after such raw passion there was little interest in casual dating to her.

Pre law was demanding, but at least she had qualified for a scholarship for the summer. Perhaps she would get a part-time job on campus and start accruing money to pay Henry back. After a decade on the run, evading the law and drug lords, staying in one place and working her butt off in school seemed tame.

At least she had three weeks before classes resumed for the summer session. That night she thought she'd make a simple dinner of grilled cheese and fries, how American, and watch every movie on her list on Netflix.

Henry would come up in two days and she'd take him to museums, talk about law, and resist asking about Julian. She knew they had become friends and he'd kept her abreast of the case.

As it turned out it had been Salazar, her own uncle who had sent killers after her. However he had evaded capture and gone into hiding. Diego had been extradited to America and his trial was getting underway. She was under a new name, Cynthia Saunders, and had cut her hair to a pageboy and kept it dyed a coppery, subtle red.

That was her life. School, homework, eating food Henry paid for in the cavernous house. Two and a half more years and she'd be into law school. Oh, joy.

The first six months she'd passed her nights sleeplessly, but no assassins had ever come. No call from the DEA demanding she return to Miami to testify. After those sleepless months Henry felt it safe to visit, though he always drove the many hours up there and took as much care to hide his identity.

After a long ride on two trains and a bus, she reached the lonely home. She had to unlock the gate then the house, and once inside it was lonely. Maybe she'd get a pet, a dog perhaps. She always felt like she roomed with ghosts.

"Cynthia?"

"Henry?"

He stepped out of the kitchen at the back of the house and she appreciated he'd been careful to use her name. "Are you alone?"

"Yeah, just back from my last final. I wasn't expecting you until tomorrow."

"I never travel when I say I will over the phone. Still have to be careful, even though I'm assured we don't."

She set her bag down and rolled her back. "Oh? Is there news?"

"Come on back to the kitchen, I'm finishing up dinner, you can talk while I drain the pasta."

Her footsteps echoed hollowly as she walked back to the kitchen. There was breaded chicken cooling on top of the stove with cheese set to melt on top, and a pot of bubbling marinara next to it simmering. Henry had the strainer in sink and poured out a pot of corkscrew pasta.

"You didn't have to cook."

"I wanted to," he said with a smile.

His hair was longer, long enough to be tied back. "Your hair, it's a good look."

"Thanks. Sit down while I assemble everything."

She sat on a stool at the high counter where a placemat sported a napkin and utensils. "So what's the news?"

"Your uncle is dead."

She blinked, unsure what to say. Finally, after watching him spoon pasta onto the plates she shook off the surprise. "How?"

"He was in Brazil. The DEA was allowed in on the takedown, the Polícia Federal had him under surveillance. He refused to go quietly and he was killed in the crossfire." She watched him add chicken and pour marinara over it all.

There was a bottle of wine next to her and Jessie opened it in shock, pouring two glasses. "So Diego is in jail about to stand trial and he's dead."

Henry nodded and set the plates down at the placemats, pulling off the apron she surmised he'd bought since she owned no such thing. "Yes. And the DEA and national police of Columbia have effectively shut down Salazar's operation." He sat next to her and grabbed his glass of wine, raising it for a toast, waiting for her to do the same. "You're free, Jessie. Finally. I'd advise you to keep this name, but you don't have to live in fear anymore."

She clinked his glass but was too dazed to drink. Julian's name almost slipped from her lips, but she bit it back.

He set his glass down and raised his knife and fork. "What's more, Salazar's assets were raised, but I have connections. Your mother was his sister and when she left the family she left a trust fund set up for her. It's yours, Jessie."

"How much?"

"Enough to pay for school, pay me back if you're so determined, buy a house, pay for a wedding, set up college funds for five kids, and still have enough for a very comfortable life."

Her head swam and she set her glass down, resting her head on the counter next to it. "My god."

"Jessie, did you ever wonder why I suggested you go through me for a new life rather than the Marshals?"

"Ungh," was all she could say.

"Because the Marshals would have truly made you disappear."

"So?" She sat up and smoothed her hair back. "Look, Henry, this is all good news but I'm overwhelmed. I don't feel like eating now."

"Jessie, you won't see me for a while. There's a case I've taken and I'm going to spend a year in Mexico."

"Oh, uh, that's good."

"I leave tomorrow. But I came here to deliver the good news in person." He swallowed another bite and turned, taking her hands in his. "I love you, I'll always love you, but not the way you love Julian."

At his name a wounded animal sound tore from her throat.

"See what I mean? But because I love you I only want you to be happy."

"What are you talking about?"

He smiled, truly handsome, and for a moment she regretted it hadn't worked between them, but life had just forced them apart. The love they'd shared as teenagers had been innocent and perfect, and it was all they had been meant to share.

"Finish this meal with me and I have another surprise for you."

She groaned."I can't take much more."

As they ate he explained how he'd been named executor of the trust, liquidated it, and set a new one up in her current name. Cynthia Saunders had been a real person who'd lived all of twelve days, and the identity was a full one. She would have no problem, but she was locked into the new identity forever.

There were papers to sign and she forced food down, having to admit it was delicious. He explained the case in Mexico was for the daughter of an existing client, real estate work. She was attempting to build a resort on land her father had left but was being blocked by some nefarious locals. She teased Henry he was doing wild west work and they laughed as old friends.

He helped her clean up and declined to stay the night, leaving to fax off her papers. He kissed her cheek and told her to stay up until midnight, leaving with a wink.