“How long are you going to keep us in Hagerstown,” Jordan asked.
“Until she’s not still trying to kill you.” He said it bluntly.
“Who is she?” Arianna groaned. She knew that Jordan wouldn’t stop asking until he got the answers he wanted. And she really didn’t want to say it out loud.
“Secretary Margo Tremblay.” Argento wasn’t afraid to say it, but Arianna shivered when he did.
“The former Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security?” Jordan’s voice was full of dread, and he became silent. She wondered what was going on in his super-smart brain. But even for Arianna it wasn’t hard to put together. She could have a small army of agents and officers from any number of law enforcement agencies still loyal to her. “So basically we don’t know who we’re fighting,” Jordan said out loud what everyone else was thinking.
“Yes,” Argento answered. They were all silent for the rest of the trip. They all processed the information. Argento finally pulled up in front of a non-descript house set at the end of a cul-de-sac.
Arianna was glad. She was tired of the tension in the car. She wanted to stretch, and think. Not that she didn’t enjoy sitting with her head on Jordan’s shoulder, and his hand in hers. But being surrounded by men was a little unnerving. She’d never been in such a small area with so many of them. And besides that she was freezing. The windows were shot out; and although Argento turned the heat up, she was still cold.
She carried her bag over her shoulder and wheeled her suitcases toward the front porch. It took all three men to carry Jordan’s stuff, and they still needed to do a second trip.
Arianna explored the house alone while the men were occupied. She found a kitchen stocked with non-perishables, three bedrooms each with their own bathroom, and a nice back yard with a privacy fence. She wondered how many people who were in trouble had stayed here before her. She wondered how many of them actually made it out of their situation okay.
She chose her bedroom, and placed her suitcases by the door. Clean sheets lay folded on both of the twin size beds, and she picked the one farthest from the door and began to make it.
She heard a quiet knock, and she turned toward the door expecting to see Jordan. But instead she found Agent Argento lingering there. “Just wanted to make sure you were settling in okay.”
“I’m okay,” she said with a nod. He stayed by the door and watched her with the sheets.
And then he took a few steps toward her and grabbed one edge. “I was a Marine for 8 years,” he said as he tucked the corner in with precision. “Thanks for the back-up at your apartment.” He’d removed his jacket and his sleeves were rolled up to his elbows. His forearms were darker than his face, and sprinkled with dark hairs.
“Aren’t you glad you put the bag with the guns in the car?” She gave him a slight smirk.
“Yes, very.” He sounded serious, and when she glanced up his dark eyes stared back at her. What she saw there made her tense up, and she turned her attention back to the bed. “You might have saved all our lives out there.”
“I did it for Jordan. He doesn’t deserve to be mixed up in all of this.” They worked well as a team, and she smoothed a plain tan blanket into place.
“I don’t want Jordan to get hurt either. But he’s not the only one I’m protecting.” He grabbed her wrist, and she stopped fidgeting with the bed and pursed her lips. “I’m not going to let the Secretary get to you.”
“Do you want me to be a witness against her? Will you make a deal with me to get me to testify?” She twisted her wrist and wrenched it away from him. “I’d never be safe in witness protection.”
“It would be better than trying to go it alone.” He walked around the bed and faced her, but she still refused to look at him again. “You don’t think you can hide from her on your own, do you?” He reached out and put his hand on her shoulder. She heard footsteps outside the door, and spun away from him to see the shock on Jordan’s face. “Think about it. You don’t have to make any decisions right now.”
She nodded, and he made his way toward the door. “Is all of your gear inside? Are you settled in?” Argento sounded thoughtful, but Jordan frowned and shrugged, and looked toward his feet. “If you need anything, let me know. Okay?” And then he glanced back at Arianna. “Both of you.”
“Okay,” Arianna nodded. Argento walked around Jordan, who crossed his arms over his chest. “Are you alright?” She asked as she walked toward him. He nodded, but when she reached out to touch his hand he jerked away.
“I owe you so much more than an apology,” she began. She didn’t want to have the conversation standing in the doorway, but he refused to budge so Arianna walked toward the bed and sat down. “My sister was older than me. Our mom worked, our dad wasn’t in our lives. She took care of me.”
She folded her hands in her lap. “When she went off to college I threw a huge fit. I made everyone miserable, including Jasmine. But she sat me down one day and told me that she needed to go out on her own and find her own identity, to be more than just the one who took care of me and everything else.
“I begged her not to go, but she wouldn’t listen. She left me alone in Canton and headed off to Pennsylvania.” She cleared her throat and fought the tears. She refused to cry again. “I was such a brat. I was so angry I refused to talk to her for a year; even when she came back for summer break before her sophomore year. Four months later a man who should have been in prison raped and murdered her.”
He sat down across from her on the unmade bed, and reached out to take her hand. “You couldn’t have known.”
“I was selfish.” Some of the anger she’d felt came out. She’d been angry at Conner Samples, and the justice system, but mainly she was angry at herself. “I would give anything to be able to talk to her again.”
“You killed him,” Jordan’s voice was gentle, making his words and her actions sound somewhat less heinous.
“I lit a match and set him on fire.” She’d never said it out loud. And at that point she didn’t even care if the FBI had the house bugged. She needed to tell Jordan the truth.
“So every time you were out of town you were…” He started.
“I was hunting and killing sexual predators.” She bit her bottom lip and stared at their hands locked together. If she’d known Jordan when her sister died, maybe she wouldn’t have been so furious. Maybe she would have been sad and mourned like a normal person. “I can’t explain to you why I decided to do what I did.”
“You were young, and angry. You were impressionable. And the Secretary was your way to get your revenge.” She nodded, and finally looked over at him. His eyes were sympathetic; not at all what she expected. “Did revenge make you feel any better?”
“No,” she scoffed. She glanced around the room. A TV was mounted on the wall, a desk sat under it, and a chest of drawers sat by either bed.
“Arianna?” He wondered. The way he said it calmed her. She feared more than anything that he would reject her as soon as he found out what she did. But how he said her name, the name her mother gave her, told her that he still cared.
“Call me Ari,” she blushed. “My sister called me Ari.” She laughed out loud at a memory. “But she would call me Ari-head, like airhead.” The smile slowly faded, replaced by all the sadness she’d felt over the last nine years. “God, I miss her.”
He held her hand for several more minutes, until she stood up and pulled down the blanket. “Are you going to be able to sleep tonight, Ari?”
She rolled her eyes and hung her head. “Probably not,” she said. “But at least there’s a TV.”
“If you need me, I’ll be here,” he grinned, and reached over to kiss her forehead.
“Thanks,” she nodded, “for everything.” He kissed her one last time before he walked out of the room.
She refused to cry herself to sleep, so she didn’t sleep. She watched the television for hours, but it didn’t help. She decided to search out Jordan. She wished she
’d asked him to show her which room he chose. She silently made her way toward the kitchen, got a bottle of water out of the fridge, and took a long drink. The other two bedrooms were upstairs, and she couldn’t really think of a good lie to tell if Wolf or Argento caught her up there.
She finally steeled her nerves and turned toward the stairs, to find Argento leaning against the door frame watching her. “Couldn’t sleep?” He asked. Arianna shook her head. She’d really hoped to be able to sneak up the steps and into Jordan’s bedroom unseen. Argento totally ruined that plan. “Me too. I’ve been on edge since I was assigned this case.”
Arianna had no idea what to say to him. What he called this case was her life. And the last person on Earth she wanted to discuss her life, and her crimes with, was Special Agent Argento. “I think I’ll go back to bed.” She tried not to sound angry, but when he frowned she knew he could hear the emotion in her voice.
“Listen, Arianna, I’m sorry that I stormed in on you while you were confessing to your boyfriend.” The way he said boyfriend made the hair on the back of her neck rise. He thought Jordan was inferior. He was probably one of those jocks who bullied kids like Jordan in school. “There were two men in suits who were staking out your car. I didn’t know what their plans were.” He placed his hand on her shoulder and she flinched.
He took a defensive posture, stepping back and crossing his arms in front of his chest. “I know what you’re thinking,” he sighed. “I know you don’t trust me. You think I’m trying to manipulate you.” She turned to walk away, but he grabbed her wrist. That was the second time he’d done it.
“Are you so touchy feely with everyone?” She snapped at him.
“I’m sorry,” he said intently. “I come from a big family. We use our hands to talk a lot, and we’re always hugging and…” He paused when he realized that didn’t make her feel any more comfortable with him. “You and I are a lot more alike than you realize.”
She scoffed at him. “I doubt that you and I are anything alike.” She ran out of the kitchen and back to her temporary bedroom.
She lay in the bed and thought about Argento. Vince, he’d said. Why did he constantly have to touch her? She shivered as she remembered his eyes when he grabbed her wrist earlier. She’d never seen such intensity, such raw emotion. She felt something when his eyes met hers, and it upset her.
She’d finally met a man she liked, a man that she wanted to be around. He was a gentleman in every sense of the word. His heart was kind and his soul was pure. She never thought she’d meet anyone like him.
Argento wasn’t pure. He was nearly as angry as Arianna herself. Arianna had been around enough angry men to spot one quickly. But Vince Argento wasn’t like the others; he wasn’t a criminal. His job was to put criminals away. And what business did he have being so damn good-looking?
As she thought she heard a knock. She fully expected it to be Argento, but she heard a low, “Arianna, it’s Jordan.” She flew to the door, opened it, and pulled him inside. There she shoved him against the door and laid her head on his chest. The tears came then, racking her body with almost violent sobs. He rubbed her hair gently, standing patiently against the door. The knob dug into his side, but he didn’t mind. He was holding the most beautiful girl he’d ever seen in his life.
Arianna, he had to get used to the name, wasn’t just pretty, she was spectacular. She was the kind of woman that made men stop and stare. Her sky blue eyes jumped out against her tan skin and dark brown hair, which lay in perfect waves around her shoulders. Her lips formed the perfect bow, and framed her straight white teeth. Her cheeks were soft and round, like a teenager, but her neck was long and graceful like a swan.
He could feel her soft full breasts against his chest. When her arms went around his waist and pulled him closer he couldn’t breathe. He was so aroused it hurt, and he hated himself because she was hurting and he couldn’t control his reactions to her.
“I’ve got you stuck against the door, and you’re probably uncomfortable,” she finally said after she cried herself out. She wiped the back of her hand across her eyes, and pulled away from him. Then she took his hand and led him to her bed, and sat down. She looked up at him and he thought things he shouldn’t think. But she patted the bed beside her, and he obediently sat down.
“I heard you talking to Agent Argento,” he said gently. She hated his observations, because he expected her to say more. She always did.
“I grabbed a bottle of water and was psyching myself up to sneak upstairs.” He could still hear the tears in her voice. It hurt his heart more than he could explain. “You didn’t tell me which room was yours.” He seemed surprised.
“I’ll show you tomorrow,” he offered calmly. “Why won’t you listen to him?” His observation skills were eerie. She would never be able to hide anything from him.
“He’s like most men. He wants something from me so he will do whatever he has to do to get it. He needs me to testify against the Secretary. But then what? After that no one could protect us.” She laid her head on his shoulder again, a now familiar comfort in a sea of uncertainty. He was a rock, strong and sure and steady. And she felt relief.
She heard his phone chime, an odd sounding alert that she’d never heard before. He pulled it out of his pocket and frowned. She could see the confusion in his eyes. She thought he knew everything.
“What’s wrong,” she asked, and changed her position to stare over his shoulder.
“We need to alert Argento somehow.” He looked around her room to find her bags still packed and sitting by the door. “Good you didn’t unpack. I didn’t either.” He sounded cryptic; she became nervous very fast.”
“What’s wrong?” She asked, as he moved toward the door.
“Put your shoes on. We have to leave now.”
“Wait,” she whispered. Her senses were tingling, alerting to the caution in his voice. She listened to the sounds of the house but heard nothing. “Can we trust Argento?”
“Yes,” he responded quietly. “But we can’t trust Wolf. I’ll carry your bags out to the car. You go wake up Argento.”
“Make sure you get this one.” She handed him the bag with the money and the guns after she pulled one out and tucked it into the waistband of her sweatpants.
She listened closely before she climbed the stairs. She still didn’t hear anything. She moved quietly, made it to the top of the steps, and looked left and right. To the left was what had to be Jordan’s room, she saw the laptop unfolded on his bed. So she turned toward the right, and found the door open. Both beds were occupied. The TV was on, her favorite show. Both occupants seemed to be asleep, but when she stepped into the room both jumped.
When Argento saw it was her he smiled brightly. She smiled back. She knew how to seduce a man, and she used all her talents at that moment. She placed her index finger to her lips, and then crooked it at Argento. His eyes glittered as he climbed out of the bed quickly. He shoved his feet into the tennis shoes that waited beside the bed. She giggled, for effect. Wolf rolled back over with a heavy sigh.
He hurried toward her, as if the most important thing was to be beside her. She placed her right hand on his shoulder, and put her left hand on his. She drew his hand to her back. She hoped more than anything they were as alike as Vince Argento seemed to think they were.
He paused for only a moment; his dark eyes burning like hot coals before they became as cold as ice. She flipped the light on as Argento pulled the gun and aimed it at Wolf.
At that moment Jordan stormed up the stairs. Arianna glanced over her shoulder, but Argento kept his eyes trained on his partner.
“I don’t know how much time we have,” Jordan exclaimed as he hurried toward his room.
That’s when Wolf turned over with his gun in his hand, and pointed it at Argento. Wolf was surprised to see the other agent already had a gun as well. “Hand me my jacket,” he ordered Arianna, and pointed toward the closet.
She hurried and grabbed the suit that hu
ng in the closet, and his bag that lay at the foot of the bed. She quickly found her gun in the pocket of his jacket, and trained it at Wolf. Jordan ran from his room down the stairs again, apparently carrying his gear to the car.
“It doesn’t matter, they’ll be here soon.” Wolf’s tone was unrepentant.
“We’ve been partners for two years,” Argento scolded the older man.
“You’re a young gun, without ambitions or connections. I need more than that. I’m older; I need people to watch my back.” He became silent when Arianna walked toward him without fear, and presented Argento’s handcuffs. Wolf looked from one young, angry person to the other. They were both as cold as ice and calmly menacing. He also knew that Arianna wouldn’t hesitate to pull the trigger. He offered her his gun, and she placed one cuff around his wrist and the other around the post of the bed.
“He has another gun,” Argento warned her. She hurried toward the other closet and searched around in his jacket. She found it in the inner pocket. She nodded to Argento.
“Go help Jordan,” Arianna insisted to Argento. He didn’t hesitate; he strode out of the room. “Big mistake, putting Jordan in danger,” she whispered to Wolf. There was no mistaking the threat in her voice.
“They won’t hurt Agent Stewart. He’s far too important.” As soon as he said it he regretted it. He shouldn’t have given her any information. He closed his mouth quickly.
“Thanks,” she smirked, and punched him right under his ear. He was defenseless, and he went out cold quickly. He hung limply at an odd angle, his body dangling lifelessly from the handcuff. He would have a horrendous crick in his neck when he woke up.
Jordan was already back up the stairs, and he and Argento grabbed everything and motioned toward Arianna. She carried his bag and his suit, and Jordan carried his laptop bag. They were an odd trio as they made their way toward the SUV. Argento didn’t squeal the tires, he calmly but quickly drove away.
The Executioner: A Love Story Page 6