Feeling his eyes on her, Jessica looked up and met his loaded stare. Electricity flowed through her veins as she recognized his attraction for what it was. She took several steps closer until she was standing between his splayed legs.
"You okay?" She asked quietly. "You look tired."
"I'm exhausted to be honest." He admitted. "But I'll be fine."
She climbed onto the bed, ignoring the thoughts of what disgusting things probably happened on it, and kneeled behind him. She firmly grasped his shoulders and began giving him a massage, working away the tightness.
"It’ll all be okay, Kyle." She told him sympathetically, having picked up on the stress he was burdened with. It was obvious to her despite his attempts at covering it, although she knew he wasn't big on admitting such feelings. To him, it was a sign of weakness.
He had been trying to keep a smile on his face and the jokes flowing to keep her from seeing through his façade. But she wasn’t fooled. He had always tried to shut most people out of what he was feeling. There was a time, though, that she wasn’t one of those people. That alone helped her see the cracks in his demeanor.
"I hope so."
"It will. Things usually have a way of working themselves out for the best."
She was always so positive. It was one of the things he loved most about her. But this time, she was wrong. Things didn't always work out for the best. Bad things happened. Innocent people were killed; dedicated people were fired for trying to do the right thing. And people who loved each other didn't always get to be together. Somehow that seemed to be the worst. Which just proved that he really was losing all his senses.
Not wanting to disagree with her, he shifted out of her warm, soothing hands and twisted his torso around to face her. "I better take a shower so we can get out of here."
Hearing her breath hitch sent a jolt to every nerve ending in his body. Not trusting her voice, she simply nodded. Then her eyes glanced down at his lips for a fraction of a second. Frozen in place, Kyle could do nothing but stare back at her. When her lips parted slightly, he nearly came undone. She unconsciously leaned closer. This time it was his breath that hitched. She gave a knowing smile.
"I thought you said you were going to take a shower." She reminded.
He leaned toward her even further. "I am." He whispered so low that she could barely hear him.
It was in that moment that he couldn't hold back any longer and gently pressed his lips to hers. She was holding her breath in anticipation, knowing what was soon to come. The kiss was the sweetest she had ever received in her life. Halfway through, he placed a hand softly on the back of her head, stroking her damp hair with his thumb and easing her closer to him.
As quickly as it had begun, it was over.
Kyle pulled back, leaving Jessica breathless with her rapid heartbeat and an ache that she suspected was returning love. He gathered his clothes from the shopping bag and headed straight for the bathroom without looking back at her sitting on the bed. If he did, he was afraid he might turn back and pick up where they left off.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Kyle walked out of the bathroom with mussed hair, wearing only jeans with blue boxers slightly peaking over the top. Looking at his bare chest and perfectly chiseled abs did not settle the twist in her gut or the flutter of her heart at her recent acceptance that she still loved the man. One kiss and it all came back, washing over her in an overwhelming wave. As he searched the pockets of his old pants, making sure he left nothing important behind, he pulled out a white envelope and stuffed into his pocket. Then he pulled out something he forgot he had even been carrying.
“I forgot to give you this the other day.” He handed her the thinly braided turquoise and yellow bracelet she had been admiring in the market. He had gone back and bought it after she stormed off the day they ran into each other and planned to mail it to her parent’s house when he got back to the States as an apology.
“You got this for me?” She asked in surprise.
“Yeah. I knew you liked it so…” He trailed off awkwardly and shrugged.
“Thank you.” She smiled up at him, a glint of something he couldn’t quite recognize in her eyes.
"We better go. I think it's been about two hours." Kyle grabbed her glasses from the dresser and handed them to her.
"Thanks." She slid them on and finished lacing her shoes. "Let's go."
They walked down the sidewalk, happy to be in fresh air as they returned the key to the office before getting back in the jeep. As Kyle pulled onto a road and followed the signs that pointed to the airport, they both knew there were no other stops to be made; no other excuses to extend their time together. This was really about to come to an end.
The drive to the airport was painfully short. They arrived in what seemed like the blink of an eye. As the jeep pulled up in a short line directly in front of the entrance, Kyle looked to Jessica. Her eyes were shielded by the glasses but he could read her expression from her tight lips. She wasn't ready to leave any more than he was ready to see her go but she was trying to keep herself composed.
Underneath her glasses Jessica felt her eyes filling with hot tears. She fought hard to stop them from spilling over the brim of her lashes. That would be the beginning of a stream that would be nearly impossible to stop. At the last minute Kyle decided it would be best if he parked in the lot and walked her to her terminal to ensure she safely got on the plane. And, if he were being honest, he was desperate for another few minutes. Driving past the entrance he circled around and found a parking spot.
When she opened her door, she stepped out and took a deep breath of fresh air, calming herself. Unbeknownst to her, he was doing the same thing on the other side of the vehicle. They walked so closely through the parking lot and into the airport that their arms occasionally brushed one another's. There were few people traveling at the moment and they were able to avoid standing in a long line at the ticket counter. He wouldn't have minded a line today but he reminded himself, once again, of the urgency to get her on a plane.
"I need one ticket for the next flight to the United States. It doesn’t matter what city." Kyle requested tightly as they reached the ticket booth in the small airport lobby.
"Very lucky." The clerk claimed in broken English after briefly typing on her computer. "Next flight to LAX in twenty minutes."
She slid a single ticket across the counter which he quickly picked it up, turning to Jessica. Even though they were inside, she had left her glasses on, preventing eye contact and creating an obvious emotional barrier between them.
"We have to hurry." Twenty minutes wasn't long enough to allow the luxury of taking their time.
"What gate do we need to get to?" She leaned closer to examine the ticket in his hand.
"A6."
In front of them was a long hallway, branching off in two directions. She began looking at signs and trying to find the right way to go.
"The A's are that way." She pointed to the left, realizing this at around the same time he had.
They reached security and swiftly breezed through the metal detectors, not having anything on them that would set it off. He had reluctantly left all weapons in the jeep, including a small knife he had carried all this time in his pocket, knowing it would be confiscated and raise a few eyebrows at best.
He held onto her elbow and led her at a brisk pace in the direction of her plane. A6 was one of the first gates on the left side after their turn. Unable to escort her any further, he handed her the ticket. She took it from his hand, purposefully letting her fingers linger on his before finally pulling back. He was looking intently at her face as if he were trying to see beyond the dark tint of her lenses and into her eyes.
"Well....thank you for all your help." She forced out, careful to keep her voice even and controlled. “Take care of yourself.”
He nodded, unsure of the words to tell her that he would do it all again if he could; that spending the past few days with her had been worth it
.
"Goodbye?" She voiced slightly softer, a hint of a question in her tone.
"Goodbye." He repeated to her in confirmation.
She stood still for several moments before she forced a less than genuine smile and nodded her head, turning to walk away. Before she took more than a single step in the opposite direction Kyle reached out to stop her. As soon as she turned, he wrapped both his arms around her firmly, nuzzling his face in her soft hair.
It took her several moments to respond to the unexpected display of affection. When the shock of it wore off, her arms were wrapped tightly around his torso, clutching the back of his shirt and burying her face into the tense muscles of his chest. He could feel her body release the breath she had been holding and gently shudder. His heart twisted in pain at this moment they had to endure. As she drew in a shaky breath to replace the one she released an announcement loudly vibrated through a speaker system close by.
"Now boarding flight 266."
"That's you." Kyle whispered into her hair. On that note, she gave him one last squeeze and broke their embrace. She took off her glasses folded them up in her hand and looked him straight in the eyes.
"Goodbye Kyle." A heartbreaking finality rang in her tone.
"Goodbye Jessie." He responded, emotion leaking into his voice even as he forced it from his expression.
And without another word, she turned and walked away.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Kyle watched as Jessica disappeared down the pathway to the plane. When she was completely gone from his view he slowly headed out of the airport, lost in thought. He cursed himself for his distraction when he slid behind the wheel to the jeep only to hear sudden movement and feel cold steel press against the back of his head. It sent a ghostly shiver down his spine. It wasn't like him to miss something as obvious as someone hiding in his backseat in broad daylight. Especially at a time he should've been on his toes.
He froze in place and anticipated being shot in the head any moment. Feeling Jessica in his arms must have turned his world off its axis. He mused at how a simple hug from her could make a man lose his mind. He always said she would be the death of him and now his cynical prediction was about to come true.
"Where is she?" A cold, rough voice demanded from the backseat.
"Who?" He replied much more calmly than he would have thought possible.
"You know who." Anger was clearly boiling to the surface as he pressed the gun harder against Kyle's head for emphasis.
"I don't know what you're talking about." Kyle continued playing dumb, unwilling to send them straight to Jessica.
"You know exactly what I’m talking about." The man insisted, his voice dropping dangerously low. "And if you don't tell me where to find her, your brains are going to be all over the dash."
"Fuck you." Kyle accepted that it very well may be the last thing he ever said. Silence filled the cabin of the jeep as the man contemplated his next move.
"She has to be in the airport." Another voice spoke up, giving Kyle his first indication that they weren't alone. "Just shoot him and we’ll find her ourselves."
Kyle’s blood rushed with dread. Hearing they planned on shooting him was nothing compared to the sinking feeling he had knowing that they knew where to find Jessica. With him dead she would be on her own, clueless to what was coming and defenseless to stop it. All he could hope was that her plane was long gone before they got inside to search.
Thousands of thoughts flashed through his mind of what they may do to her. Ransom? Trafficking? God only knew what else.
In the middle of his internal panic and the argument that ensued in the backseat over whether to kill him now or ‘take him back’ somewhere, Jessica rounded the corner right in front of the jeep in plain view. The idiots in the back had yet to notice as they continued their disagreement. The smile faded from her face as saw the gun and the two strange men in the backseat. Her eyes grew as wide as saucers.
No. What the hell was she doing there?
With a look of shock and alarm that mirrored how he felt inside, she took a timid step closer his way. He mouthed the word ‘go’ to her with as stern an expression as he could muster and hoped like hell she listened to him for once before she was noticed by someone other than him.
Adrenaline and fear coursed through Jessica as she took in the scene in front of her. All she could think about as she took her seat on the plane was Kyle. Something told her to get off the plane and come after him. At the time she thought that something was the need to get one last kiss. But now it looked a lot like it was some unexplained intuition that was telling her he was in deep shit.
She took another shaky step forward, ignoring his clear order to get away from what was happening. Suddenly the two men who had been loudly arguing in the backseat looked up simultaneously, both of their eyes zeroing in on her menacingly. A cold chill rushed through her body as they said something she couldn't hear. Up until that point, Kyle had been careful not to make any sudden moves but he suddenly disregarded the gun and urgently called out of the open driver window.
"Stop Jessica."
She froze in place about two yards from the jeep, unsure what to do.
‘Run’, he mouthed silently.
Everything seemed to be moving in slow motion. She began shaking her head, unable to run and leave him clearly in grave danger. It seemed as if her legs physically would not carry her away. She knew she was of no help to him in this situation and was likely more of a liability than anything. Still, she just wasn't capable of abandoning him.
Just as she was ready to take another small step a large black van came to a screeching halt behind her as the door flew open down the sliding tracks. Startled, she turned just in time to see a man lunging toward her.
"Jessica, run!" Kyle yelled loudly. He was met with a powerful strike to the side of the head with the handle of the gun that had been pressed threateningly against it.
"No!" She screamed in response to the blow, taking off in a run toward him and away from the man that had leapt from the van.
Taking a deep breath, she readied herself for a piercing scream, hoping someone would hear her and come to their rescue. A rough, dirty hand clamped around her mouth to silence her. She twisted defiantly, only causing him to get a better grip around her waist, ensuring she wasn't getting away from him.
As he violently spun her around she caught a glimpse of the butt of the gun connecting with Kyle’s head a final time. Blood covered his hair and trickled down his forehead. The two men climbed out of the backseat of the jeep, blood covering their hands, and opened the driver's door. One pulled Kyle's limp body from the seat by his arms and began dragging him across the concrete. The other casually walked to the van and climbed into the passenger seat as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened.
After carelessly tossing Kyle into the backseat, the man dragging him got behind the wheel of the van and adjusted the mirror. The man who was holding Jessica shoved her with unnecessary force into the backseat next to Kyle before climbing in behind her.
She tried to calm her erratic breathing. Frantically resting her left hand on Kyle's chest, she was relieved to feel the rise and fall of his breathing. She soothingly stroked his hair, hoping he would soon wake up, and looked around the van at the three men. The driver, who had beaten Kyle into unconsciousness, was fairly scrawny and had a tattoo that covered his entire forearm, although she couldn't make out what the Spanish words meant.
The passenger was bald and had about 100 extra pounds on the driver. Too afraid to look at the man next to her, she had no idea what he looked like. All she could think about was the trouble they were both in, where they could possibly be going and what living Hell awaited them there. She didn't have a clue how they could possibly get out of something like this and tears streamed down her cheeks.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Kyle forced his eyes open to nothing but complete darkness. His first thought was the he must be blind. A trembling
hand stroked his hair in a manner meant to soothe and he immediately sensed it belonged to Jessica. He winced at the pulsating headache that made him feel as if he were hit by a train and reached to his head, feeling sticky blood that was beginning to dry in his hair. The memory of what happened came rushing back through the fog that had encompassed him and he groaned. He stirred, slowly attempting to sit up, and felt her warm lap beneath his head.
The moment she noticed he was awake her nurturing hand froze fleetingly before clutching the collar of his shirt, showing just how intense her fear was. She gently tugged him closer to her, careful not to bump his battered head. He groaned again at the pain that shot through his body as he pushed himself into a sitting position and rubbed his forehead in a futile attempt to alleviate the throbbing headache.
Their dark predicament was all the more obvious when she let down the wall of caution she previously had between them and pulled his arm until his back was tightly pressed against her front. He could feel her shallow breaths as her entire body trembled. He knew her panic was rapidly rising and although she was being quiet so far but if she lost it now it would only escalate the problem. He reached behind him, wincing in pain, until his hand landed on her mid-thigh. Trying not to notice the soft, smooth skin and the completely inconvenient spark he felt in response to the touch. He gave a gentle squeeze, willing her to calm down.
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