Someone clearing their throat caused her body to stiffen as she quickly pulled away from Ethan. She looked up and saw a tall, skinny, African-American man with long dreads and snarky smile.
“Did you contact me to be a voyeur, Ethan? I’m flattered.”
Ethan laughed and pushed himself to his feet. He held out a hand to help her up. “Not hardly, Rat Boy. We need transportation to Philly.”
“Does this have anything to do with the G Men swarming all over the train station yesterday?”
“How’d you know about that?” Jessie asked.
Rat Boy cocked his head as he studied her. “I have my own version of the world wide web,” he replied. “So who are you, pretty lady?”
Jessie didn’t know whether to be flattered or not when he checked her out from head to toe and then gave Ethan a nod of approval.
“Ray Boy, this is Jessie and you’re right, the G Men are after her which is why we can’t take public transportation. She needs to get to Philly.”
“The fucking government,” Rat Boy muttered. His eyes narrowed and turned into cold flints of hatred. “They fuck with my friends, they fuck with me. Give me half an hour and I’ll get you a car.”
And with that, Rat Boy turned and hurried away, keeping to the shadows. In seconds, Jessie couldn’t even see him.
“And just who was that?”
“Rat Boy is the eyes of the street,” Ethan told her. “His network is quite impressive. I even pass along information when it seems important. If it wasn’t for him I would’ve never survived those first few months. Rat Boy took me under his wing and showed me the do’s and don’ts of the street, who to stay away from and who to trust.”
“Wow, I never know the street had a whole society,” she said, taking a closer look at Ethan. She hadn’t seen it at first but his eyes were constantly alert, constantly glancing around. His body was primed as if ready to run at a moment’s notice. He wore comfortable jeans, a dark shirt, dark running shoes and a dark hoodie, able to blend into the shadows at a moment’s notice. The past six years had turned him into a part of this environment, the streetwise runaway who had grown into a watchful young man at ease with living in the underground of society. She remembered his words about wanting to go home and it made her even more determined that she’d help him find his family.
Rat Boy proved to be true to his word when a car showed up half an hour later, driven by a young kid that Jessie highly doubted was sixteen. The kid pulled up next to them, winked, and then jumped out of the driver’s side to run away. Ethan grabbed her hand and led her to the car. Sure enough, keys were in the ignition.
He opened the door and pushed her inside before sliding in next to her. He turned on the engine and cranked up the radio, which had a country tune blaring. And then Ethan grinned at her.
“It’s almost like a date,” he said.
“Almost,” she agreed. “Except for the whole people are trying to murder me thing.”
“Eh. Every relationship has a few rough patches.”
Chapter Five
If someone would have told her a year ago that a petty thief would save her life, she would have laughed at them. Instead, here she sat in an old beat up car with her hand engulfed by his as they studied the swarming courthouse steps. Dozens of police, media cameras, thrill seekers, attorneys and court people stood around waiting for the trial to resume. From what the DA had told her the other night at their meeting, hers was the last bit of evidence to be entered.
“Jesus,” Ethan whispered. “It’s a zoo.”
She took a deep breath as her heart began to pound in fear. “They’re never going to let me get inside.”
“We just need to get you past the metal detectors,” Ethan said. “There’re guards all around. They’re supposed to protect you.”
“Maybe I should just run,” she whispered.
Ethan snapped his head around to look at her. “What? No, Jessie. You don’t run. If you run you’ll hate yourself for the rest of your life. Believe me.”
Her breath caught and she looked up at him. “Ethan—”
He leaned over and kissed her, not the gentle kiss from before but one full of passion, desperation, and raw need. He kissed her like there wouldn’t be a tomorrow, like everything rested on what happened right here, right now. He pressed against her, until she was lying back and he was on top, and she could feel his hard cock pressing urgently against her hip.
“Listen to me, Jessie,” he said as he pulled back just enough to look deeply into her eyes. “I’m going to get you in there, you’re going to testify, and then…then you’ll help me go home. Deal?”
“Deal,” she whispered.
He smiled and pulled back. Then he opened the door and helped her out. Ethan adjusted her hood, pulling it low, and took her hand in his. The people on the court house steps made it a soup to navigate through, but Ethan didn’t break his hold on her hand.
He directed her almost effortlessly through the throng of people, ever watchful of her safety.
Ethan kept her to the shadows as best as possible. His theory was that they wouldn’t be expecting her to make a bold, brash run to the front doors. Even with all the police around Ethan didn’t feel it was safe, which was why they were dressed up like teenagers clinging to the outskirts of the circus that was quickly being dubbed “The Trial of Philadelphia.”
“Right through there,” Ethan said, pointing to the security gates erected in front of the massive court doors. “You get through that and they’ll be able to shield you.”
Except those gates looked like a million miles away. She peeked from under her hood and saw lots of men dressed in black throughout the crowd, looking around. And she knew they were looking for her. Fear sluiced through her and she gripped Ethan’s hand tightly. In answer, he tapped his fingers against the back of her hand, letting her know he understood. He continued pushing them through the mob, keeping them out of sight, or at least she thought they were out of sight until the sound of a gunshot rolled through the air and a piece of marble flew by her face.
“Shit!” Ethan cried and jerked her down.
People were screaming, running, and falling. Jessie looked up and saw police and men in black suits swarming all over the place. Some were running toward her and she didn’t know who to trust. Ethan jumped up and pulled her with him and then they were running. He was heading for the metal detector gates where police had their guns drawn.
“That’s the DA!” she cried, noticing a man on the other side.
“Run, Jessie!” Ethan ordered.
It seemed to take forever, but in truth it probably was only a minute as Ethan dodged around marble pillars and shocked people. Ethan suddenly swung her in front of him and another gunshot was heard. She heard Ethan grunt but by then she was at the metal gates and the DA was screaming for the police to protect her. He reached for her and she was through, safe in the DA’s arms.
“Ethan!” Jessie screamed. “Ethan!”
She looked behind and saw him face down on the ground, dark blood pooling on his back. She screamed and tried to fight the DA to get back to Ethan, but he was stronger than her and before she knew it, she’d been dragged through the courthouse doors.
Tears poured down her face. She was safe. She was going to testify and put a monster behind bars. She’d have her life back. But Ethan…she couldn’t breathe.
“Please,” she begged, rounding on the DA. “My friend out there. Please have him taken to the hospital. He saved my life.”
“Okay,” he said and turned to talk to a couple of his people. They nodded and rushed out to help Ethan. “It was my secretary, Jessie. She was paid off to give your location. I’m so sorry!”
Jessie nodded, past weary, only happy to see Ethan being helped.
Chapter Six
The day had been exhausting. Mentally, physically, and now, emotionally. Jessie didn’t know what time it was, but she refused to leave Ethan’s side. Just as the DA promised, he had Ethan hel
ped and now, her petty thief lay sleeping after surgery. They’d had to dig out the bullet, but luckily, it had missed anything vital.
He had saved her. He had to have known she was vulnerable behind him and that’s why he’d pushed her to be in front. Ethan had shielded her so she could go to court and get her life back.
She watched his eyelids flutter and she reached over to grab his hand.
“Ethan?” she asked in a soft voice.
He turned his head toward her and his blue eyes opened. He smiled at her.
“Hi,” he whispered.
“Hi yourself. You’re going to be okay.”
“So are you. Did you testify? Can you have your life back?”
“Yes, I testified. You saved me, Ethan.”
“Don’t get all mushy on me,” he teased.
She leaned over and lightly kissed him. “Too late. You’re stuck with my mushiness.”
“Well, if you insist,” he murmured smiling.
“I have a surprise for you, Ethan.”
“Really? What is it?”
Just then the door opened and a man walked inside. He was almost identical to Ethan, except his hair was iron gray and his face had lines from the years of worry and stress only a parent can accrue when missing a child.
“Dad?” Ethan asked, tears shining in his eyes.
“I’m so sorry, Ethan,” his dad said, his voice choked up.
Jessie smiled. She tried to get up and leave so father and son could bond, but Ethan’s hand tightened on hers.
“Don’t leave me,” he said.
“Okay.”
He smiled. “Dad, this is Jessie. She’s my…she’s my…she’s the girl who stole my heart.”
The End
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Other Books by Beth D. Carter:
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Petty Thief of Hearts Page 3