Page 15 of Undone
Chapter Six
I stared at the ceiling, the blankets tangled up around my body. Jasper lay next to me, his breathing rhythmic.
“That was different from the last time,” I said after a while. “You weren’t looking outside this time.”
“Outside?” Jasper asked.
“In the truck, I mean,” I clarified. “On the way here. You were looking outside the whole time. Watching our surroundings. This time you were very…” I groped for the right word. “Present.”
“Hmm.”
I laughed. “Jackson’s outside, isn’t he?”
Jasper didn’t respond.
“You wouldn’t let your guard down that much, I don’t think. No, I think I’m right. You have Jackson playing sentry out front.”
“I knew you wouldn’t be able to keep your hands off me,” Jasper said finally, smirking. “Backup was required.”
“I knew it,” I said.
Jasper’s phone beeped. He sat up, grabbed his pants from the floor, and pulled the cell out of the pocket. He was relaxed at first, but reading the message, he tensed. The muscles in his back went taut, and the tone of the room seemed to change completely. “We have to get you out of here.”
“Wait, what?”
“Grab your clothes,” Jasper said, pulling on his pants. “Here.”
He shoved my pants at me. I tried to put them on, only to get them backward. Pulling my feet out, I tried again. “Wait, what’s going on? Jasper? Talk to me!”
“That was Jackson,” Jasper said, handing me my shoes. “He’s got a visual of a male outside, says there’s a gun tucked in his pants.”
“Outside?” I asked. In my frantic state, I forgot to put on my socks; the hell with them. I pulled my shirt over my head. “Here? You mean outside here? There’s someone here, right now?”
Without bothering to respond, Jasper bent down and lifted me from the floor in his burly arms. “Yes, I mean there’s someone here.”
“How did they find us? Wait, where are we going?”
Jasper turned on his heel and carried me to the rear of the cabin, toward the bathroom. What was I supposed to do? Hide under the bed like a scared kitten? Then again, what was the alternative? Krav Maga taught that avoiding confrontation in the first place was best. Plus it wouldn’t be much use against a bullet.
“I don’t know how he found us,” Jasper said. “And I don’t care. I wasn’t expecting him to reveal himself so soon, but that’s what he did.”
Jasper carried me into the bathroom, my feet bouncing off the doorframe. He planted me in the tub.
“Stay here,” he said. “Keep your head down. Porcelain isn’t bulletproof, but it’s better than nothing. Wait until you hear Jackson or I call you.”
“Wait, Jasper!” He hesitated, just for a moment. “I don’t… I can’t…”
I wanted to tell him…not that I loved him. We hadn’t known each other long enough for that.
I wanted to tell him that I wanted him to come out of this alive, but my words stuck in my throat.
“Cari.” His eyes searched mine, and my heart thudded painfully in my chest. “Trust me. If he’s smart, I’ll get smarter. If he’s strong, I’ll get stronger. If he has a gun, I’ll shoot first.”
I climbed partially out of the tub, but Jasper had already turned away from me and started for the door. He slammed it shut and locked it behind him.
The silence seemed endless. I sat in the tub, clutching the edge in a white-knuckle grip, listening to the sound of my own jagged breaths. The bathroom was tiny, but in the pitch blackness, it seemed monstrous.
Get up! Do something!Get down! Stay as quiet as you can!
