Page 35 (1/2)

Ironic, I had just agreed to have dinner with theuely surprised he’d mentioned me to his parents Jesse was so different from any man I’d ever dated; he made no secret of his emotions or his intentions

"Me too I’m Corine, by the way"

I extended a hand, only to have her tug ently, as if she thought I unshots with such aploirl she expected But I returned the hug, absorbing the warmth Jesse’s dad put a hand on my shoulder--just that, only that, and it was both awful and enlightening I’d forgotten what family felt like

"If you folks will excuse ements to make" Glencannon strode away

A few seconds later, his parents let ht, now I sat as Mrs Saldana asked, "Can you tell us what happened? The officer who came to the house only said he’d been shot"

To keep Jesse’s story straight, I had to lie Self-loathing spilled through me "A while back, Jesse crossed a powerful cartel boss His partner was dirty, and Jesse found out Now Montoya wants revenge" At her intake of breath, I hastened to add: "But Glencannon is pulling hi to arrest the guy Jesse won’t be hurt further"

Lie after lie after lie But I found I wanted to protect her faith in a world that worked according to certain lahere the guilty were punished and good men didn’t die for no reason Relief etched her features Mr Saldana rubbed her back gently; he looked so much like Jesse, just older and more weathered, that it hurt h If I survive

We waited about an hour before a nurse caive us an update "He’s in stable condition He has so to do, but there’s no permanent harm"

"When can we see him?" Mrs Saldana demanded

"You can look in on him now, if you like, but he won’t be awake for hours yet"

Feeling like an impostor the whole tiainst the pale sheets, his skin glowed tawny, but it didn’t make up for the lack of life in his face Attached to ile for the first time since I’dto my friends in this ht idea If this vendetta caused him casualties, I didn’t care I simply couldn’t risk further har to sit with hiain ith tears

Mur, I fled

As Montoya had known, these attacks closed all the usual doors to me Part of me wanted to summon Kel, but he had other orders I’d never ask him to choose between his mission and me

I hurried out of the hospital and ran toward the Forester I couldn’t use this vehicle er Montoya’s men knehat Jesse drove; they’d knohere he lived too Hethe hospital as well

In the dark between parking lot lights, the shadoar as I wore this pendant, but a bullet could At each sound, each ot to the vehicle The Forester beeped as I turned off the alarine, I half expected the SUV to blow up

Instead, as I took off,the nuh the static, Shannon sounded shaky "Chuch and Eva are going to her " I heard Chuch arguing that she should go and Shannon’s stubborn refusal

Never , or that I shouldn’t be driving this car around She needed me "Where are you?"

"I’ll have theht restaurant near the mall

"I’ll be there in fifteen minutes"

In fact, I cut the trip to ten She was inside nursing a Coke when I arrived Her face lit with relief when she saw me I dropped a few bills on the table and assessed her physical state In the fluorescent light, I could see smears of soot on her pale skin She’d washed her face, but the backs of her hands showed signs of the fire

"How bad is it?" I asked, sitting down beside her instead of across the booth

"Bad They took out most of the front room and couple of Chuch’s cars"

"The Opal and the Iuessed

She nodded "He’s really pissed" Thatto do once he gets Eva settled"

Shit, that sounded like Chuch He’d once made it clear ould happen if anyone went after his fa his wife and unborn child God knew I didn’t want to wind up on the wrong side of hiht bite offand she returned it fiercely For just a moment I closed my eyes and whispered in my head: Please let me keep her safe