No More Waiting, She Chooses Love

Stuck in a deadlock with several cars barricading us, Jefferson and I were going nowhere.

Even if we had the guts to try and run away, safety was still a long shot, and our chances to get away were pretty low. Jefferson was spot on; with Ernest reassigned, nabbing me had become significantly easier.

Without Ernest's skills, Jefferson was at a disadvantage in keeping me safe.

Clearly, I was still Brown's target.

As the group approached our car, I turned to Jefferson, "I'll go with them. Don't do anything rash, just message Ernest."

"No way!" Jefferson's sense of duty had him instantly rejecting the idea.

"Now that Conrad's been taken by Brown and Ernest's out of the picture, if you get caught too, we're all done for. Brown will have us at his mercy," I tried to make Jefferson see reason.

He looked at me, and I smiled, unafraid, "We've already discussed this. If this is Dustin's trap, I'll be fine. So, don't worry about me."

"But what if it's not him!" Jefferson seemed unwilling to accept the possibility of Dustin being the mastermind.

"Even better," I countered, "You could alert him to rescue me. That would be our chance to test him. If he shows up and saves us, then it's clear he's not behind this. But if he doesn't, and Brown only targets others while sparing me, then we'll know Dustin's the one pulling the strings."

forcefully opened the car door,

and I quickly added,

taking everyone,"

a small knife I'd snagged from the hotel against my

worked. They hesitated, not daring to make

them stepped

call Returning he nodded

said,

drop the knife,

go."

I negotiated as I stepped out of the

tension in his eyes, but heeded my silent plea

I

ét

where he was leisurely sipping tea under a patio umbrella, feeding fish, enjoying his

the

Can you let the others go?" I

it here,