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."

the car door, ready to grab

Jefferson, and I quickly added, "He's

taking everyone," the

you'll be carrying my corpse," I retorted, pressing a small knife I'd snagged from the hotel against my neck, prepared

worked. They hesitated, not daring to make

of them stepped away

call Returning

said,

drop the

go."

I drop the knife," I

tension in his eyes, but heeded my silent

into the distance, I dropped the knife on

ét

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

the

let the others

hadn't made it here, or