24. Dana
My entire body seizes in shock with the blast from the gun. I am simultaneously hyper and paralyzed as time slows down and the aftershock echoes around the room.
I don’t remember Matteo hitting the ground, but there he lies, his vacant eyes staring in my direction, brain matter coating the hair behind his ear.
For a moment, I feel like we’ve all simply frozen in time; nothing moves, and I can’t hear anything no matter how hard I try. My fingers feel painfully cold.
A river of crimson swells under Matteo’s head, stretching outward over the cement. I fixate on the slow spread as his life pours out of him, expanding into the room in a thick puddle. Even though it is nowhere near me, I bend my knees, pulling my feet closer to my body.
“Dana!”
That familiar voice.
The voice I would have given my own life to hear just one more time catches my attention, and I suck in a deep breath. The room spins as oxygen fills my lungs.
“J-Jessa? Is—you’re—am I—” Everything else floods from me in a series of screams and wails as she approaches me.
In my mind, I say everything. I tell her how much I missed her, how much I love her. I tell her how scared I am and how horrible this last year has been without her, but I know my words don’t come out that way.
Jessa’s raised brows tell me she didn’t understand a word of my hysterical babbling, so instead I reach out for her. The tie tightens painfully around my wrists as I fight against it.
“It’s okay, Dana. You’re going to be okay.” She rushes me, reaching for my wrists, and it’s the first time in a long time I’ve believed someone when they said that to me.
I look over Jessa’s shoulder to the woman holding the gun. Her arms are down at her sides, the gun pointing at the floor.
The moment my arms are free from their binds, I tuck my legs under me and lunge forward, embracing Jessa with everything I have. She is both familiar and foreign. Hugging her feels like a dream.
“JESSA!” I sob openly. The weight of a year without her is crushing me.
“I love you, Dana Bear.” Her voice is the same as I remember, and my pathetic blubbering kicks into high gear when she calls me by my nickname. She’s the only person who has ever called me that, and I thought I’d never hear it again.
“I don’t understand—” My thoughts fly out of my head faster than my words will carry them.
If I thought there was even the smallest chance she was alive, I would have never run away. I would have never left her side, even if it meant going down with her.
“I left you.” My body vibrates with grief as guilt hits me.
She holds me in front of her, at arm’s length. “No. Listen to me. You saw me die, and you did what I taught you to do. I’m so proud of you.” Her eyes are filled with tears, and her chin quivers as she speaks.
“Kim? I mean, Dana?” Kaley’s muted voice reminds me of our situation, and we turn our attention to the side before shifting to untie her hands.
Kaley extends her arms toward us, then winces at the pain in her leg. As Jessa leans closer to work on the rope, I stand slowly, rubbing my palms to get the blood circulating. Then I take a step toward Michael.
“Not them.” The woman with the gun speaks for the first time since she shot Matteo, and I stop in my tracks to look at Jessa, who is now standing beside me.
Kaley remains on the floor, but her arms are free.
My confusion must be written all over my face, because she continues, “They stay tied until we are gone. That is our deal.” She looks at Jessa, who nods and turns her attention to Jack, saying, “I’m sorry.”
I had completely forgotten about him. Did he know she was alive all this time? How could he not? The last time I saw her, she was in his custody.
Then my eyes meet Michael’s. He sits in silence, watching me with sorrow.
He knew Jessa was alive.
All of this time, he knew.
It’s written all over his face.
“Jessa. You can’t do this. Untie us.” Logan draws everyone’s attention as he struggles to free himself with his gaze held on Piper.
“Those are my terms.” Piper speaks directly to Logan. “If you continue to try and get free, I’ll sedate you again.”
Logan sneers in return but stops fidgeting. “I will find you, and you’ll regret what you’ve done.”
“I’ve already said you had different information than we did, and yours was wrong.” Speaking firmly, she secures her gun before crossing her arms. Looking over at Matteo’s lifeless body, she takes a deep breath before turning back to Logan. “There’s only one thing in my life I regret, and killing the senator isn’t it.”
“Are they dead—our guys?” Jack’s question resets the room. Logan’s ire fades into despair as we all wait for the answer.
“No. They’re alive. That’s a burner phone.” She points to the floor about twenty feet away from us. “There’s a GPS app on it. Your men have a tracker with them. They’re in another building close by. After we are gone, you can follow that right to them. Your keys and everything we took off your persons are in your vehicles just outside that door.” She nods her head toward the side of the room.
The weight of my brush with death hits me. If these people really wanted me dead, I would be. They’ve thought of everything; they are highly organized and focused.
“We need to go now,” a female voice calls from the shadows, and Piper nods, holding up three fingers.
“What are you going to do with the files?” I sound more scared than I would have liked as I speak to the woman I thought was going to kill me.
She glances at me, reaching her hand behind her back, and my heart rate picks up in worry that she’s going to pull out her gun and shoot me right here.
Instead, she brings her arm around to her front and opens her hand. Sitting in her palm is the drive with Zane’s program on it.
Jessa takes a step toward her and retrieves it. “Thank you. For—” She takes a deep breath.
Something familiar passes between them. I know most of the people we work with, but not all of them by face, and I wonder if Jessa knew who this woman was before she arrived here.
I avert my attention to my surroundings, catching Kaley as she clutches at her pant leg and pushes herself into the wall behind her. She is more hurt than she’s letting on. Closing the few steps between us, I slide up her jeans to expose her leg, and she whimpers in pain.
“We need to get Kaley back to town; her ankle is getting worse.” I point to her foot, which is turning a deep shade of purple as I speak, and Jessa joins me on her other side.
“Time’s up.” The hidden woman speaks again, and I hear footsteps exit the room. She left without waiting for a response. It must be nonnegotiable.
“Let us go. We can help her.” Logan speaks to me, trying to reason with my protective side. He obviously sees me as the one who would crack first, and he’s using my connection to Kaley against me, but the woman stops him.
“Not until we’re gone.” She speaks firmly, joining us near Kaley.
“We still need to get Grey and Eagle. We can’t leave them out here,” Logan says, and Piper stands, looking over her shoulder toward the exit.
“We’ll take her,” she announces. Then she puts her fingers to her lips, and her sharp, shrill whistle catches the attention of someone outside.
“Like hell you will!” Logan bites back.
A man and woman enter in silence and walk over to our group. They work their way between Kaley and us, then defer to Piper for instructions.
“But you can’t—” I try to reason with Piper.
I can’t let Kaley out of my sight.
“We can get her the medical help she needs before you even locate your men and get back to your vehicles. We just need to know where to drop her off, or if you want us to take her to a hospital down the mountain.”
Everything is moving quickly, and I look at Kaley, hoping an answer magically presents itself.
“Jessa. Can we take her in the car, like, right now?” I ask.
“NO! Jessa stays with me.” The panic in Jack’s voice draws Jessa’s attention to him.
Piper dips her head and lifts her fingers to her ear. She stays like that for half a minute before nodding at the two people who entered last.
They leave without a word.
“We don’t have time to argue this. You’ve got backup approaching. They’re about fifteen minutes out.”
Michael draws her attention when he asks, “Who is it?”
“Cops. Our scanners are picking up their radios.” Piper glances from Michael to Kaley. “You’ll have help shortly.”
Piper nods at Jessa as she takes a step back, then turns and heads toward the door.
“I will find you. This changes nothing.” Logan’s hatred for someone who saved all of our lives is disturbing.
His words stop Piper mid-step, and she turns to look at Logan once more, as though she’s seeing him for the first time. Her brows knit together as her expression falters for only a few seconds. Then she composes herself.
Sadness ghosts her features. “We have more in common than you think—Logan.”
The use of his real name shuts him up.
She’s telling him she really knows who he is.
Then she turns to catch up with the rest of her team. Jessa and I stand side by side, watching until she’s out of sight.
“She’s gone, Jessa. Untie me.” Logan is eerily calm.
“I can’t do that. Just let her leave, then I’ll release you.” It isn’t lost on me that Jessa said her instead of them.
“She’s not as virtuous as you think. Let me go.” Logan’s composed exterior cracks, and the arrogant asshole I remember from last year is back.
“Maybe not, but she’s not as evil either.”
“You don’t know her like I do.” He wrestles against his binds again.
“I know enough not to go against our agreement, Logan. I am sorry.”
“It’s all on you, Jessa.” Logan’s anger rattles me.
“That’s enough!” Jack barks, and the two stare each other down for a tense moment before the sound of the helicopter starting up quiets the room. “We’ll figure this out—later.” Jack attempts to pacify Logan, and he goes quiet, hating us with his eyes instead of his words.
A hand slips into mine, squeezing it in comfort, and I turn to Jessa in silence. She offers me the smallest of smiles, and I know we have a lot to catch up on, but now isn’t the time.
I feel numb. Too much has happened to process properly, and I worry that I’ve gone into shock, that I’m imagining all of this and Jessa will disappear if I let her go.
A pitch in the sound of the helicopter changes, and I know they are in the air. Jessa tilts her head in Logan’s direction, silently asking me to untie him.
He watches me quietly as I kneel beside him and unfasten the ropes holding him along the bars. Jessa does the same for Michael.
As soon as Logan is free, he’s on his feet, running across the room toward the GPS. Michael stands, hurrying to me and hauling me into his chest in a tight embrace before he holds me at arm’s length.
“I need to go make sure he doesn’t do anything stupid. We’ll talk.” Then he rushes from the room to run after Logan as Jessa and I turn our attention to freeing Jack.
“He’s really mad,” Jessa mutters as she tugs at his ties.
“He has his reasons.” Jack doesn’t offer anything more, and I know it’s because it isn’t his story to tell.
Once I release the rope that’s holding his arm down, he uses his free hand to help Jessa untie his other arm. The final rope falls away, and Jack stands, rubbing his wrists and flexing his fingers. He steps into Jessa and holds her at arm’s length, running his eyes over her to make sure she’s okay before pulling her into an embrace and whispering something into her ear.
I turn my attention to Matteo’s body, lying alone.
This is the sum of his life. I wonder if his men will come to retrieve his remains. If he had killed me here today, he would have left me without a second thought. No one would have come to collect me.
“You okay?” Jack’s voice catches my attention, and I open my mouth to answer when a sniffle stops me.
I turn my head toward the quiet sob. Jack wasn’t talking to me. Jessa’s face is tight with grief as tears roll over her cheeks and down her neck.
“Yeah. It’s just—” She chokes on her answer. Jack stays still, giving her a moment to process her thoughts. “He’s gone, but what he did to my family didn’t die with him. It’s still here.” Her forefinger taps her temple. “It doesn’t bring my parents or Travis back.”
Jack moves to hug Jessa again.
But I cut him off, pushing my way in. He’s had a year to comfort her and talk about everything that happened. I told her I would be there for her and I wasn’t, and I have a lot of lost time to make up for.