Chapter 7 #2
“I don’t know.” Ginny’s tone was sweet, almost teasing, but edged with intuition. “For years it was bickering, like cats and dogs. Now, tonight, I saw something else. Something friendlier.”
He swallowed hard. He couldn’t tell her.
Couldn’t tell her they had been running from men with knives, couldn’t tell her that his pulse had nearly stopped when he thought Jayda might be dead.
Couldn’t tell her the truth—that he didn’t know where the line between him and his old foster sister had been moved or maybe even erased.
“Don’t read too much into it,” he managed. “Jayda and I…we’ve both grown up. That’s all.”
Ginny gave him a knowing smile, but she didn’t press.
She never did when he wasn’t ready. Instead, she patted his arm and said, “It does a mother’s heart well to see her children getting along.
” Then she hurried forward to catch up with the twins, who were already darting up the marble steps of Union Station.
Michael exhaled with relief while keeping a lookout for any unwanted passengers.
The train was warm with no sign of the men.
Michael kept close behind his family as they found their seats.
The twins immediately began whispering about Santa finding them even on a train.
Ginny spread a blanket across their laps. Ed disappeared in search of coffee.
But Jayda wasn’t with them.
Michael scanned the next car, his pulse already climbing. He spotted her at last—sitting in the dining car with Simon.
They leaned close across the table, their heads nearly touching. Jayda’s hands were folded in front of her, her expression guarded, but her attention fixed on Simon. And Simon looked every bit the confident, smooth-talking man Michael had always distrusted.
Michael crossed over to the next train before he could stop himself. His boots thudded against the floor, his breath tight in his chest.
As soon as he reached them, Jayda and Simon fell quiet.
Simon leaned back in his seat, his mouth tugging in something that wasn’t quite a smile. “Relax, Mike. Jayda’s filled me in on what went down.”
Michael’s gut clenched. He darted a glance around the car. He turned back to Simon, his voice low and dangerous. “This doesn’t leave this table.”
Simon shrugged as though it didn’t matter. He stood, straightening his coat. Then he reached out his hand toward Jayda. “Don’t worry. I’ll keep watch over her.”
Jayda winced, standing firm. “I don’t want help from either of you. It’s too dangerous. I’m the one who tasered the guy, remember? I handled it. And I’ll keep handling it.”
Michael opened his mouth to tell her to forget it, not happening, but she raised her hand to stop him.
Jayda’s voice dropped. “I’m getting off this train. I’m not dragging your family into this. I could never forgive myself if something happened to any of you…to the twins. They deserve a safe home, a family…something I didn’t have until—”
She cut herself short.
Michael’s stomach lurched. She should have said Until Ginny and Ed took me in. She should have felt safe and welcome in their home. His parents had made her family. But him? He had made her feel like an intruder.
The guilt hit him like a fist.
Jayda straightened abruptly, as though shutting the thought down before she spoke the truth. “I’ll leave without saying goodbye. Don’t tell Ginny and Ed until after the train leaves Chicago. Please.”
Simon frowned. “Where will you go?”
She frowned. “I don’t know. I’ll figure it out. I’ll survive. Hide out for a while.”
Michael’s throat closed.
Her graduation, her plans—everything she’d worked toward—suspended in an instant. She was throwing it away to protect his family.
Simon reached into his coat and pulled out the wad of cash he’d flashed a few days before. He pressed it into her hand. “Take this.”
Jayda blinked, startled. “Simon—”
“Don’t argue,” he said firmly.
Michael stood stunned. He’d spent so long distrusting Simon, writing him off as arrogant and reckless. But this? This was generosity and selfless. Something Michael hadn’t expected. Perhaps Simon wasn’t the one he should have worried about taking advantage of Jayda. Maybe it was himself.
And now, she was walking off this train…and out of his life, possibly never to see her again.
He deserved nothing less.
Panic arose in his chest at the sight of her heading to the end of the car and out the sliding door. She slipped out and stepped off the car.
Michael’s body moved before his brain could. He followed, heart hammering as she walked down the platform. Through the window, he caught a last glimpse of her coat vanishing down the walk.
And then she was gone.
He reached the end of the car just as the sound of the conductor’s whistle pierced the air. The train shuddered and then lurched forward.
“Jayda!”
Michael’s voice tore from his throat. He sprinted, shoving past passengers, racing to the exit and outside. The platform was already sliding by in a blur.
He leapt, not even thinking twice.
For one sickening second, he was flying. Then, his hands slammed against the edge of the platform, his body dangling. His boots scraped the ground. He hauled himself up with a grunt, chest heaving, eyes scanning desperately.
“Jayda! Wait!”
His voice echoed through the station, swallowed by the sound of the moving train. He pushed forward, running into the night.
“Jayda!” he called again as the train swept past them, leaving them behind.
She had stopped under a lamplight, her figure a dark silhouette against the golden glow. For a moment she looked like something out of a dream, her coat billowing in the winter wind.
Michael ran to her, closing the distance. His hands found her forearms, gripping her. “I won’t let you do this alone. Do you hear me? I would never forgive myself. Just like you’d never forgive yourself for staying. Well, I can’t stand by and do nothing either.”
Her eyes glistened in the light. “Why, Michael? Why are you doing this?”
He hesitated. The answer burned in his throat, terrifying and raw.
At last, he shook his head. “Because I was wrong. I was wrong to treat you so horribly when you needed me most. You came to our house as a kid—you needed a friend. And I failed you.” His grip tightened.
“This is my chance to fix that. To make it up to you. I’m not letting another day go by with me standing on the sidelines while you fight alone. ”
For a moment, she just stared at him. Then, her arms wrapped around him, sudden and fierce. She buried her face against his chest, and the dam inside him broke.
He wrapped her tightly, pressing his chin to her hair. “You’re not doing this alone,” he whispered. “I won’t leave your side.”
She pulled back slowly, her eyes searching his.
He saw the war inside her, the battle between trust and fear. The part of her that longed to believe him and the part that still bore the scars of his rejection.
It hurt. God, it hurt.
Without another thought, he lowered his head, brushing his lips against hers. Gently at first. Just to let her know he was sorry. Just to promise he would never treat her the same.
But then she kissed him back, giving him her trust, and something inside him became clear. Jayda had always been important to him. Always. And now he couldn’t hide it any longer.
He deepened the kiss, one hand sliding to her back, pulling her closer, anchoring himself to the only thing in this moment that felt real and safe.
Until the crack of a gunshot split the night.