Page 70 of Body of Trust

Salinger and I are under a dark overpass in the middle of, as far as I’m concerned, nowhere. I’m sitting in the back seat with my feet hanging out, and he’s standing above me.

“What’s happening?” My voice is laced with desperation. “Is my family okay? Where’s Jesse? Where is he? He said he’d be with me the whole time.”

He takes a handkerchief out of his pocket. “You had one job to do.”

“I did it. Down to a T. I’m sorry it didn’t work, but that should be enough for a conviction. I have the gloves. Can’t you use those?”

His eyes bead as he grimaces with a snarl. “Jesse was right. You ask a lot of fucking questions.”

Before I know it, his large body is over me, covering my face with the cloth. I try to fight him, thrashing, kicking, and head-butting, but his body is on me in a way Jesse never taught me to fight against. His hand pushes the handkerchief harder against my face.

I feel light-headed.

And my mouth tastes sweet.

And …

It.

All.

Goes.

Black.

Chapter Eighteen

Jesse

At least once a day, I think of going home.

Dad’s jokes, Mom’s cooking, and my sister Melanie’s laughs are the three things I miss the most.

I remember the day I told Mom I wanted to be a police officer. She was thrilled. A son who would be out to protect and serve his community was the be-all and end-all.

For a kid who had gotten into his fair share of trouble as a teen, this was great news. When she learned it was to join the FBI as an undercover agent, she panicked.

For my safety.

For my life.

Because she’d never see me again.

I love my mama, but when a man sets out to fulfill his destiny, there’s no stopping him.

When I left Kentucky for the academy, I had a grand idea of the man I would become. The mistakes I’d made would be left in the past. Moving forward, I was going to be a man living a life of intrigue and adventure. I’d get the bad guys and never have a dull day at work.

I haven’t.

In seven years, I’ve worked as a pimp, a bouncer, a crackhead, a car thief, and an arms dealer. Some jobs are short, and others, you bury yourself in the world so deep that you don’t know if you can get out. That’s what I did.

It’s fun, pretending to be someone else. It’s more fun to watch the bad guys go to jail. While I’ve had a wild ride in the life of an undercover agent, I’ve never felt more alive than I have in one week with Amelia.

I remember the first time I saw her. She walked in after work, wearing a green dress that fell to the middle of her thighs. I couldn’t not notice her legs. The woman has a killer body, and she doesn’t even know it. She sat at the bar and kept her eyes down. I slid a napkin across the bar.

“What can I get you?” I asked her.

“Um, just a house wine, I guess.” Her voice was timid. It was like she didn’t want to bother me by making me go out of my way to do the job I was being paid for.