Playing Criminal

50 - Missed

*

The anticipation was worse than the fall itself.

Though it felt like I was falling for forever, in reality I knew that the fall was short.

Still, when I hit the ground, the force of the impact hit my right shoulder, making me gasp out in pain. I wouldn’t be surprised if my shoulder had been jerked out of its socket.

“Uggh.” I groaned as I tried to force myself to my feet again. I needed to get up before I was at too much of a disadvantage.

After two attempts at getting up, I gave up and settled for sitting on the cool, damp ground.

I glanced up to the ceiling of the tunnel and watched as the suit hung onto a rung attached to the wall at the mouth of the tunnel. The manhole closed behind him, sealing us in near darkness.

Dim lights were positioned about every three feet along the walls of the tunnel, but they were only able to illuminate a small amount of the actual floor space.

My shoulder and whole right side throbbed with the fall, but it was only after sitting for a couple seconds that I remembered the gun shot graze I’d received. Without warning, the needle-like sharp pain spiked up again. I gritted my teeth as hard as I could, doing my best to remain silent as I slowly touch my left fingertips to the wound. They came away slippery. Bloody.

Footsteps ran towards me, but I didn’t look up. I closed my eyes, pretending I wasn’t here, that the pain wasn’t real.

Aiden was still dead. Who knows what would happen to Todd, to Caden, to Jack now that I’d screwed everything up.

“Hey…”

The suit put a hand on my shoulder and the movement sent me over the edge. One tear leaked out of my eye followed by another and another until I was sobbing.

“Shhhh, it’s okay.” Without even realizing it, I was in his arms and his grasp felt so warm, so comforting, so familiar I didn’t mind crying into his shoulder as he stroked my hair.

Who cares that this was a complete stranger? What did it matter?
What did anything matter any more?

“It’s okay, Al, I promise it’s all going to be okay. Its almost over.”

Wait a second…did he just call me Al?

My tears dried out of surprise and I instantly pushed the guy away.

And then I really looked at him, really looked at him, for the first time.

“Oh my…” I gasped, holding my hand to my lips. “Jack.” I lunged forward, throwing my arms around him and squeezing him tight, a last few tears leaking out of my eyes again. “I had no idea…I was in shock…How did…?”

He chuckled, patting my back.

I loosened my grasp a bit so I could lean back and look up into his heavily lashed gaze. “I was so worried, I never thought I’d see you again.”

“Come on, Clyde couldn’t bail out on Bonnie could he?”

“But how – how did this happen?”

I looked up into his smiling face, but couldn’t help but feel a sense of dread looming over me. This was too good to be real and I was waiting, ready for the catch in all this.

“I came back for you – there was no way in hell I was going to let the Widows take you.”
 Jack put his fingers under my chin so that he could tilt my face to look me straight in the eyes.

My breath caught in my throat at the sight of his softened gaze. Even in the dim lights of the tunnel, his shining green eyes almost sent me into cardiac arrest.