Page 61 of How May I Please You

Saunder stares at me with hatred in his gaze. “Lucky you,” he says menacingly. “I guess I’m a bit out of practice. It’s been a while since I was in the field. I was aiming for your heart.”

Journey’s eyes leave me and find Saunders, and I see the poison in her stare.

“You were trying to kill him?” she asks, her tone dripping with venom.

“You’re damn right,” Saunders doubles down. “And if you move, I’ll do the same to you. Don't even shift an inch.” He lifts himself off the ground while keeping the gun on Journey, before stepping forward and aiming it at my face. “From this distance, I’ve got a feeling it’ll be over for you no matter how bad my aim has gotten. Now turn your ass over and put both hands behind your back.”

With Saunders’ help, I have no choice but to turn over and lay flat on my stomach. With his gun now pressed against the back of my head, all of my resolve leaks out of the open wound in my chest, and I let out a defeated sigh. Saunders has won. I’m completely out of moves and my eyes tear up knowing that Journey is watching as he places the second cuff on my wrist, leaving me completely helpless in front of the love of my life. I lay my face on the cold grass and close my eyes. The game is over.

When he’s done with me, I hear Saunders stand up and turn to address Journey.

“Alright, Monroe,” he begins. “Put your hands back on the—”

Pow.

A gunshot splits the sky, jolting my eyes back open and filling my chest with hysteria. I hear a body hit the ground behind me but I can’t see it. Then, another shot.

Pow.

“What the fuck? Journey!” I scream at the top of my lungs. “Journey! No! Journey talk to me. Baby, please talk to me.”

“I’m fine,” Journey says in a perfectly calm voice before squatting down next to me.

Keys rattle, followed by my handcuffs being removed. Journey helps me to lift myself up and turn around, and that’s when I see Captain Saunders’ lying on his back, his arms outstretched as if he has just been crucified. His eyes are closed, and two wounds in his chest leak profusely. I gawk at the body before looking down and finding a gun in Journey’s hand.

“What the fuck?” I whisper as I see Saunders’ gun lying in the dirt next to his corpse.

“I brought it in my backpack from home,” Journey says. “When you got out of the car, I reached inside my bag and grabbed it before getting out, too. He was so focused on keeping his gun on you that he didn't even notice. I tried to communicate that to you when he was searching you and asked if you had any weapons. I guess I’m not good at speaking with my eyes.”

I stare at her for a moment, unsure of what to do or think. She shot him. Her own captain. She shot him twice and now he’s dead. Journey saved us. She saved me.

I want to laugh. I want to pull her into my arms and cry with her because I love her so fucking much, but I do neither. I just look at her.

“You're unbelievable,” I say, shaking my head in disbelief. “I would love nothing more than to kiss you all over your body, but we have to go. Right now.”

Journey smiles. “Don't worry, you’ll get your chance once we’re out of here. Let’s go.”

My violent Little Devil kisses me on the lips before immediately going into help mode. She helps me off the ground. She helps me take everything from our car and put it into Saunders’. She helps me lift his dead body off the ground and helps me place it in the trunk of the car we’re leaving behind, then she helps me climb up the ditch one last time and get into Saunders’ car. She helps me clean my wound—which she describes as a through and through—with alcohol she finds in Saunders’ trunk, and tells me to apply pressure for the bleeding She puts on my seatbelt for me and closes my door because the pain from the gunshot clearly has no plans of calming down, then she climbs into her captain’s driver’s seat and calmly steps on the gas.

When we drive away, Journey’s old car is left in the darkness by the trees, and all we can do is hope that it’s not discovered until morning. Sirens wail in the background as we depart, so we know we probably won't have much luck when it comes to keeping Saunders’ body a secret, but hopefully we can get enough distance between us and them that it won’t matter.

Driving the speed limit, we find our way to a Walmart parking lot and park in the furthest row from the building, as far away from their cameras as we can get.

“We just have to find one that’s unlocked,” Journey says. “Once I get one open I’ll hotwire it and we’re good to go. Just sit tight.”

I nod, then marvel at the sight of my Little Devil going from car to car checking for one that’s unlocked. On her third attempt, she gets lucky, pulling the door open to an older black Chevy with tinted windows. Perfect. We switch vehicles once again, and we’re back on the road in no time.

“I can't believe we made it,” Journey says, smiling from ear to ear as she heads toward the highway. “We hit Wilmington, dump the car, walk to the train station, and take the train from Wilmington to Penn Station in New York. Once we’re there, I’ll reach out to an old friend I grew up with in Philly who moved to Manhattan who’ll be able to loan us a car. Then we hit the road and never look back. We still have time to catch that train out of Wilmington, right?”

I sigh, finally in a comfortable enough position to relax a little. My wound is still killing me, but I'll live. We’ve had the wildest day of my lifetime, and now that it’s over, it feels so good to just breathe. After everything we’ve been through, we’ve earned it. We’ve left bodies in our wake like we’re professional killers, and I’m not bothered a bit. That’s what you're supposed to do when you love someone the way Journey and I love each other. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it until I take my final breath; our love is worth dying for, living for, and killing for.

I look at the clock on the radio and lay my head back against the headrest.

“Yes, Little One,” I say, smiling as I close my eyes. “We have plenty of time.”

epilogue

“Welcome to Alaska.”

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