Page 41 of Jep

“No. I want to go.”

“Enough!” Jep shouted at the girl to startle her into submission. “Back off so I can let your friend go.” She gave him a hard shove but then tripped back, and Jep slowly released the man. “My friend was only trying to help your friend,” Jep said to him, keeping his distance.

The man sneered. “If I see you around here again, I’ll make sure you can never leave.”

Jep put his arm around Em and led her back to the car. Once she was in her seat, he quickly got in and drove around the corner, where he parked again and tugged gently on her arm.

“Let me see,” he said. She slowly relinquished it but looked away while he assessed the damage. It wasn’t that she was squeamish about a cut, but the whole event had made her body tingle all over, and she was lightheaded.

He unbuttoned her cuff and rolled up the bloody sleeve. “It’s deep.”

“Shouldn’t we keep it covered?” Em said. “I could get blood in the car.”

“I doubt it would be the first time. How’re you feeling? You look pale.”

“I’ll be okay. I’m just shaken up a little.”

“Unfortunately, there’s no way to know what was on that knife. I’ll take it in to be analyzed, but they’ll want to give you some shots at the hospital, and they’ll do tests to be sure.”

“You still have the knife?”

“Of course I do.” He reached for his bag in the back seat and pulled out a T-shirt. “It’s clean,” he said as he wrapped it around her arm. “Keep pressure on it. You’re not feeling dizzy or nauseous?”

“A little.”

“Let me know if you think you’re going to pass out.”

“I’ll be okay.” She bit the inside of her cheek. “Do you think there was something bad on the knife?”

“I’ll make sure they fast track the results.”

He was quiet for a few minutes after he pulled back onto the street, his fingers drumming a quick staccato of nervous energy.

“I’m sorry,” he finally said. “I should have seen it coming. I thought it would be safe. I never should have— It’s my fault.”

“It’s a shame not everyone wants help.”

“I knew it was a possibility. But a guy like that…he was drunk, but I should have known. I thought I had any threat contained. The last thing I wanted to do was put you in danger.”

“It’s okay.”

“No. It’s not.”

“Minus the knife, it was good for me to step outside of my comfort zone. I’ve never done anything like that before.”

“Which part? Talking to the girl? Or getting stabbed.”

“Well…both.”

“Doesn’t matter. I shouldn’t have done it. I made a bad call. I’ll choose another partner.”

“Why? I mean. You would. I shouldn’t have been out there. That’s clear. I’m not trained for that. If you had an agent with you who knew what they were doing, that wouldn’t have happened. The way you disarmed that guy was impressive.”

“Not impressive enough.” His face had settled into a deep, regretful frown.

“But I still don’t get it.”

“What?”

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