Page 79 of Jael

Her phone rang, and she turned away to answer it.

“I’m sorry,” Becca said. “I can’t do this anymore.”

“Yes, you can.” Jael took several steps away to keep the conversation private. “It’s Martin who’s causing the trouble, not you.”

“Is that my Becca?” Martin said, stomping toward her. “I want to talk to her.”

Jael moved toward her car. “No.” She angled around so he couldn’t reach her phone. “She doesn’t want to talk to you. She wants you to leave.”

“Give him the phone,” Christopher said.

Jael pressed her finger to end the call and locked her phone before Martin snatched it from her hand.

“Unlock it,” he roared in her face.

She stood up to him, preparing herself for the pain. The only way to save Becca was if Martin hit her. Then she could be the one to press charges—if he didn’t kill her first.

“Give me my phone back.” She held out her hand, and he batted it away.

“That’s my property,” she said.

“You can have it back once you unlock it.”

She crossed her arms without saying a word.

“Jael,” Christopher said, “this side of you is very disappointing. I’m going to see to it that your funding is removed if you don’t start cooperating.”

She pressed her lips together.God, if you’re there…but she didn’t know what to ask for and figured he wasn’t listening anyway.

Martin paced the lawn, stalking one way, then the next. He had the phone in his hand, probably waiting for her to call back.

“Don’t call,” Jael said under her breath.

This went on for almost twenty minutes before Martin marched back over to her.

“Unlock the phone now!” he yelled again.

“No.” She kept her voice calm, and that infuriated him. He threw the phone, and it hit her head, bouncing off her temple. She jerked in reflex but ignored the sharp pain that had shaken her vision. “If it’s broken, you’ll pay for it,” she said. When she bent to retrieve it off the ground, he jumped for her.

Chapter 22

Danny walked casually upto the counter at Pan’s Asian Groceries. “Hey,” he said to the clerk, who was now wearing a name tag that read Bo.

Bo glanced at Danny’s empty hands. “Can I help you find something?” His tone suggested that he didn’t want to help.

“I sure hope so.” Danny looked around to confirm they were alone. “I’ve got a problem, and a friend of mine said you might be able to help.”

“A friend, huh? Does this friend have a name?”

“Artus Sisera.”

Bo frowned. “He doesn’t have friends.”

“Perhaps friend was too strong a word. But a man Ididcall friend was Gregory Heber.” Bo jerked back from the counter, but Danny put a hand up to sooth him. “Not like that. I mean, he called me his friend, and he paid me well, but that’s as far as my loyalties ranged. I understand why he had to go.”

“What does that have to do with me?”

“I have a delicate situation I need to deal with. Like with Gregory Heber, I need it to look natural.”

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