Page 89 of All Your Lies
I’m still aware of Jenna’s presence and the dead guy in the room, but my focus is solely on making sure Rosie gets through this. It’s odd how this doesn’t faze me, yet the mere thought of someone trailing me in my car turns me into a complete wreck. Each of us carries our own traumas, but they manifest in unique ways. I just hope I’m able to get Rosie through hers so I can focus on what’s happening behind me.
“I think I’m going to be sick,” Rosie says right before she throws up into the bowl between us while I’m still holding her hands.
The distinct sound of shuffling catches my attention, and I glance around. Jenna flips the guy onto his back, then rips his mask off his face.
“Ah, Paul. I have to hand it to you. You got me good this time,” she says as she pats his bloody cheek.
“What the fuck is going on, Jenna?” I ask as I watch her fish her phone out of her bra and take a picture of the dead guy.
Rosie gasps.
Jenna says nothing as she roots around in the guy’s pockets. I grab Rosie a tissue from her nightstand, then walk over to Jenna and grab her arm. “What is going on, and how the hell did you jump on that guy’s back and slit his throat like it was nothing?”
She looks at me with regret in her eyes. “I have to go.”
“What do you mean?”
“It means more are coming, and I have to kill them all.”
“Wait,” Rosie says as she gets up from the bed. “You saved Jess and me that night.”
Jenna looks over at Rosie. “I did.”
I hear footsteps echo from down the hall as Gage and Vic come in with their guns raised. Vic runs over to Rosie and wraps her in his arms as Gage points his gun directly between Jenna’s eyes. “You aren’t going fucking anywhere until you tell us what’s going on.”
Jenna doesn’t bat an eye as Gage’s Glock sits a few feet from her face. Silence falls across the room before she huffs out a deep breath, “I was tasked to eliminate the Mafia families of Chicago.”
I rip my hand off her arm and stumble back as if I’ve been burned while Gage’s jaw ticks and tightens. He moves more into the room, but never takes his finger off the trigger.
“You? You were going to kill me?” I ask as my throat closes, and I feel like I’ve been kicked in the stomach.
Jenna’s eyes soften the slightest bit as she looks at me. “It was supposed to be easy, but then I got something I’ve never had before... family.”
My lips tremble, and I step toward her, but Gage takes a step forward, so he’s between her and I.
“When were you planning on slitting Alexa’s throat? Or mine? Or my sister’s?” Gage asks in a deadly calm tone as the cool metal of his gun rests against her forehead. Again, Jenna doesn’t flinch or appear even remotely worried.
“If I wanted you dead, you’d be dead.” Jenna’s hands move so fast, it barely registers. One minute, the gun is against her forehead, and the next, her index finger holds it up in front of Gage’s face at the trigger guard. “Like I said, more are coming, and I plan to kill them all.” She hands Gage his gun back and then grabs the mountain of a man by the arm and begins to pull him out into the hall.
“How many?” Gage asks.
“A lot. I didn’t execute the job. Now they’re coming for me and all of you,” Jenna says as she huffs out a sigh, then looks atboth Gage and Vic. “This house isn’t safe. You all need to move somewhere else until this is handled.”
“Wait!” I say as I walk around Gage to follow her.
Jenna looks back at me with pain in her eyes. “I don’t have many happy memories, but what I do have while being here, with you girls, are amazing. You are strong, Alexa. Never forget that.”
Tears line my eyes, and my heart catches in my throat as Jenna turns back to the dead guy with a limp and pulls him out of the room and toward the hallway.
“We have to help her,” Rosie says as she argues with Gage.
“No. I don’t trust her,” Gage says.
“Neither do I,” Vic mutters.
“She saved Jess and me that night, Vic. She was the girl in the mask. If it wasn’t for her, we’d be dead.”
“She also saved us now,” I say a little louder so they can hear me as I walk over the threshold.
