Right Back to You

30. Desperate Measures

Kay couldn't believe what had happened. The moment Jimmy had knocked on their door was like hell's bells ringing upon them. A cold shiver had sneaked down her spine and it hadn't left since.

Now he sat on a chair, a bag of ice over the back of his head, murder in his eyes.

"Look, this is not your fault," Tom said. He leaned against the wall, arms crossed over his chest, his voice filled with muted anger and she was glad she couldn't see his eyes.

Angie seemed to be feeling the same way as she curled up in a chair, hugging her knees to her chest. The position unpleasantly reminded Kay if Jessie and the fact that the armchair in the room was empty only made the news more real.

Jessie was gone.

Taken by some men to God knew where.

"Bullshit," Jimmy spat out.

It was so strange to see him angry. Jimmy was cerebral, in control, smart. Calm and kind. He didn't lose his cool. But he had and it was terrifying.

As if to make up for it, Kyle was keeping incredibly still, like he could balance out all the chaotic energy otherwise filling the room.

"Tom's right," he finally said. "It's obvious that you gave them a hell of a hard time if they had to point a gun at you to stop you. Jessie knows you did all you could."

"There are a lot of things that Jessie doesn't know," Jimmy muttered, but his anger seemed to have died down some.

"You didn't get to tell her, did you?" Kyle asked, his voice low.

"No," Jimmy said. "I was getting there, but I didn't and now... Who knows what they've done to her? If they'd only taken me along, too."

"What for? So that you'd give them trouble?" Tom pushed himself off the wall and turned to Kyle. "Do you think this is it?"

Kyle frowned a little, but to Kay's utter terror seemed to know what Tom was talking about.

"You mean the crazy criminal with the wacky name?" Jimmy asked, turning his attention to Tom.

"The what now?" Angie asked.

Kay opened her mouth, but nothing came out. The fear inside her only seemed to grow as she realized her pending conversation with Kyle had hit them all straight in the face.

"What's Tom talking about?" she asked, her voice trembling. Some part of her didn't want to know, but it had become unavoidable.

Instead of answering her, Kyle shook his head. "I don't think so?"

"Why not?" Tom demanded. "Who else could it be?"

"Because..." Kyle hesitated and he seemed to be measuring his words very carefully. Kay wasn't sure if this wariness scared her more or the fact that he had outright ignored her question. "Why would he take her and not you? It's us he's after, not Jessie?"

Jimmy hummed, but he didn't seem convinced. Kyle seemed to realize that because he took in a deep breath.

"Plus, I actually talked to him."

"What?" Tom asked. "When?"

"At the cabin. He came to me and warned me that there will be other people coming after us. More dangerous people. And that if we agreed to work for them, he'd kill us."

Kay's hearing turned fuzzy as all this new information jammed her brain. What the hell was going on? When had her happiness for being reunited with Kyle and going back to the places where she'd been happiest morph into this?