Free Jack by Cat Johnson

stood in front of the window and made herself a nice target. He let out a patient sigh. “Okay, darlin’. What’s your idea?”
    “I want to talk to them.”
    “You aren’t going outside.” His voice came out sounding a bit more feral than he expected.
    “I’ll yell from here.”
    He let out another breath of frustration. “All right. Give it a try if you think it will help.” He supposed it couldn’t hurt.
    “Hey, guys!” She raised her voice and yelled from the floor.
    “Nicki, baby. Come on out. Tony misses you,” Paulie the Pudge called back.
    “Yeah, I really miss him too, but I got to tell you something. I wouldn’t feel right if I didn’t.”
    Was Nicki’s New York accent getting stronger just from talking to these two?
    “What’s that, Nicki baby?” Paulie asked. Jack was happy to see they were responding well to her.
    “Remember a few months back, when Tony was screwing around with Johnny Bag-o-Donuts’s wife? Well, when Johnny found out and accused Tony, Tony said it was you she was fooling around with. So Johnny told your wife and that’s why she left you.”
    “Johnny Bag-o-Donuts?” Jack whispered to Nicki.
    She shrugged. “He likes donuts.”
    “What? My bitch wife got the house and half my money in that settlement. You sure about this, Nicki?”
    “Paulie, I was Tony’s hostage for a week. You hear things. Guards forget you’re there and talk. I’m sure.”
    “Son of a bitch. But what am I supposed to do about this? I can’t cross Tony. He’d kill me.”
    “You could both drive away from here and forget you ever found me,” Nicki suggested. “You may not be able to confront him, but you sure don’t want to make him happy by bringing me back, do you?”
    Jack heard Paulie ask Vinny, “What do you think?”
    “I don’ kno’,” Vinny answered predictably.
    “This is worse than a really bad movie,” Matt mumbled from a dark corner.
    Paulie and Vinny seemed to reach some decision and he yelled, “If we forget we saw you, will this here deputy forget he saw us?”
    Jack raised a brow in question at Bobby.
    Bobby shook his head and laughed. “I wouldn’t know how to explain this in a report anyway.” He moved closer to the window. “You drive straight out of here, cross my county line and don’t look back, and I’ll pretend I never saw you.”
    Paulie nodded. “Deal. Stay safe, Nicki baby. Tony’s not going to stop looking for you, you know. You really pissed him off.”
    “Thanks, guys. You stay safe too.”
    There were a few minutes of flying mud and spinning tires during which Jack feared they’d all have to go out and give the two idiots a push. Finally the rent-a-car fishtailed its way back onto the path and down the road.
    Jack slid down the wall and sank gratefully onto the floor next to Nicki. “It’s over, darlin’.”
    “No it’s not, Jack. They’re right. He’ll never stop looking for me. I’ll be on the run for the rest of my life. I’ll have to leave here…” Her voice broke.
    Matt lit the kerosene lamp and the room came into view again.
    “I don’t think he’s going to have time to bother with you, Nicki. I think he’ll be a little busy soon.” He grinned wide.
    Jack slid his weapon back into its holster. That left his hand free to grab Nicki’s. “We took care of him, Nick. Rather, Matt did. Either way, he’s likely going to be locked up for a very long time.”
    “Really?” He could almost see the weight lift from her shoulders.
    He squeezed her hand reassuringly. “Really. Let’s go home.”

Chapter Seven
     
    The sun hadn’t been up for more than an hour, but Jack was already slumped at the kitchen table, both hands wrapped around a now cold cup of coffee.
    “I have to say, this is a pretty pitiful sight.”
    He looked up and saw Trey standing in the kitchen doorway, looking far too chipper for Jack’s taste. “Don’t start with me, Trey.”
    “You’re really going to let her fly back to New York and never see