A Jar of Hearts (19 page)

“I’ll go check up on Ashley,” Anne said with a little snivel. “She’ll be fine, Julia. I promise you.”

“Thanks,” Julia mumbled.

“Julia,” Mark said when Anne had disappeared up the stairs.

“Please, stop,” she said with a slight tremble. “Please, don’t say anything.”

“Any word from James?” Anne asked again the next day.

“He is fine, Anne,” Mark replied. “The base has assured me he is home. He probably is just taking time out for himself.”

He didn’t reveal though that her concerns were finally rubbing onto him. While James didn’t need to report to him regularly, he was aware of the meeting James had had with Juan two nights ago. Could something have happened? Had Juan threatened him in some way?

“Anne, I’m going to the market. I’ll pick Ashley up from school on my way back home, so I won’t be here until at least four o’clock,” Julia said. She was addressing Anne but staring directly at Mark as if to let him know she was actually informing him.

He stood up to face her, reading her clearly. “Call me when you get to the market.”

“Would you prefer it if I let you know of my whereabouts every thirty minutes?” she asked sarcastically.

“I wouldn’t mind that either.”

“This is absurd! You’re only being stifling protective - more than is necessary. You can’t expect me to believe that the Pachecos are hanging about at every turn waiting to kidnap me!”

“Well, you had better believe it!” he minced angrily between his teeth. “Two women went missing last month after attending a festival. Only after a painful effort of searches did their families discover that they were hijacked midway on their way back home, kidnapped and sold as sex slaves to a gang.”

“They must have been young and single,” she muttered, taken aback by his story.

“As to you being a mother with a child?” he scoffed. “What difference does that make to them? Oh, I see, you think you won’t make the criteria of a sex slave. You don’t give yourself enough credit, Miss Medina.”

“You’re just being a bastard again,” she said angrily.

He moved threateningly closer to her. “And why are you being such a bitch?”

“Okay, stop it!” Anne shouted. “I’m tired of the continual flare-ups between you two. For godsakes…” She shook her head incredulously. “Mark, if you feel the need to ensure that I am escorted everywhere I go, then please take me up to James’ house. I’m worried about him and sitting here waiting for him to call me is not doing me any good at all.”

“But Anne,” Mark began.

“You can leave me there with him since it is where he is, according to your reports. Hopefully, the people at your job are efficient at what they do and he is where they say he is. That will also leave you free to play the bodyguard to Julia all day. Really, you two need to stop it.”

“Anne, I don’t need a bodyguard,” Julia protested.

“Probably, you don’t,” Anne replied sharply. “But this is the arrangement we have agreed to for the moment so you can use this time to at least get to know each other and get past the bickering.” She clasped Julia’s hand. “Please, for me.”

“James?” Anne knocked on his back door.

“James,” Mark hammered loudly.

James stumbled down the stairs, tugging down his shirt. “I’m coming.”

He unlocked the door and let them through.

“Are you okay?” Anne reached out for him. “I haven’t seen you in three days.”

“I’m fine. I’m just tired.” He looked at Mark, his face ridden with worried lines.

Mark narrowed his eyes, reading his hint. “Anne, I think James is in a dire need of some coffee and a hot meal.”

“James?” She clasped his hand worriedly. “Is everything alright?  Have you not been well?”

He put his arms around her, gazing lovingly into her face. She always managed to push his troubles away somehow. “I was until Mark reminded me that I am so utterly famished.”

“Is that all? You sure you’re not sick?”

“Of course not.” He kissed her lightly on her brow. “Is it too much to ask you to whip me up something?”

She smiled. “I swear, James Connelly, I could whip you for almost putting me through hell. Do you know how worried I was these past few days? You better have a good reason for it.”

“I have.” He chuckled as she scowled and walked on towards the kitchen.

“What’s going on?” Mark asked with a frown.

He scratched his head. “Let’s talk in the study.”

Mark followed him, closing the door behind him as Eric fell into a couch.

“Okay?” Mark said.

“Juan ordered a hit.” He ran a hand through his hair. “
The
hit, Mark.”

“On Trent Harvey?” Mark slumped into an opposite chair, his words feeling far too surreal to comprehend. “How did that happen?”

Eric shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know. Except that Harvey sent someone into the gang to find out about Burns’ death and this kind of pissed him off.”

“You mean pissed him enough to want him dead.”

Eric nodded. “Now, that Burns is gone, he will only need to be rid off Harvey to officially become king of the underworlds in San Diego.”

“I just can’t believe it came so soon after Burns’ order. On the other hand, I can’t believe it will be all over. After all these years…”

“Well, it’s not all over just yet.” He threw his head back against the backrest of his chair, looking up at the ceiling tiredly. “The fucker wants Harvey domed.”

“Domed? Shot in the head?”

“He won’t have it any other way. It’s some weird ritual of staking his claim as the ruler of the ganglands, I suppose.”

“It means ‘don’t fuck with me’,” Mark let out slowly. “Juan sure knows how to make it tough for us though.”

“So how are we gonna do it?”

“I don’t know. I’d have to talk it with the team.”

“Mark, this is it,” Eric said. “This is what we’ve all been waiting for. And I want out. I just want to get back to normality- with Anne.”

“I understand, and I’ll do whatever I can to give that to you,” he assured. “Did Juan suspect you for anything though?”

He frowned. “I would like to think not, but I can’t shake the feeling he is up to no good.”

“What do you mean?” Mark leaned forward.

“His men have been following me and then he enquired about the faux office.”

“ Yeah?”

“I just had to tell him I wanted to quit and start up a business from there. I hope he bought it.”

“He’s suspicious about something,” Mark mumbled.

“Or maybe that he’s simply pissed.” He grew quiet, flashes of the burning man returning to him. “They flamed another guy last night.”

“Alive?”

“Yeah.”

“Damn.” Mark sunk back into his chair. “Is that why…?”

Eric closed his eyes, trying to squeeze the images out of his mind. “I needed some time to recover. I couldn’t let Anne know. I was throwing up all over my bathroom.”

Mark nodded, understanding quite well the pain he was going through. “I’ve seen a couple myself and it ain’t a pretty sight. It haunts you for days. Their pain, their shrieks and cries. I don’t know how those bastards live with themselves after they do that.”

“The odor of burning flesh doesn’t leave you.”

“How is it now?”

Eric looked up at him and sighed. “Better. It always does get better with the days.”

“We’ll get them. We will get them.” Mark ran a palm over his face.

“Why trap them?” Eric asked curiously. “Why not just charge in and arrest them? You’ve got all the evidence you need to prove that they’re involved in criminal activities.”

“It’s not as easy as it seems.”  Mark’s eyes flickered towards the door. They could still hear Anne rumbling in the kitchen. “There is a reason why we are a secret branch not identified wholly by the FBI. There are people who don’t want the drugs to go away. And we would be happy target practice for some deranged hit-men if they get a wind of anything we’re doing. We are talking about people in power- politicians, businessmen and even high ranking police officers.”

“I don’t understand.”

“It’s business. It’s all about the money. If you aren’t addicted to the drugs, you get addicted to the money. That is just how it is with the drug trade. Drug lords don’t want drugs legalized because it would reduce their profits. And law enforcement agencies don’t want it legalized because it would lose millions of dollars, and thousands of jobs also would be lost should the drug war end. The police force and federal agencies hold a billion dollars in seized assets and they make millions off of these confiscated cash, property and cars. As long as the primary objective is money, there is no chance on winning the drug war.” He pulled in a deep breath of air. “But what we do… this here… this can make a difference. Even if it is a negligible difference, it is still one we should be proud of. And you should be too.”

“How are you feeling?” Anne asked as she carried a bowl of steaming broth to the table.

“Wonderful,” James whispered into her ear as he back-hugged her, his arms resting beneath her breasts.

“I was worried about you.”

“You shouldn’t have. I just had work to do, that’s all.” He kissed the side of her neck, skimming along its curves and down to her shoulders.

“I can’t not worry about you. Especially after announcing that your ex-girlfriend is out to kill me for real and that I needed a guard at all times.”

He turned her in his arms, looking down into her face. He never could get enough of her. She was his life. It was as simple as that. “I like that you worry about me. Someone to look out for me. A reason to take care of myself and return to at the end of everything. But at the same time I don’t like it that you put yourself through all that strain.”

“What do you expect me to do?”

He leaned down and covered her mouth with his. “Love me.”

He dove eagerly into her, playing with her tongue, teasing her until she gasped.

“You’re not getting away with this,” she rasped helplessly. “I’m still angry with you.”

“Really?” He smiled cryptically.

His hands slid beneath her dress to cup her buttocks and then tugged her up to him. His fingers tore through her lacy panties, pulling them off her. He pressed her against the wall and then pushed her feet apart before falling down onto his knees.

“James.” She pulled in a sharp breath.

“Sshhh, I’m begging you to forgive me,” he muttered as he parted the lips of her core to taste her.

She threw her head back, her fingers clutching desperately into his hair for balance. “James,” she moaned again.

He thrusted his tongue in and out of her until her legs staggered under her. Unable to take it anymore, she gave in to him, sitting her crotch on his face as he continued to work her with his fingers and his mouth.

“Please, James… I can’t take… I will…,” she begged.

He released her from his carnal mouth, giving her time to breathe as he stood up, brushing his entire length against her. His hand yanked down the neckline in her dress to reveal her breasts, catching her nipples with his mouth.

She groaned as she labored for air, her hands reaching for his shorts and pushing them down his legs. His cock was hard and throbbing, springing out of his pants and jutting out against her naval.

She kissed her way down to his crotch and when she wrapped her hands around his cock, he gasped. She was kneeling on the floor, her tongue sliding up and around his hard length. He clasped a tuft of her hair, doing his best to hold on while she took her time. His breaths grew short and shallow as she kissed his tip before finally wrapping his lips around him. He felt himself go deep into her mouth and his body clenched. He put a hand out against the wall to brace himself.

His eyes flickered towards her and he saw her head bobbing up and down his cock. Watching her, seeing her taking him into her beautiful mouth accelerated his breathing. Could he grow any harder? 

He was going to explode and while he would have loved to do it on her tongue, today wasn’t that day. He pulled out of her mouth and lifted her chin, kissing her, his tongue twining with hers, tasting himself on it.

He picked her up and threw her against the wall as she wound her legs around his hips. He held himself to her apex, guiding her to sit atop him. He closed his eyes, feeling the heat of her sheath him. He cupped her buttocks as he began to pump into her, fast and hard.

“James,” she breathed into his mouth.

He covered her lips as his body clamped. He felt her core contract on his cock, her body orgasming in sync with his. He leaned down and kissed the hollow at the base of her neck, trying to catch his breath.

“I missed you,” he whispered.

“Are you ready?” Mark asked as he walked into the house.

“Yes,” Julia replied curtly, picking up her keys.

“I’m driving.” He dangled his keys from his finger.