Keepers: A Timeless Novella (10 page)

“
Go on, Joseph. He can’t
hurt you,” Lucia said, voice low and threatening.

The fact I stepped forward
showed how much faith I had in the angel. The officer shouted at me
to stop, show him my hands, and that I was under arrest. When he
realized I wasn’t going to stop, he shot at me. I flinched away
from the magical barrier Lucia had put up. It caught the bullet and
spit it out in a way that came off as comedic. The tiny bullet
bounced back and forth on the ground before settling. I held in my
laughter, though there wasn’t anything funny about it. The officer
lowered his gun, staring at me with wide, brown eyes. He mumbled
something incoherent, but he didn’t try to stop us
again.

As soon as I reached the
Director, he handed me a gun and new identification. “Had this made
up for you this morning,” he said gruffly. “Figured you’d lost
yours in the fire.”

“
How’d you get it so fast?”
I asked.

“
Seems you’re an asset the
department’s willing to bend over backwards for,” he informed. He
handed me a flak jacket. “She’s like a freak of nature, not moving
an inch for our snipers to take her out. It’s like she knows
exactly how to stand and hold a hostage to keep herself alive and
safe.”

I snorted. “It wouldn’t
surprise me if this wasn’t the first time she’s taken someone
hostage,” I remarked.

“
Listen, Joseph,” Tom said,
taking me off guard by how sincere he sounded. “This woman is
obviously off her rocker, so please be careful when you go out
there. The negotiator wants you to wear this—” he held up an
earpiece “—so he can help direct the conversation.”

I shook my head, weary. “I
don’t think that’s such a good idea. She’ll know if I’m not being
sincere, and the last thing I need is for someone screaming in my
ear.”

He nodded and shoved it in
my hands. “Take it anyway. If things get tough, you can always put
it in your ear.”

“
Okay,” I agreed and curled
my fist around the device. He patted my shoulder, and I made my way
into the open space between the uniformed and the
insane.

“
I’ll make sure you’re
shielded,” Lucia said softly as I passed her.

“
Can’t you shield the
hostage?” I asked in disbelief.

Lucia gave me that look
again—the one that said I was clearly a moron. “Not in this
situation,” she explained. “Sara’s holding the hostage against her
body; there’s no way I could fully protect the hostage.”

“
Oh. Okay, thanks,” I
murmured, finally stepping free of the trigger-happy agents and
police officers. I could see it in their eyes; they were eager to
shoot, which told me they’d all heard about my house fire and were
looking for revenge.

Sara’s hair was a tangled
mess, and her bangs stuck to her sweat-covered forehead. She had
one arm wrapped snuggly around a teenager’s neck, the other tucked
behind the girl, pointing the gun at the base of her skull. How had
Sara gotten the gun? Had she stolen it? Surely she’d been to a
padded cell lately and wasn’t allowed to purchase
handguns.

“
I’ll shoot,” Sara warned.
“Stay back! Stay back!” It sounded as if she’d been repeating this
so much that she didn’t take the time to notice me.

“
Sara?” I said
carefully.

Her head snapped in my
direction, and the furious expression melted away. She smiled at
me, and my stomach roiled. I wanted to punch her. Yes, many would
say hitting a woman was not something a man should ever do, but how
many of them had met Sara? She wasn’t a woman—she was a
monster.

“
Joey,” Sara breathed,
relieved. She had no right to use that nickname. It had bothered me
before, but now I wanted to rip her tongue out so she could never
say it again.

“
What are you doing, Sara?
This is madness.” I let my hands fall limply to my sides to show I
was no threat.

“
They-they’re here to
arrest me, Joey, for burning down your house. You have to tell them
I didn’t do it. I’d never do anything that like,” she
whined.

Trying to stay calm, I took
in a much-needed breath, exhaling it slowly. “Sara, I don’t know if
that’s true. There’s an eyewitness.”

“
I didn’t burn your house
down,” she swore. When I didn’t respond, she became angry and
tightened her grip on the poor teenage girl. The hostage was blonde
and skinny, and her makeup ran in wet trails down her cheeks. “I
didn’t burn your house down!” Sara repeated, a growl entering her
voice. Was she possessed or something? Would her head start
spinning around while she vomited green stuff? Nothing would
surprise me at this point.

I decided to give her an
inch to see if she’d cool down a bit. “Okay, you didn’t burn my
house down,” I agreed. Even I was impressed that I could say that
with a straight face. “But look around you. You’ve got this girl
held hostage for no reason.”

Sara stared at me in
disbelief, as if she couldn’t comprehend why I didn’t understand
her motives. “They were going to take me in. I couldn’t have that,”
she confessed. “You’d think badly of me, Joey.”

My fury simmered just below
the surface, and I was barely able to contain it. “And did you
think I would look highly on your for taking an innocent girl
hostage?” I wanted to shake her until all the nuts and bolts that’d
come loose tumbled out of her.

Sara’s mouth hung open as
she grasped my logic. “I-I don’t know,” she admitted.

“
Please, let the girl go.
She’s never done anything to you. You can come with me, and I’ll go
with you down to the FBI building so we can work this all out. I’m
sure you’ll be back home in no time,” I coaxed. “You know I love
you—I’d never lie about something this important.” I wanted to tear
my vocal chords out for telling Sara I loved her. “Come
on.”

Before I could say another
word, Sara jerked her hostage back a few steps and steadied the
gun. I’d only ever seen someone highly trained hold a gun the way
she did—unwavering and so steady she might as well have propped it
up on an invisible barrier.

“
No!” Sara shouted. “You’re
just trying to trick me. You’re just . . . you’re just . . . you’re
just trying to trick me. I just know it.” She repeated this over
and over and over, as if chanting it would calm her nerves. It
frayed mine.

I knew trying to talk her
down this way wasn’t going to work, so I had to try an approach
that would make me sick to my stomach. But if it worked, Sara would
be locked up, and this poor girl could go home to her family and
friends. “Listen, Sara, sweetie”—I wanted to pull out my
tongue—“all of these officers are going to let you go,” I said
calmly.

The pet name threw her off,
and she wavered for just a second before her resolve returned. “No
they aren’t! Do you think I’m an idiot?”

Well, now that you mention
it, I’ve had my suspicions
, I thought
dryly. Instead, I said, “Of course you’re not an idiot,
sweetie,”—gag—“but remember that I have an in with these people. If
I ask them to, you know, look the other way, we could get out of
here real quick.”

She hesitated again, right
on the edge of deciding if I was full of it or not. “Really?” she
asked. “Where would we go?”

Was she buying it? I made
my voice confident and sure. “I don’t know. We could go anywhere
you want.”

She seemed eager now, even
taking a step forward. “Can we go to the Bahamas? I’d love to sit
on the beach and drink pi
ñ
a coladas.” She sounded like an
eager five-year-old.

I snatched onto the brief
respite, praying her anger had finally been tucked away into
whatever strange place in her mind it had come from. “Yes!” I
exclaimed. “Let’s go to the Bahamas.” I cringed internally at my
words, but I almost had her.

“
How do I know they’ll
listen to you?” Sara nodded her head toward the sea of uniforms
behind me.

I pivoted sideways, keeping
Sara in my view. Addressing the crowd, I said, “You’ll let her go,
right? If she comes to me, you’ll let her go.” The last wasn’t a
question; it was a demand that they please go along with my ruse.
The officers exchanged looks that clearly said I was crazy. Yeah,
that was helpful. “If she gives me the gun, you’ll let her go,” I
demanded. Again, they glanced at each other. I swear, these people
were as dense as mercury.

Sara’s grip on the gun grew
so tight her knuckles turned white. “I don’t know about that,
Joey.”

“
It’s okay, Sara. You can
trust me. I love you.” Yup, that did it. She didn’t believe me for
a second, especially because I let my voice dip in
disgust.

“
That’s the second time
you’ve said that, Joey. You’ve never said that to me—” She cut
herself off, realizing what she was about to admit. This was the
loony woman who thought I was going to marry her and give her
children, after all. “I mean, it’s been a while since you’ve said
that to me, Joey. How do I know you aren’t just saying that now to
get me to give you my gun?”

I inhaled a steadying
breath, knowing what I had to do next might possibly make me
physically ill. A few more deep breaths, and I pulled the FBI agent
mask out, wearing it like it was a shield. “Because, Sara, I need
you,” I said, voice raspy. “I’ve needed you this whole time. I made
a mistake.”

Sara’s eyes narrowed. “Are
you . . . Are you saying that you left that other
woman?”

“
Yes. She was a huge
mistake. There’s only you,” I lied through my teeth. On top of this
being the most horrific thing I’d ever have to live through, my
pride was taking a beating. She still wasn’t buying it, so I knew I
had to go all out. “Actually, there’s something I need to ask
you.”

“
No! I’m not giving up the
gun,” Sara shouted, spittle flying from her mouth. The hostage
whimpered, and I was sorry she had to witness what I was about to
do.

“
Calm down,” I said as
soothingly as possible. “That wasn’t what I was going to ask. Just
calm down.”

“
Don’t tell me to calm
down,” she screamed, yanking at the hostage, pulling farther away
from me. I didn’t dare move.

“
Okay, Sara, but I need you
to listen to me. Your answer will mean the world to me,” I said
softly. The words felt so wrong and dirty leaving my mouth, and I
knew what I had to say to convince Sara to let this hostage go was
going to make me want to vomit all over my shoes.

“
Go on, ask it,” Sara
demanded.

I had to force myself to
take a step forward, to lower myself on one knee, to look up at
Sara as if I had true feelings for her. “Sara, will you marry me?”
I asked. I couldn’t believe those words had just come out of my
mouth.

Sara’s hand dropped to her
side, the gun loose. She let the girl go and ran to me. Tension was
thick in the air as she darted toward me, flung her arms around my
neck, and repeatedly screeched out the word “Yes!”

My stomach felt like it was
souring at those words. I thought there was only one woman I would
ever ask to marry me, and that was Jenna. Even though it wasn’t
real with Sara, it felt so incredibly wrong to have ever uttered
those words aloud to anyone besides my sweet fiancée.

Officers rushed forward,
tackled Sara to the ground, and wrestled the gun from her. I backed
away as quickly as I could, needing to get away from this woman.
The sound of handcuffs clicking home made it all worth
it.

“
Will you still marry me?”
Sara cried. Her lip trembled, and tears streamed down her
face.

“
No, Sara. I don’t love
you. I won’t marry you. You burned my house down and almost killed
the people I love the most. On what planet is this okay? What
strange universe are you living in where doing that is reason for
someone to love you and want to marry you?” I spat, infuriated. The
words spilled out of me like a tidal wave of hate.

Normally I would have
walked away from this situation, but she had ticked me off beyond
belief. All I really wanted to do was kick her while she was down.
Didn’t she know she was crazy? Well, I guessed not. Crazy people
don’t realize they’re crazy! Sara was clearly not playing with a
full deck.

I backed away, relieved it
was over. This woman would be put away for a laundry list of crimes
that would keep her behind bars for a long, long time. I’d had
enough of being walked on, enough of letting everyone use me like I
was an entryway carpet. Those days were long gone.

“
Ready to go home?” Lucia
asked, coming up beside me.

“
Yeah,” I said. Lucia
understood what that meant, and she took me straight to
Jenna.

CHAPTER 11: TIE THE
KNOT

I followed Jenna into a
tuxedo shop in downtown Honolulu, Hawaii. Inside were my groomsmen:
Andrew, Connor, and Jake. Connor was my happily married brother who
had two young kids and lived in Colorado. I’d met Jake during
orientation at the J. Edgar Hoover FBI building on our first day,
and we’d been friends ever since then. Jenna had met both of them
during our months of dating, and not surprisingly, my friends and
family instantly loved her. They weren’t at all shocked when we
decided to get married so quickly; in fact, they asked what had
taken us so long.