The Freelancer – Chapter 93

I didn’t realize until I already exited 190 and was a few miles away on another highway that Jenna was the frantic woman waving her arms from the stalled van I passed.  It would take too long to exit and get back to them and I knew I could already be too late.  I glanced in my mirrors to make sure no one else was on the road before I slammed on my brakes and U-turned.  Traffic was nonexistent on my drive up until this point.  I prayed my luck would hold long enough to get me back to Jenna.

I found them on the side of the road where I passed them minutes before.  It looked like Jenna was moving towards him as I slammed on my brakes.  I drew my gun and approached slowly.  I couldn’t tell what was in his hands, but I didn’t want to take any chances.

“Whatever you’re doing, Blackstone, I promise you need to stop right now,” I said.  “Jenna, come over here by me.”

She looked at me as if in shock, but didn’t move.  The sight of me standing there with a gun in my hand couldn’t be the most comforting sight to her.  There would be a time for an explanation of what I was doing, but that time couldn’t be now.  Blackstone tossed the vile at the ground where it shattered.

He grinned at me.  “That was your girlfriend’s only chance to live.”

“Don’t play with me.”

“That was the antidote to the poison I gave her and I’m the only man who can recreate it now,” he yelled to me, smug.

I cocked my pistol.

“You’re bluffing,” I shouted back.

I watched as he removed something from a sheath on his hip.  Once the light hit it, I realized it was a hunting knife.  A sticky red substance glistened on the blade and I knew I had all the proof I would need to take him in.  He murdered a federal agent and hadn’t even tried to hide it.

He took a menacing step towards Jenna, grin on his face.  “Maybe we shouldn’t wait for the poison to take effect.  What do you think, agent?  Maybe you’d like to watch me slit her throat the way I did your partner.  I think you should get to see her bleed.”

“Jenna, come over here. You’ve got to move.”

Instead, she stood, unblinking, watching the scene unfold.

“Oh, you don’t think she trusts you right now, do you?” He flourished the knife. “Face it. You killed her. Not me. The three of us wouldn’t be here right now if you hadn’t gotten in the way of our happiness.”

“She was never yours.”

“Maybe.  She was never yours either. My Jenna wouldn’t give you the time of day if she knew what you really were.”

“I’m not your anything,” Jenna said, barely a whisper.

“Bitch!” Blackstone pounced on her, grabbing her by the wrist to yank her closer. While she was still off balance, he backhanded her hard enough to make her stumble, but he didn’t let her fall. Instead, he pulled her in front of him as a human shield.

He grinned at me and licked her cheek.  “I would have had fun with you.  Now I’m going to have a different kind of fun.”

“Let. Her. Go.”

“Not a chance.”  He ran the knife across her skin from her neck to the valley between her breasts. “Heart or neck?”

“Excuse me?” I didn’t have the shot. I had to keep him talking until I did.

“Would you prefer I put my knife into her heart or her neck?”

I’d prefer he move a few inches to the left so I could get a shot, but he wasn’t waiting for me to answer.

“This guy, Jenna? All the assholes in the world and you needed to fuck this guy?” He moved the blade to her right shoulder and slit the straps. His free hand slid across her hip and pulled at her skirt, hiking it up a few inches. “Let’s see if I can make you scream the same way he did.”

“Don’t touch me.”

Her speech seemed slurred. This was going bad fast. I inched forward.

“Don’t you fucking move!” He dug the blade’s point into the skin at the top of her breast, creating a thin line of crimson. “You’ve already ruined her for me. Don’t think I won’t enjoy opening her up for you.”

“Take it easy, Blackstone. I was just shifting my weight.

“So am I.”  His hand crept from her hip the dress’s hem. “God, you smell good.” His lips grazed her ear. “I can almost pretend you don’t smell like him.”

Jenna met my eyes, lids drooping. “Chad, I don’t love him.  Needed him to make you jealous.” She drew a shuddering breath. “It’s always been you, Chad.  Always.”

What the fuck?

The knife wavered in his hand. “But you said…”

“Was a game…stupid, silly game.”  She twisted against him, moving slightly to the right.  “Kiss me before I die…”

Without hesitation, I put a bullet between his eyes.  I clicked the safety on and rushed to Jenna.  There was no time to explain who I really was or what I was doing.  Her time was running out.

I placed my hands on her shoulders, trying to keep her with me.  “Do you know what he gave you?”

“Oleander,” she whispered, collapsing unconscious into my arms.

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