Throwaway by Heather Huffman Page B

to be
the one that set her life straight. Like maybe if she could do
this, then she’d really be the kind of woman he could love and she
wouldn’t be just a fascination.
    But that wasn’t something she could put into
words, so it did her no good when she finally broke down and told
Gabe what she planned to do. She fully expected him to yell, to
argue his point. She wasn’t prepared for the stony expression that
instantly dropped over his face. He started to speak but the words
couldn’t seem to find their way beyond his throat. With a pained
expression and a terse shake of the head, he stormed out of the
cabin.
    “Gabe,” she called, taking off after him once
she’d regained her wits. “Gabe, don’t just walk out on me like
that.”
    “No,” he kept walking.
    “Gabe! Stop!” Her voice left little room for
disagreement.
    “No,” he shook his head as he stopped. “No.
You aren’t going to do this.”
    “Why not? You know it’s the best way to find
out what the hell is going on and end this thing.”
    “Because it’s hard enough thinking about the
reality of what you do, but not him, Jess. Not him.”
    On some level, Jessie understood that. Johns
came and went. They got a few minutes of her life and then she
never saw them again. Spence was different.
    “I don’t want to do this,” she closed her
eyes, unable to bear the expression on his face as he turned to
her.
    “Then don’t,” his voice was soft, pleading.
“I’ll hide you here. No one will find you here.”
    “I can’t live my entire life in a remote
cave, babe. As long as I’m alive, he won’t let me go.”
    “Then we’ll fake your death. It’s worked
before. Jessie, please just don’t go through with this.”
    “If everything works out like I hope, then
I’ll have what you need on him in no time. Then he’ll be in jail
and I’ll be free. You know it’s the fastest and easiest way to end
this—if your judgment wasn’t clouded, you’d see that.”
    “But if he realizes what you’re up to, he’ll
kill you.”
    “And I’ll still be free.”
    “Don’t… don’t say that,” he rolled his head
as if he could jar that thought loose by doing so. Jessie could
hear the tears in his voice and it ripped out a piece of her soul
to know she’d caused him pain.
    “He won’t catch me. I’ve been tap dancing
around Spence for a lot of years. I’ll be fine. And I’m sure
Vance’ll look out for me.”
    “I don’t like this at all,” his voice said he
was bending though he still shook his head no.
    “Please understand why I have to do this,”
she held her arms open to him.
    “I can’t stomach the thought of his hands on
you.”
    “I won’t let him touch me,” she promised.
    “How are you going to work that one?”
    “I have no idea, but I’ll think of something.
I’ll do anything to take that look off your face.”
    “I’ll never forgive myself if something
happens to you,” he crossed the distance between them and scooped
her into his arms. She kissed his eyes, his cheeks, his forehead
before he caught her mouth with his own. There was a greed in his
touch she hadn’t felt before. To be fair, there was a certain
amount of greed in her response.
    They moved past their first real fight in the
old fashioned way, and spent the rest of the evening intertwined on
the porch swing, wrapped in each other and a quilt. The
conversation centered mostly on how they could incapacitate Spence
enough he wouldn’t be a threat to Jessie, but would still be able
to lead them to the men Gabe had spent years trying to catch.
    The later it was, the sillier the suggestions
got. At one point Jessie might have suggested paying someone to
throw a fastball at just the right spot, but tossed the idea aside
because she thought it would be too small a target to hit from a
distance.
    It was her last night to sleep curled up at
his side. She wanted to stay awake, to relish every breath he took,
but sleep claimed her despite her intentions. The