Page 26 of Kiss Me if You Can
“What in the worldare you doing on the floor?”
I keep my eyes closed despite the annoyed question. Holding this meditative yoga pose is the only thing that has kept me breathing over the last three hours as I’ve sat in this holding room by myself, waiting to hear my fate. I’m surprised they didn’t take me straight to a cell, but I suppose there’s a procedure they have to follow.
“Mr. Moody, I’ve already had a hellish day. Would you mind sitting in a chair like a normal human?”
I finally open one eye, recognizing the agent as one of the ones at the park this morning. He was in the van.
I don’t move.
The agent sighs and takes one of the chairs that sits on either side of the metal desk in the middle of the room. He’s older than I expected, his hair a mix of white and gray, and he’s full of tension. “I’m Agent Van Park.”
I open my other eye. Now I’m more than a little convinced that all of these names are fake. Agent Fields, Agent Van Park, Agent Waites. (He was the one who took me to this holding room. Where I’ve been waiting.)
Van Park gestures to the chair, trying one more time to get me off the floor, but gives up when I don’t budge. “Your choice,” he says, clasping his hands together. “We’ve been looking all over for you today, Mr. Moody.”
I should probably claim my right to a lawyer, but I don’t know if that would actually help or just make me look guilty. I am more than happy to remain silent and keep trying to breathe. It isn’t easy, knowing I didn’t get to give Isla a proper goodbye beyond that kiss that left my body burning. I’ll likely never see her again, and this dark void in my chest where she spent the day is only going to grow bigger.
“You could have saved us a lot of trouble,” Van Park continues. “I’m not sure why you thought it was a good idea to run, but my agents have been scouring this city for hours trying to find you.”
Does he think I don’t know that? I close my eyes and concentrate on taking a deep breath, holding it in my lungs for a few seconds before slowly releasing it. I’ve been trying not to hear Isla’s voice in my head telling me to breathe. I’ve been failing.
“Oh, so we couldn’t get you to shut up earlier, and now we can’t get a word out of you?”
I open my eyes again. “You haven’t asked me a question.”
Van Park doesn’t flinch. “Yes, I have. I asked what you were doing on the floor.”
“Yoga.”
“Why?”
“Because it helps in stressful situations.”
“We could have avoided most of this stress if you had just done as you were told.”
Some of my careful calm slips as I stare at him. “Your guy tried to shoot me!”
Van Park barks a laugh as if I just said one of the funniest jokes he’s heard all year. “Shoot you! You can’t even imagine the kind of paperwork that would entail. Fields didn’t try to shoot you.”
I clench my hands into fists on my knees. “I was there. You know, the one staring down the barrel of his gun? I’m lucky he missed.”
“Fields is one of our best shots,” Van Park argues. “He didn’t miss.”
I gesture to my body, which is free of bullet holes, as far as I can tell.
Van Park twists in his seat so he can rest his head in his hand, and he grins down at me like he’s never had this much fun. “You’re a smart kid, Jake. I like that about you. But you’re also an idiot.”
I force my gaze to the floor and clench my jaw again. I need to be smart and not antagonize the man who holds my life in his hands. “This feels like excessive force,” I grumble, knowing I should really shut my mouth.
“Does it? I think Frank Hadley would rather be in your position. He’s the one that got shot.”
My head snaps up. “What?”
Van Park chuckles. “Honestly, you should be glad Fields agreed to keep an eye on you ’cause he saved your life.”
“Saved my…?” I’m feeling dizzy, and it takes me a second to realize I’m not breathing. I choke down some air and unfold myself as I try to understand. “Fields saved my life…by shooting Frank Hadley?”
Van Park nods. “Hadley was smart when he picked that spot. Not great visibility from that south side, with all that foliage blocking the street. We’re not sure yet what tipped him off or if he planned to take you out from the beginning, but you’re lucky Fields caught sight of Hadley just in time. But then you had to go and run away. Do you have any idea how hard it is to protect someone who lives off the grid like you do?”
