Page 35 of Traitorous Lies
Now when there could be people with guns hunting her.
Now when Jax had gone off to try to stop them from hurting her.
Now when she was so terrified for him, she could barely breathe.
Even though she understood why he didn't want her to follow him when they didn't know who those footprints belonged to, and knew it could be the people after him, it didn't make it any easier being left behind to wait.
Monique was finding that she didn't like the idea of not having Jax close. How was that going to work exactly if they did make it out of this and get back home?
It wasn't like they were ready to move in together. They still had a lot to learn about each other, and while she felt a bond with Jax and absolutely one hundred percent wanted to nourish it and help it grow, she also didn't just want to jump headlong into something. She had to meet his family, and unfortunately, at some point he would have to meet hers. They’d have to find out how their lives and jobs would mesh. It wasn't like she could just move away from her animal rescue, but she also couldn’t expect him to uproot himself from his family.
So many things to talk through.
Things they'd avoided for now because they were both focusing on just trying to survive, and maybe they were both a little nervous about how quickly they’d developed feelings.
At least Monique knew she was.
It was crazy, and yet she couldn’t deny it was happening.
From the first second she laid eyes on him, she’d felt a pull, urging her toward him, and the more she learned about him, the more time she spent with him, the more she believed nothing could make her not like Jax.
He was out there right now, putting his life on the line for her, just like he’d done when they were abducted. He could have left her behind in that car, made a run for it, she was unconscious, might have been dead before she even knew what was happening.
But he hadn't left.
He’d stayed.
Protected her.
Killed for her.
Now he was doing it again, and she couldn’t sit there a moment longer.
“Try not to squiggle too much and get us both killed,” she warned her little fox, who whined at her, but stayed still in her arms as she awkwardly made her way down the tree.
Thankfully, her feet hit the ground without incident, and then she was sneaking off in the same direction Jax had gone. She was well aware this could be a huge mistake she was making, but she’d waited for what felt like hours and hadn't heard any gunshots.
What if there were none?
It wasn't like she could stay there forever.
They might be beating Jax to get him to tell them where she was. She had to go and help him.
It wasn't safety he’d found. If the footprints led to houses or a village, or just people out for a walk, then he would be back for her already.
With zero plan in mind, she followed the prints in the ground until she heard voices up ahead.
Multiple men, having what sounded like a hushed conversation.
No screaming.
That had to be a good sign.
Maybe Jax had found help after all, and it was just taking him a while to sort things out before coming back for her. He wouldn't leave her alone in the tree, cold and scared, worrying about him, just for fun while he relaxed and chatted with whoever had been out there.
Just in case Jax hadn't found the men yet and it was just whoever had been out there wandering around, Monique approached quietly, moving slowly, so that her steps barely made a sound, clutching the gun tightly, although she wasn't sure she would have the guts to use it. Through the trees ahead, she could see several figures dressed in black. They looked just like the men who had attacked and kidnapped them, they even had weapons slung on their shoulders.
Had they already killed Jax?
