Thrower put his arm out across the table and waved his hand around a little. He was hoping to silently get the attention of Jacobs. He succeeded. Once Jacobs looked his way, Thrower pointed at Tiffany.
Jacobs looked over at her and saw the same thing that had alarmed Thrower. She had a worried look on her face. Jacobs slowly reached his arm over and put his hand on Tiffany’s forearm. She jumped at first, not expecting to feel his touch. She quickly got herself together, taking a deep breath, and smiling at him.
“You OK?” Jacobs asked.
“Yeah.” She rubbed her arms as if she were cold. “Yeah, I’m fine. Why?”
“You seem like something’s wrong. Or something’s bothering you.”
Tiffany shook her head, not wanting to admit anything. “No. Of course not. What would be bothering me?”
Jacobs tilted his head down and gave her a glance, as if he didn’t believe her. He knew her better by now. “Tiff?”
“Yes?”
“What’s wrong? And don’t tell me nothing, because I can tell that there’s something.”
Tiffany closed her eyes and scratched her neck, still not wanting to say anything. She knew if she said what she was thinking, it wouldn’t go over well.
Jacobs persisted, though. “You know you can tell me anything.”
“I know. It’s just… it’s nothing.”
“Tiff. We can all see that something’s on your mind. Just let it out. Maybe we can help. Or maybe it’ll be something that’ll help us and we can use.”
Tiffany let out a laugh. “I doubt that.”
“Why?”
“Because you won’t like or agree with what I’m thinking.”
“There’s only one sure way to know.”
Now it was Tiffany’s turn to give him the glance. “Brett, I know how you think. And you won’t like or approve of what I’m thinking.”
“Well, that settles it,” Franks said, slapping the table. “Now we gotta know what it is so we can figure out which one of you is right.” Jacobs slowly turned his head toward his friend. Franks recognized the look he was getting. “Or we cannot. You know, no big deal on my end or nothing.” He looked at Thrower and shrugged.
Now it was Thrower’s turn to try to convince her to open up. “Tiff, if it’s about what we’re doing here, there’s no harm in saying what’s on your mind. If it’s good, and it can work, and it can help us, maybe we can use it. If it’s sketchy, we can work through it and figure it out. And if it doesn’t work, then it doesn’t work. But there’s no harm in saying it, even if we think it won’t work.”
Tiffany sighed, realizing she was going to be forced into talking about it. Jacobs reached out to hold her hand.
“Hey, if it’s really something you don’t wanna talk about, you don’t have to.” Jacobs rubbed her hand with his thumb. “I’m not gonna force you. But if it’s something you think might help, we’re all ears.”
She looked at him and smiled. “I want to help. I do. That’s why I’m thinking about this.”
Jacobs looked confused. He wasn’t sure where she was going with this. “About what?”
“What I can do to help.”
“Which is?”
Tiffany took a deep breath. “Use me as bait again.”
Jacobs raised his eyebrows. He couldn’t believe what she’d said. Even she was surprised at what she’d said. She’d been thinking about it for a few days, and while she wasn’t eager to put herself in harm’s way again, it certainly seemed to speed things up. It did the last time.
“Now, I know what you’re gonna say.”
“Well, if it starts with an N, and ends with an O, you pretty much got it,” Jacobs said.
“Just hear me out.”
“No. There’s nothing to hear out. The answer is no. We’re not doing that again. I didn’t even want to do it the last time.”
“But it did work. And I didn’t even get close to getting hurt.”
“Yeah, that time. We can’t just keep trying that and hoping for the best.”
Franks and Thrower looked at each other, neither wanting to get involved unless they were asked for their opinion. They didn’t want to risk getting on either one’s bad side. So they just sat and watched.
“Do you really think I’d want to put myself in that kind of situation again?” Tiffany asked. “I mean, I’ve been kidnapped, tied up, almost blown up, shot at… it’s not exactly fun for me, you know.”
“So why would you want to take that kind of chance again?”
Tiffany’s shoulders slumped, and she made a face like she was going to cry, even though she wasn’t. “Because I want this to be over with. I want a normal life again. I want to be able to go outside without a bodyguard. I want to be able to drive myself to work without having to worry if someone’s following me. I want us to move forward with our relationship. I want my parents to eventually come home again after this fake vacation they’re having. I just want… I just want it all to be done.”
“So do I. I want all of those things. But I can’t risk you in order to do it.”
Tiffany wiped a tear from her eye. “But what other way is there?”
“The way we’re doing it. We’re closing in.”
“Brett, all this could take weeks or months. And that’s assuming it even works at all. I don’t want to wait that long. I’m tired of living like this. And I don’t know how you’ve been able to live like this for so long, because I couldn’t do it. And I’m not sure how much longer I can.”
“I know it’s frustrating. I know.”
“I just want… us to be
