Just Another Job

Games

I know I promised big things were to happen in this chapter, but I kind of forgot a detail I had to add in, and it ended up blossoming uncontrollably into this monster of a chapter. I guess the writing part of my brain just loves interaction between Jo and Cobalt. I have no control over it! Anyway, I hope you like this chapter. ;) P.S. (I think you will)

Oh, and that's the mischievous Ian on your sidebar

The temperature between Jo and I for the rest of the ride was frigid. What did she expect me to do? Ian could be an ass when it came to stuff like this. I didn't appreciate an audience when I was getting it on. Ian, unfortunately, couldn't care less who was watching, making it hard for me to get back at him. Whatever. I could warm her up again real quick whenever the next opportunity arose.

"Where are you taking us?" I finally asked.

"I thought hell was the request?" Ian answered innocently.

"Ian, I am sitting behind you, and I will snap your neck."

"I thought we'd make for Tulsa. It's a good ways away from Harting, and it's big, so it's unlikely that anyone will see her." 

"Good thinking," I said gruffly. "How much longer until we get there?" 

"We're going to have to stop tonight, it's still a long drive," Ian informed me. I glanced out the window, noting that the sun was dropping into the horizon.

I didn't want to risk stopping for the night, but it was just as well. I needed to make a phone call. I had been thinking about what to do with Jo, besides bang her. It was obvious that she needed to get out of the country, preferrably to another continent. There was only one person I knew who had traveled the world and could set Jo up with acquaintances in a foreign country. He happened to be my brother, Jasper. He had left home at an early age, plagued with restlessness. He had traveled everywhere, to remote places and bustling cities. An old bitterness welled up inside me, but I immediately smashed it down. I had been so disappointed when he didn't take me with him on either of his years-long excursions. It didn't matter now, it was all in the past. That's what I kept telling myself. We had come to terms, forgiven each other. No matter how I might feel, I didn't want to jeopardize our peaceful co-existance. 

Ian pulled up at a Hampton hotel. Hmmm, we never stayed at places this nice. What was he up to? I looked over and saw Jo sound asleep, her head leaning against the window. I nudged her foot with my tennis shoe. "Jo. Jo, we're stopping for the night. Wake up." 

I shook her shoulder gently. She woke with a start, automatically shying away from my hand. Wide blue eyes finally settled on me. "What?" 

I almost laughed at her. Her normally wavy blonde hair was tangled and sticking up in the wrong places. Her warning glare made me sober up quickly. "We're at the hotel," I explained patiently. 

She glanced out the window, took in the fancy establishment, and looked back at me suspiciously. "What gives?" she asked. 

I held up my hands innocently. "Honest to god, I had nothing to do with picking the place, it was all Ian's idea." Ian, still sitting in the front seat, smiled guilessly at Jo. She narrowed her eyes at him and returned her attention to me.

"Right," she said, clearly not convinced. She reached down to the floor and began lacing her boots onto her feet. The same boots I had untied a couple of hours ago. Hmmm, that could have led down an interesting path. Too bad Ian was a dick and had ruined it. 

Ian and I got out of the car on the same side, slamming the doors shut and leaning against them. 

"Why are we here?" I asked.