A Locked Box

Chapter 29

Jake drove for hours. Devin had settled, dozing quietly against the window. Kat leaned her head against her hand as Jake turned onto a deserted road. He glanced over at Kat before returning to the headlights outside. "I really thought you knew," he said after a silent beat. Kat was silent. She was trying her hardest to keep her tongue. Jake raised an eyebrow. "Now that is definitely new." There was amusement in his voice.

Kat glared.

"He really has changed you." Jake's voice lowered and turned serious.

Kat's onyx eyes darted to the back seat before settling on the pitch black outside. "Just leave him out of this," she whispered.

"It isn't a bad thing. I find it relieving." Kat eyed him suspiciously. "You know I still care, Katherine." he looked away, avoiding Kat's unblinking stare.

She breathed out a sigh. "I wish you would quit saying that." she ran a hand through her hair. "But I understand." Jake had a small smile on his face as he continued to drive. She eyed him before looking out the window. "What should I call you now?"

Jake chuckled. "Well, I would prefer that you don't insult me in the process."

A small smile snaked its way up onto Kat's face. Their conversation drifted off as Jake pulled the car to a stop outside a vacant motel. Devin's steady breathing turned into a quiet question at the sound of Jake opening his side of the door.

"Where are we?" His voice was still rough from sleep and some still lingered in his eyes.

Jake poked his head in from the frigid outside. "Its like Seattle all over again." He said it in a cheerful voice.

Kat looked away and held her head in her hands. Devin peeked around her seat, hand on the side of it holding him there. "What is he talking about?" He asked in a sudden panic when Jake shut the door behind him and headed to the main office.

"It's nothing. He's just being an ass." She looked over at him and ruffled his hair. "We're going to be fine." They met each other's eyes. Silence enveloped them as they stared, slowly moving a bit closer by each passing second.

Jake opening the door once again made them turn their attention immediately. Jake looked between the two before a knowing smirk appeared on his face. "We have a room, number 56."

Kat's gaze flickered to the door with paint peeling off. "Come on, it's late." Devin followed quickly as she stood on the icy asphalt and marched to the room. She could hear him speak to Jake in a questioning tone.

"What happened in Seattle?"

Kat's shoulders tensed up. Jake chuckled. "The real question is what hadn't happened." Kat breathed out in irritation at Jake's stupid response. She wrapped her arms around herself as she waited in from of the right door.

Devin stayed silent as Jake opened the door. He glanced over at Kat and she knew exactly what he wanted. He had questions that Kat couldn't avoid any longer. She dreaded it now. All because of that mocking jerk in the corner of the room.

"Who were the people after us? You keep talking as if you know them." Kat stood by the curtained window, back to his position on one of the beds.

"Its a group of assassins and murderers." She said in a cold tone.

Jake whistled. "You seem to forget they had us for years."

Kat wouldn't even spare him a look. "Who said I did?" One of her hands found its way to a small pattern of scars by her collarbone. Devin recognized the motion.

"They hurt you. Both of you." He added when he remembered the scars littering Jake's body. He started to piece it together like a morbid puzzle where their bodies, were the damaged and scarred matching pieces.