Learning All Things Owen Jackson

Chapter III

"You shouldn't be here," Owen remarked, crouching down to his fellow partner in crime and avoiding my piercing gaze.

"I shouldn't be here? You were supposed to be far from this town!" I almost yelled.

Owen looked up from the man who lay unconscious on the floor, finally meeting my eyes.

"No, I mean here. Right here," he corrected, breaking our eye contact to look around us and then they landed in Vanessa's direction. "Hey! Don't even bother. You won't get any service out here and plus, this man's a convict anyway. They won't help him."

Vanessa nodded and slipped her phone back into her bra, walking closer to us.

"So, what is Owen Jackson doing here, at midnight, dressed in black clothing exactly like those men were?" Vanessa speculated, crossing her arms as she waited for an answer.

"I could ask you same question. You're in a black dress at midnight as well." He shrugged, glancing smugly at her skimpy outfit.

Vanessa narrowed her eyes at him and shot an annoyed look at me.

"Just answer the damn question," she retorted, rolling her eyes.

"Those men... I'm one of them," he replied quietly, slowly waiting for our reaction.

Whilst Vanessa expressed her true reaction, I remained neutral and showed no emotion with my arms crossed.

"It's not what you think, alright?" He said, waving his hands out in front of us. "I needed a place to stay for a while. The leader offered money, food and a bed in exchange for following through with...barbarous acts. A poor boy, alone and scared, how could I have said no?"

"Is it worth it?" Vanessa whispered out harshly before pointing to the unconscious man on the floor.

"I had- no have- no choice. You guys know that..." He firmly replied, staring us both right in the eyes before lowering his head.

I looked away briefly, feeling my eyes prick with tears. Squeezing them both shut, I uncrossed my arms and crouched next to the man.

"Let's figure out what to do with him first," I finally spoke out.

"I have an idea on what to do," Owen said.

Using his strength, he heaved the man up onto his shoulder and nodded for us to follow him into the woods.

***

"This is ridiculous!" I cried out.

I watched as Owen tied the unconscious man's body to a tree trunk, his head flopping to the side.

"Look, Cameron, this was never meant to be a kind job," he muttered out before turning to Vanessa. "Thanks for the rope by the way."

I huffed out a breath and crossed my arms.

"No problem, hotshot." Vanessa replied and even daringly winked at him.

My eyes widened at the nickname and I turned to her, burning holes into the side of her head with my deadly stare.

As if she knew my reaction, Vanessa twisted her body so she was facing me and giggled out.

"What?"

"Where did you even find the rope?" I asked, completely changing the subject.

She shrugged. "As we were walking, and as you were too busy scowling at Owen's incredible back, I found some rope along the way and just picked it up. Thought it'd come in handy."

"And it did," he interrupted loudly, fixing the last knot, "so thanks for that."

Anger nipped at my skin as I watched Owen smile at Vanessa, clearly mocking me in the process.