Jessie stepped out of her tent, her stomach bubbling with excitement. She'd actually found something. She didn't get to take another step when Sam bumped into her. He'd obviously been pacing outside the entrance.

"Did you find anything?" he asked urgently.

"I actually did." She took out a piece of paper. "Traps seen before past two, twice met fourteen, eight, then be safely on your way. I see you've taken the numbers to be the distances between the traps, probably measured in rock slabs. I agree with you. We'll know for sure once we get inside and see the layout of the floor. What I disagree with you on is your interpretation. You said," she took out another piece of paper, "that the trap repeats itself – this trapdoor thing – get passed it and we're set. I think there's two of them. Past two – the last trap is two traps ago. And the next two are eight whatevers apart. So there's an extra trapdoor – a total of three."

Sam stared at her stupidly. He grabbed her notes and read them. "How did I miss that? I could have gotten all of us killed," he mumbled.

"Don't get all worked up. Your interpretation made sense, too. Here, I made this for you." Jessie shoved another piece of paper in his hands. "It's my thought process for the entire thing. It matched yours most of the time."

"Marvelous," Sam mumbled, already heading for his tent.

Jessie watched him departing and dropped on a log, her heart beating faster than usual. She'd made a difference. Sam seemed impressed with her work.

"Hey, what's up?" Jimmy dropped next to her, wiping his hands on a rag.

"Not much. Did you finish the traps?" she flung her leg on the other side of the log.

"Yup. I might've just built the world's largest bear trap. I'll have to show everyone exactly where it is and how to safely pass it. It's quite deadly, this one." Jimmy dropped the rag and mounted the log, too.

"How come you can build all this stuff? You're just one year older than I am."

"Says the girl who has enough medical training to put back a dislocated shoulder." He smiled cheekily.

Jessie sighed. "I took as many courses as possible. The less I stayed home, the better. My parents kept nagging me about that."

Jimmy put his hands on the log, between them, and leaned forward. "You don't really get along with your parents, do you?"

"I know what you're going to say, but don't judge. I know I should be grateful that I have parents, but I sometimes think I'd be better off without any." She looked away.

"I'm not judging. I'm sorry you're not getting along. It must've been tough, growing up without love," Jimmy said soothingly.

Jessie jerked to attention. Kyle had told her about Jimmy and Tom being orphans before. She had expected a sermon on the importance of family. "You've had it worse than me. At least I have money. Tons of it. You had no parents and no means to—"

Jimmy put his finger on her lips. "I had Tom. He's worth more than all the money in the world."

Jessie lowered her eyes. "I know money is not important. Some time ago I made a point of bankrupting my parents. I hoped it would get them to appreciate their feelings more. I feel sick about it now. I mean..." She stood and pulled her jeans back. Jimmy stood, too, looking over her shoulder.

He let out a low whistle. "Niiiice."

"Nice?" Jessie turned to face him. "It's not nice! What I paid for these jeans could feed a family for a week."

Jimmy frowned. "Wait, what were you showing me?"

"The tag."

"Oh." He shrugged. "I have no idea what a Fendi is."

Yes, typical male. "Wait a sec, what did you think I was showing you?"

"Those lovely, red, lacy undies." He smiled shrewdly, and moved out of the way as she aimed a hit at him.

"Why would I be showing you my underwear?"

"Hey, when you get a pot of gold, you don't question the leprechaun." Jimmy dodged her second hit, hooting with laughter.

Jessie hung her head. Tears stung at the insides of her eyes. "I'd give all the money in the world for someone to love me." She wiped her eyes. She didn't want to get all sentimental, but it was inevitable to break down when she remembered her parents' indifference.

Jimmy wrapped his arms around her and pulled her against his chest. "Jessie, you are loved. Don't ever doubt that. There's someone out there for everyone." He stroked her hair. "If you haven't received any love from your family, you'll get it tenfold from somewhere else."

She hugged him back. I wish I'd get it from you. Why? Why did she wish that? But she had no energy left to deny it. Her heart began to race, but, for once, she didn't care.

"Feeling better?" Jimmy raised her chin and she nodded. "Good. Now let me show you how to get past that ingenious trap of mine."

*

"She's drooling all over you, and it bothers me," Alice said, walking behind Jimmy.

"I thought you weren't talking to me anymore," he mumbled.

Alice grabbed his arm and pulled him back. "Unlike you, I've missed you. It's hard for me to stay away."

"Who said I haven't missed you, too?" He hadn't, not really. Did that make him an awful person? "Let's not talk about Jessie, okay?" Before one of them said something they'd both regret.

"Okay. I know she's nothing but an assignment, but I can't help being jealous. You haven't shown you love me lately."

Jimmy raised his eyebrows. He'd never even thought the word love around Alice, let alone say it. But he was glad she seemed less prone to nag him and more like the fun girl he met.

"An assignment that means nothing to you. You're only doing it because no one trusts her." Alice's tone became more vicious with every word. "And once you prove she's a traitor, we'll abandon her to the animals."

Jimmy frowned. Scratch the nice girl, cue in the bitch again. She was grinning, looking over his shoulder, malice in her eyes. And he finally got it.

"Jessie's right behind me, isn't she?" He turned around without waiting for an answer. Of course she was, her fists clenched and looking more ferocious than he'd ever seen her.

"An assignment?" Her voice trembled. "You bastard!"

Jimmy flinched, expecting her to charge at him. Instead, she wheeled around and rushed through the trees, disappearing out of sight.

Alice cheered. "It was about time someone put her in her place!"

"And you figured it should be you? You meant for her to overhear." He'd never been so angry with her. "How can you ...?" He groaned and walked away before he said something he'd regret.

"Jimmy, don't leave me standing here!" she called out, but he ignored her.

Why are you holding on to her? Break up already! Yeah? And then what? Prove to himself that he was damaged beyond repair? No, he had other things to do now anyway. Like find Jessie.

He rushed toward the edge of camp and almost hit Sam head on, which would've been a disaster since his brother carried a bucket of water.

"Sam, we have a problem."

"Just one?" Sam mumbled dropping the bucket. "What's up?"

"Jessie disappeared. She found out I'm tracking her."

Sam clenched his fists in a rare show of anger. "Why on earth would you tell her that? Of course she got pissed and ran off. For all we know, she could have run to fetch Snitch Gravel."

"I didn't tell her. Alice did," Jimmy said between his teeth. "She was talking to me, but Jessie was right behind me and overheard. And she's not going to fetch Snitch Gravel. She's not a traitor. She's obviously upset to find out we don't trust her. We're supposed to be her friends."

"Alice," Sam snarled, but didn't comment further. "Let's go find Jessie."

Jimmy nodded and ran towards his tent to grab his survival kit. When he came back, he noticed Sam had done the same and was pulling at the straps nervously. Standing a foot away from his newest deadly trap.

"I forgot to tell everyone not to get out through here. It's where the new trap is. It's difficult to avoid," he mumbled.

Sam waved him away. "Forget that. Let's go. We can look for Tom while we're at it."

Jimmy froze on the spot. "Why? Where's Tom?"

Sam sighed. "If I knew, we wouldn't have to look for him. He apparently had some sort of nervous meltdown and disappeared."

Nervous meltdown? What the...? Had everyone gone insane?

Sam shoved Jimmy forward, but stopped abruptly. The bushes in front of them rustled. Jessie came into view, only that she wasn't alone anymore. Snitch Gravel grasped her arm, shoving her forward. Eye Patch followed, a group of men right behind him.

"You seem surprised to see me." Snitch Gravel tightened his grip on Jessie's arm. "You probably thought I wouldn't get past the ingenious trap of yours. I wouldn't have without help."

Sam grabbed on to Jimmy's shoulder before he could lunge at Snitch Gravel. Jimmy shoved his hand off, his whole body tense and ready to snap.

"Come on! Don't tell me you never suspected her. I've infiltrated her a lot more obviously than I did Gina. She's a much better spy, too."

"I'm not your spy," Jessie said between her teeth. Her eyes shot daggers in Snitch Gravel's direction. But as she turned her gaze to Sam and Jimmy, it was just as unfriendly.

"If you want to get all technical." Snitch Gravel shrugged. "You did your job, I paid you so you're technically not my spy anymore."

Jessie jerked out of Snitch Gravel's grip. "How did I ever help you?"

"You led me inside camp."

Jessie seemed lost for words. She wasn't denying it. Why wasn't she denying it, telling Snitch Gravel to go to hell? Cold made its way through Jimmy's bones as understanding finally dawned on him. He'd been such a bloody idiot. Again.

"I vouched for you." Jimmy's voice shook and he clenched his fists. "I took your side in front of everyone. I tried to convince them to trust you. I thought we—" He thought they what?

"An assignment," Jessie spat out, no longer even trying to pretend to like them.

"I believed you!" Jimmy yelled. God, she'd played him with such ease, pretending so well. The girl deserved a freakin' Oscar. "Assignment nothing! Why did you do this?"

"You idiot!" Jessie yelled back. "How could you believe the enemy over me?" She turned and made to punch Snitch Gravel. Eye Patch grabbed her arms. She struggled and rose off the ground, trying to kick someone. "Is this what you want?"

Jimmy made to step towards her, but Sam pulled him back. Why was he trying to get her out of trouble? Because her words, her attitude confused the hell out of him. She kept struggling to escape Eye Patch's grip, kicking at the air, trying to fall back. Snitch Gravel blocked their view of her. When he pulled back, Jessie wasn't moving anymore.

Jimmy swallowed the knot in his throat. "Did you tell her to quit acting?"

Snitch Gravel grinned and held up a syringe. "No. She was trouble, so I decided to kill her."

Jimmy felt as if someone had punched him in the stomach. Jessie couldn't be dead! He had to get close and check.

"Damn it, I call no chemical warfare!" Sam said.

Snitch Gravel let out a short, manic laugh. "Of course."

All the color drained from Jimmy's face as he started doing the math again. "Why would you kill your own...?"

"You're a bit slow. You're surprised that I would lie to turn you against each other? She's right. You are an idiot."

Yes, yes he was. A furious idiot. "You killed her," he said between his teeth. He covered the space between him and Snitch Gravel and stuck his gun to Snitch Gravel's forehead before his men could make a move.

"Jimmy, wait!" Sam called, but Jimmy didn't care. He didn't even bother with dramatically cocking the gun. The bullet would shoot out anyway. He half-pressed the trigger when Snitch Gravel raised his hands.

"She's not dead."

Jimmy's eyes narrowed and he loosened the trigger, but didn't pull away. He wasn't level headed enough to negotiate Jessie's release. Sam could jump in any second now.

"Well, this doesn't look good," Snitch Gravel grumbled.

Yes, the barrel of a gun in your face never looked good. Jimmy would know, he'd lived through the experience. All the reasons he had to kill Snitch Gravel swirled inside his head and his finger applied more pressure on the trigger. It would be so easy to blow his brains out. Though that would probably send Snitch Gravel's cronies into a shooting frenzy. They had already pointed their guns at him. And he wouldn't risk his brothers' lives in any way.

"It was about time we cornered the rat," Kyle mumbled and Jimmy guessed the rest of the group had joined the party. Hopefully armed and ready.

Snitch Gravel squinted over Jimmy's shoulder as thought trying to find the weak link. "I can't believe I have to retreat from you pathetic bunch."

"What makes you think we'll let you retreat?" Sam's smirk reflected in his voice.

"You. Brat." Eye Patch nodded towards Jimmy. "Step away from the boss or I'll really kill your girlfriend."

Jimmy's eyes left Snitch Gravel's face for the briefest moment. Eye Patch picked Jessie up and pointed his gun against her head. Jimmy hesitated for another second, but took a couple of steps back. There was no way in hell he was endangering Jessie.

"You do realize that you've brought this game to the next level, don't you?" There was no trace of amusement in Snitch Gravel's voice. He snapped his fingers and his men disappeared through the trees.

Eye Patch started after them, dragging Jessie after him, still pointing the gun at her.

"You're not taking her anywhere." Jimmy aimed his gun at Snitch Gravel's head again.

Snitch Gravel scowled at him. "You know what? I think I'll take my chances with you. As unpredictable as you are, you won't shoot me. Not when I have her." He nodded toward Jessie.

Unfortunately, he was right. Jimmy holstered him gun and tackled Eye Patch to the ground. He dropped Jessie and struggled to get Jimmy off him. Jimmy rolled on top of him and punched him in the face. A short whistle sounded then many hands grabbed him, tearing him away from Eye Patch.

"Let him go!" Sam ordered.

Jimmy was not let go. Instead, the men who'd grabbed him dragged him through the trees, after Snitch Gravel's retreating back.

"If you follow, I'll shoot them both," Snitch Gravel called over his shoulder.

Great, he'd gotten himself in the worst mess possible. At least Jessie was with him. He only had to wait for the right moment to escape and get both of them out of there. Only.

🔷🔷🔷

The Grant brothers are a bunch of idiots, I think we can all agree on that by now.

So... this chapter. Do you trust Jessie or is Jimmy gonna get his ass handed to him?

Thanks so much for reading and don't forget to vote and comment.