Loving Jiro by Jordyn Tracey Read Free Book Online Page A

what you don't know."
    Tears filled the girl's eyes. “I'm sorry. Don't be mad at me, Ms. Kiara. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings. I would never want to do that."
    Kiara said nothing. She closed her notebook and sat it on the desk. She glanced up to see that Eiji was in his usual spot, and she left Ayumi sitting in her chair while she crossed to the hall leading to the bathroom. Once inside, she let her tears fall. For a few minutes, she indulged in self-pity and then blew her nose, wiped her face and turned to go. A man blocked the exit. She cried out and stumbled back away from him.
    "See this, Ms. Jackson?” He held up a gun with a silencer on the end. Her chest constricted. “If you don't cooperate with me, I will put a bullet through your heart, and then I will put one in that pretty girl. Do you want that?"
    She couldn't find her voice, but shook her head.
    "Good.” He flipped unkempt blond hair back over his forehead. “I want you to lean out the door and call Ayumi to you. If the bodyguard looks suspicious, say you need Ayumi to bring your purse, because you have female issues. Got it?"
    Forcing herself to calm down, she swallowed. “Just take me, okay? Leave Ayumi out of this."
    He laughed. “Why would I do that? She is the prize, not you. Although I will take you too to keep her in line. I hate kids.” He waved the gun. “Do it now."
    Searching her mind for some way of escape, Kiara leaned out the bathroom door. She did not want to put Ayumi at risk, and wondered if she could somehow signal to Eiji that someone was in the bathroom with her. As she leaned out about to call, a girl she had seen around the center skipped up to the door. Kiara blocked the way. “Sorry, sweetie, there's a problem in here. Can you use the one on the second floor?"
    The girl nodded and hurried away. A jab in Kiara's back made her cry out. “Get on with it,” the man whispered.
    "A-Ayumi, c-can you bring me my purse please?” she called.
    The man behind her growled. “You can do better than that. She barely heard you. Call her again, and this time, stop the damn quivering in your voice."
    She swallowed, willing Jiro to come, but they still had an hour to go in the lesson. She remembered surmising whether he took off to kill someone in between dropping Ayumi off and picking her up. Surely, it didn't work that neatly. In the weeks she had known him, she had deftly avoided confronting him about his work. The joy of the moments in his presence, living for even such a short period without fear, had been indescribable. Now she wasn't so sure, not with a gun pressed in her back.
    "Ayumi,” she called out louder, “please bring me my purse."
    Eiji rounded the corner alert. She forced a smile. “Okay?” She knew he spoke little English.
    She nodded. “Female problems.” At his confusion and the pressure in her back, she pointed downward toward her vagina. Eiji went so pale she thought he would faint. Ayumi bounded around the corner with her purse, an eager look in her eyes. Kiara guessed she was happy she was not mad at the girl anymore. Guilt hit her hard.
    When they were both inside with the door firmly shut and locked quietly by the man with the weapon, Kiara gathered Ayumi in her arms, muttering, “I'm sorry, baby. I'm so sorry."
    Ayumi seemed calmer than she was, but she held onto Kiara, unmoving. Only after the gunman led them both around the stalls did she realize the bathroom had been built with another door inside. Once through it, she discovered the ladies room connected directly with the men's room. At the other exit, which let out into a different hallway, the man unlocked the door and she saw that he had put up an Out of Service sign on the door. He tucked his gun away, and took Kiara's arm in a firm grip.
    Determining that she would do whatever it took to get Ayumi to safety, she was about to stomp the guy's foot when she felt a prick in her arm. She yelped, looked down, and her world spun into darkness.
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