Love and Gravity (8 page)

Jack took Margot’s legs and put
them up on his shoulders. As the angle of her pelvis changed Margot felt him as
though he had just entered her all over again. The sensation was intense and
overwhelming. He was taking her hard now.

Jack put her legs back down and
leaned in to kiss her.

“Jack, I want you to cum inside
me,” Margot said.

“Are you sure,” Jack asked? Margot
could see the yearning in his eyes as he kept thrusting into her.

“Please, please…,” Margot begged.
She felt him growing harder as she pleaded.

Jack started thrusting faster into
her. Her pleas made him feel helpless to stop himself. He swelled bigger inside
her as he thrust until the thought of cumming in her was too much for him to
hold back any longer. He kissed her passionately and started cumming, pressing
deeply into her.

Jack stayed inside of her until he
had finished completely, and kissed her afterwards. He fell onto the bed beside
Margot and took her hand in his as they both lay still, feeling deeply
satisfied and together. Margot felt peaceful and completely happy. No one could
ever take this night away from her now.

They eventually prepared
themselves for sleep, and lay in the bed cuddled together like kittens, saying
nothing. Margot fell asleep feeling his heartbeat against her back and his
light breath on her neck. Jack fell asleep feeling her soft waist beneath his
arm and smelling the flowery, warm scent of her hair.

Chapter 8
-

The next day Jack and Margot had a
late breakfast at a local greasy spoon. As they sat in the cafe booth, munching
on pancakes and coffee, Margot couldn’t help but recall the shooting at The
Early Byrd. She remembered seeing Jack’s wounded arm in their getaway truck,
and seeing it again when he came out of the shower to take her. She felt
herself flush with heat thinking of that moment.

“Jack…,” Margot began to speak.

She wanted to tell him how much he
meant to her, how appreciative she was for his help, and how much she regretted
that they wouldn’t know each other after today. But the emotions all coalesced
together into a ball that got stuck in her throat.

“Margot, it’s okay. Me, too.” Jack
reached his hand out to hers and squeezed her fingers in his palm.

Margot fought the tears that were
threatening to well in her eyes. She didn’t want to face her future with
sadness, or feel like a victim of circumstance anymore. She didn’t want tears,
only steps forward into a future she couldn’t imagine yet. Still, she was going
to miss him. She regretted that she would never know him better, almost as much
as she cherished knowing him the way she did now. She felt heavy and strong at
the same time.

“Are you ready to go,” Jack asked
her?

“Yeah, I’m ready,” Margot said,
and she couldn’t help notice how much she really meant it.

An hour later they pulled up to
the address Frank had given for the meeting. It was an abandoned air strip on
the outskirts of the city. There were a few broken down planes and vehicles
littering the strip, and a large hangar with a newish car parked inside of it.

“Frankie must be in the hangar.
He’s a real nerd for planes,” Jack said, driving their dilapidated Beetle
towards it.

“Frank’s a great guy Margot,
you’re going to be in good hands. You know I wouldn’t let you go if I didn’t
know you were going to be okay, right?”

“Yeah I know. I doubt I’ll like
Frankie as much as I like you though,” she said, smiling.

“I hope not,” Jack said, laughing
softly as he parked the car beside the hangar. Margot thought she saw him
blushing a little. She got out of the car and walked over to Jack.

“Before we meet Frank…,” Margot
said and reached her hands to his face. Jack leant down and kissed her slowly
and warmly, then hugged her close to him for what felt like a very long, very
short time.

They began to walk towards the
strange car, and as his eyes adjusted to the darkness Jack saw the familiar
shape of Detective Mueller. He was pointing a gun at Frank, who he’d gagged and
bound down on his knees.

“Jesus,” Jack said and pushed
Margot back out from the hangar as Mueller fired off a missed shot at them,
pulling his gun.

“Stay over there,” Jack said to
Margot, who was hiding behind the side of the building. Jack peeked around the
corner into the hangar and Mueller fired off another round at him.

“Mueller, what are you doing
here,” Jack shouted?

“Nice to see you too, partner,”
Mueller said. “You know what I’m doing here. I can’t let you and the broad
leave Malone, you know that. The Fed’s alive for now. I’ll let him live if you
give me the girl and surrender.”

“I can’t do that Mueller,” Jack
said, peeking into the hangar again.

Mueller fired at him but missed,
and as he aimed at Jack again, Jack pointed his gun at Mueller’s shoulder and
fired.

“Shit!” He heard Mueller yelp as
the bullet lodged into him. He staggered back and put his hand up to his wound.
His hand was covered in blood as he pulled it away. Jack steadied his aim at
Mueller’s head.

“I could shoot you again Mueller,
but I think I’d rather arrest you,” Jack said. “It doesn’t have to get any
worse. You’re injured, you’re bleeding, and I have my gun aimed right at you.
Just drop your gun, and we can both walk out of here.”

Mueller was bleeding but a heavy
flow of adrenaline was masking the pain. He would still be able to aim. He
would rather die than give Malone the satisfaction of arresting him. It was
time to gamble.

“You know Jack that makes a lot of
sense. I think maybe you’re right. It looks like you win super-cop.”

Mueller began to raise his hands
slowly.

“Drop the gun Mueller,” Jack said,
focusing his aim on Mueller’s chest.

“Alright Jack, take it easy,”
Mueller said, smiling. “I’m putting down the gun.” He continued raising his
arms but didn’t let go of the gun. He suddenly snapped his aim onto Malone to
fire a quick shot, but Malone fired first and hit Mueller in the chest. Mueller
fell to the ground. It was hard for him to breath. Jack had hit him in the
lung. Blood sputtered from Mueller’s lips as he gasped for air. Jack walked
over to him swiftly, kicking the gun away from Mueller’s hand and looking down
just as his body stopped struggling for air and the light left his eyes. Jack
leaned down to check his pulse and found nothing.

He walked over to Frank and untied
his hands, then went out to Margot and offered her his hand, pulling her up
from the ground.

“Is he dead,” Margot asked?

“Yeah,” Jack said grimly. “He’s
dead.” He never liked Mueller, but he didn’t savor killing him.

“Holy shit Jack, I’m sorry I
couldn’t warn you faster.” Frank came out of the hangar towards them. “I parked
the car and got out, next thing I know that fucker hits me over the head with
his gun and everything just fades to black. I never saw him coming.”

“It’s okay Frank. Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’ll be fine,” Frank said,
rubbing his head.

“That was just a small taste of
the kind of violence that Pop is promoting in Gravity. You can see his
influence is not insignificant. That dead guy was my partner on the force.”

He reached into his trouser pocket
and pulled out a flash drive.

“This has all the evidence I’ve
been able to get on Pop. Tax fraud, blackmail, prostitution, gambling. The list
goes on. And Margot here can testify to his taking a hit out on some pros that
were killed last week.” Jack looked at the other man intently. “Frank, some
real bad guys are going to want her. She needs some heavy supervision.”

”No worries Jack, I’ve got the
message. I’m calling in for some back up right now, and I’ve already got the
okay from my supervisors to offer her witness protection.” He took out his
phone and hit a number on speed-dial. He looked over to Margot.

“It’s nice to finally meet you
Margot. I’m Agent Frank Bradshaw. I’m glad Jack’s taken such good care of you.”
Frank said, reaching his hand out to shake hers.

A voice on the phone responded to
Frank’s call.

“Hey Joe, it’s Frank. I’m gonna
need some back up. I’ve got a witness here that needs to be put in protection,
and a detective that needs some transportation. I’ve also got a body. We’re
gonna need a bus, alright?” He gave the voice their location. “Thanks Joe,” he
said, before hanging up the phone.

“Don’t you worry, Margot. You’re
going to have a whole team of agents taking care of you now. Jack, are you sure
you’re going to be safe?”

“Yeah Frank, I’ll be fine. I need
to get back to Gravity. And when you guys come in to get Pop, I want you to let
me know. I want to be there.”

“Sure thing kid,” Frank replied.

A half hour later the back-up
arrived to take Margot and Jack away. They said goodbye to each other and
hugged briefly. Jack watched as Margot was helped into an unmarked car by Frank
and another agent. He waved to her through the car window and watched as they
drove off. He looked over and saw the EMS team loading Mueller’s body into the
back of an ambulance. He walked over to a car with two agents that were going
to drive him to a train station so he could get back home.

“Are you ready to go sir,” an
agent asked?

Jack looked to the car Margot was
in as it drove off down the road. He felt sad and tired

“Yeah, let’s go,” Jack said,
opening the car door and getting in the backseat.

Epilogue
–

Six months had passed since Margot
entered witness protection. To everyone around her she was Jenna Wyman now. She
lived in a beautiful studio apartment on the fourteenth floor of her building.
She had a Golden Retriever puppy named Ralphie who kept her company while she
painted at night, and a gallery debut coming up in three weeks. During the day
she worked as an art teacher at a local private school.  

Tomorrow she would finally be able
testify against Pop in open court, and put her past fully to rest. Frank and
another agent would be escorting her during her plane ride in the morning. She
would testify in the afternoon and be whisked back home immediately after.

She laid her outfit for court out
on her bed. It was a white and grey V-neck blouse, a black skirt that stopped
just above her knees, and soft, flat black shoes. She poured herself a second
glass of red wine in the kitchen and stepped out onto her balcony. The sun had
set and the city below her was specked and dashed with lights and the busy
motion of cars. After tomorrow I’ll be free forever, she thought.

When Margot was called to testify
she walked up to the witness box slowly. She could see Pop sneering at her from
behind the defendants table. She looked at him coolly, with an emotionless
gaze. He had no power over her any more. She was unafraid.

She testified fully and truthfully
to all she knew about Pop and his organization, and withstood cross examination
well. The prosecuting attorney looked heartened afterwards and smiled
graciously as she walked by him on her way down the aisle to the courtroom
doors.

Margot walked out of the courtroom
and as the door closed behind her, she looked up and saw Jack sitting on a
bench in the hallway, wearing a black suit and tie. He was there to testify.

He stood up when he saw her, his
blue eyes flashing in recognition. Margot’s heart skipped a beat and an
unnamable mélange of feelings swelled into her head.

After a stunned moment, she resumed
walking until she was beside him, and silently reached for his hand. Jack
smiled, feeling her soft fingers surrounding his, and looked at her. Her eyes
were unbearably full and there were tears welling in them. He opened his mouth
to speak.

“Jack Malone.” A court officer
called out forcefully to Jack from the open courtroom door.

Jack looked over at the officer,
then looked back at Margot. The tears were running down her cheeks now, but she
looked exquisitely happy. She let go of his hand and turned to walk down the
hallway. Jack followed her with his eyes as long as he could before the
courtroom door took her from his view.