Page 12 of Jude

‘Are they here in the airport?’

Again, she nodded.

‘Are they armed?’

My skin crawled as she once again confirmed my question.

‘Damn, you’re in a freakin’ hot water. I can help, babe.’

She shook her head, eyeing me, honing in on my different accent.

‘You can’t help me, you’re not American, or a poliziotto.’

‘Police?’

She nodded.

‘Listen to me,’ I rasped. ‘I sound Australian because I am, but my mother is married to the Sheriff of this county. He’s an honorable man. He can sort you out without these transit cops or worse, ICE putting you in zip-ties and taking you away. Understood?’

She blinked, terror still dancing in her eyes, and nodded once.

I pulled my phone from my pocket and hit the direct line for my stepdad, Sheriff Kian Martinez. He picked up on the second ring.

‘Kian. It’s Jude,’ I grated, my throat on fire.

‘You on the ground, son?’

Kian’s voice was a deep, steady rumble.

He’d treated me as his since the day he met my mother on a Sydney beach twenty years ago.

He was a solid, uncompromising man who’d hauled a fatherless kid out of a future filled with drugs, drinking, and petty theft.

‘Yeah, I’m at Terminal One,’ I rasped, turning my back to screen Sofia from the ticket agent. ‘Look, I’ve got a situation with a woman trying to buy a ticket. She’s panicking because she’s running from someone, I believe; she’s cornered and terrified. Can you help?’

Kian took an inhale. ‘Not my usual -.’

‘She’s being threatened and says she’s got the mob on her back. She claims whoever she was with is also armed. I wouldn’t call you if I didn’t think it was serious.’

Kian trusted my judgment and experience; at least I hoped he did.

He whistled under his breath.

‘The fuck? Mafia, you say? You should have led with that. I’ll send my deputies down from the airport sub-station now. Stay with the girl if you can, son. Meet the guys outside near the Uber pickup. I’m with the mayor right now, but I’ll be at the precinct in a few.’

‘I’ll hang tight with her, thanks.’

I ended the call and rubbed the back of my neck.

I was shattered to the core, keen to get to my mum’s place and crash.

Every muscle in my legs screamed for a hot shower and a bed.

Yet, when I gazed down at Sofia beside me, a sudden knot of compassion tightened in my chest.

I didn’t believe in ever leaving someone stranded just because they were an inconvenience.

Sticking with her until she was safe was a matter of basic human decency.