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The chair hit the back of Thomas’s leg as he went to stand, pushing him back down. “Don’t,” the man said calmly when Thomas winced, the man’s leg still between Thomas’s calves where he had hooked the chair forward. “Let’s not be coy with each other. That was impressive. Your defenses were unexpected but that attack was a stroke of genius.”
“I have no idea what you are talking about,” Thomas told him, making himself frown like the man was speaking gibberish. “I think you have me mistaken for someone else. I’m a pacifist. Never even been in a fight before.”
Something dangerous flashed in the man’s eyes as Thomas started to stand up again. A hand shot out, wrapping around Thomas’s wrist like a vise. “We aren’t done here.”
Panic clawed at Thomas’s throat as the fingers tightened. He was frozen, waiting for his sleeve to be pushed back, for his punishment to break the skin of his forearm.
A dark shadow fell over them, a large hand reaching into Thomas’s tunneling vision. “Let go of him,” Kevin snarled, as he wrapped his hand around the man’s wrist and squeezed.
The man flinched, his fingers relaxing all at once on Thomas and leaned back. “Seems your friend isn’t nearly as much of a pacifist as you are.”
“Kev,” Thomas hissed, his eyes darting to a man at a nearby table standing up to look over at them.
“Peacock,” a still-seated man at the same table said, placing dominoes in front of him. “Are you stirring up trouble?”
FUCK! Thomas glanced at the man still sitting at their table, his eyes locked on Thomas as another smile curled his lips.
“No trouble,” Peacock said evenly.
“Then those boys should get going,” the domino man said, still not looking up. “Mainlander’s stomachs can be quite sensitive. They shouldn’t ruin their vacation so soon.”
The man standing at the other table jerked his head when Thomas glanced their way.
Thomas didn’t need to be told twice. Grabbing Kevin’s arm, he dragged him away to where Danny and Mark were standing by the door.
“Thom-” Danny started but Thomas just grabbed his hand as he passed and dragged him out too, Mark wisely moving through the door ahead of them.
“Keep walking,” Thomas hissed at them as he turned in the opposite direction of their hotel. “Don’t look back.”
“Thomas, what’s going on-”
“Keep walking,” Thomas repeated, his breathing coming out in short bursts.
“Thomas,” Danny said again, pulling his hand hard to bring them into a gap between the buildings and pushing him against the wall. “Breathe! Just breathe.”
Thomas took a deep breath and felt it shudder in his chest. He looked at Danny and the image of him blurred.
“It’s okay,” Danny whispered, his hands coming up to Thomas’s face and wiping at the tears as they spilled over. “Just keep breathing.”
“What the hell happened,” Mark said, quietly enough that Thomas wasn’t sure he was talking to him.
“I-I’m not sure,” Kevin said softly. “Thomas connected to the internet in there and started freaking out. I think someone tried to hack his phone.”
“Not tried, did,” Thomas breathed, pressing his hands over Danny’s as he closed his eyes. He thought of Seong and the time he had taken in the last month to teach Thomas how to counter an attack like that. “I got them out again but I-” He opened his eyes. “Our rooms— they aren’t under our names, right?”
“No, no,” Danny said, frowning, “they’re under O’Hare’s name. What do you mean you got them out? You said Snake didn’t teach hacking?”
“We need to get off the street,” Thomas told him instead of answering, thinking of the man who had told Peacock to let them leave. He didn’t seem to want the four of them to be around but he also had the impression that Peacock didn’t work directly for the man. If he was the same man Seong had told him about, Thomas was sure his ego wouldn’t allow him to work under someone else.
“What are you talking about,” Danny asked him, his hands tightening on Thomas’s face. “What’s going on?”
“Danny,” Mark said softly. “Let him breathe.”
“Yeah, Danny,” Kevin added. “If he’s saying we need to get off the street, then we need to listen.” He looked at Thomas. “Just tell us what to do.”
Thomas pulled Danny’s hands off his face and stepped into him, resting his forehead against Danny’s shoulder. Inhaling slowly, he took in the faint smell of sweat and sunscreen that had replaced the pine and cinnamon since baseball season had started. He wanted to pretend that they were back home, that it was after a game or practice and they were about to steal away to a private spot to make out, that there wasn’t danger hanging above their heads. “We need to get off the street,” he repeated. “But we need to make sure we aren’t followed back to the hotel.” He chewed on his lip, weighing his options, what the next thing would be. “Then I need to make a phone call…” He glanced up at Danny, searching the confused lines of his face. “And I need to tell you some things…”
Plans
