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“You seem to think he’s actually good with computers,” Seong interrupted, thinking fast. He had to get Peacock’s interest away from Thomas. Before he tried things that would reveal too much. “He’s not-”
“Don’t try that,” Peacock snapped and Thomas made another sound. “Don’t you try to pretend like he did that you are the only reason he can do what he did the other night. I’ve taken apart that little program of yours installed in his phone. What he managed was not something it can do. Don’t. Lie. To. Me!”
Seong swallowed thickly. “He doesn’t want to be a hacker, Peacock,” he said, hating how his voice twisted into a plea. “He doesn’t want to know what we know.”
“It’s too late for that,” he said bluntly. “He is one. Not only is he a hacker but he’s also like them. What is it you call them? Made men.” He laughed softly. “It’ll be a good thing to have him around. I’m sick of dealing with those bastards. Between what you know from the Italian bastards stealing you away and him, I won’t have to listen to their bullshit anymore.”
Seong’s eyes darted up to the others, seeing their surprised mirrored in his own. “You-”
“Knew where you were,” Peacock finished. “Of course I did. That uncle of yours never could cover his tracks. It was really only a matter of time before he got himself killed. I had thought that you would come home to me once he ‘disappeared,’ but I suppose you still needed time to get the rebellious stage out. Now it’s time to come home. Don’t worry. I’m not angry anymore about how you left me. It’s all been forgiven now that I’ve seen AlleyCat. I’ve already worked it out with the locals. They’ll get you away from the ones who came with you and someone will bring you to me.”
Seong glanced up again and Brutus gave him a silent nod, Bat’s face going bright red with anger. “I-”
“You don’t have to thank me, Popi,” he cooed. “Not yet. There will be plenty of time to do that when we see each other. Just like old times. See you soon.”
Seong held up a hand when someone drew a breath and turned his phone off. “Okay,” he said softly once the power was completely down. “Now you can start yelling.”
“Thank you for permission,” Bat said, rounding back on Brutus. “WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH THESE PEOPLE!?”
“Why are you shouting at me,” Brutus growled.
“BECAUSE I CAN’T YELL AT ANYONE ELSE AND YELLING AT THE AIR DOESN’T WORK!” He took a deep breath when Brutus glared at him. “Okay, I’m pulling it back.” He glanced at Seong. “I know he’s a narcissist, but has he always been this delusional?”
Seong had kept his eyes on his phone, his stomach twisting into knots. “I can’t answer that,” he whispered finally. “I— he was always claiming things were his design or his plan even when he didn’t have anything to do with it, but this… I don’t know. I thought Finnegan was bad trying to gaslight Issac into thinking he hadn’t murdered his parents, but this is just another level.”
“Do you think he’s telling the truth about the person bringing you to him, or is that another delusion,” Felinus asked, finally joining them with his hand on his hip.
Seong looked up at him, frowning. “I- I don’t know. This isn’t anything like what I’ve seen from him before.” His eyes darted away, trying to think. “There’s- there’s a chance he thinks he has more sway and power over the locals than he actually does. He makes them a lot of money. Peacock always thought money was the most important thing. Money is how he measures power and importance. But we know that money is only part of what is important in our world. That having money doesn’t mean you have power and vice versa. He’s egotistical enough that he probably thinks they like him even as he insults them.” He looked back up, locking his eyes on Felinus. “We have to get him back-”
Felinus’s hands rested on Seong’s shoulders, staring into his eyes. “We’re going to,” he said in his calm, firm voice. “Just as you helped me get Issac back, I am going to help you get Thomas back. And God help anyone who gets in our way.”
Choice
Thomas kept his eyes closed. Comparably, Peacock’s “time out” was better than Finnegan’s punishments. The fact that he thought getting handcuffed to a chair and gagged with a bar was better than getting cut with a knife or burned with a cigarette was probably something he needed to examine with his therapist.
If I ever see my therapist again, he thought then shook his head, squeezing his eyes tighter. He hadn’t been able to tell where Seong was on the call, but he knew that he wasn’t going to give in the way Peacock thought he was. The bastard was as cocky as his namesake and him being able to get Thomas to the warehouse only seemed to bolster his confidence.
It was the Game that seemed to set him off. He told Thomas to play it against one of the others, a guy who didn’t look much older than Thomas. It was clear enough by how the other guy stared at Peacock that he was in too deep. Thomas pitied him. Peacock was just handsy enough that Thomas didn’t think Seong’s story was a one time event. Maybe the guy thought he was “the only one” or maybe he just wanted Peacock’s attention.
He hadn’t looked happy when Peacock dragged Thomas into the back of the warehouse where dozens of computers were set up— some running programs, others off, three with a blue screen of death. He had practically pouted when Peacock introduced Thomas as “AlleyCat” and the newest apprentice. Then he all but shoved Thomas at one of the still-working computers and called “Gravel” to play.
Thomas tried to tell him that he only knew what the Game was but not how to play it, that without Seong’s program he didn’t know the first thing about how to attack another person’s computer. He was ignored.
He did give it a shot. If nothing else, it seemed to make Gravel feel better to hear Thomas typing at his keyboard as he broke into the computer and searched for the file. All he could really do was keep moving the file around; that killed about five minutes before Gravel found it.
“Do it again,” Peacock had snarled, glaring down at Thomas. “For real this time.”
“I can only defend,” Thomas had tried again to tell him, only for Peacock to grab his jaw and squeeze.
“Enough lies, kitten,” he hissed. “Do it right or I’ll put you in time out.”
Gravel had whimpered and Thomas had assumed it was from fear.
In the present moment, he shifted his wrists, hearing the chain clattering. Maybe it had been fear. Maybe to a normal person, being handcuffed and gagged in a space that was a little bigger than a closet was something to be afraid of.
Thomas was tired of wondering all the time what normal people did. He didn’t know how long he was alone, but he spent a good amount of time pondering how Danny, Kevin, or Mark would have responded to all of this without Thomas there.
Simple, he concluded. They would have gotten their accounts drained, their identities stolen, and would have called Sean and Marcus, who would have called O’Hare to get them home and “fix” everything.
