She drops her voice to a vicious growl, “Tell me what the 144k’s done with her.”
Ooh… She’s so close with that one. Normally, I’d laugh at the irony. But out of respect for her efforts, I look her in the eyes with complete seriousness to tell her the truth: “Nothing.”
“Bullshit.”
And now there’s a gun pointed at me.
Joy.
I rub the back of my neck, wondering how I’m going to talk my way out of this. “Ah… I don’t mean to insult your interrogation skills, darling. You’re doing a great job, and I’m sure Kae would do the same for you if the roles were reversed. But unfortunately, I am telling the truth. The 144k have nothing to do with this. I’m only here because she was worried aboutyoursafety. Truly. It was the last thing she said to me before Abaddon whisked her away.”
“I don’t believe you.” She’s so confident, even her aim doesn’t sway. “Tell me exactly what she said, how she said it. Don’t even think about lying to me, either.”
That would be a lot easier if I weren’t worried about controlling the ricochet of the bullet she thinks would kill me.
“Exactly as it happened: We had just finished a long work meeting, where I was assigned a particularly dangerous and important deployment. It was also a couple of hours after I found out about her engagement, and her husband-to-be is not too excited to have me around anymore, so… I was saying goodbye. Kae was upset, but she mentioned your name. I asked if you were in trouble and needed rescuing. She nodded yes, then Abaddon kicked me out, and I haven’t heard from her since. That was… two days ago, I think? I’ve been a bit busy and haven’t slept, so my days are running together.”
Jackie stares at me for a moment.
I wait.
It’s a rather long moment.
Finally, she lets out one of the deepest, most dramatic sighs I’ve ever heard. If I wasn’t convinced she’s part dragon before, I am now.
Slowly, she holsters her gun back in her waistband.
“You. Fucking. Idiot!” Her eyes flare open again.
I have a single second to be surprised before she’s throwing things off the coffee table at me.
“Stop, please.” I duck, a TV remote narrowly missing my forehead. “I know, I know. I fucked up. But believe me, she’s better off without?—”
“No, you fucking dumbass fuck! She is not okay! Haveyou never met an abused woman? EVER? Tell me, did she actually seem happy the last time you saw her, or did she have new social anxiety? How, exactly, did she act around this Abaddon guy? You know, the one she’s only known a few months, who has somehow convinced her to marry him, suddenly and without her telling anyone who matters to her?”
I bite my lip.
Come to think of it, Kae didn’t look happyat allfor someone who just got engaged. I thought she was upset over me leaving, but… she could hardly even look me in the eyes the whole day... and the engagement was quite sudden…
God forgive me. I’ve been so vain.
Sensing my hesitation, Jackie goes off the deep end.
“You come into my house, my mom’s house, of all people, and—and—” She pauses to scream in primal female rage. “Stupid! So stupid! We have to go get her out, right fucking now!”
I blow out a breath of hot air. I’ve royallyfucked up. Way more than I thought possible. “Well, Jackie. I’m all for breaking Kae out, but that’s a bit easier said than done.”
“Why? Because she’s in Israel? Or is she somewhere worse now?”
I raise an eyebrow, curious about how much she knows. Kae seems to have trusted her with a lot of sensitive information. And if I need to get Kae out of the literal pit she’s fallen in, I might need Jackie’s help… But would she want her best friend put in danger?… Well, sheisthe one who directed me here. After she… begged me to stay...
“Fuck!” I groan, frustrated, running an erratic hand through my hair. I feel like ripping it out, growing it back, and ripping it out again. And I’m pacing, I realize. I don’t know when I started pacing, but I stop in my tracks, turning to Jackie. “How much do you want the truth?”
“How much do I want the truth?” She repeats me, flabbergasted. “You must know nothing about me, Malak. Kae is as much a sister to me as my own blood. I will go to the ends of the Earth to keep an abusiveasshole from getting his hands on that untraumatized, sweet soul. So, to answer your question, I want to know everything.Everything.Right now, too. And then you’re fucking taking me to her, where I’ll kill the bastard myself if I have to.”
I don’t have clearance for this, but considering everything I’m doing for the Council, I’m sure it won’t even matter. I still need the shirt I have on, though, so I shouldn’t rip it...
Well.
