“Ah-ah,” Dawes warned, pointing the pistol at her stomach.
Silence thickened between them.
Finally, Dawes lowered the pistol. “Aren’t you curious, Kait? Go ahead. You can ask.”
Through gritted teeth, Kait asked, “Did you kill my sister?”
Harold Dawes smiled. “I did.”
I’ll kill you. I don’t know how just yet, but I’m going to kill you.
“Why?” Kait managed.
Dawes assumed an expression of mock sorrow. “Poor Talia,” he said. “She was an absolutely remarkable girl. Natural talent. Haven’t seen the like in ages.”
He paused, as if hoping for a reaction, but when she did not respond, he went on. “Unfortunately, dear Talia made a friend that she wasn’t supposed to. Pure coincidence they ever met, actually. Bad luck for Talia.” Dawes shook his head. “She met a girl who was destined for our…otherprogram. Silly girl told her all about it.”
Dawes sighed and took a drink. Kait was absolutely fixated on him, to the exclusion of everything else in the universe.
“We couldn’t take the chance, of course. Had to shut her up. Maybe Talia would figure it out, maybe she wouldn’t? Couldn’t take the risk, not with millions at stake. Did the job myself. If it’s any consolation, it was very quick.”
Dawes looked for a reaction but received only Kait’s stare. “I say, stop that,” he demanded.
Kait’s gaze did not waver.
Harold Dawes lifted the pistol. “I said, stop that,” he warned.
Stay alive, Kait. Stay alive, so you can kill him.Slowly, she lowered her eyes until she was looking at his feet.
He sneered. “So, when you popped up and started snooping around, I thought, ‘Oh, why not? Harold, you deserve a treat.’” Dawes paused then smiled cruelly. “I thought, ‘Harold, you’ve never had the chance to snuffsistersbefore.’”
Kait readied herself.
Suddenly, the situation was interrupted by a ringtone. “You’ve got to be bloody kidding,” he snarled. Still pointing the gun at Kait, he pulled out his phone with his other hand and answered it. “It had better befucking murder,” he grated then listened. “What? They have? Bloody hell.” Dawes looked behind Kait and ordered, “Put her out. I’ll deal with her later.”
She felt a pinch at her neck and then everything turned to black.
***
Kait recovered consciousness quickly. They must not have used the same drug as last time.
She was back in her cubicle. She scanned the room, but nothing had changed. “He was getting ready to kill me,” she said in disbelief. “What a piece of shit.”
The door whooshed open, and Lawrence rushed into the room and knelt at her feet.
“Are you okay?” he asked anxiously.
Kait nodded.
“I didn’t find out until, uh, after. He was gonna kill you!” Lawrence spluttered.
“I know. What happened?”
Lawrence went back to the hallway, looked around, and shut the door. He turned back to her.
“Everything’s crazy. They, uh, they’re talking about the whole ship being locked down! Apparently the ship has been put in quarantine or something.”
Kait felt a surge of hope.Aurelian. It has to be. He’s coming.
