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My best friend is in the wind.
Whatever identity I gave her was only meant to be temporary. I taught her how to dump it for a permanent one that only she would know, and I’m slowly regretting giving her those tools.
I’ve taught her how to elude me.
“That’s not everything we need to talk about, Jessa.” Logan rises and stands at the foot of my bed. “It’s Maxwell. We were able to identify most of the remains from the air strike. He was among the deceased.”
For the first time in a long time, I feel like I can breathe, but it’s fleeting. “I thought I would have closure, but someone else will just come after me in his place.”
Logan’s voice stops my downward spiral. “Jessa, as far as anyone outside this base knows, you are dead. Two bodies were cremated and buried. Jack and I arranged your service and put you to rest ourselves. You are no longer on anyone’s radar. After Waldo brought you back, you were stabilized, and he and Jack transferred you here before our team returned. It’s a smaller area, but it’s better protected than our own base. This is where Link’s team operates. Jack and Waldo have been with you ever since.”
Picking up the chart Samuel left at the foot of my bed, Logan flips through a few pages before continuing, “Out of everyone you could have asked for help that morning, I don’t think you realize you made the best choice possible. Waldo—Samuelis also our resident doctor. Medically trained and all. Regardless, you broadcast everything out, and our system analytics show that multiple connections saw your big finale. According to the world outside this base, you are at peace and resting beside your parents and your brother now. No one is actively searching for you or Zane.”
“Travis? But how did you find him?”
Jack shifts beside me as he picks up the conversation. “When Link’s team was sifting through the mountain of information you dumped into our servers, they found a personal folder of yours with the location and name that you buried him under. We had his remains exhumed and transported back to join your family. Jessa, why did you hide Travis in the first place?”
“At first, I didn’t want to accept that he was gone. He died with my parents because they came looking for me. I wasn’t thinking straight. When I found his body, I hid him. I wanted to give him the escape he should have had. I didn’t want Maxwell to know he had won. Then he became my safety blanket. There was always the chance he was hiding out under this secret identity, and I used that to keep me and Dana alive.”
For the first time since I opened my eyes yesterday, tears flow down my face. I’ve only wanted Travis to be at peace, and they did that for him.
My whimper turns into a sob as Jack covers his body over mine to comfort me. He knows how important Travis was to me. He was the one I looked up to growing up, and finally placing him with our parents is more than I had ever hoped for.
“Okay. I need you two to take it easy before this turns into anor somethingsituation and I have Waldo all up in my grill for not following his orders,” Logan says. Then, muttering under his breath, he speaks to himself. “Dammit, Waldo. Of all people.”
I smile at Logan’s words as Jack releases me and sits back down.
It seems Samuel and I have something in common around here: we were both underestimated and overlooked.
“Jessa, why did you do it?” My smile fades at Jack’s question.
Without looking at him, I can tell he is still sorting through his experience, and his question requires a serious answer.
All eyes are on me, waiting for the answer that will justify my actions, but I’m not sure there is such an answer.
“It may be too hard to explain now, but I really believed there was no other way, Jack. Before you found us, I’d been hovering and waiting for my in. I compiled a lot of information, but it wasn’t enough for someone like him, not with the connections he has. Until he became more of a liability than an asset, his business partners and everyone he was blackmailing would support him. The jobs he had Za—me do for him never gave me access to his internal servers. I needed something that would dig deep into his greed. When you came along, I was thinking about telling you everything, but when Maxwell came through with that video, I realized there was a chance, and I needed to take it. There was no other scenario in which he would just let me waltz in through the front doors of his digital house.” I shift up the bed to make myself comfortable, and Jack asks another question.
“But the cyanide. Shit, Jessa.”
He’s hurt.
His eyes are glassy, and I imagine he’s replaying my final moments, which, thankfully, are a bit of a blur for me.
“That was a risk. I knew there was cyanide, but Hunter didn’t know enough about the security procedures to tell me how the gas was distributed. I took a chance based on the assumption the gases could be controlled, but your setup pushes them all in one after the other during a breach. I couldn’t stop it because I needed to stay online to give the final strike codes. I gave Waldo the gas mask just in case. Regardless, Jack, I wouldn’t change my decision. It was my only shot.”
Jack opens his mouth to speak, but I’m not done. Raising my hand, I ask for more time, and he allows me to continue. “After I woke up, when Maxwell told me he would kill your family if I ever looked for you, he said something else. He told me that some things in life are just taken. He said I was his, and once he had his hands on Zane, he would come for me. He’d destroy everything I loved, and he would take me back. He was unhinged. I was so scared, I couldn’t speak. I remember all of it. I had my chance, Jack. I needed to end it before I slipped up. I’m sorry I put you through that.”
Jack leans back, processing everything I’ve said.
Logan has been sitting quietly, watching us talk, and regret settles into me.
I probably could have done a lot differently.
I’ve hurt Jack, and Dana is missing.
She thinks I’m dead.
“I think that’s enough debriefing for one sitting. Don’t you, Jack?” Logan clears his throat and stands to control the conversation. “Jessa, your actions, although excessive at times, did something we’ve never been able to do. In short, Maxwell is gone, and you are free from all of it. If you wish to be.” Logan stops talking, and his lingering last words hit me.
