by Finn, Emilia
“I’m Jay.”
“You’re not a bad guy who’s about to peel Jay’s face off and reveal our red-faced enemy?”
“Ah… no. This is my face.”
“Jessica.” Kane’s snapped word makes her jump in place.
She presses a hand to her heart and turns to him. “Hold on a sec.”
“Jessica!” he repeats. Stepping forward, he pushes through his teammates and snags her arm so hard, Jess cries out and rips it from his grasp.
“Don’t manhandle me, Kane Bishop! I said ‘hold on a sec.’”
“And I said ‘back the fuck up.’” He stuffs her behind his back and steps up to face me. He’s only half an inch taller than me, no broader, no badder. But his impenetrable stare guts me in ways I haven’t felt since I was a kid and our father kicked the shit out of us for some bullshit infraction.
Right in this moment, it almost feels like I’m staring into Colum Bishop’s eyes.
“You’re dead.” Kane’s nose flares. “This isn’t right.”
“I’m here.” I push Soph back when she leans around me and mirrors Jess’ stance.
“No!” Kane snaps. “You’re fucking dead.” His jaw ticks dangerously, and his hand remains clasped around the handle of his loaded gun.
“Like how you were dead, right?” I stuff Soph back again when she insists on seeing the crowd. “You were pulled back by Cap, and everyone believed you were dead. Your girl thought you were dead; the PD thought you were dead. Then you came back, and your girl didn’t believe you.”
“This is some kinda bullshit,” Kane seethes. “I don’t… I don’t know what to–” The soldier who lay sprawled on the concrete beside our feet lifts to his hands and knees with a groan, only to drop again when Kane’s steel toe boot shoots out and snaps his head around. Zero remorse, zero hesitation, Kane knocks the dude out cold and raises a hand to signal Spence. “Can you move him to the bunker?” Kane doesn’t turn. His eyes don’t release mine for a single beat. “Spence?”
“Yeah, I got it.” Spence steps forward and hefts the soldier up. Throwing him over his thick shoulder like he weighs only forty pounds and not two hundred, Spence slowly backs up, but he’s hesitant to turn away. “Bish?”
We both turn to him.
We’re both Bish.
“Secure him to the wall and wrap his leg,” Kane murmurs. “He’s gonna die today, but not before we speak to him.”
“Got it.”
As soon as Spence steps away, Kane’s furious eyes come back to mine. “Who pulled you back? Why?”
“Ace pulled me. And because this was always bigger than Abel Hayes.”
“Abel is dead.”
“I know.” I run a hand over my chin, then shoot my hand back again to wrap around Soph’s small wrist. “Abel’s dead. We thought he was the target, but he’s just a soldier. Same as Corrin, same as Aguilar, same as Neal.”
“You hit them?”
I nod.
With wary eyes, Eric moves around me so he’s closer to Soph. She crushes her chest to my back, but I can’t turn. Kane is my enemy right now. He’s the one who has a problem. Thankfully, Eric doesn’t come too close. Instead, he grabs the heavy garage door and manually closes it at my back and makes the garage that much darker. “I’m just making this shit more private,” Eric says. “Single door is twelve steps to your left. I’m not locking you in; you have an exit. I’m just taking this off the street.”
“You’re really here?” Kane’s gun hand finally begins to shake. “Why’d you…” His eyes shoot to my forehead. “No. I don’t… It’s literally impossible. I saw your records; I saw the death certificate. You think I didn’t have it pulled so I could make sure myself?” His voice rises with anger. “You think I just let you go without searching? Fuck you, Jay! You’re dead.”
“I’m here.”
“I saw the fuckin’ records!”
“Ace changed them up. My new ID says John D. Hamilton.”
“John D.–”
“Like, John Doe. I was Ace’s John Doe. I was flown out and stuffed into a bigger hospital, then I made it so I disappeared again.”
“I saw you.” Jess steps around Kane with narrowed eyes. “I literally saw you drop. You were shot. Lots of times.”
“Yes, I was. I was clinically dead lots of times too.”
“I don’t understand how you could survive something like that.” Like an idea comes to her, her eyes widen and her arm shoots up. She points to a chunky scar on her arm and steps closer. “It literally passed through you and hit me. People don’t survive that. Not like… Not how…”
“I did. I survived. I’m sorry my bullet got you, though. I wish I’d stopped it.”
“You wish you’d…” Brows pulled together, she lets her breath out on a huff. “I can’t process this. I can’t… I… Kane?”
“Who is Ace?”
Soph stiffens at my back and steps closer.
“Wait.” Riley steps forward. “Are you glitching everyone’s security? Is that you, or is that the fucker Spence just took?”
I considered Riley a brother at one point, a compatriot, and a friend. And though he doesn’t stare at me the way Kane is, he doesn’t look at me like a friend, either.
“Ace is in your security,” I admit. “We’re in, and we’re watching. We have been since April. But we’re not the only ones; someone else is in too. That’s why we’re here today.”
Leaning a little to the left, Kane narrows his eyes at my right shoulder until Soph leans out. “You’re my neighbor.”
I’m not sure, apart from that time I helped myself to her apartment and watched her dance, that I’ve ever seen Soph scared. But she shakes behind me now. Her hands quiver, and her knees knock. “Yes. I’m your neighbor.”
“Do you know the world he’s dragged you into? Do you know being here is dangerous?”
“Yes.” She clears her throat. “I know this world.”
“He knocked on your door and let himself in because your home is right across from mine, and it made a good vantagepoint for him?” Kane’s eyes come to mine. “Seduce the pretty girl, use her; then she dies when your enemies come looking? Is that still you, Jay? You don’t care about women, because they’re just a fuck-hole?”
“It’s not like that. It’s–”
His fist comes out faster than I expected, harder than I remember, and knocks me to my ass until I see stars. My head swims as the group pulls back until it’s just me, Kane, and Soph. Bravely, she jumps between me and Kane, cowering into me when his fist swings out a second time.
He pulls it just before it clips her jaw, then cocks his gun and points it at my leg. “I need fucking answers, and I need them seven months ago.”
“Don’t hit his head!” Soph roars. No longer cowering, she opens her chest and steps up to him – albeit, she does it while essentially sitting on me. “Hit him in the gut, call him mean names, shoot his leg–”
“Don’t shoot his leg,” Riley says.
“But don’t hit him in the head!” Soph finishes. My brain rattles inside my skull and makes me dizzy, while Soph stands and her calves stop just in front of my eyes. “You see his scar. You see his skull is already compromised. Don’t hit him in the fuckin’ head, Kane Bishop!”
“Give me answers! My brother died. My brother was a junkie. My brother saved my girl’s life and died a hero. Now he’s back, and no one is giving me answers.”
“Are you done hitting?” Eric asks. He steps between Soph and Kane. “You done?”
“No!” Kane roars. “I’m just getting started.”
“Come on up.” Turning, Eric extends a hand and helps bring me to my feet. I don’t know if Kane has gotten stronger in our time apart, or maybe I’ve gotten softer since I don’t remember the last time someone attacked me with fists. Or maybe Soph is right, and my skull just can’t take that shit anymore, but nausea rolls in my gut while my brain spins in my skull. “You need a medic?” Eric’s eyes constantly jump back to my fo
rehead. “We got someone who can help, and they won’t snitch that you’re here.”
“He’s fine.” Bravely, or stupidly, Soph pushes between me and Eric and slaps his hand away. “Don’t hit him anymore.”
“Let’s talk,” Eric repeats. “War room. Bring your A-game, because we have a lot of shit to talk about, then we gotta deal with the dude in the bunker. Who the fuck is he, anyway?”
“We’ll meet you in the war room in ten,” Kane snaps. Turning with Jess’ hand in his, he pulls her through the crowd and slams the door closed as he leaves.
“Delicate,” Soph murmurs. Turning and taking both of my hands to steady me, her eyes swim. “You said you were gonna be delicate, you big fat dummy.”
20
Kane
“What do you need me to do?” Jess closes my office door with a silent snick and turns, only to gasp when I storm forward and wrap her in my arms. “Hey.” She holds me up when I can’t do it on my own, runs her nails through my hair, and presses gentle kisses to the side of my neck. “It’s okay. It’s gonna be okay.”
“This isn’t real. And if it is, then I just hurt my baby brother.”
“Now you know how I felt when you came home, huh?” I can feel her smile, but it does nothing to ease the pain in my heart. “It’s okay to be angry for a minute. It’s okay to be distrusting.”
“He’s got a fucking scar on his forehead, Jessie. He was hurt real bad.”
“And now look at him: he looks strong; his eyes are clear; he’s standing tall, and he’s holding that chick the way you hold me when you’re trying to be a caveman.”
“No.” I shake my head and repeat my denials. “This isn’t real; it can’t be. Maybe we’re all dead. Maybe we all died at Infernos back in November.”
“I sure hope not,” she whispers. Pushing me back, she cups my face and shows me eyes full of tears. But her smile… She’s smiling. “I learned a long time ago that dead doesn’t necessarily mean forever. You were dead. Riley died. Jay died. But somehow you all came back again.”
“He’s my little brother, Jess.”
“And now he’s stronger than ever,” she counters with a shaky voice. “Junkies don’t look how he looks. Junkies are skinny, weak, and sickly. He’s strong, and broad, and brave. His skin is clear, and his words aren’t slurred.”
“I hit my baby brother.”
She shrugs. “He probably deserved it. He admitted to glitching your security, so that’s worthy of a fist to the face. This is good news, babe. He’s back, and he’s our security breach. The world isn’t ending.”
Instead of acknowledging her wisdom, I drop my weight and drag her to the floor. I can’t stand any longer. I can’t do anything but crumble under the pressure in my chest, so I sink to my ass, bend my knees, and purge against her chest for my dead baby brother who may have risen again.
21
Answers
Sophia
One boardroom. One massive television on the wall. Eight angry people, one who wears a prosthetic and leans on a cane, two others who wear a shit-ton of firepower, one hostage who carries a pig in her satchel and has adjusted surprisingly fast considering a gun was held to her head not so long ago, one twin who sits by Kane’s rebound bro, and a whole lot of tension.
This room is a melting pot of anger and anxiety while we wait for Kane to arrive and Jay fields curious stares.
Untrusting stares.
“Where’d you go?” Riley asks quietly. His eyes narrow when I place a packet of gummy worms in Jay’s lap to circumvent his bouncing knee. “You were in my home,” he continues. “Then you were gone.”
Jay tears the packet open and eats with a vengeance. “I didn’t wanna go to rehab. I had to get to Kane, so I ran. I’m sorry.”
“Did you break into my home?”
“No, that wasn’t us.” Jay tosses a gummy in. “I visited your mom a few times, though. Her hugs are still healing, even for a dead man.”
Riley’s eyes soften. You’d expect the former cop to be mad the dead thug was sneaking in to steal hugs, but all he does is grin and shake his head. “You know, she told me you visited. She fuckin’ told me, but I figured she was mistaken and was talking about before.”
“Not before,” Jay replies. “I was with her on Tuesday.”
“Of course you were,” he chuckles.
“You’re clean?” Eric asks. Lifting his hands, he sits back. “I’m not judging; I saw what Abel did to you. You didn’t have a choice. But are you clean now?”
Jay nods and tosses another gummy in. “I haven’t touched anything since I woke up in the hospital with bandages on my head. I figure the pain killers replaced my need for coke, then I was weaned off the painkillers the way they do. I got off real easy, to be honest. Haven’t touched anything since then.” Ironically, he tosses another gummy into his mouth and shows Eric his new crutch.
Spence stands against the wall and spins something in his hand. Something small and… he’s spinning a ninja star! “Who’s the girl?”
Jay’s eyes snap up. “She’s mine. She’s not our enemy.”
“I didn’t say I wanted to stuff her into a cannon and shoot her outta here, kid. I’m asking who she is.”
“I’m Sophia Solomon.” I don’t stand or exchange handshakes. That would be dumb, and Jay needs me more. He needs my hand to stay on his thigh before he shoots through the roof and explodes. “And I’m not a naïve woman. I know what this is.”
Spence lifts a scarred brow and nods. “Pretty lady thinks she knows.”
“I like your shorts,” Andi murmurs. She’s the least affected person in this room, the one who freaks out the least. She only stands by her man and lets him lean on her, though she hides his lean. “I love the stitched flowers on the sides. The pink is real pretty.”
Pink!
Jay’s lips twitch. He’s freaking out the most, and each moment that passes where his brother is gone hurts him more. But his lips still twitch. “It’s pink, Soph. The stitching is pink.”
“You’re so dumb.” Leaning into him, I press my lips to the ball of his shoulder for just the tiniest second, then I pull back and avoid the eagle eyes that belong to a grinning Spence.
Our group descends into a loaded silence, but the storm is brewing. The thunder is coming.
Finally, twenty minutes after walking out of the garage with his blonde, Kane walks into the boardroom with her hand still in his and eyes that declare war. But I’m a sibling whose sister died. My soul knows another who has been crying for the person they consider their responsibility, so seeing the devastation in his gaze unravels the anger that settled in my chest when he hit Jay.
Admittedly, I’ve also wanted to hit Jay a thousand times.
“I need answers.” Kane stops at the head of the table and pulls a chair out. He pulls another close beside his and helps Jess settle in. “I know this isn’t how you expected this to go, but I need answers.”
“I kinda expected a hug and a declaration of love,” Jay admits. “I expected a ‘yeah, motherfucker!’ and a chest bump.”
Kane’s lips say no, but his eyes scream yes.
Soon.
There will be chest bumps soon.
“I have someone in my life I can’t risk,” Kane declares. “Her safety is my life’s mission now, and ghosts scare me. Please help me understand.”
Jay nods, though his shoulders droop. “Abel was just a soldier in a massive network I’ve discovered is mostly centered around the trafficking of women.”
“Girls,” I add. “Not women. Children.”
Jay’s hand squeezes mine beneath the table. “Yes, children. They move about forty or fifty girls a month. They snatch them from the streets. From convenience stores.” His voice catches. “Then they do the things we saw them do at Infernos.”
“Bigger than Hayes?” Kane asks. “How big?”
“Hayes’ club is replicated all over the country. Dozens of them, all the same, all as dangerous. There are dozens of Abel Hayes
es, and they’re all doing the same thing.”
“Corrin. Aguilar. Neal.” Eric studiously writes notes as we speak.
“Right,” Jay nods. “Corrin, Aguilar, Neal: they’re all the same level. Same-sized clubs, same product, same team, same objectives. They buy and sell girls.”
“You hit these men?” Kane asks. “You took care of them?”
“I did. That’s what I’ve been doing the last seven months.”
“But they think it was me?”
“Yeah, but that was unintentional. I wasn’t setting out to drop you in the shit. Jay Bishop was dead, so logically, it had to be you.”
“Right. Continue.”
“Right around the time you and I were placed in Abel’s club, I was approached by a third party. Someone who saw the bigger picture. They wanted my help to take the whole network down. That person was Ace, who communicated by email only. I was given intel; I worked it, then I reported back.”
Eric’s eyes come up. “How did Ace get his intel?”
Because Ace must be a guy.
“Ace is smart.” Jay dodges the elephant in the room and continues on, “I guess Abel figured I was a danger to him, so he targeted me more, fed me more product, blunted my sword. I got sloppy, then I got killed.”
“I saw you drop in that club,” Jess whispers. “I saw you.”
“Then you were dragged out,” Jay returns. “Ace was watching; you were dragged out, then someone else was sent in to retrieve my body. Ace thought I was dead too, so when I still had a pulse, I was rushed to surgery, and while I was out, my files were switched. Jay was declared dead; John Doe was born, and that began the next chapter of my life – as a ghost.”
“Why didn’t you come back?” Kane asks. “Why didn’t you come straight back? Why the loyalty to this Ace, and not to me?”
“Because I woke to an email; a contract was put on your head.” Jay doesn’t react when Jess gasps. “Abel and his people had a job to take us both out. They got me, but you were still breathing. Since I was a ghost, I was able to work undetected for months in search of whoever is hunting you.”
