by JA Huss
“No! He never even asked, Jax.”
My phone rings again. I grab it off the bed and thumb the accept button. “Yeah.”
“You motherfucker!” Madrid’s voice booms out of the speaker so loud, I have to hold the phone away from my head. “We are partners, asshole! That means you tell me everything. And I’ve been sitting here for two days waiting for this girl to come home, and ain’t nothing goin’ on at her house. Now where is she?”
“She’s with me.”
“And just exactly where is with me?”
“Classified.”
“Classified my ass! I have my orders and so do you—”
I end the call and turn my phone off as I look at Sasha.
“Um,” she says, holding the sheets up to her naked torso, shielding her body. God, that almost kills me. “What’s going on?”
“I have to go head up that investigation. I’m supposed to hand you over to Madrid so she can keep an eye on you.”
“Keep an eye on me? Like I’m your prisoner? Jesus Christ! You did sell me out!”
“No, Sasha. I’m not handing you over to Madrid. But I need to figure this shit out. Nick killed your aunt last night. She was working with Max. Has been working with Max for years. This is not going to sit well.”
“Well, you better start questioning your loyalties to Max, then. Because Madeline was bad. I believe Nick. He knows what’s going on. Your father isn’t Company. He has no idea and neither do you.” She gets out of bed, still hugging those sheets to her body, and points to the door. “Get out of my house.”
“Sasha, look—”
“No. I’m not listening to you. Not after that accusation. Not after that justification. I trusted you with the secrets Nick told me last night and you turn around and blame me? Accuse me of working with him?”
“Look, I don’t think you’re working with him.” But I stop and take a deep breath. Because that’s not true. I’ve always thought she was working with him. And even Jake said she might be playing me. But last night felt so real. “I just need to know what’s going on. What exactly happened last night?”
“I told you. He came here.”
“How did he find you?”
“How should I know? I’ve been with you for the past two days!”
“Just walk me through it, OK? There has to be a logical explanation, but right now it all points to you.” Her face turns red with anger and I put up a hand. “I don’t think it was you, OK? But he’s clever. He has ways of making people do his dirty work. So just tell me what happened before he showed up.”
“I was checking my email. And I got a message from my mentor at school saying I wasn’t kicked out and she wanted to talk to me. And then I found a message from Nick—”
“Wait,” I say, stopping her. “You never told me that part.”
“I never had a chance! You showed up here and my world was falling apart!”
“What did the email say?”
She takes a deep breath and then points to the door. “I’ll show you.” And then she quickly dresses and says, “Follow me.”
I get out of bed and tug on my pants, then follow her out the door and downstairs. We end up in the family room behind the kitchen where she opens a laptop and brings up her email account.
“Here,” she says, thrusting it at me. “See for yourself.”
I look at the video of Nick and press the play button. Got you, he says. “What am I looking at?”
“Wow. You’re not all that bright for a guy who works for a secret black ops department of the FBI. Listen carefully, Agent Jax. There’s a shutter click just before he starts talking.”
I play it again. And again. And again. “Holy fuck.” I look at her. “He hacked your webcam?”
She nods.
“From where?”
“I don’t know, Jax. I swear to God. We never even talked about the email. He said, I have rats too. And I think he was talking about how your dad thinks he’s infiltrated Matias’ gang.”
“Matias.”
“Nick said Matias and Madeline were working together.”
“No.”
“I’m just the messenger, Jax. I have no idea. But Nick came here to ask me to help him and then he left without telling me how to do that. So I’m in the dark just as much as you. But here’s something you need to understand. Nothing is ever what it seems with these people, OK? Nothing. So I’m sorry you fell for Madeline’s bullshit, but I believe Nick. I know in my heart that what he said was true. And if you think I will let her take me down from beyond the grave, you’re insane. I will not go down because of that bitch.”
I look at the video again and try to make sense of things. And then I hit the forward button and send it to Adam.
“What are you doing?” Sasha asks, trying to grab the laptop away from me.
I yank it back and hold it up high, out of her reach. “I’m sending this to Adam. He’s not just a driver or a pilot. He’s my security, remember?”
“How do you know you can trust him?”
“I don’t, OK? But we’ve been working together for a long time. If he’s a traitor, it’s better to find that out now.” I hand her laptop back. “He can at least find out where that message came from. It’s a place to start. And there’s nothing incriminating in that video. If anything, it shows Nick was playing you.”
“He’s not playing me, OK? He’s my partner. He wouldn’t do that. Whatever he’s doing, he won’t hurt me.”
“He’s your partner? Really?”
She nods. “Really.”
Fuck, that stings. “You’re wrong about him, Sasha. But I truly hope you’re right. Because if you’re not, he’s gonna take you down with the rest of us.”
Chapter Thirty-Four - Sasha
“Where are you going?” I yell as Jax walks out of the room.
“I gotta go head up this investigation.” He turns around when he gets to the stairs and points to me. “You stay here. No matter what, you stay here until I get back. I’ll tell Madrid you’re driving home and you have no clue what’s going on. That will buy me a day as she waits for you to show up. But you do not move. Do you understand me?”
I want to scream at him. I want to tell him to fuck off so bad. But I don’t. I just nod. “Fine.” Because that’s the easiest way to get him out of here so I can try to piece together what’s happening.
When he comes back downstairs, his suit is crumpled, his hair is a mess and his gun holster is crooked as it hangs underneath his jacket. But he still looks fucking hot. “Be careful,” I say, meaning it, and fight the urge to cry as he holds me tight for a second. But what did I expect? I mean, really? Did I actually think I’d get a happy ending? “And keep your eyes open,” I add. “Something is very wrong, Jax. And you promised not to die on me, so I’m gonna hold you to that.”
“Stay here,” he commands again. “No matter what.”
I nod and he kisses me quickly before heading out the front door. I hate having to lie to him, but it’s not my fault I’m a player. I’ve kept my head down for ten years. I didn’t ask to be part of this game. But now that I am, I have to see it through to the end.
I grab my phone from the couch where I threw it last night and it’s already got a message on there. Just like I knew it would.
Meet me at the safe house, it says.
There is no name attached to that number, but it’s from Nick. It’s in the same message stream as the one he sent me last night telling me to come outside.
I page down through my contacts and find the number I need and press send.
Harrison answers on the second ring, just like he always does. “I knew you’d need me,” he says in a somber tone.
“I need you,” I say. “I need to go back where you picked me up.”
“Meet me at the plane in an hour.” And then I get the hang-up beeps.
I have about three hours then. Three hours before whatever’s gonna happen out there in Nebraska happens.
And al
l that depends on Nick. This is the endgame we all thought happened ten years ago. The final roll of the dice to see who comes out ahead and who loses big.
Chapter Thirty-Five - Jax
“Hey,” Adam says as I walk up to the jet at the Fort Collins airport. He looks just as ragged as I feel. His suit coat is missing, his white dress shirt is untucked and hanging down like he just threw it on, and his eyes are wild. “Dude, what the fuck was that?”
“What the fuck was what?” I’m still caught in the web of Sasha Cherlin. Distracted and unsettled. Something is wrong.
“That video, dude. I don’t understand.”
“Yeah, it’s fucked up,” I say, taking the steps to the jet two at a time. The inside of the cabin is empty, so I make my way to one of the chairs and sit. My head hurts. “Where’s Essie? I need a drink.”
“She’s not here,” Adam says.
“Why not?” Jesus Christ. All I want is a drink.
“I sent all the girls back to their hotels.”
I look up at Adam and actually see him. He’s one of us. One of the four Taxmen—we come to collect. Me, Jake, Max, and Adam. Adam came a year after Michael’s death, a foster kid like Jake and me, but way smarter. Sasha has Ford, I have Adam. “You want to tell me why?”
He shakes his head. “Not really, dude. Because I have no idea what it means.”
“What what means? It’s Nick, taking a picture of Sasha using her webcam. All I want to know is where it came from. Maybe he’s still there and we can head him off?”
“That’s the problem, Jax. It didn’t come from Nick. It came from Max.”
“What?”
“Nick’s not taking a picture of Sasha. He’s taking a picture of Max. This video came from Max.”
“Why the fuck would Max send that to Sasha’s email?”
Adam just shrugs. We stare at each other for several seconds before I can even think of something to say. “Why do you think he sent it, Adam?”
“Dude, do you realize what you’re asking me?”
“Do you think Nick is setting him up? Sending that to Max’s email and then forwarding it on to Sasha? To make it look like it was from Max?”
“Well…” Adam laughs. “OK. I get the fact that her father is some genius hacker or some shit. But how the fuck would she figure that out, Jax? Why would Nick do that if there’s no way it would mean anything to Sasha? All she’d think was that it came from Nick. And all he says is, Got you. But when I looked close at the end of that video, it’s been cut. There was more, but someone cut it off.”
My mind is racing with possibilities. “What if Max was just trying to scare her? You know, make her afraid of Nick? Make that motherfucker even creepier than he is?”
Adam huffs out a breath. “Hey, if that’s what you believe, I’m OK with it.”
“Dammit, Adam, that’s not what I’m asking you.”
“No, you’re asking me to ignore the obvious. Max did this, OK? I know that’s true. If Nick did this, then why cut off the end of the video? So the question you need to be asking is what did Max hope to gain? And scaring Sasha? Sure, OK. But why?”
I roll the only logical possibility around in my head, trying it on for size. “I don’t like it. I don’t like a lot of this. Nick is telling Sasha one thing and I’m telling her something else. So I guess the first question is who’s calling the shots for Nick?”
“Nick calls the shots for Nick, Jax. We all know that now. He never worked for Matias. He’s fucking blue-blood Company, man. There is no one above that dude. No one.”
“Right,” I say. “And who calls the shots for me?”
Adam gives me a shrug using his hands. “Max. He’s lying, Jax. You know he is. None of this shit makes sense. Did you ever ask yourself why Max wanted kids?”
I get where he’s going, but if these suspicions are true, then what the fuck have I been working towards all these years?
“And did you ever ask yourself why Nick Tate was so hell-bent on killing people? Why make killing Company kids your life’s mission? It’s so fucking sick, right? It’s insane. And that guy is a lot of things, but insane is not one of them. And furthermore, why not kill us too? He’s never even tried to kill us.”
I look Adam in the face and let that sink in. “Because we’re not Company.”
“We’re just employees. We do what we’re told. We work for the FBI, and yet we don’t. We’re hidden away, compartmentalized. No one can touch us. Madeline says she’s there to help get these Company kids out, and yet every one of them ended up dead or missing. Where the fuck are those kids, Jax? Where the fuck are the kids she saved? And don’t say we’re right here, because we don’t count. We’re nobodies.”
“So you’re convinced Max is Company? And Madeline?”
“Look, I was just as happy as you to ignore all these warning signs. But not anymore. Not after that video. Max sent that video to Sasha to make her think Nick was hunting her.”
“But Nick came to her house last night and then left. Why didn’t he kill her if he was hunting her?”
“Because he’s not hunting her, Jax. He’s hunting Max. He already got Matias and Madeline last night. Now Max is the only one left. And Max wants Sasha for something. That’s why he sent you to get her. He wants her with him. And Madeline wanted her too. But they both wanted her alive. Why?”
“Why?” I ask myself out loud.
“You have a gift,” Adam says, pointing to a box on the chair opposite me. “I don’t know who it’s from. It was sitting there when I came on board this morning.”
I stare at him for a few seconds and then he walks off to the cockpit. “We’ll be there in an hour, so you better come to some kind of conclusion, Jax. Because I can’t do my job if I don’t trust the people around me. And we all know what happens to people who don’t do their jobs.”
I look at the box on the ground and open it up, thinking of all the brothers I’ve lost over the years. I think of Jake, the brother I almost lost the other night, the only one left aside from Adam. What was the point of all that shit in Denver with Jake? Max sent him there, but why?
I’m not sure.
I’m not sure about anything right now.
The white card on top of the white dress shirt says, Put it on. You can thank me later.
Chapter Thirty-Six - Jax
The estate is still smoldering from the explosives that went off last night. It’s nothing but a shell of those beautiful sandstone bricks.
Max is pacing in front of me, screaming as he counts off the dead. “Julian,” he yells. “Julian is dead!”
“Who gives a fuck about Julian?” I’m barely listening. I can’t get Sasha out of my head. I can’t get that video message out of my head. And now it all comes down to who I should trust.
“Where is he?” Max screams, leaning down into my face. “Where is Nick Tate? I gave you one job,” he roars. “One. Fucking. Job. Get that girl so we can get Nick Tate. And this,” he says, panning his arms towards the rubble. “This is what you delivered?”
“I’m doing my best to figure it out, Max.”
“Madrid says you sent the girl home in a car. A car? It’s a nine-hour drive to her home from Fort Collins, Jax. Just what the fuck are you doing?”
“It was the safest way I could think of to get her there.” And if I was really sending Sasha home, that’s still the way I’d do it.
“One phone call to Madrid and she’d have picked her up.”
Right. Madrid is another unknown I don’t understand.
“But the girl is gone, Jax. And she didn’t take the car.”
“What?” I look up at him. He’s got my full attention now.
“Madrid got a message from Nick saying he sent her to the safe house. Sasha called her pilot friend the minute you left.”
“What?”
“What?” he says, mimicking my reaction. “Are you stupid? That girl played you, goddammit.”
“Look, I’m sorry about Madeline, but Sasha wa
s pretty dead set that she was Company, Max. And why the fuck was Matias here? None ever told me Matias and Madeline were working out a deal.”
“Who gives a fuck about Matias and Madeline! I needed them dead, so Nick Tate did me a favor. But Julian,” he chokes out a laugh. “Julian was not supposed to be part of that.”
“What the fuck does Julian have to do with this? He’s some scumbag who’s been whining about losing his promise for years. I’m glad he’s—”
“He was my true-blood son!”
I don’t react. My life depends on how this plays out. “You told him Sasha was his promise, didn’t you?”
“She was,” he growls. “Her father made a deal with me, long before he made a deal with the Admiral and Nick Tate. I sent you to get her. One job, after all I’ve done for you, Jackson Barlow. One job and you fucked it up. So if you can’t do your job properly”—he pulls a gun out of his coat pocket and points it at the ground—”we’ll do it for you. Madrid is already on her way.”
“You’re gonna have Madrid kill Sasha?”
“If I wanted her dead, Jax, I’d have killed her a long time ago. I need her alive. Everyone needs her alive or we lose our only remaining path to victory.”
I have no choice but accept the truth in front of me. He’s spelling it out, clear as day.
“Put the pieces together, Jax. You’re smart. You know what I’m doing. You’ve always known, you just wanted to be the hero so bad you were blinded. But you’re just as mixed up in this as I am, son. You know the only way to defeat the Company is using their own weapons.”
I just stare at him. And then I shake my head slowly. “No, Max. I’ve never believed that. And if that’s your endgame—to use Sasha to make those killer kids like the Company did—well, you’re on your own.”
“Either you’re in or you’re not, Jax.” He raises the gun and points it at my chest. “And since you just admitted you’re out, then I have no choice, do I?”
The deafening crack of a gunshot hits my ears the same time the bullet hits my chest and the pain is so intense, I barely register the fight that follows. I expect it to be over soon, but I can hear Adam screaming between bursts of gunfire.
