“They exist everywhere,” Jonah said glibly.
This time, Madi shot them both a glare before continuing. “He says his employer would probably be willing to give more than the bounty being offered and that he would very generously split it with us if we help him.”
“How much more?” Sadie asked, and Jonah flipped her off.
“Just curious.” She shrugged.
“Wait.” Jonah slipped free of Cas and strolled closer. When the man tried to crane his head toward him, Sadie tugged the roots of his hair until he yelped and went still again. “He said the ‘bounty being offered.’ Ask him if he knows who’s offering that. He makes it sound like he’s talking about two different things.”
Madi gave him a puzzled look but translated the question. When the guy shook his head, Sadie bent all but his ring finger and picked up the cleaver.
“Bir dakika!” the man shouted, and Madi held up his hand again to stall Sadie.
Sadie frowned. “Never heard of him.”
Madigan snorted. “That’s not a name, sweetheart. He’s asking you to wait.”
Sadie huffed out an annoyed breath as the man caught his own and began speaking again.
“It’s only rumor, he says, but well-based,” Madigan said. “From someone high up he knows. A friend of a friend. Man by the name of—”
“We heard the name.” Sadie’s gaze had locked onto Jonah. He could feel its weight beneath the heat that had rushed up the back of his neck and in the tightness of the fists he’d made.Didier Pritka.
“Ohhhkay,” Madi continued with a furrowed brow. “So, Pritka wants his hacked files back and wants the hacker dead. But Arda here says we should throw in with him and thathisboss will happily offer much more for the drive and the hacker since they’re the ones who hired him in the first place.”
“Jonah!”Sadie barked, but Jonah only heard it from a distance.
She took a swipe at him, but he had his switchblade out and buried in the base of the man’s skull before she could grab him.
“Goddammit,” she growled. “We weren’t done with him yet.”
“Yes, we were.” Jonah slid a hand around the man’s neck, checking for a pulse, then tucked his knife away. “New plan. Put him in the freezer. We’ll send him back wherever the fuck he came from later. I’ll call Soren and tell him we’re done. Meet back at the apartment when you’re finished. Cas, let’s go.”
“You’re not thinking clearly, Jonah.” Sadie’s voice was cajoling. The one she’d used on clients back when they used to work together.
“I know. Give me an hour and I will be.”
“The fuck is going on?” he heard Madigan ask as he stalked from the room and toward the car.
Cas’s footsteps sounded rapid-fire behind him a few seconds later. “I assume you’re going to tell me what the fuck is going on.”
“Yeah.” Jonah tugged at the collar of his tee. Too tight, too constricting, and he was too fucking hot. “In just a minute.” He yanked the bar from the outer door and punched the handle open, gulping the night air as soon as his feet hit the asphalt outside.
“Jonah.” Cas said his name so softly, so small, that it crept beneath the barbed wire around Jonah’s heart and burrowed there. His hand landed gently on the back of Jonah’s neck and pushed at the damp hairs plastered there until cool air rushed over Jonah’s skin.
Jonah rested his forehead against the cinder blocks, and when the inferno inside him died down enough that the red haze in his vision cleared, he stepped back and swiped at his forehead. He cleared his throat against the burn that had lodged there.
“I’ll drive,” Cas said, and Jonah didn’t argue, just handed him the keys. He blasted the AC the second the car was cranked.
Jonah rested his head back on the seat and closed his eyes as he spoke. “Pritka is my handler. The man who sends me my jobs.”
25
Caspian
Something was very wrong with Jonah. It wasn’t just that he’d stabbed their captive in the middle of an interrogation, it was everything after that. He tried to pretend he was fine, that he was just losing patience, but Cas knew that wasn’t it. Whatever it was that set Jonah off had to do with Sadie, too. There was no missing the knowing look they’d exchanged.
A small part of Cas felt robbed. It bothered him that Jonah and Sadie had secrets and shared memories that had clearly shaped who they’d become. Cas would never have that with Jonah and it stung.
