“He has a corgi sitting on him.”
King is looking over at us now, his mouth lolling as he pants with excessive speed. Jack shifts his body around to get more comfortable. I notice he takes care not to let King fall, allowing my dog time to move and get into a new position.
“Um, I think you meansuccessfully guardinghim.” I cast my arm in Jack and King’s direction.
“Pretty sure it’s the handcuffs doing most of the work keeping him here,” Rohan says dryly.
I blatantly ignore that because I can and turn my attention to Jack. I try to give him a reassuring smile. He retreats from it, like the smile makes him more suspicious of me rather than less. I can only imagine what he’s been through that would have ingrained in him such a mentality, a fear of kindness.
“He’s not going to hurt you,” I say, indicating Rohan, which I’m aware isn’t much for Jack to grasp onto. It’s not like he can trust my word.
“He’s not going to believe that,” Rohan says, watching Jack with a very calculating look on his face. It makes me wary of letting him get too close, which is a pain because I do need him to get close enough to remove the chip.
Jack’s eyes flicker between me and Rohan. His stare is remarkably chillier when settled on Rohan, which shouldn’t make me feel as good as it does. He probably just hates Rohan more because it was Rohan who he was supposed to be bringing in for his handlers. It’s likely that Jack thinks he’s going to be punished for not completing his task.
Rohan takes a few steps forward, causing the rest of us to tense up. I look over my shoulder at Damon, who seems alert and ready to intervene if he thinks he has to. I’m not sure whose benefit it’s for. He’s more likely to snatch me and run, leaving these two alone to fight it out in the bathroom.
I wouldn’t leave Rohan and Jack in the bathroom. They’d probably break things. I don’t want to have to explain to my aunt that we need a new toilet for one of our safe houses because the old one was destroyed by two drama queens with their advanced ninja moves.
“Look,” Rohan says to Jack, “this lunatic we’ve been kidnapped by”—he jerks a thumb at me—“wants me to remove the chip from your neck. Because you’ve somehow managed to convince him you’re not a murdering crazy person. Not sure how you’ve done that but good job.”
Jack’s eyes narrow again on Rohan. Then they dart over to me as if he’s looking for confirmation of what Rohan is saying.
“I want to help you.” I take a step towards him to line up with Rohan again. “Will you let us do that?”
Jack is still looking at me, his brows furrowed in contemplation. He doesn’t seem to know what to do or how to respond. I can’t imagine Jack has been asked his opinion about a lot of things in recent years. To have such a big decision thrown at him now must be daunting.
“Oh, we’re asking his permission, are we?” Rohan asks sardonically, spearing me with an unimpressed frown. “You didn’t tell me that part of the plan.”
I ignore Rohan in favour of keeping eye contact with Jack. I’m not sure how to make him see I really do just want to help him. I understand why he can’t trust me. I mean, why the hell would he? But I can’t let OI track him to this safe house. It would be a breach of FISA security, not to mention a possible death sentence for all of us.
Anabelle is going to be so pissed about this whole thing. She really hates surprises.
Jack’s expression eases by some miniscule amount. I probably wouldn’t have noticed the change at all if I hadn’t been looking at him so intently.
“No. I don’t want you to take it out.”
I’m so stunned by Jack’s response it takes me a second or two to realise I heard him correctly.
“Why the hell not?” I demand before I can think better of it.
Jack’s catlike eyes dart over to Rohan, who doesn’t appear at all surprised by Jack’s refusal to be freed from the chip inside of him and the chance to end his service to OI.
“Your brother?” Rohan sounds like he’s throwing out a guess he knows full well is the right one.
It seems to take every bit of Jack’s willpower to contain his true reaction to Rohan’s words.
Jack’s response is sombre and devastatingly final. “He tried to run.”
“What?” I ask, looking between them in confusion.
Rohan turns to me with a grimness on his face that seems bone-deep. Whatever he and Jack are referring to, it’s something Rohan finds particularly abhorrent to think about.
“His brother was an agent too.” Rohan’s mouth forms into a sneer of disdain. “If he tried to run, they probably killed him. Basic rule with OI: everyone is expendable.”
I look to Jack for confirmation of all this, but his expression has receded back into a carefully blank slate of pure nothing again. That’s likely an answer within itself.
When he speaks, it is in a cold monotone which sends chills blowing like gusts of wind up and down my spine.
