“Yes,” North says again, this time with significant acidity. “I expect you and your partner to go, do your jobs, and report back with the information you’ve gathered. Well done, Agent Roth. I’m glad you’ve managed to grasp the full scope and essence of your assignment.”
Without waiting for a response from Jack, he nods at Dru respectfully.
“I’ll leave the rest with you, Agent Nash.”
Dru, who was giving Jack a subtle once-over with an amused smile on her lips, snaps to attention when North addresses her. She returns his gesture of acknowledgement.
“Yes, sir.”
Seeming somewhat satisfied we won’t all accidentally set fire to ourselves and die from sheer incompetence alone, North sweeps out of the room, leaving the three of us alone together.
Dru turns to me and Jack expectantly, eyes darting between us, waiting for a signal we’re ready to hear what she has to tell us.
Jack sits back in his seat, huffing irately, his scowl intensifying. He’s so bloody dramatic. Jesus Christ.
“Go for it, Dru,” I say, ignoring the vicious glare Jack sends my way.
Dru smiles pleasantly at me and goes on to tell us everything she knows that could help us. Admittedly, it isn’t much. But when she’s done, I thank her and get up from my seat to leave.
Jack follows suit as Dru picks up her files and starts to absently reorganise them.
I walk out of the room, not waiting to see if Jack will follow. He does, scampering after me at a brisk jog. We catch up in the hallway, and I keep going, heading toward the Armoury to pick up the necessary weaponry and any other equipment.
Jack is stubbornly silent as we go through the process of collecting our stuff from the Armoury, including his new best friend, Siggy. He looks absurdly happy to have it back in his hands, like a child whose favourite teddy bear was taken away by a cross parent.
It’s only when we’re down in the garage, getting into a black agency-assigned Toyota Corolla, that Jack decides to get chatty again.
“This is stupid,” he complains. “We’re going in blind, and for what? Some random idiot who could be dead by now. Might be better if he is.”
I shoot him an icy glare of my own, trying to emulate what I’ve seen my aunt do at people sometimes.
“Don’t be cruel,” I say, admonishingly. “Rush needs our help, and we have an obligation to do whatever we can to get him home safe.”
“He won’t be able to go home, will he?” Jack challenges. “OI knows where he lives now, don’t they? He’ll be lucky if he doesn’t come back to find they’ve killed his family, or taken them, just to get at him.”
“FISA won’t let that happen.” I expel a frustrated breath. “Anabelle will make sure to take anyone he cares about into protective custody.”
“Wow, and FISA is legendary for their protection. You should ask Phoenix Moon how protected her husband and sons were from OI.”
“OI didn’t kill the Moon boys or their dad.” I wince at the words. “Mia Solar did.”
Jack scoffs derisively, giving me a scathing retort. “Mia Solar was an OI scientist. She was up to her neck in their shady shit. Whatever Mia Solar became, OI was directly responsible for it.”
“Projecting,” I mutter, starting up the engine and punching the location Dru gave us into the agency car’s own GPS system.
Jack sends me another set of daggers but doesn’t comment, which I count as a personal win.
I take us out of the garage and out onto the road above.
Neither of us speaks for a while as I set us on the path to finding Ryan Rush, hopefully before anything more terrible can happen to him.
As much as I don’t want to believe what Jack is saying, there is a distinct possibility the people who took Ryan might torture or kill him and his loved ones to get what they want from him.
“I’m not gun-shy,” I say to Jack suddenly, unsure of where the words sprang from but unable to stop them from coming out.
It’s a stupid thing to say, as I’ve already admitted to him that I do struggle to pull the trigger on people.
Jack doesn’t respond, turning his head to stare out the car window and pointedly ignoring me like a teenager on a long family road trip.
