One moment she walking with determined strides, and the next she was stumbling, grabbing the wall for support. Instinct had her reaching out, trying to catch the other person before they could tumble due to her complete blindsiding. Her hand closed around a bicep, toned and hard.
Yeah, like she was really about to offer Takako support. The woman could likely break her in two if she wanted.
“I’m sorry,” Jo said hastily. “I was totally gone, I didn't even see you.”
Takako shook her head. “I was looking for you.”
Chapter 12
Wanting In
“You . . . were looking for me?” Jo asked slowly.
There was nothing subtle about the way Takako was studying her—inspecting, more like. The woman may as well have been wearing a sign that said, “I have questions and suspicions.” But Jo didn’t know what the answers to those questions would be yet, and until she did, she was ready to play dumb.
“Yes.”
“How’d things go at the police station?” Jo asked, trying to mask her disappointment at Takako’s presence. She’d been hoping for more time.
“As well as to be expected.” Takako took one step backward, as if to be less imposing. It didn’t work.
Jo’s attempts at small talk were going over about as well as a candle in a typhoon and she looked for a hasty out. “I should get back to working on the wish. . . Unless you needed the rec room for anything?”
“No, I don’t.” Despite saying she had no further business, Takako continued to linger.
“Great.” Jo pulled off her bracelet, ready to retreat into the recreation room.
Takako caught her wrist right as Jo placed her watch on the shelf. She leaned in, dropping her voice to a whisper. Jo had a sense of what the woman was going to say before the words traversed her lips; there was only one explanation for how she was acting. “I know something is up.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Jo whispered back.
“Don’t play dumb. I know you and Wayne have something going on right now.”
“Wayne and me?” Jo blinked in surprise.
“Wh—no, no, not like that.” Takako rolled her eyes dramatically and leaned closer. “I know you’re both hiding something.”
Takako had only spent a few hours with Wayne and it was that obvious. Jo swallowed hard. Game time decision—lie, or bring Takako in on it. She studied the woman’s face, as though the answer would be written somewhere around Takako’s cheeks.
Takako was strong and clearly knew how to keep her mouth shut, given her past profession. She was also newer to the Society, like Jo. If anything, she was likely even less attached to the “this was how its always been” thinking than Wayne, making her a potentially easier-to-gain ally.
“Not here.” Jo glanced down the hall. She had intended to motion to Pan’s door, but her eyes fell on Snow’s.
The last time Jo had spent any time with him was right after Nico’s death, and that whole period was a blur. After the tears had faded and grief set in, Jo didn’t want anyone. It was an ache so deep that she didn’t even want to be consoled about it.
Then there was the wish, not more than a few days later. All of which put her on the track that had led her to where she stood now—a place of secrecy and suspicion. Eventually, she would have to confront Snow. He was the only one who could give her the true answers she sought, or confirm whatever she found. It was too soon, though. She needed to find out more on her own, and face him when she was armed with more surety and knowledge.
“Inside,” Jo whispered, pulling Takako into the recreation room. Jo took a deep breath, wondering where to begin. “I have a plan.”
“Of what kind?”
“I want to bring down the Society.” Jo waited for a reaction. When there was none, she said, “You don’t look surprised.”
Takako tipped her head back, looking at Jo over her lower eyelashes. Even though Takako was shorter than her, she felt taller in that moment—like a teacher assessing a student. Her black eyes betrayed nothing.
“I had a feeling.”
“How?”
