Page 13 of Make Them Pay

Later in the afternoon the hidden channel catches another message. Our hands collide over the keyboard as we both reach for it. Her fingers land on top of mine. We both freeze. The contact sends heat rushing up my arm and straight into my chest. I feel her pulse or maybe my own. It’s hard to tell. For a couple of seconds the whole world narrows to that point where our skin touches.

She pulls back slowly. I do the same. The space between our hands opens again, but it feels different now. Like it’s charged with something more powerful than any electrical current ever could be.

We open the message. It gives us more details. Shift schedules. A name that makes my stomach drop.

Orchid.

“She’s one of us,” I explain. “Well, she’s something. FBI, and had a bad handler. She’s a damn good hacker. She might be the one sending these messages. If she is, we have someone on the inside who can help us.”

Enley’s eyes brighten. The gold flecks in them catch the afternoon light, and I have to force myself to look back at the screen. She’s animated and alive in a way that steals my breath. “But she was captured along with the rest of the crew. How could it be her?”

“I’m not sure.”

We decide to send a careful reply using a secret phrase Orchid would recognize. Orchid and Poe have something special between them, so we send a message: It wasn't 'nevermore' after all.

Enley checks everything twice. Her shoulder brushes mine again as she leans in, and this time I let myself feel it. Let myself want it.

We send the message and wait.

The cabin grows quiet as evening falls. Enley eventually moves to the bed and lies down. I stay at the table, watching the screen for any response. Her breathing evens out into sleep, and I steal a glance at her. Pink hair against the pillow, face soft in the dim light. She looks peaceful. She needs the rest.

The screen blinks. A response comes through. Orchid’s alive and working from inside. But how?

The door just opened.

Which means, someone’s left. We can speak freely.

I look over at Enley sleeping soundly. She’ll want to jump straight into planning when she wakes. For now I let her rest. She’s earned it.

I turn back to the screen and start figuring out how we can talk to Orchid. Ten feet away, the woman I’ve wanted for years sleeps peacefully, and the space between us feels smaller every single day.

6

Enley

The secret channel to Orchid changes everything. I don’t know how Orchid’s doing any of this, and I have to hope it’s really her and not Serfina playing us for fools.

I wake on day four to find Render already at the table. The man barely sleeps. Or if he does, it’s only in those quiet hours right before dawn when even he can’t keep going. The laptop screen shows new maps and notes pulled from the hidden messages Orchid’s been sending us.

“How long have you been at this?” I ask, swinging my legs off the bed.

“A while.”

“That’s your answer to everything.”

“It’s usually accurate.”

I cross to the table and sit down. Render slides a cup of mint water toward me without being asked, a small routine that’s started to feel comforting. Then he tilts the laptop so I can see.

The information Orchid’s sent is partial but terrifying. The building has two main structures above ground connected by a covered walkway. Below them is an underground level with holding cells, a central monitoring area, and one room she calls a demonstration room. The name alone makes my skin crawl.

“Guard count?” I ask.

“Eight to ten at any time. They rotate on the schedule we caught earlier. Armed. Serafina’s second-in-command, a man named Ross, is running the place.”

“Not Serafina herself?”

“She hasn’t been there since the first day. She gives orders from somewhere else. Ross carries them out.” He pauses. “Orchid says Poe’s in the cell farthest from the stairs. They’ve been focusing on him specifically.”