Chapter Three
Noa
I’ve had to give myself a new rule. No plans involving the police, mental institutions, or anything Valli would not agree with me doing.
I wrote it down on a Post-it note and stuck it to the inside of a coffin lid—it’s where I keep all my important things.
Every time I get an idea on how we can get Cave back, I look at it and ask myself if it involves any of those things.
If the answer is yes, I scrap it and start again.
But I’ve already accepted I am absolutely going to break this rule.
I don’t know exactly when or how, but I know myself.
Unfortunately, past me had more faith that current me would stick to it.
I hate watching Valli try to be strong, while Cipher throws himself into whatever it is he is working on today to shut the world out.
To block out the knowledge that Cave is locked away like an animal when he doesn’t need to be.
He needs to be at home with his people. I can’t bear him thinking we forgot about him or worse, abandoned him, because we never would.
We are simply trying to do things the right way, so we don’t make things worse, but I think Nixie knows there is a time limit on our affability.
Tonight the mood in the tent feels off. Most people don’t get along with Cave, or I should say he doesn’t get along with them, but he is one of us.
When something like this happens, we all feel it.
Cave rarely attends these briefing sessions, and if he does, he lingers in the doorway and is gone before they end.
I keep looking over, even though I know he isn’t coming.
Valli sits beside me, her hair falling loose from her messy bun, the tendrils framing her face.
She looks sad, and I hate that I cannot fix this for her.
Cipher sits on her other side; he also isn’t taking part in tonight’s chase, but he will stay with Valli the whole time.
Vero drops into a seat two rows in front of us with a bag of something that crinkles every time he moves.
Brawley sits beside him, while Clay stands at the back with his arms across his chest, and Vesper sits as far away from Vero as possible but still close enough that we are all in the same section.
Nixie runs through the briefing quickly. She wants no incidents tonight, so that makes the process easier.
The Jester appears from the side entrance, dressed up in his costume, his bells jingling as he walks. He drops into a seat in the front row, then turns to look at us all.
“So,” he says. “I’ve been thinking.”
“Did it hurt?” Vesper sneers.
The Jester ignores her and turns his attention to Valli. “I want to go in.”
Valli looks up from her phone. “Go in where?”
“The facility,” he says, as if we should have known what he meant. “I’ll get myself admitted. I can’t imagine it’s hard. Once I’m in, I’ll contact Cave and find out what’s happening, maybe even move things along a little from the inside.”
I bite down on my lip, capturing my words. I can’t; I have a rule to not do anything stupid. The look on Valli’s face says it’s a stupid idea for sure, even if I think it’s genius. Unfortunately, my brain and my mouth have never been great at working together.
“That is either the best or the worst idea I have heard,” I blurt out.
The Jester laughs. “The best, of course.”
“Worst,” Valli says, confirming my suspicions.
“I agree it’s the best,” Vero adds, now balanced on his knees facing us. “No one has had a better idea since I had a life-sized wax figure made of Kayla.”
“The wax figure is creepy,” Clay interjects.
I’ve seen the thing, and it looks scarily similar to their girlfriend. Vero likes to move it around, and I’m surprised she still has a head.
“Just think about it. Vincent is working the legal angle, which is slow. This is faster. I go in and find him to tell him you’re coming. I’m not suggesting we break him out . . . though I think the two of us could take them.” The Jester’s grin widens with his last words.
“So you would only pass on a message?” I ask, and he nods.
I think about it, and it sounds like a great idea. “It solves the issue of him thinking we abandoned him.”
“Noa,” Valli says in a scary mom voice.
“But—”
“No.” Her no is firm, leaving zero room for negotiation.
I turn to Cipher for help, and he sighs.
“If the Jester gets himself admitted, there’s a paper trail.
His name goes into the system, and the institution has more of a reason to look into the island and at Cave.
That is the exact opposite of what Vincent said we need to do.
” I nod as Cipher talks and the Jester pouts.
“Also, we have no control over what happens inside those walls. What if they don’t let you go anywhere near Cave?
What if Cave’s reaction to you isn’t good?
Seeing someone from the island may trigger him.
Have you considered what happens if you get in and can’t get out, Jester? ”
“I love a challenge.”
“What if I go instead? Everyone already knows I’m unstable,” Vero offers. “All I need to do is stop taking my new meds for a few days and I will be the poster child for that place.”
“Over my dead body,” Brawley says, grabbing the back of his neck and forcing him to look up. “Kayla would kill me if anything happened to you. I know she likes Cave, but she loves you.”
“Don’t know why,” Vesper scoffs. “I would happily send you. Both of you. Divide and conquer.”
“Not helping,” Valli says to Vesper, who just shrugs.
“What? Two birds, one stone. Talking about birds, we can send Rue as well. It solves all my problems.”
“This is not about your problems, Vesper. It’s about Cave,” Valli snaps.
“I know why you want to do this, Jester and Vero, and I’m not saying it’s not coming from a good place, but Cipher is right.
If we break him out, the island is the first place they’ll look.
Then he is taken back for longer. We will lose any progress we make, and I won’t let that happen.
We need to do this the right way, and we trust that Nixie knows what she is doing.
She got him to the island once before, and I believe she can do it again. ”
“Are you sure?” the Jester asks.
“One hundred percent.”
“Fine, we’ll do it the boring way.”
Vero laughs at the Jester, and Valli shakes her head. “No, we do it the legal way.”
“Same thing,” he says, then proceeds to sulk.
I remain quiet because I can see it from both sides. While I think sending someone in could be good, and if that person doesn’t come back out I’m sure Cave could use the help, I would feel guilty that another one of our people is stuck in there too.
Valli leans into my shoulder as people leave. Brawley drags Vero out as he mutters about missed opportunities, and Clay nods at Valli as he follows behind them.
“Cave will know we are coming for him,” I whisper. “He knows we wouldn’t leave him.”
She looks up at me and holds my gaze. “I hope so.”
The Jester is the last to leave. “For what it’s worth. I would have gotten myself out eventually.”
Valli snorts. “I don’t doubt that at all.”
“Three days to be precise. I have a low tolerance for institutional food.”
Valli shakes her head. “Go home. If Vincent can’t help us, I will keep you in mind as our backup plan.”
That makes him smile, and he bounces away. Cipher stands and stretches, then holds his hand out to Valli. She takes it and he helps pull her to her feet. I jump to mine and she reaches out to me, then the three of us leave, the absence of our fourth hanging in the air.