TWENTY-THREE
Blair and I step into the basement of my home, with Arson jumping out of Blair’s arms. The little menace immediately goes around, scanning the area and finding the best spot to nap. It doesn’t take her long to settle under one of the benches, curling into a ball, ignoring everyone else in the room.
My hand holds Blair’s tightly, our fingers intertwined as I lead her further into the room. Mom and Dad are there, sitting at the small table, waiting for us. Cove’s not too far, as silent as always, almost looking bored out of his mind.
“You ready?”
I whisper.
Blair takes a moment, swallowing thickly. She takes a deep breath, determination written on her face. She nods, then gives my hand a small squeeze.
“I’m ready.”
We walk toward my parents, taking a seat in the empty chairs across from them. Both of them are serious, and I’ve done my best to mentally prepare Blair as much as possible for the conversation that’s about to happen. We can’t waste more time – we need to get this shit going if we want to get to the bastards before they get more power than they already have.
Mom smiles warmly at Blair, but it doesn’t reach her eyes. It’s nothing personal to Blair, but this isn’t a situation where she can smile and laugh freely. With a silent conversation, Mom and Dad look at each other for a while, silence surrounding us.
Dad gives her a small nod, then turns to look at us.
“I won’t beat around the bush,”
he starts off. “Noelle and I dealt with our fair share of motherfuckers back in the day, even now, but nothing quite this big or quite this serious. One wrong step and not only will our organization go down, our business – our legacy- but also our lives. There’s a lot at stake here, and we cannot afford mistakes.
Blair remains silent next to me, looking straight at Dad. I rub circles on the back of her palm with my thumb, watching as her shoulders start to relax slightly.
“Where’s Aria?”
I ask. “She should be informed of this.”
“Spending the night at Niko’s,”
Mom explains. “I’ll fill her in tomorrow. She’s still a teenager; I’m trying to spare her as much as possible, but she is one of the most gifted snipers I’ve ever encountered. We will need her later on.”
I give her a firm nod.
“Now,”
Mom breathes out. “Blair needs the entire story before we can proceed. How much did Arlo tell you?”
Blair’s response is immediate. “Just that Nelson Adam is responsible for the death of your sister and disappearance of your niece.”
Mom nods. “Right. I was highly against Jane dating Nelson. Before that, I never encountered the man, but I’ve heard the stories. He went into politics straight out of university, around twenty years ago. His parents were also very influential politicians of their time, so it was definitely a bribed way in. There were always stories of him being a corrupt, shady politician, but aren’t they all?”
Mom sighs. “Which is why I didn’t really pay attention to him until he started dating Jane.”
Mom pauses, then pushes a glass of water to Blair. My girl takes a sip, and Mom patiently waits for the information to settle before continuing. I already know the story; I’ve heard it over a hundred times.
“After Jane’s husband tragically passed… she was in a dark place. She already had their daughter, Luna, before they got married. A bit early, but she had our full support because her husband was a wonderful man. His loss hit her very hard, and she swore off dating until she met Nelson.”
Mom swallows thickly, and Dad continues speaking.
“Jane has always been the smartest one out of the three Campbell siblings,”
he sighs. “The fact that she never saw any red flags is odd. We don’t know what he used to get closer to her, how he manipulated her, or if she was being forced into it. Noelle confronted Jane more than once, but it was always a lost battle because Jane just wouldn’t listen. Noelle was smart to bug Jane’s entire house, though.”
Blair’s eyes flicker between my parents. “Yes, Arlo mentioned some recordings.”
Dad takes Mom’s hand in his, holding it tightly. “On the day of Jane’s murder, Luna was at school. She had a play later in the week, so that day, and a few days prior, she would stay longer to rehearse with her friends. Nelson saw the opportunity, came into Jane’s home, and killed her.”
Blair debates for a moment, eyes glued on Mom. She’s holding on strongly, but I can see the mask slowly starting to crack slightly. Mom’s the first one to look away, and Blair asks the questions she has.
“How did he kill her?”
It’s Mom that responds. “He used a gun. It was a quick death.”
Blair nods. “What… what do the recordings say?”
“I’ll play them for you later,”
Mom promises. “Overall, it was mostly gibberish. It sounded like Adams was either drunk or on drugs.”
Blair’s brows crease. “If he was drunk or high… how did he manage a clean shot? If it was an instant, quick death, how would a drunk person do that?”
Mom sucks in a deep breath. “There were two different voices there. Both male, and after a lot of research, one man popped up.”
Blair swallows a knot, and she already knows the name. “Paul Simmons.”
Mom nods. “There was either a third man who took the shot, or it was Simmons. At this point, I can’t prove either of those. The reason we were unable to get Nelson arrested was because he ran off afterward, and that voice recording wasn’t enough. I needed more. With his influence and power, that sort of evidence is never going to be enough.”
“What is the plan here?”
Blair asks, releasing my hand and leaning across the table. “How do we go about this without rushing but also not taking too long?”
I step in, voicing my thoughts. “We need a team of skilled people,”
I pause, looking at Dad. “You’ve been dealing with current trainees. Anyone with enough skill and dedication to do that?”
Dad snorts. “With enough money offered, they’ll all be dedicated. But if we’re talking skills – then Freya Embrys.”
A loud groan comes from me, and I slump further into the chair, rolling my eyes at the mere mention of the name. Blair looks at me, brows narrowed at the reaction. With a sigh of disappointment, I cross my arms in front of my arms.
“Dad discovered Freya a few years ago. She’s a skilled chemist, with shitty luck in life. Dad built her an entire lab, and her specialty is poisons.”
“Poisons?”
Blair frowns a little.
“Any kind of poisons – she can make them. She’s even come up with a few original ones, and those are hella expensive on the black market. Most of them are untraceable and don’t show on tox screens or blood work. Very skilled.”
“So… she just develops poisons?”
“More or less. If paid enough, she’ll poison the person herself. She may be an insufferable, annoying, despicable, cunning, and manipulative piece of shit – but she’s not a coward. Or stupid, no matter how much I want her to be.”
Blair hums, something flashing behind her eyes that I can’t quite place. “Basically, she’s a poisoner.”
For the first time since we sat down, Cove makes some noise. He snorts, then looks at Blair with his usual mask of indifference and boredom. He’s sitting on one of the benches, his phone in hand as he looks at her.
“Don’t call her that,”
he advises. “I called her the Poisoner once and almost had my teeth knocked out.”
“Alright then,”
I straighten up in my chair, eyes occasionally darting to Blair to make sure she’s holding up alright. “We have Freya, much to my dismay. Who else?”
“How many people were you thinking?”
Dad asks, standing up and walking to one of the lockers in the far corners. He shuffles through it, then comes back with a bottle of whiskey in hand and a few glasses. He pours for Mom first, then for himself. “Want some?”
He offers.
Blair shakes her head, but I take him up on the offer, and he pours me a glass, then slides it over the table before sitting right back. Cove comes closer, grabs the bottle for himself, and goes back to sitting on the bench, scrolling through his phone.
“We need a rescue team. Their job will be to show up at the location and save the girls once they’re located. Let’s say about twenty men are there. That would be their only job.”
Dad nods. “I’ll gather a team. Who else?”
“We’ll need an immediate team to work with us through this. That’ll be Freya, you and Mom, Blair, Cove, and Aria, only if necessary. We need someone skilled to keep us all connected and someone who can hack into stuff. I could do it myself, but I don’t want to overburden myself. Right now, my priorities are elsewhere.”
“Lucas will do it,” Mom says.
Lucas is one of her oldest friends, a brilliant hacker who taught me a lot of things when I was first starting out. And he married Mom’s brother – my uncle, Niko. He’s trustworthy, and this is something he’ll be able to pull off.
“Alright, notify him. Aria will be the main sniper, but we need another one.”
“There’s a girl I’m currently training,”
Mom says. “A bit young, about twenty, but I think she’ll be able to do it.”
My brows narrow. “Who is it?”
“Jewel.”
“Is that her name?”
“No, a nickname.”
“What a weird nickname,” I mumble.
Blair scoffs beside me. “Says the man who’s been calling me butterfly since the day we met.”
I give her a sheepish smile, my cheeks slightly heating up. I clear my throat and look back at Dad, who is trying his best not to look amused at the two of us, given the severity and seriousness of the situation.
“I’ll find another two people,”
he promises. “But in the meantime, this is what we’ll do. We don’t have much time, and we need to start as soon as possible. Blair, Arlo will train you how to use weapons, and he’ll take over training your physical strength. You two have four weeks to perfect it as much as possible, because once the four-week mark is over, we’ll strike.”
Blair’s determination can be felt through the entire room. She nods, a stern look on her face. Her resolve hasn’t faltered since this whole ordeal has started, and I’m beyond proud of her. She’s much stronger than she gives credit for.
“Alright.”
“Now,”
Mom turns to look at me. “What happened with Zoe last night?”
I halt.
“I’m not sure. I think she’ll end up calling me.”
“You think? But you’re not sure?”
She presses.
My jaw ticks. “No, I’m not sure. I’m giving her two weeks. Once two weeks are up, if she still hasn’t called, I’ll find another way in and the location of the girls.”
“You better. We can’t fuck this up.”
“And we won’t.”
Blair takes my hand in hers, my heart fluttering at the small gesture. It’s not the first time we’ve held hands, but fuck, it feels good. She tightens her grip, holding me secure, and the amount of love and affection that washes over me is unlike anything I’ve ever felt.
As she continues to converse with Mom and Dad about the plans, their voices fade out, and my focus is solely on her face. This woman could ask me to execute people publicly, and I’d do it without a second thought. She could ask me for the world, and I’d build her a new one. Anything for my pretty butterfly, because she deserves everything.