Chapter 65
Chapter Sixty-Five
Jordan
Broken glass covers the kitchen floor, and a cabinet door hangs loose, but we’ve ignored it, moving back into the drawing room. The table looks like a tornado whipped across it, with papers, candles and pens scattered every which way.
And at the end sits Zac, elbows on his knees, head bowed, leg bouncing so violently the floorboards fucking shake.
Kayla’s arms are curled around herself as she leans against the back of the sofa, and Claudia bites her nails, standing beside the bookshelf. Riley sits opposite Zac, wincing and rubbing the ribs his mate smashed into ten minutes earlier.
I stand in the doorway—a barrier between Zac and his wife.
Claudia clears her throat. “What about disguises? If we steal a few uniforms? We could pass as Enforcers—”
“They all have ID cards,” Riley cuts in. “They scan them at every building. They’ll spot us before we get inside.”
“What about one of us getting caught on purpose? Taken to The Cell for breaking a rule? We’ll find Emilia and be inside.”
“And then what?”
“Break out—”
“They search you before you’re put in The Cell,” Kayla pipes up, cutting Claudia off. “You won’t get a weapon through.”
“Plus, you’ll still have to get through the guards stationed out front,” Riley adds. Zac’s leg jerks harder at that.
Kayla shifts on her feet. Her voice trembles, but she clearly tries to steady it. “Then me. I’ll go. Give myself up in exchange for Emilia. They might swap—”
“No.” Zac’s voice is quiet, but it slices through the room with force. His head lifts, eyes empty and blazing all at once. “No one trades themselves for her. She’d never forgive us.”
Kayla scoffs. “If this happened years ago when she hated me, she’d help walk me up City Hall’s steps herself.” For the first time, a ghost of a smirk tugs at Zac’s mouth. It flickers, then disappears as fast as it came.
Riley drags a hand down his face. “We’re running out of options.”
Claudia starts pacing, chewing the inside of her cheek. Her eyes meet mine, brimming with tears and begging for an answer I don’t have. My heart aches at the despair in her eyes, and all I want to do is fix it all, to take her pain away and keep her out of harm’s way.
But I can’t.
I don’t know how.
“There’s… another option,” Riley offers. “We wait.” He pauses. “Until she’s transferred to Killmoor.”
A choked sound slips out of Zac, but Riley continues.
“Then, the Armoury might be willing to help. They’ve commandeered a few trucks, done them up, got a couple going. We could use them to intercept the convoy. It’s not much, and I don’t know how many people will volunteer since they don’t know Emilia, but—”
“They know me,” Zac growls, head snapping up, eyes wild. “That should be enough.”
Riley hesitates and then sighs. “You know these people, mate,” he says. “It’s not. Not to mention, not everyone likes you; Jeremiah won’t agree, I can tell you that for free.”
I don’t even get a chance to react as Zac lunges out of his chair, my wife flinging herself between them.
“Claudia,” I yell. My arm coils around her waist just as her palms slam against Zac’s chest.
“Enough!” she snaps. “Zac, stop.” He’s breathing hard, chest heaving, but he relents, stepping back.
“Look…” Riley’s voice is softer now. “I’m just saying… if we can’t get enough support, Emilia might need to serve whatever sentence she gets in Killmoor.” His voice wavers. “Maybe she—”
Zac’s snarl rips out before he can finish, and Claudia flinches back into my chest. I jab a finger in Riley’s direction so fast, quickly shoving Claudia behind me and stepping between him and Zac.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” I snap.
“I don’t know what else to suggest—”
“You don’t get to talk about Killmoor,” Kayla snaps, voice fierce as she spits across the room. “You don’t know what it’s like.” Riley’s eyes flash with something dark, something sinister. His jaw grinds, but eventually he just nods, sinking into his chair.
“Then we intercept the convoy on the way to Killmoor,” he says. “I’ll see who at the Armoury is willing to help.”
“Thank you,” Claudia says softly. She squeezes my hand once, and then she’s across the room, snatching a map from the shelves and laying it across the table, smoothing the edges with trembling hands. “City Hall to Killmoor,” she mutters.
Kayla, Zac, and I approach the table, staring down at the roads and possible routes. She starts pointing them out and Kayla and Zac frown at the ragged lines.
Riley retreats to the edge of the room, murmuring something into his transmitter. Within a couple of minutes, he returns, looking down at the map.
“Red’s in,” he says. “She’ll rally whoever she can. Told her to tell Carl and Pete I need them, so we can count on them, too.”
I lean in, circling a road with my finger. “There? It’s an old roundabout. We could use the unused roads and cut them off before they see us coming—”
“With what?” Zac mutters. “We’ll have a couple of tiny fucking trucks. When we were taken to Killmoor, I was in a prison van, and they had a security van covering the rear. You think our stolen trucks are enough to put a dent in that?”
Riley winces, raking a hand through his hair. “I’m not even sure more than one of the Armoury’s trucks turns on. They’ve been stealing parts for it for months,” he says. “And either way, the one that does is definitely smaller than the others.”
“Then it won’t stop a convoy,” Zac mutters. “We need something bigger. Something they can’t shove off the road.” Kayla sinks onto a chair, glaring at the map.
A shattering slam from the front door tears through the room moments before a voice screams.
“Zac!”
We all jolt upright. Zac freezes, head snapping towards the sound. For a split, suspended second, hope flashes across his face, but it dies the moment the figure barrels through the doorway.
Anna.
She’s breathless, hair wild, her button-up dark green shirt creased. She looks past all of us, eyes locking onto Zac.
“It’s Emilia,” she gasps. “They’ve got her.”
Claudia steps forward, voice soft. “We know, Anna—”
“No,” Anna snaps, shaking her head so fiercely that her unruly hair whips her in the face. She takes a stumbling step into the room, chest heaving, eyes wide. “No, you don’t understand. They’re not putting her in The Cell or taking her to Killmoor!”
Claudia frowns. “What?”
Riley’s head cocks as he stands, Zac’s shoulders stiffen, and I slide in front of him, eyes wary.
Anna’s jaw trembles, but she lifts her chin and drops the bomb.
“They’re just going to kill her.”