Chapter 2
CHAPTER
TWO
Kendall
“Who the hell are you to Jerome?” Indiana snaps, his frustration boiling over as he continues to pace in front of me.
He stops dead, his face darkening until he looks ready to snap.
“He doesn't just let some random stranger walk in here and offer up his secrets.
You're hiding something and I'm itching to beat the truth out of you.”
I refuse to let his intimidation tactics land.
“He thinks I'm his most loyal asset,” I answer, keeping my voice steady while I hold his stare.
“I'm the one who handles the delicate jobs he can't trust his usual crew with.
He relies on me to keep his network running smooth.
At least he does until he realizes I'm burning it all down.”
Riptide watches me from the side, his silence heavier than Indiana's shouting. He's clearly assessing the risk. “That's a lot of power for someone he's supposed to be controlling,” he rumbles, his doubt plain to see.
“Power is just a perspective,” I counter, refusing to flinch. “He believes he holds the leash because he controls the systems I need to survive. But he forgets that I'm the one who built the cage.”
“You’re dancing around the question. Who the fuck are you to Jerome?”
“I’m his dirty secret,” I admit, shame lacing my words. “I’m one of his original girls. I didn’t join him out of choice, I joined him out of necessity to survive. He has one thing he holds over my head, the one thing that in this entire world will keep me compliant.”
“What’s that?” Riptide asks, his voice scratchy, as if he’s anticipating my answer.
“My son,” I remark.
The silence that follows my confession is absolute.
It’s heavy, the kind that swallows the sound of the world outside and leaves only the thumping of my own heart in my ears.
Indiana stops his pacing, his eyes widening for a fleeting second before his mask of stone slides back into place.
Riptide just stares at me, his gaze dropping to the floor for a moment as if he’s processing the weight of that single word.
“He’s got a kid,” Indiana mutters, his voice stripped of its edge. It sounds almost like an accusation, directed at the unfairness of the situation. “He’s holding a child to keep you in line?”
“He doesn’t care whose life he ruins as long as he gets what he wants,” I reply, my voice trembling despite my best efforts to keep it steady.
“He keeps my son in a place I can’t reach, under a guard I can’t bypass.
Every task I complete, every system I hack for him, that’s the price of my son’s safety.
But I’m running out of time, and he’s getting reckless. ”
Riptide approaches, his boots heavy on the concrete. He doesn't look like he wants to intimidate me anymore. He looks like a man calculating the cost of a war. “How old?”
“Five,” I whisper. The number feels like a splinter in my chest. “He’s only five.”
Indiana lets out a low, rough breath. “That makes it personal.”
“It’s been personal since the day he took him,” I say, finally meeting Riptide’s gaze with every ounce of resolve I have left. “If you want to end him, you can’t just go in guns blazing. You need to know where he hides. And I’m the only one who can get you to that location.”
“And your boy? When we take Jerome out, what happens to him?” Riptide inquires.
“I’m going for the back entry,” I say, my voice devoid of hesitation.
“While you create a diversion at the front, I’m scaling his perimeter fence and slipping into the security grid.
I’m disabling the alarm triggers and taking down his guards so I can reach my boy before he even knows I’ve flipped. ”
“You’re here to make a deal,” Riptide guesses.
“I am. I have penance to pay,” I tell them something I shouldn’t, but I’m tired of doing the wrong thing.
“To who?” Rip asks.
“To Booker,” I murmur, finally letting the truth spill.
“I’m the one who keeps leaving those digital breadcrumbs for him to find.
I’ve spent months scrubbing my tracks so he doesn’t trace the origin back to my terminal, but it’s a dangerous game.
I try to guide him from the shadows, giving him just enough data to keep his investigation moving, but that encryption software I coded is almost too efficient.
It works better than I ever expected. It keeps leaking more than I intend, and he’s getting too close for comfort.
He’s brilliant, sharper than I anticipated, and now I’m scrambling to protect him from the very trap he’s walking into. ”
“Your own system is tattling on you, isn’t it?” Indiana probes.
“It is, it’s smarter than I programmed it to be. It’s expanding on its own without prompts from me,” I convey. “It’s getting too dangerous to continue along this path. If we don’t work together and swiftly, everyone and everything we love will perish.”
“When is this raid on our compound scheduled for?” Riptide probes.
Squaring my shoulders, I look them both in the eye before answering, “When you go to your friend’s memorial service in West Texas. We have to act fast. We can’t let him do this.”
“You could stop it,” Indiana reminds me.
“Only if I want to be the next person to bury someone they love,” I counter.
“Would he really kill his own flesh and blood?” Indiana asks, unable to consider that as a probability.
“In a heartbeat,” I grind out, my teeth gritted tight enough to ache.
“Blood ties mean nothing to him. He views everyone around him as a chess piece, and he sacrifices anyone just to gain a better position. All he cares about is absolute control. If he can’t bend you to his will, he’ll dismantle you piece by piece until you're nothing but a memory. You don’t know the monster you’re dealing with, but I do.
He’s not the type to offer second chances.
” My watch buzzes against my wrist. It’s a mechanical sting that cuts through the tension.
I glance at the dial and then back to the men, my heart hammering against my ribs.
“My time’s up. I have to go before he gets suspicious and comes looking for me himself. ”
Riptide steps into my path, his expression unreadable. “Where does he think you are?”
“He thinks I’m running a routine check on your server logs,” I answer, already turning toward the exit. “Don't let me down.”
“How do we get in touch with you?” he hollers as I retreat as quickly as I can.
“You can't,” I call back, already halfway around the corner. “I'll reach out to you. Tell Booker to keep the comms open, even if the thought of me makes his skin crawl. I'll drop updates as they come, but I need a favor from you guys.”
Riptide narrows his eyes, pausing in his tracks. “What's that?”
“Tell your techie to breathe once in a while,” I say, glancing back at them. “He's burying himself in that data, and if he burns out now, we're all screwed.”
“What took you so long, Kendall?” Jerome asks.
His hand wraps around my throat and tightens until the world starts to blur at the edges.
I fight to pull in a breath, but his grip is unyielding.
He leans in closer, his eyes cold and devoid of anything resembling warmth.
“I don't like waiting for updates. Did you have trouble finishing the task I gave you?” I claw at his wrist, but he doesn't budge. My vision swims as I struggle for air.
“I ran into some issues,” I choke out. The pressure shifts as he laughs, a low and cruel sound that makes my skin crawl.
He knows I'm lying, and he enjoys watching me squirm. His snake-like eyes slit in my direction as he demands, “What kind of issues?”
“They were patrolling,” I wheeze. The words feel like broken glass in my throat. I force myself to meet his stare, refusing to look weak even as black spots dance in my vision.
He scoffs. The sound vibrates through his chest against mine. “Patrolling? You expect me to believe you couldn’t bypass a few bored bikers? You’re better than that, Kendall.”
He loosens his grip just enough for me to gasp for air, but the reprieve is cruel. He holds me suspended, waiting for a better response.
“I didn’t want to tip my hand,” I say, my voice raspy. “If I had moved faster, they might have traced my signal back to the source. You don’t want that any more than I do.”
He narrows his eyes, his hold slackening further as he considers the lie. It is a gamble, but it is the only one I have left.
He crowds into my space until his rotten stenched breath hits my face.
He offers a smile that never reaches his eyes, leaving them as dead as the screen of a fried monitor.
He leans in close so I feel the heat radiating off him, pinning me against the wall while he speaks low and slow.
“Listen close, Kendall. If I find out you're playing me for a fool or planning a double cross, Kolter pays the price.
He's the insurance policy that keeps you honest. Do you understand me?”
“I understand,” I gasp, my fingernails digging into his skin as his grip tightens.
Every ounce of my remaining strength goes into trying to pry his fingers loose.
I look him dead in the eye, my lungs burning and my vision clouding over.
I have to make him believe the lie because if he suspects even a fraction of the truth, Kolter’s dead.
“I just want him safe, Jerome. That’s all I’ve ever wanted.
” He humphs, releasing me so suddenly I slump against the wall, dragging in a ragged breath that tears at my chest. He isn’t done with me yet.
He paces away, his shadow looming large in the dim light of the room, and I know I’m still deep in the belly of the beast.
“I think you need a reminder of who’s in charge here, Kendall,” he says as he steps into my space.
His boot connects with my ribs, sending a shockwave of agony through my chest that leaves me gasping for air.
I curl onto the floor, trying to shield my side, but he just kicks me again, lighter this time, to make sure I stay down.
He looms over me, his face a mask of cold amusement.
“Still think you’re smart enough to play me?
” he asks, his voice smooth and devoid of any real emotion.
I grit my teeth to keep from screaming as the pain pulses through me.
“I’m not playing,” I wheeze, my ribs protesting every shallow breath.
He leans down, his expression hardening. “Then you’re failing, Kendall. And failure has consequences. You’re going to fix our little problem with the Kings. And you’re going to do it tonight.”
Before I get a chance at a rebuttal, his fist flies toward my face.
I brace for the impact, but my reflexes lag behind his speed.
When he clocks me, the world around me dims as darkness consumes me.
His knuckles connect with my jaw, a sharp explosion of white light that shatters the room.
The world tilts, spinning on its axis until the floor rushes up to meet me.
Darkness floods my vision, a heavy, suffocating tide that pulls me under before I hit the concrete.
My last thought before I lose the fight is Kolter’s smile, a fragile being holding me to a life that feels like it’s slipping away.