Fourth Debt (Indebted 5)

Hadn’t they fed him? My heart hardened. More daggers of hatred grew toward Cut and Bonnie. I wanted to murder them slowly, painfully—to do to them what they’d done to innocent men and women.

Jasmine replied, “It wasn’t just me. I had help.”

“Damn right you did.” V winked. “Me.”

She smiled, a scowl plaiting with genuine amusement. “No, hotshot.” Her eyes met mine again. “Flaw.”

I froze. I was right.

My mind skipped to our conversation. Something about me not judging him, and how he was a good person. “He helped? How?”

Yesterday in the corridor.

They’d huddled together…discussing Jethro.

Jasmine sighed, “I was a freaking mess when Cut shot them. I’d wanted to walk again ever since I lost the ability, but in that second I’d wanted to fly. To soar across the room and tear out his motherfucking heart.”

My hands curled around the box of muesli bars. “I know that feeling.”

“Afterward, Bonnie took me upstairs and tried to calm me down. The rest I’m not entirely sure about, but Flaw was given the task of cleaning up.” She swallowed, eyes turning dark. “He noticed they…weren’t dead.”

“They had drips and shit…medical paraphernalia down there.” Vaughn jumped in. “Who did that?”

“Flaw again. He dropped out of medical school after he discovered diamonds were a lot more lucrative than sewing up flesh. We had the equipment, but he didn’t tell anyone. He moved their bodies, set up what they needed, then came to me the minute I was alone. Everything went according to plan, apart from the mishap of shutting the cell door.”

That was happening all while she came to save me from Daniel.

How had she come up with a plan so fast? And why did Cut listen to her demands as oldest child?

My mind raced. “So…Flaw kept them alive?”

She nodded. “If it hadn’t been for him, they would’ve drained out on the carpet.”

I shook my head. “But there was so much blood. They were unconscious.”

Jaz rolled closer. “He performed a miracle, Nila. I’ll be forever grateful for that. But there’s no guarantee they’ll pull through. The doctors tried to be optimistic when we arrived, but…”

Vaughn picked up where she trailed off. “The docs’ faces, Threads. You could tell they didn’t have much hope.”

The joy of knowing Jethro and Kestrel were rescued punctured, deflating like a hot air balloon, crashing faster toward Earth. “So…they might still…” I couldn’t finish.

Jaz smiled tightly, her eyes glittering with unshed tears. “Let’s focus on the positive. They’re away from Hawksridge with people who know what they’re doing. That’s all we have.”

Terrible silence fell, like a curtain already stealing Jethro and Kes from us.

Vaughn finally muttered, “Why keep them down there? It was a fucking dungeon.”

His train of thought gave me something to focus on.

Jasmine jumped to answer, as if unable to handle the quietness when we couldn’t stop our minds from picking at ‘what if’.

What if they don’t make it?

What if we were too late?

“It’s the only place in Hawksridge that has no cameras. All rooms, bathrooms, cellars—they’re all monitored. We couldn’t run the risk of Cut seeing them.”

I straightened. “What about the cameras last night?”

Her hands dived into her hair. Unpinning the clip, she let her sleek bob fall into place around her chin. “A few months ago, Kes taught me how to upload a virus that put the cameras into hibernation for a few hours. After a time, they reboot as if nothing happened. If anyone attempts to fix them while they’re down, the virus hijacks the hard drive and ruins two months’ worth of data.” She shrugged. “Either no one noticed and will think the lack of recording was a technical fault, or someone did and will put it down to a damaged hard drive.”

“Interesting.” Vaughn rubbed his face. “You’ll have to show me that handy trick.” His stomach growled again, even louder than before.

I couldn’t help Jethro or improve his prognosis, but I could help another man I loved. Turning back to the cupboard, I grabbed an armful of apples, biscuits, and another box of muesli bars. I shoved them at my brother. “Here. Have these.” Dashing to my wardrobe, I pulled free a few extra-large jumpers that I liked to wear off the shoulder with a belt and gave those to him, too. “And these. To keep you warm.”

Jaz wheeled forward. “That’s a good idea. That room is freezing.” Her shoulders rolled. “V, it hasn’t exactly been easy dealing with you tonight, but you’ve been amazing. Helping move Jet and Kes, driving the van, filling out the paperwork at the hospital. Don’t think I’m not grateful because I am. But…”

Vaughn had his mouth full with a crisp green apple. “But you have to take me back.”

Jaz nodded.

“No, surely you can just let him go—” I moved between them.

Vaughn swallowed his breakfast. “No chance of a warmer room? Something without a broken window?”

She smiled sadly. “Sorry. We have to make it seem like nothing happened. Cut can’t know Jet and Kes are alive. Any escapes or room changes will make him suspicious. However, I’ll do what I can and move you in a few days.”