Page 44 of The Lost Zone


Font Size:

Josiah caught his arm and drew him in for a kiss instead.

“I won’t let him take you,” he said throatily. “You know that, don’t you?”

“You might not have a choice.”

“There’s always a choice.” Josiah took his hand and sat down on the sofa with him. “Look, I’ve taken countless indies out of the country. I wasn’t going to take you because you’re too famous. They’d look into it too closely, and that would bring the Kathleen Line down. I also knew they’d send so many bounty hunters after you that you’d struggle to get very far, even if I could get you safely out of the country. This new information changes everything, though. We have to rethink.”

“They’d know it was you,” Alex protested. “They’d arrest you.”

“I’d come with you. We’d have to go on the run. It wouldn’t be an easy life, but with me by your side, you’d at least stand a chance.”

“You’d leave everything behind and become a fugitive… for me?” Alex asked, his eyes wide.

“I’d do that and much more for you. Did you think I’d believe Tyler’s nonsense about you? Or imagine, for one second, that I was tempted by his job offer?”

“No.” Alex shook his head. “I’ve seen him buy and blackmail people into doing whatever he wants, but I knew it wouldn’t work on you.”

“So, what’s it to be?” Josiah asked. “Do we stay and fight him, or do we run?”

“I don’t think you’ve ever run from a fight in your life,” Alex retorted with a wry smile.

“This is different. This isn’t just about me, it’s about you, too.”

Alex hesitated. “If we run, we give up all hope of bringing Tyler to justice, don’t we?”

“Yes.” Josiah shrugged. “If we run, then that’s the end of it. We’ll be running for the rest of our lives.”

“I can’t do that to you. I can’t ask you to give up everything for me.”

“If Tyler wins, he’ll take everything from me anyway.”

“Ifhe wins. Do we stand a chance of defeating him if we stay?”

“I don’t know.” Josiah shook his head. “Honestly, Alex, I can’t make any promises on that score, but Icanpromise that if we stay, I’ll fight him to the bitter end.”

Alex squeezed his hand. “I know,” he said softly. “Look, this is too big for me to decide alone. It has to be a joint decision, not just mine.”

“No – it has to be your decision, because if I can’t keep Tyler’s lawyers from taking you away tomorrow, then you’ll be dead within a day. I might lose everything, but he won’t kill me.” Josiah looked him straight in the eye. “So, what’s it to be, Alex? Fight or run?”

Chapter Eight

JANUARY 2089

Alex

Alex slept well for the first time since the new regime had begun – so well that he almost slept through the klaxon. The first he was aware of it was when he opened his eyes to find F looking down on him.

“Aw, someone took pity on you last night,” F said, glaring at Two. “Isn’t that sweet? Now get up. You’re late.” Grabbing Alex’s arm, he hauled him bodily out of bed and propelled him to the gym.

When Alex returned to the dorm an hour and a half later, he found that his mattress had been stripped of the soiled bedding and was propped up against the wall.

“We thought we’d take it to the laundry room and ask B if we can scrub out the stain,” Two said.

“We can launder the bedding while we’re working today,” said Three.

“So you’ll have clean sheets tonight,” Five added excitedly.

Alex swallowed hard. “Thank you,” he whispered, before hurrying to the bathroom to compose himself.