HYLAND
MATCHES – JONAH KAGEN
“What’s the hold up?”Warner snaps down the line.
Give me strength.I’m in no mood to deal with his demands today.
“We’re two minutes out,” I drone.
“You’re over an hour late.”
“I’m aware.”
Between Ember taking an eternity to get ready and London’s incessant traffic, I’m perfectly aware of just how late we are. Warner is a stickler for punctuality.
“If you’d like to send a helicopter to pick us up from the fucking road, be my guest. I can’t use magic to make the cars go any faster.”
“I’ve got the terrible twosome here breathing down my neck for a progress update,” he explains wearily. “Just hurry.”
For two individuals who once held the title of clients long before they ever worked for Sabre Security, let alone ran the damn company, Kade and Hudson Knight can be incredibly impatient.
We’ve been home for less than forty-eight hours, and already, the demands for information are flying. This isn’t thekind of case that gets resolved the moment we find our victim after years of investigating.
Gael is still out there, not to mention the vast network of traffickers he’s connected to who pluck victims from across the globe. This snake has many heads. Realistically, our job has only just begun.
“Tell them to wait their turn. Ember’s our priority.”
“Believe me, they got an earful.” He huffs into the receiver. “Drive safe.”
“See you shortly.”
Ending the phone call, I wait for the heavy traffic to shift, leading us into the bustling mayhem of Central London. For a Friday morning it’s typically busy, the roads heaving with flashy cars and delivery vans.
After all the years I’ve spent working at Sabre Security, bouncing between cases and departments until I permanently joined the Anaconda Team, the towering skyscraper up ahead never fails to impress.
It’s an intimidating sight, challenging the height of every last FTSE 100 corporation housed around it. Our building is an impressive statue of steel and black glass, stretching high above the ants wandering on the streets below.
Growing up in a working-class suburb in the east of England, the eye-watering sums of money that pass through a place like this seemed staggering to me at first. Far more money than I’d ever even thought about.
I could hardly believe the opportunity in front of me when I was recruited from a decently paid job in private security. Uprooting my family was a tough call, but all I wanted was to provide them with a better life.
As luck would have it, that was the worst decision I could’ve made. Years down the line, I’m now divorced with a six-year-old son I barely have a relationship with. Not for lack of trying.
My ageing parents tried to convince me to return to my hometown and start fresh, but I wasn’t willing to abandon Sabre. No matter what price working for this firm has extracted from me.
“We’re keeping this brief.” Tom doesn’t look up from texting on his phone beside me. “Ember isn’t up to being interrogated so soon.”
“Do you really think we’d do that to her?” I clear my throat.
“You tell me.”
“No one is interrogating her. Christ.”
He shrugs in the passenger seat. “I’ve seen the way your team operates up close. You can’t blame me for wanting to shield her from that.”
“For God’s sake. We’re not animals.”
“Tell that to Axel. I had to negotiate with the head of prosecutions to clear his criminal record after leaving MI-5. If he wasn’t working for the government, he’d be in a prison cell.”
