“Can they get in?”
“Depends on what they’re using.”
“What are we going to do?”
Another thunderous crash knocks a mirror off the wall. It breaks into a hundred jagged pieces.
My grip on Jade’s arm is merciless. “This is your last chance to tell me. What the hell are you into?”
The next crash brings about the screech of metal.
“Are you just going to let them in?” she asks.
“No choice. Last chance. What is your alliance?”
Her eyes spark with fear or anger, I don’t know which.
“You better figure out who’s out there,” she says. “Antony or my father.” She jerks her arm away.
I let her go. She said she comes from a long line of thieves. I should know who at the Den sired this girl. My mind flashes to all the senior members who would be old enough to have a child of twenty-four. Oliver. No, the coloring was all wrong. Marco. No, he only had a son, already in the Den.
Must be someone long retired.
“Who is your father?” I ask.
She laughs. “You know what, I’ll take my chances about who’s out there.” She turns away.
No, she won’t. I scoop her up in my arms and race with her out of the bedroom and through the living area to the control room. It’s the most secure area of my facility and contains the majority of my defenses.
Once inside, I toss her in the cage and slam it shut. I head over to the console, flipping switches. Steel doors slam down, sealing this room off from the others. When they break in, it will appear as though the bunker is empty. I can’t do anything about some of the evidence that we were here. An open wine bottle. Plates with food. The messy bed. But perhaps I can fool them into looking no further.
Jade holds onto the bars. She laughs. The thuds from the mechanical battering ram are quieter in here, but audible nonetheless.
If she screams she cannot be heard by human ears, but if they have equipment to listen, they will pick up on her. And I’m sure whoever it is will be fully prepared.
I open the door below the console and lift out a gas mask. I place it on top of my head, ready to pull down.
“Tell me who your father is so I can decide whether or not to put you to sleep temporarily or permanently,” I say.
Her eyes widen. That one is definitely fear.
“You wouldn’t. You like me.”
“I like fucking you,” I say. I won’t admit to anything more, not now.
“It’s more than that,” she insists. She gestures in the direction of the living quarters.
“Good sex.”
“Like you once knew?”
My entire insides go cold, shocking me into saying something I shouldn’t. “That was a long time ago.”
“And you never forgot her?”
That’s enough of her guesswork. “This appears to be a plot against me. I’m not willing to believe that Antony is battering down the door of one of his top thieves when he could simply take my call. So I must assume it is some sort of exterior ring. Your father?”
I put one hand on my mask, and another one hovers over the console.
She looks at it, then at me. But her lips are pinched tight.
My voice booms. “What are you doing in the Den? What is your mission?”
She shakes her head. “I’d rather die than reveal my mission. That’s the way I was trained.”
She sits cross-legged in the middle of the cage and closes her eyes. She really is prepared to die.
Good enough. I pull the gas mask over my face and press the button.
