Page 135 of The Masks She Wore

?“Of course, I did,” I spat. “Any respectable agent learns from multiple people, not just one. Never just one.” Even an idiot knew that. The Program had only six trainers. Good at what they did, but there were more than six different fighting techniques in the world. My mom made sure I was trained by the best in them all.

?Zo shoved away from the wall. “Agent?” she asked, walking up to Jack. “He never said anything about being an agent.”

?I looked between them, my own confusion growing. “What are you talking about? We’re fucking agents, he wouldn’t deny that.”

?“Holding it back is different than denial,” Jack said, his voice shifting into something softer. “What kind of agent are you, Rae? Agent of what?”

?The burning seared across my mind, my hands flexing as I tried to reach for the information. “Um…” I closed my eyes, shaking my head, my hair sticking to the blood and sweat coating my skin. “We…we don’t belong to any organization,” I said, finding their eyes. “It’s…uh…fuck.” I lost it, whatever train of thought I had, it was gone.

?Zo lifted and dropped her hand. “They could have used the term to give them access to certain areas of the world. Fake credentials. We’ve used more for less.”

?Jack studied me carefully, so many thoughts drifting through his eyes before he nodded and straightened. “Stay here for a few hours, sit inthe darkness, think about it,” he told me, turning back to the workbench.

?I pulled at the chains. “Wait, Jack, please,” I tried. “Let me sleep in the bed, please? Just for a few hours, I promise I’ll be good.”

?“We’re not doing this because you’re bad, Rae,” he hummed, heading for the stairs, Zo on his heels. “We’re doing this because someone else is.”

?I screamed as my only hope for escape left. I jerked at the restraints. I didn’t want to do this anymore. I didn’t want todo this anymore!“Jack!Jack!” I screamed. “Let me out! Please! Please, let me out! Don’t leave me here again, please!”

?The light shut off, the sound of the door closing like a gunshot in the silence.

?“Jack!”

30

Jack

January 28th, 2020

“We made up our own organization,” Charles explained as I paced the old stone porch of the cathedral. “We didn’t have a name, we used it to get into places that wouldn’t have let us in otherwise.”

?“Whatcredentialsdid you use, Charles? What badges?”Fuck, I would think that someone smart enough to hide from Malachi for all of this time would be smart enough to be straight with me.

?“We had lots of badges,” he bit. “CIA, FBI, Homeland Security. Whatever we needed to get the job done.”

?“What job? You keep saying job, what job?”

?“Anyjob,” he seethed. “All of them.”

?I scoffed. “So what? You were some kind of vigilante? I don’t believe that, Charles,” I sang. “You’re lying to me and I don’t likeliars.”

?“We didn’t go aroundsavingpeople. We were good at everything. We stole, we sold, we hunted people down and tortured them until they gave up whatever we wanted. We got what we needed, and then we killed them. We are just like you—”

?“There is no one like us,” I snarled. “Don’tevercompare us, Charles. I should kill you for such blasphemy.”

?“It’s a family gig,” Charles went on angrily. “Marla’s side, the Alascer’s. She’s better at it than I am. I was brought into it at 17 when I met her, she was born into this like our daughter.”

?“Abernath, Scotland Yard,” I said pointedly. “Malachi. Who else do you know?”

?“Fuck, we’ve got connections everywhere, just like your family does. Let me talk to my daughter. Now. I demand it.”

?I hung up, turning to the driveway. It’s been nine days since I first locked Rae up, and I was growing tired. Tired of pushing her like this, tired of inflicting this kind of pain. I never thought I would ever meet someone who would make me hesitate, but here I was, considering setting her free and finding another way to unlock these memories.

?My phone buzzed, it was Zo.

Zo:She’s awake.

I closed my eyes and pressed the phone against my forehead. Fuck. For once in my life, I didn’t want to keep doing this. I wanted—needed to stop. But was that what was best for her or for me? She wanted to break the brainwashing. She survived four months last time, how long will it take to shatter what they did to her?

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