Page 35 of Fate Awakened

His expressionless eyes stay focused on me, but he makes no indication that he heard me. His face remains completely blank. He’s like a British guard.

That’s a little creepy.

I exhale audibly.

A few minutes later, Cain re-enters, carrying a small zipped bag. He pushes the table closer to me and sets the bag on top before walking over and cutting off the zip ties, effectively freeing my hands but not my feet. He moves back around, switching his chair to the correct sitting position, and eases down on its edge.

“Apologies for our interruption. I believe you agree to my terms, so you can leave this room alive?” His no-nonsense tone solidifies my situation.

Rock meet hard place.

Rubbing my wrists to relieve their stiffness, I note that I can agree to the deal and hope to God the criminal contingent doesn’t catch me, or I can say no and be stuck with the current criminal contingent.

Decisions. Decisions.

He leans into the table, taking away most of the space between us. Out of my peripheral vision, I see Cain’s partner move one step, and I freeze. If he’s worried Cain will hurt me, I should be too.

“This deal saves your annoying life. As much as it doesn’t mean shit to me, Brielle will care if something happens to you. The minute that’s no longer true, you become disposable.” His voice gives away his hatred for me.

Finally, something we can agree on.

He sits back in the chair, unzips the bag, and lifts each item as he explains its use like I’m a fucking kindergartner and not someone with a degree in a STEM field.

“This is your earpiece. Once inserted, you’ll be able to hear me. I won’t talk to you during your meeting. It’s too risky. I can’t have you losing focus. I’m in your ear for entry and exit. If shit goes south, listen to my directions. I will not repeat them. Acting quickly will save your life.” He sets down, admittedly, the smallest earpiece I’ve ever seen.

“Do you know what this is?” he asks condescendingly, lifting an AirPod case.

“Sledgehammer? No, basketball? Oh! Trampoline?” I roll my eyes and wait for his response.

“Okay, smartass. This is your wireless receiver. It looks exactly like an AirPod case. We’ve even included AirPods to place inside so it looks normal. This can pick up your voice from five feet away. That means we can hear you loud and clear, even if it's in your pocket. You don’t need to talk loudly. You don’t need to shout at it. We’ll be able to hear you. If they attempt to take the case, let them. It’ll still transmit, and we’ll still get what we need. This shouldn’t give them any red flags.”

He sets down the receiver and pulls out a UNLV pin and glasses, which look surprisingly similar to the ones I was wearing today. Thankfully my vision is only a problem if I have to drive or read signs far away.

“Your glasses have been fixed with a micro camera. It’ll turn off when you first get to the location and will be restarted once they’ve cleared you. It’s undetectable when off and exceptionally difficult to find if on. Don’t play with your glasses, don’t touch them, twirl them, or chew on them. Leave them on your damn face,” Cain snaps the last part.

“And what’s the pin? A quick explosive? GPS tracking?” I ask, curious about what technology it holds because it looks like any standard college pin.

“It’s a pin. No bells, no whistles. It’s a distractionary piece. Pin it to the lanyard around your neck with your keys. They’ll likely take it or inspect it, at least. This is just our way of making you look less suspicious.” He says as if it’s the most obvious answer after the three pieces I was just shown.

“Talk me through what information you want again,” I question, trying to ascertain how much work it’ll be to get the necessary answers without giving away my intent. I’m going to have to be subtle.

“We believe this meetup will reestablish you with the Marlo Pack, eeerrr, corporation,” he quickly corrects himself for some reason and glances back at the Navy SEAL behind him, their faces communicating an entire story without speaking a word out loud.

“It appears that way. I haven’t been able to contact K in weeks, and they finally got back into communication with me sincesomeonestole my previous phone. It contained the Signal app with my encryption keys and contact numbers,” I say pointedly.

“Oh yeah, sorry about that. Remind me to get that back to you,” he says with zero remorse in his tone. “This guy here is going to take you to the restroom down the hall to get cleaned up. We leave in twenty minutes. I don’t think I have to say this, but I will anyway. If you fuck this up. If you do anything outside of what we’ve asked of you, I’ll personally make sure that you die a slow and painful death.”

How nice. So glad we’re friends.

***

Twenty minutes later, I’m sitting in the back of a vehicle, this time buckled in but still with a bag over my head. I was allowed to see the interrogation room, the hallway to the restroom, and the bathroom itself. After that, I was effectively blindfolded and marched back to the vehicle.

I’ll say this, every place they’ve taken me has been immaculate. Even the vehicle I’m in now smells like a brand-new car. Not at all what I’d expect from a bunch of criminals, but what do I know? I usually stay cooped up in my office for all my criminal activity.

What the fuck did I get myself into…

I take a deep breath, trying to keep my calm composure while figuring out how to live through this meeting. Trying to find a way to get out of this while simultaneously keeping myself, my family, Elle, and Liv safe. Cain has inserted himself so thoroughly into my life, and the lives of the people I love, that I’m not sure what his plan is to walk away.

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