Page 87 of Drift

Ava’s eyes.

Light rubbed at his head and made the kitchen his first stop. Although it had been two hours since Jude had bolted, his head still throbbed from the beating it had taken over the music, and he grabbed a pack of pain killers and downed two from it before tossing them back in the medicine cupboard.

Fight. Light could do that. Work out poisons… no problem. But track a street kid who did nothing but bolt in territory well above ground level? Didn’t matter where he’d looked, Jude had left no tracks to follow, and those he had were no doubt lost amongst broken branches.

The perimeter fences should have stopped him. It hadn’t stopped Light when he’d gotten out, but breaking the circuit wasn’t rocket science. Would it be to Jude? Or was he just that used to staying above ground, where fences and barriers had no place in his world?

As voices drifted through from the Oval as Light made it back into the hall, he padded that way, not really questioning why he took an extra bottle of water beyond how he knew it had been two hours since he’d left. Knowing Simon, the talking he’d needed to do over app-jacking Raif’s phone, he’d need a drink. Probably pain killers too.

By the main desk in the Oval, Raif and Simon stood working away next to Gray and his laptop. Light went over and handed Simon the drink. He took it and downed some before resting it on the desk, looking uncomfortable with Raif breathing down his neck over the intel he’d taken.

Martin sat on a leather two-setter sofa not far away, head back, eyes closed, and face too pale as he seemed to shut out the noise in sleep. The bleeding had stopped by the look if it, but a few drops dried on his chest, saying it had taken a while. Jan sat opposite, tidying away the first aid kit, and every now and again, his look would flick to Martin.

Simon scrolled the footage forward twenty minutes to when Jude had bolted. “Where was his exit point?”

Gray looked the footage over. “Raif was here two days ago, but Jude didn’t breech the perimeter until today.” He tapped the screen. “He’s spent time on recon. He’d have had at least two… maybe three exit routes planned.”

Raif winced. “And security was lessened to allow him in. He could have taken a window at the end of the hall. Fuck….” Hescrolled to where CCTV picked Jude up entering the grounds. “That’s one hell of a top-tier feeder there.”

Light saw his concern as it played out as a body heat signature. Jude kept to the thickest branches of the trees, using the wood surrounding the manor as both cover and access, and he moved bloody fast. There was no fear, not of heights. Not of weaving from one branch to another at those heights in the dark, sometimes dropping to the floor for a moment before finding easy footing up the trunk of another tree.

Light would hate to see him run where he felt most at home, because he had a feeling he’d know how to avoid all CCTV so no one caught him. The black skull he’d wore ensured no facial ID, and it sat on Gray’s desk now.

“You should have told me this shifted to culler activity at home.” Light went over to Gray. “If I’d have known Jude was a Feeder and used the high ground, I could have tried to plan for it.”

“Likewise,” Gray said flatly, not even gracing him with a glance. “Simon got access to classified intel off Raif: the Night-walkers, along with the latter possibly workingwithculler knowledge and my profile in mind. That should have been disclosed to me prior to allowing anyone in here.”

It looked like Simon had been talking to Gray, but maybe that had been why Gray had asked Light to make sure Jude had gotten out safely. “He’s deadlocked between us both,” said Light. “Having this conversation between us and talking over him proves that.” Simon… back in the bedroom and his look that had been so damn haunted? “That’s rectified now,” Light said flatly. “He works with you from here on in on this.”

Gray frowned slightly as Simon shot a look up from the laptop.

“You just give me your goddamn word he works from here, where he’s best,” said Light. “You don’t send him out on the streets. He gets protected.” Light scrolled through the CCTV footage to when the cameras caught Jude in the hall. “Jude, whether he wants it or not, he’s a part of family now too.” He pressed play. “He gets protected regardless of who’s out there. Do we have a deal?”

Gray tilted his head slightly, then focused on Simon. “Pay grade increased. Earn it. Get access to my files and hack the toxicology reports on all victims: see if they’ve found traces of an unknown drug. Run your checks via the dark web for similar MOs that deal with unknown poisons and mention of kids and parks.”

Gray’s attention shifted to the laptop, to how Jude’s touch was caught on the stereo. “He profiles through playlists,” he said flatly. “It allows access to names, working theories on sex, age, possible state of mind. All to potentially give him the upper hand on his marks.”

Raif cocked a brow and got a closer look at what Jude was doing with the playlist. “Now that’s… original.”

“Is it?” said Martin.

Jan must have seen Martin stir, because he’d already gotten up and poured him a drink. He took the ice water over and offered it down, and Martin took it without much fight as he kept his head rested back.

“Meaning?” said Raif.

“Routine,” Martin said quietly back to Raif as Jan took a seat next to him. “He simply exploits it. He knows most homeowners check downstairs first for the unwanted visitor, leaving upstairs unguarded. He also knows that most homeowners have streaming devices on both floors. So whilst the homeowners check downstairs, he gets what he needs from the most private part of the home, where people relax the most. But he fucked up over the laser pointer. He didn’t know Simon had long-since fitted them with his laser detection devices.”

Raif nodded. “Thing is, he must be used to handling stolen goods. He’ll know phones are tracked. He won’t risk going back home.”

“For those last few moments, he looked like Jack,” Jan said quietly. “Yeah the need to run, but not from danger… to safety. He’ll go home.”

Martin fell quiet, and how Simon kept a check on the laptop called out the signalhadstopped somewhere. Light knew intel and surveillance needed to be setup in order to find out justwhohe’d run to now.

“Any luck with dusting for prints?” asked Gray as Ray came on through, removing some plastic gloves.

Ray shook his head and pocketed his gloves as he came over. He pointed at the laptop, where it was clear as day that Jude had touched the stereo with no gloves on. “Hall, columns, access point on the roof, there’s no trace of prints, and there damn well should be.”

Jude. He’d hid his hands in his pockets when Light had checked them out over his comment over musicians’ hands.

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