CHAPTER SIXTY
It was after two in the morning. I shifted on my seat at the table and asked
Adam, who was hunched over his laptop in the living room, "When did they
leave?"
"Around ten." Adam mused. His fingers sped across the keyboard.
"What were they doing?"
"They had to get something for our attack on the encampment." Adam was
distracted.
I narrowed my eyes and stood up softly. I circled around the back hallway,
came through the kitchen, and approached behind him where I had a perfect
viewpoint on the computer's screen.
What I saw had me exclaiming, "Why are you looking up Lily Galverson?"
Adam jumped out of his chair and whirled around. He patted his chest and
proclaimed, "Oh god. You scared me. I think I messed myself."
"Can see why they don't let you go with them." I murmured, but frowned. "And
why are you looking up Lily Galverson?"
"Huh…" Adam quickly closed the laptop, but watched me fearfully.
"Answer me."
"No." He shook his head.
"Excuse me?"
"I can't. Jace told me not to. He said that information doesn't go to you,
only him. The others don't even know about it."
"Know what?" I demanded.
He shook his head again and stood up. "I can't. Seriously."
"What?" I couldn't believe it and yet I could believe it.
"Look…just…take
it up with Jace when he gets back, okay?"
So I waited. I stewed, but I waited. And Adam nearly wet himself another
three times before the door finally opened and everyone filed in, silently.
Jace was the last to come in, I knew that and had expected it so when the
last one—Rafe—slipped through, I hurried outside and shut the door behind
me.
Jace was startled.
I pushed him back down the stairs and clamped a hand onto his arm. As I
dragged him behind me, I seethed, "You have been keeping too much from me and
I've had enough, Jace!"
Gingerly, Jace unleashed my hold from his arm and watched me warily. We stood
beside the last car and underneath an overhanging Oak tree.
He quietly asked, "What do you want to know?" And leaned against the car. It
was then that I noticed the blood on his face, the gashes on his forehead and
cheek, and the bruise that was already swelling on his neck.
I ignored them and stated, "Lily Galverson. I'm the bait. And anything else I
don't know about."
He arched an eyebrow and noted, "You've been busy."
"I lied to you before. I told you the back crawl space didn't lead anywhere,
but it did. It led to a hidden room and I could hear every word you said on your
phone call while you couldn't hear me at all."
Jace stilled.
I continued, "I heard all about how Marcus 'wants her, but I'll get to her
first.' I heard that all and now I just saw Adam researching Lily. She's like my
sister, Jace! Why are you having your agents researching her?"
"Anything else?" He asked calmly.
"What else is there?" It was metaphorical. It was an actual question.
Jace tipped his head to the side and stretched out his jaw delicately. He'd
gotten into a fight, but that wasn't the here and now.
"Tell me." I insisted. "Or I'm walking. I'm going in on my own and I will do
anything to get Gray home."
Jace narrowed his eyes.
"I know how to get there. I know where it is. And the man who controls it is
in love with me."
"Marcus will kill you." Jace tested.
"No." I held firm. "He wants to hurt me for screwing you, but he loves me. I
can use that and he knows that if I go to him, without you, I will do anything
I'm forced to do to save Gray. I love my nephew more than this, more than you
and me, and definitely more than you."
"What are you talking about?"
"You tell me."
"Are you saying…" Jace quieted, but waited. He watched me intently.
"There's a difference between loving a relationship and loving a person. I
love Gray the most. He's my priority."
"Are you telling me—"
"I'm not telling you a damn thing!" I retorted swiftly. "Why are you looking
up information on Lily Galverson? You know her. She helped you guys capture her
father. What more can you know about her?"
Jace shot off from the car and lifted a hand to halt my questions. He was
run-down, irritated, and just frazzled. I'd never really seen him like this.
"Okay, first off—she didn't help us. She gave us nothing that assisted us. She
slept with Evans and that's it. And secondly, Lily Galverson might've been
someone that you cared about when you met her, but all she did was use you."
"No, she didn't—" I started.
"Yes, she did!" Jace cut me off, strong. "She was nice to you—so what, Maya?
I'm nice to you—"
"You've also used me." I corrected him.
"It is not the same." Jace said quickly. "It's not the same at all. I tested
you because I didn't know if you were sent for Mallon, hell—I didn't know who
sent you until suddenly Oscar tells me some girl is looking for me. And Lily
Galverson doesn't feel how I—" He cut himself off this time.
I wasn't surprised.
I arched an eyebrow, but waited.
Jace recovered and said instead, "It's not the same. You sacrificed yourself
for her—twice. At the diner and then when she was escaping from Marcus, right?
If she were a true sister, she would never have let you do that. I would never
let Brian do anything, it's why we fought so much, because I was trying to
protect him from my life. She would've done that because she knew who her father
and brother were—you didn't. And for the next part—"
"You are using me. You're planning on using me as a decoy for Marcus."
"What?" Jace asked, incredulously.
"I heard you, remember? You were talking on the phone to your superior and
you told him that I'd be there, but Marcus wouldn't get me. You'd get me first,
blah blah blah. I'm the fucking bait, Jace!" I threw my arms up and got in his
face.
Jace didn't step back, but he did think about it. And then he laughed.
Laughed.
I wanted to slap him.
"Excuse me?" I was the incredulous one now.
Jace shook his head, still chuckling, and replied, "I wasn't talking about
you. I was talking about Lily. She's going to be there."
"What are you talking about? Why would she be there?"
"Because she's the Smokescreen!" Jace cried out.
My world dropped out from below me. That's what I felt.
"What?" I sputtered.
"And that's why I didn't want to tell you before." He gentled his voice. His
hand reached up, but he was smart. He retracted it.
I would've broke it off if he had actually tried to comfort me. Not then, not
now.
"Explain." I commanded, terse.
"Okay—this is my theory, alright? I might not be right, but…you told me
yourself. Mallon loves two women: you and his sister. Lily. However, I think
there's more going on than just that. I think there's a war between the two
siblings and I think that Lily is trying to undercut Marcus out of the business.
I think she's doing business with Broozer and Marcus found out."
"Wait! Wait!" I cried out. I tried to breathe. I needed to breathe. "I
don't…what are you saying?"
"Listen to me." Jace said quietly and stepped closer.
He still didn't dare touch me.
He added, softly, "The day that Taryn and Tray broke into our storage unit to
get Grayley out—Sal had just brokered a deal with Broozer. He said that he had
someone who was already contacting all the child agencies to start the
legitimate adoption process for those kids. He had someone already, who wouldn't
ever be considered to take on the family business. Family. He said family—it
wasn't until after I killed Sal that Marcus took over, right?"
"Yeah, but…" I shook my head and stepped back.
The trees were laughing at me. There loomed over us and literally laughed at
us.
"I don't…Lily isn't…she's not this person that could do this. She loves
Chance Evans, for god's sakes."
"And she knows that Tray is her half-brother. And she knows that Chance
doesn't have any blood connection to Tray, whatsoever."
Jace sounded so sure, so strong in his conviction.
"She's a sister to me." I said simply.
"I know." He broke out. "I know, that's why I didn't want to tell you. You
care about her…I know, Maya."
"I can't…" I shook my head and moved away. The wind picked up now and circled
around us. I felt it graze my hair and skim across my neck.
The trees bent underneath it's power.
In the distance, I heard lightning spark and thunder roar.
In the distance, there was just more forest, more mountains, and so much of
the world that could crush us.
But in my world—my loved ones—no one seemed as they were. Lily included.
Jace moved behind me and said quietly, "Tray called Chance when we left their
place and got to the DEA safehouse. I have the record. Tray told him that we had
arrived safely. Lily must've overheard and she already knew most of the
safehouses. She could get that information just by knowing Chance's password.
She sent those men after us. Marcus didn't do that."
"But…"
She was my sister. Was he not hearing me?
Jace sighed. "She is smart and she is sleeping with the man who helped her
father get killed. I think Lily knew it was going down and I think she wanted it
to happen so that she could take over. She's not this innocent girl, Maya. She's
her father's daughter. She's cold and she thinks just like him—that's what I
think."
I shivered.
Jace said to my back, "I don't think Marcus was trying to take Taryn that day
at Chance's house. I thought it at the time, but Lily was there. She wasn't even
fazed by what went down. She had expected it."
"How can you know that?" I rounded on him. Enraged.
"Because I saw that look on her father for over six years." Jace told me.
Bluntly. "She has his eyes and she has his expressions. And she is his daughter.
I know that much."
"You told me that he did a good job with her. You told me that he was a good
father." I reminded him, harshly.
"I know." Jace hung his head. "And he was, but that didn't mean she wasn't
there and she didn't see everything that was going on."
I pressed my trembling hand against me. I needed to calm them, calm
myself.
Jace added, "I think Marcus wanted to take Tray to shake up Chance. I think
he was hoping to shake up Lily."
"She hates you, you know." I mused.
"Yeah. I know."
"And she's the one that told me where to go, literally."
"Trust me. The irony is not lost on me." Acid could've dripped from his
tone.
It's about family.
Jace had lost his.
Mine was on the brink.
And there was a war going on with Sal Galverson's family.
"What do you think will happen when Tray's told who his real father is?" I
asked quietly.
The wind hurried. The trees bustled and slapped against each other now.
The lightning sounded closer.
And Jace and I stood completely alone outside with the storm to keep us
company. Everyone else, all the agents who followed him blindly and loyally,
were inside.
Jace said shortly, "I don't think it'll go well when and if he's ever
told."
"He has a right to know."
"Some truths don't help make a better world."
And there he was doing what he knew produced results. Talk to me about a
better world and I crumble.
I didn't crumble and turned around swiftly. I met his gaze and demanded, "And
Rafe? You lied to me about her. You told me she was just a snitch? Why? Why lie
about that?"
"Because I was still unsure about you. Remember—that was the time when I
wasn't sure if you were going to offer yourself to Marcus for Munsinger. I
didn't know what he would torture out of you, if you did that. It wasn't about
you, it was about saving who I still could." He quited. "And I know you, Maya.
If you made up your mind to do that, you would've. I can do everything in my
power to protect you, but I can't win against you when you decide
something."
My angry retort died in my throat.
Jace was right. I had briefly thought about calling Marcus to offer myself
for Munsinger.
"I want to know how he died." I murmured and hugged myself.
Jace frowned, but didn't comment.
I wanted to know how Munsinger died, but I doubted that I'd ever find that
truth. Marcus had just said it had been his choice. Munsinger chose his life for
Gray's. I just wanted to know how that came to be.
"I know that you're angry with me and hurt, but…" Jace choked off raggedly.
"It's really about trying to do what's right for you." He reached out this time,
finally, and curled a hand around my arm.
When I didn't shrug off his touch and threaten him, he tugged me back and
tucked me against his chest.
"…Kinda lost and kinda not sure where you're supposed to be, but
you were really sure that you'd stand still and make everyone think that you
were supposed to be there."
I remembered Molly's words, Adam's fiance, and remembered that time of my
life.
That's exactly how I was, and it's probably what Lily saw when she became my
friend.
I'd been lost and I needed someone to anchor me.
Lily was my first life-raft and I clung to it desperately.
Jace ran a hand down my back and held me closer against him. He breathed out
and admitted, "And what you said before…"
I held my breath.
"You're not alone." It was all he said.
Jace was all or nothing with this mission. It had been his life for so long,
his reason for surviving, and my admission opened a different world to him. Jace
set his mind to a goal and extracated it perfectly until the goal had been met
and suceeded.
I heard laughter from inside and pulled back.
The wind shifted, but it was warming to the skin now.
"What's the real Rafe like?" I asked.
The mood needed to be lightened.
Jace laughed briefly and stepped back. "She's kind of the same. She's just
more disciplined when she's playing 'agent.'"
"How many others are coming?"
He shrugged. "I think at least two more: Carls and Coolay. Possibly some
more."
"The 'unspoken voices'?"
"Yeah." Jace frowned.
I couldn't explain it, but I had a thing for the 'unspoken and invisible.'
That's what I'd come from. I had no voice and no presence and now I championed
for others such as myself.
I think the most powerful thing in the world is when those million unspoken
voices rise up and everyone takes notice of their presence.
Because I think when that happens…that's when the world will change.
I wanted a front-row seat for that day.
It was after two in the morning. I shifted on my seat at the table and asked
Adam, who was hunched over his laptop in the living room, "When did they
leave?"
"Around ten." Adam mused. His fingers sped across the keyboard.
"What were they doing?"
"They had to get something for our attack on the encampment." Adam was
distracted.
I narrowed my eyes and stood up softly. I circled around the back hallway,
came through the kitchen, and approached behind him where I had a perfect
viewpoint on the computer's screen.
What I saw had me exclaiming, "Why are you looking up Lily Galverson?"
Adam jumped out of his chair and whirled around. He patted his chest and
proclaimed, "Oh god. You scared me. I think I messed myself."
"Can see why they don't let you go with them." I murmured, but frowned. "And
why are you looking up Lily Galverson?"
"Huh…" Adam quickly closed the laptop, but watched me fearfully.
"Answer me."
"No." He shook his head.
"Excuse me?"
"I can't. Jace told me not to. He said that information doesn't go to you,
only him. The others don't even know about it."
"Know what?" I demanded.
He shook his head again and stood up. "I can't. Seriously."
"What?" I couldn't believe it and yet I could believe it.
"Look…just…take
it up with Jace when he gets back, okay?"
So I waited. I stewed, but I waited. And Adam nearly wet himself another
three times before the door finally opened and everyone filed in, silently.
Jace was the last to come in, I knew that and had expected it so when the
last one—Rafe—slipped through, I hurried outside and shut the door behind
me.
Jace was startled.
I pushed him back down the stairs and clamped a hand onto his arm. As I
dragged him behind me, I seethed, "You have been keeping too much from me and
I've had enough, Jace!"
Gingerly, Jace unleashed my hold from his arm and watched me warily. We stood
beside the last car and underneath an overhanging Oak tree.
He quietly asked, "What do you want to know?" And leaned against the car. It
was then that I noticed the blood on his face, the gashes on his forehead and
cheek, and the bruise that was already swelling on his neck.
I ignored them and stated, "Lily Galverson. I'm the bait. And anything else I
don't know about."
He arched an eyebrow and noted, "You've been busy."
"I lied to you before. I told you the back crawl space didn't lead anywhere,
but it did. It led to a hidden room and I could hear every word you said on your
phone call while you couldn't hear me at all."
Jace stilled.
I continued, "I heard all about how Marcus 'wants her, but I'll get to her
first.' I heard that all and now I just saw Adam researching Lily. She's like my
sister, Jace! Why are you having your agents researching her?"
"Anything else?" He asked calmly.
"What else is there?" It was metaphorical. It was an actual question.
Jace tipped his head to the side and stretched out his jaw delicately. He'd
gotten into a fight, but that wasn't the here and now.
"Tell me." I insisted. "Or I'm walking. I'm going in on my own and I will do
anything to get Gray home."
Jace narrowed his eyes.
"I know how to get there. I know where it is. And the man who controls it is
in love with me."
"Marcus will kill you." Jace tested.
"No." I held firm. "He wants to hurt me for screwing you, but he loves me. I
can use that and he knows that if I go to him, without you, I will do anything
I'm forced to do to save Gray. I love my nephew more than this, more than you
and me, and definitely more than you."
"What are you talking about?"
"You tell me."
"Are you saying…" Jace quieted, but waited. He watched me intently.
"There's a difference between loving a relationship and loving a person. I
love Gray the most. He's my priority."
"Are you telling me—"
"I'm not telling you a damn thing!" I retorted swiftly. "Why are you looking
up information on Lily Galverson? You know her. She helped you guys capture her
father. What more can you know about her?"
Jace shot off from the car and lifted a hand to halt my questions. He was
run-down, irritated, and just frazzled. I'd never really seen him like this.
"Okay, first off—she didn't help us. She gave us nothing that assisted us. She
slept with Evans and that's it. And secondly, Lily Galverson might've been
someone that you cared about when you met her, but all she did was use you."
"No, she didn't—" I started.
"Yes, she did!" Jace cut me off, strong. "She was nice to you—so what, Maya?
I'm nice to you—"
"You've also used me." I corrected him.
"It is not the same." Jace said quickly. "It's not the same at all. I tested
you because I didn't know if you were sent for Mallon, hell—I didn't know who
sent you until suddenly Oscar tells me some girl is looking for me. And Lily
Galverson doesn't feel how I—" He cut himself off this time.
I wasn't surprised.
I arched an eyebrow, but waited.
Jace recovered and said instead, "It's not the same. You sacrificed yourself
for her—twice. At the diner and then when she was escaping from Marcus, right?
If she were a true sister, she would never have let you do that. I would never
let Brian do anything, it's why we fought so much, because I was trying to
protect him from my life. She would've done that because she knew who her father
and brother were—you didn't. And for the next part—"
"You are using me. You're planning on using me as a decoy for Marcus."
"What?" Jace asked, incredulously.
"I heard you, remember? You were talking on the phone to your superior and
you told him that I'd be there, but Marcus wouldn't get me. You'd get me first,
blah blah blah. I'm the fucking bait, Jace!" I threw my arms up and got in his
face.
Jace didn't step back, but he did think about it. And then he laughed.
Laughed.
I wanted to slap him.
"Excuse me?" I was the incredulous one now.
Jace shook his head, still chuckling, and replied, "I wasn't talking about
you. I was talking about Lily. She's going to be there."
"What are you talking about? Why would she be there?"
"Because she's the Smokescreen!" Jace cried out.
My world dropped out from below me. That's what I felt.
"What?" I sputtered.
"And that's why I didn't want to tell you before." He gentled his voice. His
hand reached up, but he was smart. He retracted it.
I would've broke it off if he had actually tried to comfort me. Not then, not
now.
"Explain." I commanded, terse.
"Okay—this is my theory, alright? I might not be right, but…you told me
yourself. Mallon loves two women: you and his sister. Lily. However, I think
there's more going on than just that. I think there's a war between the two
siblings and I think that Lily is trying to undercut Marcus out of the business.
I think she's doing business with Broozer and Marcus found out."
"Wait! Wait!" I cried out. I tried to breathe. I needed to breathe. "I
don't…what are you saying?"
"Listen to me." Jace said quietly and stepped closer.
He still didn't dare touch me.
He added, softly, "The day that Taryn and Tray broke into our storage unit to
get Grayley out—Sal had just brokered a deal with Broozer. He said that he had
someone who was already contacting all the child agencies to start the
legitimate adoption process for those kids. He had someone already, who wouldn't
ever be considered to take on the family business. Family. He said family—it
wasn't until after I killed Sal that Marcus took over, right?"
"Yeah, but…" I shook my head and stepped back.
The trees were laughing at me. There loomed over us and literally laughed at
us.
"I don't…Lily isn't…she's not this person that could do this. She loves
Chance Evans, for god's sakes."
"And she knows that Tray is her half-brother. And she knows that Chance
doesn't have any blood connection to Tray, whatsoever."
Jace sounded so sure, so strong in his conviction.
"She's a sister to me." I said simply.
"I know." He broke out. "I know, that's why I didn't want to tell you. You
care about her…I know, Maya."
"I can't…" I shook my head and moved away. The wind picked up now and circled
around us. I felt it graze my hair and skim across my neck.
The trees bent underneath it's power.
In the distance, I heard lightning spark and thunder roar.
In the distance, there was just more forest, more mountains, and so much of
the world that could crush us.
But in my world—my loved ones—no one seemed as they were. Lily included.
Jace moved behind me and said quietly, "Tray called Chance when we left their
place and got to the DEA safehouse. I have the record. Tray told him that we had
arrived safely. Lily must've overheard and she already knew most of the
safehouses. She could get that information just by knowing Chance's password.
She sent those men after us. Marcus didn't do that."
"But…"
She was my sister. Was he not hearing me?
Jace sighed. "She is smart and she is sleeping with the man who helped her
father get killed. I think Lily knew it was going down and I think she wanted it
to happen so that she could take over. She's not this innocent girl, Maya. She's
her father's daughter. She's cold and she thinks just like him—that's what I
think."
I shivered.
Jace said to my back, "I don't think Marcus was trying to take Taryn that day
at Chance's house. I thought it at the time, but Lily was there. She wasn't even
fazed by what went down. She had expected it."
"How can you know that?" I rounded on him. Enraged.
"Because I saw that look on her father for over six years." Jace told me.
Bluntly. "She has his eyes and she has his expressions. And she is his daughter.
I know that much."
"You told me that he did a good job with her. You told me that he was a good
father." I reminded him, harshly.
"I know." Jace hung his head. "And he was, but that didn't mean she wasn't
there and she didn't see everything that was going on."
I pressed my trembling hand against me. I needed to calm them, calm
myself.
Jace added, "I think Marcus wanted to take Tray to shake up Chance. I think
he was hoping to shake up Lily."
"She hates you, you know." I mused.
"Yeah. I know."
"And she's the one that told me where to go, literally."
"Trust me. The irony is not lost on me." Acid could've dripped from his
tone.
It's about family.
Jace had lost his.
Mine was on the brink.
And there was a war going on with Sal Galverson's family.
"What do you think will happen when Tray's told who his real father is?" I
asked quietly.
The wind hurried. The trees bustled and slapped against each other now.
The lightning sounded closer.
And Jace and I stood completely alone outside with the storm to keep us
company. Everyone else, all the agents who followed him blindly and loyally,
were inside.
Jace said shortly, "I don't think it'll go well when and if he's ever
told."
"He has a right to know."
"Some truths don't help make a better world."
And there he was doing what he knew produced results. Talk to me about a
better world and I crumble.
I didn't crumble and turned around swiftly. I met his gaze and demanded, "And
Rafe? You lied to me about her. You told me she was just a snitch? Why? Why lie
about that?"
"Because I was still unsure about you. Remember—that was the time when I
wasn't sure if you were going to offer yourself to Marcus for Munsinger. I
didn't know what he would torture out of you, if you did that. It wasn't about
you, it was about saving who I still could." He quited. "And I know you, Maya.
If you made up your mind to do that, you would've. I can do everything in my
power to protect you, but I can't win against you when you decide
something."
My angry retort died in my throat.
Jace was right. I had briefly thought about calling Marcus to offer myself
for Munsinger.
"I want to know how he died." I murmured and hugged myself.
Jace frowned, but didn't comment.
I wanted to know how Munsinger died, but I doubted that I'd ever find that
truth. Marcus had just said it had been his choice. Munsinger chose his life for
Gray's. I just wanted to know how that came to be.
"I know that you're angry with me and hurt, but…" Jace choked off raggedly.
"It's really about trying to do what's right for you." He reached out this time,
finally, and curled a hand around my arm.
When I didn't shrug off his touch and threaten him, he tugged me back and
tucked me against his chest.
"…Kinda lost and kinda not sure where you're supposed to be, but
you were really sure that you'd stand still and make everyone think that you
were supposed to be there."
I remembered Molly's words, Adam's fiance, and remembered that time of my
life.
That's exactly how I was, and it's probably what Lily saw when she became my
friend.
I'd been lost and I needed someone to anchor me.
Lily was my first life-raft and I clung to it desperately.
Jace ran a hand down my back and held me closer against him. He breathed out
and admitted, "And what you said before…"
I held my breath.
"You're not alone." It was all he said.
Jace was all or nothing with this mission. It had been his life for so long,
his reason for surviving, and my admission opened a different world to him. Jace
set his mind to a goal and extracated it perfectly until the goal had been met
and suceeded.
I heard laughter from inside and pulled back.
The wind shifted, but it was warming to the skin now.
"What's the real Rafe like?" I asked.
The mood needed to be lightened.
Jace laughed briefly and stepped back. "She's kind of the same. She's just
more disciplined when she's playing 'agent.'"
"How many others are coming?"
He shrugged. "I think at least two more: Carls and Coolay. Possibly some
more."
"The 'unspoken voices'?"
"Yeah." Jace frowned.
I couldn't explain it, but I had a thing for the 'unspoken and invisible.'
That's what I'd come from. I had no voice and no presence and now I championed
for others such as myself.
I think the most powerful thing in the world is when those million unspoken
voices rise up and everyone takes notice of their presence.
Because I think when that happens…that's when the world will change.
I wanted a front-row seat for that day.