Page 94 of Defiance
“Ask Jacob.”
Aaron typed out a quick text, and a few seconds later got a reply. “He took a team of twelve with him.”
“Fuck!” Logan slammed a hand against the steering wheel. That was way too many. He tried not to think it, tried to stay positive, but this was an impossible fucking task.
They were going to fail and all three of them would end up behind bars.
Or worse.
“Don’t,” Aaron murmured. “I know how it looks but we’re not going to fucking fail. We can’t.”
“I wasn’t thinking that.”
“Liar.”
Logan sighed. “We need a plan. Something better than just run in there and get Cole out.”
“Well, we have about ten minutes to come up with one.”
Logan bit his lip, thinking. “Ask Jacob if Cole’s been arrested yet.”
Aaron sent the message. “He says no, but he’ll be taken in for questioning.”
“So he won’t be in handcuffs.” He glanced over at Aaron. “I have an idea.”
* * *
Cole wipedhis hands on his trousers for the tenth time, palms sweaty and his heart almost beating out of his chest. Paul hadn’t said a word since he’d got in the car. And neither had anyone else. The tension was suffocating and Cole yearned to lower the windows and breathe in some fresh air.
He didn’t move a muscle though, desperately trying not to draw any attention to himself.
When Paul finally spoke, his voice was deceptively soft. “You know this doesn’t look good for you, Cole?” He glanced at Cole in the mirror and Cole forced himself not to look away. “The CEG facilitated your escape, and now your best friend turns out to be affiliated with them.” He tsked. “And has been for quite some time if our information is correct.”
Cole let out a heavy sigh. “I had no fucking idea about Nick.” He didn’t have to fake his surprise. “Not once in all the years I’ve known him has he given any indication that he even knew about the CEG. I didn’t know about them until recently.”
“I want to believe you, Cole. We’ve put a lot of work into training you. I’m going to be pretty fucking pissed off if you turn out to be a traitor after all.” Paul tapped the steering wheel, the sound grating on Cole’s nerves.
“We’ve been watching Nick and his family for a while. It’s one of the reasons we were desperate to get you as a candidate.”
What?
Cole looked at Smith, but he seemed as surprised as Cole was to hear that.
“You had no connections to the CEG that we could find, so having you join our pack seemed highly advantageous. You knew more about Nick and his family than we ever could. Once you were bitten and a fully functioning member of the HRU, then we could go after him and get the proof we needed to arrest him.”
Sweat trickled down the back of Cole’s neck. He felt sick.
Paul scoffed. “Of course, you tried to escape and fucked up everything.”
Why was he saying all this now? Like a bad villain monologue before they tried to kill the hero.
Cole glanced out the window as the scenery sped past, contemplating his options. It’d fucking hurt to throw himself out of the car at this speed, but he’d heal.
Probably not before the others stopped and caught him though.
“Why did Michael give me a second chance then?” Cole asked, truly wanting to know. If this had all been a ploy to get to Nick, why fucking bother with him.
“Because Michael still thought you might prove useful. Your skillset is unique in humans. You’d be a valuable asset to the HRU, and such a big Fuck You to the CEG if we got you to arrest and interrogate them. Especially if it was Nick.”
