Page 45 of You Were Warned: Part One

“What makes you think it’s the drive the Jester has been looking for?”

Clay knows about the situation; I filled him in on everything I knew. The safety of everyone here on the island is my number one priority, with the only thing I would never share being what happens between Vesper and I, and her past. Besides that, a man I just met is of no concern to me.

“Where I found it,” I answer.

“Which was?”

“Sewn into his jacket lining.”

Clay stops turning it and sets it back on his desk. I noticed Jensen fucking with it a few nights ago, and at first I didn’t think anything of it, but my gut told me to check, and I always listen to my gut. It has saved me too many times in the past to ignore it now. I waited until he went to sleep, though he was restless. But there was a period when he was asleep, and sure enough, sewn inside his jacket was the drive. It wasn’t difficult to remove.

Clay taps his finger against the desk. “How long have you had it?”

“Couple of days.”

His head comes up. “You had the drive and didn’t give it to the Jester?”

“No.”

Clay rubs his hand over his jaw. “Why not?”

“Because I don’t know what’s on it, and he was hired to kill Jensen when he got it.”

Clay’s expression changes. He knows what the Jester does, as does Nixie. While he thinks he is careful, the Jester isn’t as smart as he believes.

“If I hand that over to the Jester, Jensen has no leverage.”

Clay leans back in his chair again. “You care what happens to him?”

“Vesper does.”

Clay narrows his eyes at me. “That’s not what I asked.”

“No.”

We stare at each other, and Clay gives up first. “Why didn’t you bring it to me the first night you found it?”

“I wanted to see what Jensen would do. Most people would have run, but he only seemed to stick closer to Vesper.” I glance down at the drive. “I need to know what’s on it before I hand it over.”

He picks it up again and swivels in his desk chair.

“Don’t plug it in,” I warn him.

“I know what I’m doing,” he says.

“Are you sure?”

Clay turns his chair slowly back toward me. “Did you want to repeat that?”

“You heard what I said.”

His mouth twitches. “Sometimes I forget what an asshole you are.”

I bark out a laugh. “No, you don’t.”

He places the drive down again, and I nod toward it. “You know who we need.”

Clay shakes his head. “No fucking way.”