Exit plan, p.9
Exit Plan, page 9
“Now, Jay, you’re going to tell me exactly how you got into the servers so we can shut this down and then I’ll deal with you later.”
“But it wasn’t me. “ My mind races with possibilities and I speak as I process. “I think…” As I’m about to share my hunch, I stop myself. This isn’t the time or place for my accusations.
If it wasn’t me, and I know for absolute fact it wasn’t Zane, then there is someone else here who opened access for Maxwell’s pathetic little hacking team to get in.
Someone here, and probably someone close to Logan and Jack, allowed the access.
They have a traitor among them.
Judging by the look in Logan’s eyes, he isn’t going to believe me. And neither would Jack right now. I’ve done nothing but lie and keep secrets from them since they found us.
“You think what, Little Bird?” He challenges me to speak, to answer his question, but I don’t so he continues, “You know what I think? I think we aren’t going to get anywhere treating you as—nicely—as we have. I think you’re going to start talking and you are going to tell me everything. And I think you are going to do it either on your own, or I’m going to tie you to this fucking table and beat it out of you.” His anger flares and I can tell by his lack of emotion, this is going to happen. As I look to the mirror on the wall, I know Jack is watching everything.
In my exhaustion, a flicker of a memory floats into my thoughts and I try to push it back, but it’s too much. A hot tear falls down my cheek and I take a deep breath.
I won’t live through another interrogation.
I didn’t live through the last one.
As sound and light begin to leave the room, memories of a belt and chains move to the forefront. A cold, wet floor in a dark room, eyes burning raw with tears, an unbearable pain and my throat sore from begging. Then a sneer dripping in pure evil decimates my clarity and I only have one option left.
This time, I need to fight.
11
Jack
At Logan’s threat to tie Jessa to the table, all emotion leaves her face. I lean closer to the two-way glass to make out a tear running down her cheek.
A tense silence fills the interrogation room. Hunter and Grizz are frozen in their spots, watching Logan. And Logan is watching Jessa.
If I can see her change in body language from the next room, Logan is definitely tuned in to her and he stands motionless, with his back to me and across the room from her, waiting for her to respond to his threat.
Taking a deep breath, she calmly moves her hands to the table, and, as if in slow motion, slides her chair back.
Something isn’t right. She doesn’t seem aware of her surroundings any longer.
With her eyes on Logan, she slowly stands up and I’m frozen in place, wondering what on earth she thinks she’s doing.
Stepping carefully to the side of the chair, she raises a shaky hand and places it on the back of the seat she just occupied.
Logan nods to Hunter as he moves forward to sit her back down so he can continue and, as Hunter peels himself casually off the wall and takes a step towards her, all hell breaks loose.
In the flash of a second, Jessa lifts the chair and hurls it in Hunter’s direction, catching him off guard and hitting him square in the head and he falls back towards the wall with a grunt.
In reaction, Grizz and Logan take steps towards Jessa but Grizz is closer. She’s too small to win any fair fight with the giant and she knows it.
Spinning quickly, she lowers her body and puts all of her weight behind her punch, hitting Grizz square in the groin and he goes down.
Jessa isn’t holding anything back and I realize, she truly believes she is fighting for her life. Her face is void of any expression and Logan is too consumed to notice how caged she is and he continues to move in on her.
Spinning back around, her fist flailing at anything and hoping to connect, her prayers are answered as she hits Logan square in the jaw. Her strength is quickly leaving her though and she doesn’t make a solid impact but she still connects and he takes a step back and raises a hand to his jaw.
As much as I want to diffuse the situation, my presence won’t help anyone. She deceived us, and my heart isn’t in the right place. Now she’s chosen to fight and she needs to learn that her actions carry consequences.
Her eyes are focused. She’s quickly scanning the room, and I wonder where she learned her moves. She’s not trained in anything in particular, but she is holding her own. I know it won’t be long before the situation is back under control and Logan is going to make her pay for her outburst.
Just as I watch my team regain their composure, I see her hands reach out as she lunges for Logan’s belt. Before he can grab her hands, she flips the heavy metal clasp and, lifting her foot to his stomach, she kicks him back as she pulls it out of the loops. Stepping back from the three men in the room, she folds the belt and holds it up as a weapon with the buckle ready to maim.
“Now now, Jay. We’re just talking.” Logan’s hands are raised to show he isn’t hiding anything and he stays still as Grizz and Hunter move slowly to the sides of the room in an attempt to cage her in.
“Stay where you are. Don’t move. Just stop.” Her voice is raised to a high pitch and both men temporarily stop where they are.
Logan takes a cautious step toward Jessa and she nervously shifts in place. Her poker face is gone and her eyes dart all over the room. All signs point to extreme anxiety and I’m beginning to worry about her. But Logan isn’t backing down. He’s locked on to her fear and he keeps pushing.
Why wouldn’t he?
This is where he reigns. Dealing with disobedience and doling out pain and punishment. I’ve learned to control my demons from the best.
My need to conquer and control is dangerously close to breaking free. Logan and I are cut from the same depraved cloth and I sense him tensing as I witness the scared little girl peek out from behind Jessa’s eyes.
She’s cornered.
Her fear has gripped her and this is where Logan has her. He won’t let her escape behind her guarded facade.
“Sit down now and we’ll pretend like this never happened.” He gives her an out she is too far gone to use. She will defy him and he will show her what he’s capable of, then we’ll know everything.
From her left, Hunter makes a motion to move on her but he pulls back just as she draws her arm back to protect herself and Grizz jumps in from behind, grabbing her arm at the wrist holding the belt and wrapping himself around her.
“No! Don’t!” She cries out as Logan moves directly in front of her, cupping his fingers under her chin and lifting her head up to look her in the eyes.
He looks at her for a few long seconds, “You’re hiding something from me, Little Bird, and I’m going to find out what it is. Tie her to the table.” At his quick escalation, everyone in the room freezes.
Everyone except Jessa.
Struggling in Grizz’s arms, her eyes are wildly looking around the room, but she isn’t focusing on anything and my heart breaks over the tough road she chose to walk.
“Please. Don’t do this.” As quick as her fight came, it left. She is in a state of panic and a bad feeling creeps into my bones.
Jessa is tired. More than tired. Her body and mind are exhausted and I realize neither of the women have eaten since we took them. All of this will work in Logan’s favor, but not Jessa’s.
Logan towers over Jessa’s trembling form. Grabbing her wrist tight over Grizz’s grip, he takes his belt back from her and doubles it over before holding it in front of her face. “You’re very good with my belt. Now it’s my turn.” He bites out his words, then motions to Grizz to move her to the table, and he does.
As the front of her thighs hit the table, she jerks back as terror consumes her.
“Please, don’t do this. Help me. No.” She’s fully pleading now and I make a move to reach out for the door handle when her next words sober me in place. “No, Max. Don’t do this.” Her full body is shaking now and Logan shoots a warning glare to the mirror.
Stay put. That’s the message I get loud and clear and it takes everything I have not to go to her and show her she is safe and I’ll protect her.
Her head isn’t here.
She’s fighting something that none of us know about and for all five and a half feet of her, she is extremely strong in her duress. All three men are holding her to the table and Logan isn’t letting up.
“Get the restraints.” He barks to Hunter, who breaks away from the group and moves quickly to the box in the corner of the room as she struggles to break away.
Returning, he secures each ankle to a leg of the table, then moves to hand Logan the last two restraints before taking over Logan’s spot holding Jessa down.
Moving around the table, Logan’s eyes don’t leave Jessa. Her use of Max’s name isn’t lost on either of us and he’s carefully trying to determine the best way forward with her in the headspace she’s in.
He grabs one of her wrists and secures it quickly so she feels the jerk of herself being tied down. She fights to keep her other arm, her last bit of freedom, away from his grasp.
Moving around, he effortlessly reaches under her and pulls her arm out. Her body has exhausted itself. Now it’s just her mind.
He drops his voice down low, forcing her to focus on his words. “We could have done this the easy way. Now we’re going to do it my way. Just remember, you brought this on yourself. It’s time to sing, Little Bird.”
Roughly securing her wrist into its final position, she no longer has freedom to move and her body freezes in place as all three men step back. Grizz and Hunter move to the wall while Logan remains close. He towers over her in a show of dominance and she lifts her head to look at her hands, shaking in their restraints.
Tentatively, she tries to pull her arms back to her, then she jerks her body. Logan begins to ask her about my phone.
As Logan starts with his interrogation the phone Logan retrieved from Jessa earlier, rings in my pocket. Link’s information flashes on the caller ID and I hope he has something we can use to question her with.
“Sorry Jack, Logan isn’t answering. We’re working to secure everything. I wanted to tell him the hack didn’t come from your phone.”
As if I’m watching the wrong movie, I pause, diverting my full attention from the room to Link.
“What? But then how did she—?”
Cutting me off, Link jumps in and continues. “That’s the thing, Jack. The initial breach came from near the library.”
“I don’t understand.” Neither Jessa nor Dana have been on that side of the base yet. Not even close.
“Jesus, Jack. I don’t know how to say this.” Link’s tone is strained. “The code that initiated the breach tonight was uploaded to a file on our servers shortly after we established operations here—five years ago. It sat dormant, waiting for access and last night it was granted.”
“So could she have granted access?” I ask, not sure I want to know the answer.
“I’m confident it wasn’t her. I reviewed the tapes, she only grabbed your phone. She had no access to anything else and I ran your phone records. From the time she had it until you and Logan retrieved it and turned it on, she didn’t use it. She didn’t even attempt to power it up. She’s telling the truth. I need to get back to this. I’ll update when I know more.” The click in my ear signals the end of our conversation and, as I look down at my phone, I’m suddenly jolted back to our present situation with a gut-wrenching scream.
I look into the interrogation room and Logan is fighting to hold Jessa down as she screeches out another wail and this time it registers.
She’s yelling my name.
“Jack, I need to sedate her.” Logan is looking into the glass and I move quickly to the cabinet on the wall in my room. Grabbing a small medical bag, I run to the interrogation room and see all three men holding her to the table as she fights hard to escape.
“What the fuck—?” I growl out but Logan stops me.
“No time. She’s going to hurt herself on her restraints if she keeps struggling. I need it now,” he yells at me above her screams.
Unzipping the bag, I pull out a syringe and begin to search for the vial I need at the bottom.
“No, get the Midazolam. She’s struggling too much for a needle.” Logan shouts as he continues to use most of his weight to keep her down and he holds her arms in place so she can’t slice her wrists against her binds.
Dropping the syringe, I pull out a small bottle and twist off the cap as I move toward Jessa’s fighting body. Handing the bottle to Logan, I take his place holding her down as he tilts her head up and slides the tip into one of her nostrils to shoot the mist into her nasal cavity.
As soon as it’s in, he drops the bottle and covers her mouth so her only option is to breathe in through her nose.
“She’s already exhausted. This should only take a couple of minutes to take effect.” Logan’s voice is all business, but I see the confusion written all over his face.
What triggered this level of anxiety in her?
Minutes feel like hours as we watch her body slowly lose the last of its strength. She’s no longer using words and her eyes look vacant. It doesn’t feel like she’s even been with us for the last half hour.
As her body begins to relax, the three of us move away from her, leaving Logan to monitor her. Hunter and Grizz both look pale as Logan leans over her and brushes the hair out of her face.
Her cries turn to soft moans and my heart breaks as I try to imagine what hell she’s locked herself in.
“Shhh, Jessa. Go to sleep. It’s okay. Just relax.” Logan’s voice is concerningly gentle. Never in the time I’ve known him has he ever shown a kindness like this. He’s almost fatherly toward her.
As she relaxes against her binds, Logan gestures for Hunter and Grizz to quietly leave the room, and they do.
As Jessa’s eyes flutter shut, I move back to the table to wrap my arms around her. Logan unties her arms and legs and I roll her into my arms, hooking one hand under her knees while the other hugs her upper body to my chest. Her wrists are raw and wrapped in angry red lines where her skin almost broke open.
“Take her to the room across the hall from Dana. I’m not in the mood to deal with that spitfire tonight. I need to process a few things before we talk. I’m going to sleep.” Logan makes a move to leave but I can’t let him go yet. Not when this just played out in front of me.
“Logan, what happened? I took a call from Link and when I looked back up, you guys were piled on top of her and she was screaming for her life.” I stop and a hard silence fills the room as Logan’s eyes roam over Jessa in my arms.
He looks almost regretful, which is another first for him.
“I pushed her too hard. She’s keeping something from us. Whatever it is, she’s pushed it far down. I thought I had her in a good space to tell us what we need to know about the hack, but she kept sinking. She said Maxwell’s name again, but I don’t sense they are accomplices. I only read fear from her. Then I grabbed her hair to try to pull her back to our conversation and she snapped and screamed your name. That’s just before I called to you.” His eyes travel back to Jessa and I follow his line to see her sleeping meekly against my chest.
“It wasn’t her.” I need Logan to know before he turns in. I don’t want a repeat of this in the morning. “Link called. We’ve had sleeper code hidden in our server for years. It was activated last night from the library.”
Not taking his eyes off Jessa, Logan knits his brows in thought. “Jack.” His tone is drained. “Put her to bed. Get some sleep. We’ll revisit this in the morning. I’ll have Grizz talk to Dana so she gives her some time.”
Walking out ahead of us, he turns left and I turn right toward her new room.
Her soft murmurs tug at my heart as I lay her down on the bed. The light from the hall illuminates her sleeping body and her vulnerability screams at me to protect her. She’s both helpless and strong and I will find out what she’s keeping from us, but first I need to wrap my arms around her and comfort her.
Stepping out of my shoes, I kneel on the bed beside her and gently remove her runners. I smile to myself at my tender handling of her feet. She’s so sedated that we could be under aerial attack and she would sleep through it and I’m hesitant to wake her with something so mild.
Reaching to the foot of the bed, I pull the covers over us as I instinctively slide in beside her and wrap myself around her slumbering form.
I may not be able to protect her from the monsters in her head yet, but I sure as hell will protect her from everything else.
12
Jessa
Sleep hit me harder than I thought it would.
Taking a deep breath, I suddenly smell something out of place and I pause, holding my breath as the scent of cinnamon and sex registers.
Jack.
We had sex.
I had sex with Jack.
But something is off.
I fell asleep alone last night.
“You can open your eyes, Jessa. I know you’re awake.” Jack chuckles deeply as he kisses the top of my head and strong arms pull me in tight.
“I didn’t hear you come in last night.” Then remembering my room, I look for Dana. “Where’s Dana?”
Inching his body back and dropping his head, he takes a long look at me. “Dana’s in her own room. Logan thought you might want some privacy after last night.”
Confusion swirls around me and I think out loud. “Why would I want privacy? Wait. Did someone move me? Or did someone move Dana?”
His pauses are beginning to worry me and I try to remember my steps after I was brought into Dana’s room.
As I lift my head, a throb at the back of my skull makes me wince and I lift my hand to my face to hold the pain back and that’s when I see them.
