I’m short of breath, my adrenaline-fueled rage increasing my heart rate with every word.
She steps forward. “Have you finished?”
I shrug. “For the moment…”
She lets out an exaggerated sigh. “Thank God for that. Listen, you’re right — I do know how The Order works. A lot better than you do. If Horizon wants an asset out of The Order, he plays mind games with them. He breaks them. He turns friends and other assets against them. He makes sure they die knowing he was better than they were.”
I look at her. She’s wearing the same outfit she had on yesterday morning, and she still looks incredible. Her body language is calm and confident, her stance is relaxed and comfortable, her eye contact is unwavering, and her tone is steady… I’m pretty sure she’s not bullshitting me.
She throws her gun onto the bed. “Adrian, are you listening to what I’m saying? You need to get your head out of your ass and read between the lines. I’m not trying to kill you — The Order is!”
Kaitlyn stands and walks over to me and places her hand on my shoulder. “Adrian, she’s telling the truth. When they took you away for surgery, Pierce and his team showed up with a fleet of ambulances. They cleared the hospital of everyone except the bare minimum of staff and positioned themselves at all the entrances and exits. He said he was securing the place, and The Order was using its influence to move all the other patients and staff to another facility. I couldn’t believe something like that was even possible, but he did it and no one questioned anything.”
I nod absently. “That explains why it’s so quiet around here…”
“I was standing outside your room when Lily showed up. She didn’t know who I was. She introduced herself and told me what she just told you — that Pierce was here to set a trap for her, and to kill you and me. She wanted to hide me away until you woke up, and then the plan was for the three of us to get out of here.”
I gesture toward Lily with a small nod. “Okay, let’s say I believe you. Let’s say Horizon actually wants me dead instead of you. Or as well as you, whichever. Why me? Why give me the job of killing you? What have I done wrong? He’s only just recruited me…”
She flicks an eyebrow up questioningly. “Are you being serious? The constant questioning of his orders… The complete and total lack of respect you show him… The fact you helped me and disregarded the only three rules they asked you to follow in the process… If I were you, I’d be wondering why he’s not tried to kill you sooner.”
I can feel Kaitlyn’s gaze next to me. I glance at her and smile sheepishly. She just rolls her eyes and smiles to herself.
I’m impressed she’s managing to see the funny side…
I turn back to Lily. “I’m assuming Kaitlyn’s told you what happened to us in Abu Dhabi?”
She nods.
“So if that wasn’t you, who was it?”
She shrugs. “If I had to guess, I’d say Pierce. He’s Horizon’s main guy for keeping everyone in line.”
I shake my head. “No, Pierce was standing next to me inside the office when the RPG hit. He came to me with a team to warn me you were after me.”
She sighs. “Look, Adrian, I don’t know, alright? If it wasn’t Pierce, it had to have been one of his team. If he was there, it was so he wouldn’t look guilty. Horizon wants you to believe I’m the one coming after you, so you’ll have the incentive to take me out. He would’ve known the moment he gave you the contract that you’d struggle to go through with it.”
“So, if you’re not coming after me… if you’re not tracking me… how did you find me?”
She shakes her head. “I didn’t. I was following Pierce and he led me here.”
“Wouldn’t he have known you were tracking him?”
She shrugs. “Maybe, maybe not. Sure, he has the ability to see where I am, but that doesn’t mean he’s always looking. I figured he was coming for you, so I gambled that he was tracking you, not me.”
Shit.
What she’s saying makes sense. But does that mean I should believe her?
I look at Kaitlyn, silently asking for advice. I see the switch in her eyes as she flicks into her professional mindset. “You said yourself you were trying to figure out how the two of you could survive this. Maybe this Horizon guy has noticed the connection you two have and anticipated your reaction. It makes sense that he would use Pierce to fabricate the story about Lily, to give you the push he felt you needed in order to do your job and kill her for him. Plus, the reasons Lily just surmised about why he would want you dead as well… they make sense, too — especially given the things we’ve been discussing, and what I know about your personality.”
I slowly lower my gun. My gut says Kaitlyn is on the money, and the fact she’s implying Lily is, too, is good enough for me.
I look over at Lily and nod. “Sorry.”
She waves her hand. “I think we know each other well enough to understand that either one of us would have acted the way you just did, under the circumstances.”
We exchange a subtle nod of forgiveness. “So, what’s our move?”
She shakes her head. “We don’t have one. If they want us terminated, we will be.”
I smile. “Don’t make me do the thing where I re-introduce myself to make the point that I am who I am, and people don’t get to do shit like this to me.”
She rolls her eyes and smiles back. “You’re an asshole. But… if anyone can get us out of this… it’s you.”
“Damn right. I think the first thing to do is get the fuck outta here. How did you get in, if Pierce has the place surrounded?”
She points to the ceiling. “I snuck past a couple of his team and climbed the fire escape around back. This is a big place, but it only has two floors. I got inside the ventilation ducts and dropped down inside the supplies closet at the other end of the hall.”
“Nice. No help here, though.” I hold my right hand up and wave with it. “I’ll never be able to climb with one hand, and I’m too heavy for you to pull me up. I think the only option is the front door.”
“But Pierce has this place surrounded…”
I nod. “I know, but I’m hoping that, even if he knows you’re here, he might not know we’ve spoken. He’ll see we’re close together and figure we’re trying to kill each other. Which means he won’t know I know he’s a piece of shit. Lily, if you sneak out the way you came in, me and Kaitlyn will head out the front door. When we link up with Pierce, I’ll play along, say we scuffled and you ran away, and then get him away from here.”
She shrugs. “Then what? You’re still basically giving yourself up.”
I shake my head. “I’ll take him out before we get too far.”
Kaitlyn raises her hand apprehensively. “I’m sorry if this is a dumb, or even callous, question, but what’s to stop him just blowing your heads off with those device thingies?”
Lily and I exchange a look, then I turn to Kaitlyn and shrug. “That’s a good point, and one I’m trying not to think about.” I turn to Lily. “What do you think?”
She shrugs. “If you’re right, and Pierce still thinks we’re trying to take each other out, he won’t feel the need to use the detonator. He’s here to help you kill me before killing you himself, most likely. It makes no sense to simply pop our heads off — they’ve gone to so much trouble fucking with us to prove a point, why undo all their hard work by simply pushing a button?”