Defective (The Institute Series Book 3) (21 page)

“What?” My voice shakes. I begin to look around the room, waiting for Brookfield to jump out at any moment. I hate that that man still has an effect on me.

“Oh calm down. He’s moved on. Freaked out when I found him after I got out of prison. This building is actually Institute-owned property. Brookfield and Lynch used to do ‘after hours’ kind of work here to hide it from Brookfield’s wife. I knew of this place, but didn’t know where it was. During one of my obligated monthly meetings to the Institute, I snuck into the records room and found the address.”

“Where’s Brookfield now?” I ask.

Zac shrugs. “I took over this place when he refused to help me. I thought we were friends. I don’t know where he’s gone now, or how he’s living. I can’t even get a job, I don’t know how a fugitive with such a high profile like him would be getting by.”

“Why did you come back? Why now?”

“Do you know how hard it is out there to be a convict and Defective? I’ve resorted to squatting in this hellhole, because of
you.
How anyone expects us to live on the Defective pension is ridiculous. I’m lucky if I have enough to buy food each week.” He’s getting angry, and I can’t say that I blame him. “No one will hire me, how am I meant to make money?” He pauses, cocking his head to the side, listening to something I can’t hear. “Ahh, and here’s the other person responsible. Come in Jacobs, we’re about to get to the exciting part.”

Damn it, Drew!

The door opens, and Drew comes in, gun poised.

Zac just sighs and rolls his eyes, “Really? I mean, I didn’t expect you to come
unarmed
, but did you really think I wouldn’t have planned for this?”

Turning back to look at Zac, his gun is now raised to my head.

“You’re going to kill me anyway, so just get it over with,” I suggest.

“Allira,” Jayce scolds.

“What? I’m being realistic here.” I can feel myself giving up.

“Where’s the girl who was so willing to fight me all those many moons ago? You endured four hours of electrotherapy.
Four
hours before you passed out. That was impressive.” Zac shakes his head. “Bring her back, she was feisty, and I liked it.”

I shake my head at how sadistic Zac is. “Paxton killed her.” It’s certainly not far from the truth from what I’ve learnt about him this last week.

Paxton orchestrated everything: my escape from my life as an agent, my uncomfortable feelings with the Resistance, and the thing that pushed me to be involved in the take-down – saving Tate’s life from a prison
he
put him in. That was his insurance to get us to agree to the takeover.

“Drew, do come and join us, please,” Zac says politely. “Here you can even take my seat.” Zac stands, his gun still pointing at me.

“No, thanks, I’d rather stand,” Drew replies. I can hear him stepping forward slowly.

“I wasn’t offering,” Zac says more firmly. “Sit.”

And this is what I saw in my vision. I don’t know what is going to happen from here. The last thing I saw was Drew being taped to the chair, just like he is now. He surrenders his gun, and I close my eyes. It’s over.

“I’m assuming you didn’t come alone. Where are the others?” Zac asks.

“There’s no one else,” Drew says. “The Institute doesn’t have agents anymore, remember?”

“So you won’t mind if I go and check the perimeter?” Zac asks. He raises an eyebrow and I wonder if he’s trying to get a reading on Drew. I can’t tell if he’s lying or not. Surely he didn’t come by himself?

Drew shrugs. “This is your barbecue, do what you want. Are you seriously going to leave the three of us in here though,
by ourselves
?”

“It’s not like you’re going anywhere,” Zac says, going out the warehouse door to check outside.

“I told you not to come,” I mutter.

Drew looks at me, his face marred with confusion. “No you didn’t.”

“What happened to Tate?” I ask. Drew’s face pales, and I close my eyes tight. This can’t be good.

“I hope you’ve got back up on the way,” Drew says to Jayce.

I laugh, but not because it’s funny. “You’ve got the wrong Constable J. Harrison, Drew,” I say, shaking my head.

“You
know
?” Jayce asks me.

I nod.

“Wrong Harrison?” Drew asks, then he realises what I’m saying. “Jenna,” he whispers.

“You thought I was a cop?” Jayce asks.

“Paxton found her personnel file. It had J. Harrison on it, as well as your address, and birthdate. It was missing gender though. Paxton and Drew assumed it was you,” I say.

“How did
you
know it wasn’t me?” Jayce asks with a proud smile on his face.

“You told me that you never lied to me about who
you
were.” I smile back at him, glad that my hunch about him was correct. I turn to Drew. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. I didn’t realise you were still seeing her until earlier tonight.”

He laughs, but it’s a sad kind of laugh. “Like you aren’t revelling in the irony of it all – me, falling for an undercover cop?”

“I know. I’m sorry. And it’s only a little funny,” I say, trying to hide my smile.

Drew looks at the door. “He’s taking a while. I hope he hasn’t found her.”

“Who?”

“Licia,” he whispers.

“That’s who you brought to help?”

“You know her – she was begging for me to bring her.”

Zac comes back in then, and Drew and I let out a collective sigh of relief when we see he doesn’t have her. He seems pretty satisfied that no one was out there.

“You’ll know when to make your move,” Drew whispers to me. I subtly nod.

“Let’s check in on the others and see how they’re going, shall we?” Zac says, walking over to the TV and turning it on. He swivels the screen so it’s facing us.

And there on the news, right in front of me, Paxton and Tate get shot.

Chapter Seventeen

My vision blurs. I try to blink the tears away, but they’re coming too fast, too freely. I’m vaguely aware of someone screaming… I think it’s me.

I manage to stifle my screams enough to hear that both Tate and Paxton are in critical condition at the city hospital.

After everything I’ve learnt about Paxton, I know I shouldn’t care. I should hope he dies, but right now I find myself hoping that they’re both okay.

Then a thought occurs to me. “It should’ve been me,” I say, but it comes out wispy and breathless. “I was meant to be standing by Paxton during his speech.”

“Don’t worry,” Zac smiles, “You’ll be joining them soon enough.” He turns the TV off and walks back over to us.

“Who was working with you? Who shot them?” I ask.

“Remote trigger,” he says, taking a small device out of his pocket. “You screwed everything up by disappearing with your boyfriend. You’re right – you should’ve been up there with Paxton. Not that it matters now. Plan B is working out just fine. I even got Jacobs here,” he says, patting Drew on his shoulder. “I thought I was going to have to get him another time. Your funeral was an option.”

“You’re the one who broke into the weapons unit at the Institute,” Drew says.

“What?” I ask.

“That’s why I had to go back after your engagement. I thought I must’ve left the cabinet unlocked from when we went out west, but my assistant swore we were missing weapons and a remote trigger.”

Zac can’t contain his smile. “You know, if you paid more attention to me when I came to visit you, this may not have happened. You were always too busy to see me at my monthly meetings.”

“I didn’t want to hear anything you had to say,” Drew grinds out.

“Well it would’ve at least been smart to change the codes and locks when you took over.”

“Noted. Thanks for the advice,” Drew says sarcastically. “I’ll be sure to implement that when I get back.”

Zac lets out a laugh. “You won’t be going back. Now, where should we begin?” he asks, putting his gun in the waistband of his pants, and taking off his jacket and hat.

Drew catches my attention. He leads my eyesight down to his feet. He’s standing on something, his foot slowly rocking back and forth on top of it. I can’t see what it is, but I think he has a plan. I need to distract Zac.

“Start with me. My
fiancé
is the one who ruined your life.” I try not to shudder as I say that word.

“Allira,” Jayce says authoritatively. “Just because you
can
endure his treatment, doesn’t mean you should.”

“I’ll be fine. I’m sure Zac hits like a little bitch anyway. Isn’t that why you got Eugene to do all of your dirty work at the Institute?” I spare a quick glance at Drew, and realise he was hiding a knife under his foot. He’s bent over to his side, cutting off the tape, and preparing to jump Zac at the first chance. I smile at Zac, trying to pass it off as smugness from my comment.

“I wouldn’t mind seeing the look on the guys’ faces while I beat the crap out of you.” Zac smirks.

I swear I almost hear a growl come out of Jayce before I feel a slap across my face. I let out a laugh before I’m smacked again. This time his hand is so forceful that my head jolts back from the momentum.

“What’s funny?” Zac asks.

“I was right, you do hit like a little bitch,” I say, even though the whole left side of my face is burning.

I start laughing, somewhat hysterically. I don’t know if the blows to the face have made me drunk with pain, or if I’ve finally realised how screwed-up this situation is.

“What is so funny, Miss Daniels?” Zac spits out.

“Oh, just that you not only kidnapped the next potential First Lady, but also the Director of the Institute
and
a police officer’s brother.” I hit a whole new level of uncontrollable laughter. It earns me another hit to the face, which sobers me. It’s really beginning to hurt.

Zac starts pacing the room as the reality of what he has done crashes down on him. I look at Drew and see that his legs are now loose. He’s begun working on his wrists behind his back. At least it’s more subtle now though – he doesn’t have to bend to stretch his arms to his ankles.

“Your sister’s really a cop?” Zac asks Jayce.

“Yep. Oh, and I should probably mention that I’m wearing a wire.” Our heads snap in his direction. He shrugs, “She wanted to get dirt on Paxton at the party, which thanks to you,” he looks at Zac, “she has. If you want to make a deal with her, I’m sure the police department can work something out.”

“Wait. You’re wearing a wire? Your sister’s investigating Paxton? Why?” I ask.

Jayce shrugs again. “I don’t know. I try not to get involved in her work.”

“Until me,” I say, rather pissed off. “Were you helping investigate him? Were you using me to—”

“I didn’t, I swear I didn’t. I wouldn’t tell her anything.”

“And why should I trust you? You’ve been lying to me for a month. Were you ever interested in me? Or were you just after Paxton?” I yell. I don’t actually feel this way – maybe a tiny part of me does, but I’m just trying to cause more of a distraction until Drew can get free.

“I’m not going to discuss this while you’re being irrational, Allira,” he replies.

“Me, irrational?” I yell louder.

“Oh, here we go with the drama again,” Jayce rolls his eyes. “I’m beginning to think you aren’t a drama magnet at all. You willingly go out looking for it! It doesn’t come to you, you seek it out!” he yells back.

I’ve never seen Jayce lose his cool, but clearly I have pushed him over the edge. There’s something in the tone of his voice though, something isn’t right. It’s almost as if… I smile but try to suppress it. He’s noticed what I have. Drew’s almost free, but Zac is watching Jayce and I fight like we’re on a teenage soap opera.

“Well that’s better than being
boring,
” I say.

“You only think I’m boring because your life is one insane crazy person after the other wanting something from you.”

“That actually seems pretty true right now,” I admit.

“Enough!” Zac yells.

“Can I just ask, what were you expecting to happen today?” Jayce asks Zac. “The fact that I have a sister on the police force shouldn’t make a difference to your plan. You don’t actually think you’ll get away with killing us, do you?”

“That was the original plan, yes. But that also involved killing Paxton and Allira at the convention centre, then getting the hell out of there.”

“So now what are your options?” Jayce asks, calmly. He’s using his counselling voice, one that I have succumbed to a lot since meeting him.

“I don’t have any,” Zac says.

I don’t think that was the answer Jayce was hoping for because in this moment, all four of us realise: the plan is for none of us to get out of here alive. Zac has nothing to lose.

“You do have options,” I say, trying to stall further.
What the hell is taking Drew so long?
“I’m sure that with all of the dirt you have on Paxton, you have more than enough to do some sort of plea bargain for leniency in the shooting. Paxton and Tate might even pull through yet – it won’t be murder charges you’re facing. Right now you haven’t done anything to the three of us. We’re just talking. You haven’t crossed that line yet.”

“Your face begs to differ,” he retorts.

“Meh, it’s just a black eye. It doesn’t even hurt.”

“And that bodyguard of yours?”

“It was nothing he didn’t deserve. He was super annoying.”
Okay, now I’m just rambling. “
You’re right about me, though. I did ruin your life. You and Brookfield offered me the world by letting me back into society, and I blew it by running away. I shouldn’t have done that.”

He paces, thinking for a moment.

“If you cooperate with them, they may even get you to help in the search for Brookfield. You found him here when no one else was able to locate him. That’s got to count for something. You were smarter than anybody else when it came to finding him. They could use your skills. They need someone like you.”

He shakes his head. “No. This needs to end now. I’m not going back to that hell hole of a prison.”

He reaches for the gun in the waistband of his pants, but before he can aim it at me, Drew jumps on him from behind.  The knife in Drew’s hand goes flying in Jayce’s direction. Jayce is quick to dive for it, still bound by duct tape. He wriggles over to the knife while Drew and Zac struggle with each other. This is my chance.

I close my eyes and focus on Licia somewhere outside. I breathe in and imagine myself in duplicate, standing next to myself. The woozy out of body sensation I experienced the first time I ever borrowed Licia’s projection ability is strong, and when I open my eyes, I see me, unconscious, still sitting in the chair.

Jayce stops struggling for the knife. He’s too busy freaking out about seeing me use my ability for the first time. It only lasts a second before he’s back to reaching for the knife to cut himself free. Drew and Zac are still wrestling each other, the gun must have been knocked to the floor in the scuffle. I have to find the gun, or Drew’s gun. Where did Zac put that?

Zac suddenly drops Drew to the ground on his back and starts beating the crap out of his face. I run, still in my heels –
why didn’t I take them off already? –
tackling Zac off of Drew. I straddle him like he was doing to Drew, and start punching him, over and over again.

Adrenaline is coursing through me, and I just keep punching him. I can’t stop myself, even long after Zac stops struggling.

“Allira, that’s enough,” I hear Drew say, but it’s not enough.

“Allira.” I feel a comforting hand on my shoulder and know that it’s Jayce without having to look up. I stop my assault, and turn into Jayce’s arms as he picks me up off of Zac, my body shaking uncontrollably.

“It’s okay, it’s over,” Jayce soothes. I stay in his arms, just waiting to calm down, but it doesn’t seem to be happening.

“Is he…?”

“I don’t know,” he answers me. We stand there a few moments more, I don’t want to turn my head and look at Zac, at what I did to him. “Uh… this is kind of weird. Could you maybe… uh, become one person again?” Jayce asks.

Forgetting that I’m in a projected state, I pull away. “Sorry!” I close my eyes, breathe in deep, and go back into my body. I realise I’m still restrained when I try to stand. “A little help? Please?”

Jayce comes over and cuts me free. He helps me over to Drew who’s sitting on the ground, his head in his hands, and his elbows resting on his knees. I lift his chin, he’s pretty badly beaten. I hug him, and he hugs me back.

“Thanks,” he sputters, turning his head to spit out some blood.

“Anytime,” I smile. “So tally wise, I think we’re about even now.”

“I think you’ll always be one up on me. You’ve saved me in more ways than I can count.”

“Don’t get all mushy on me now,” I say, assessing his face. I think his nose might be broken.

Zac groans from the ground. Part of me is thankful that I didn’t kill him, the other part of me wants to find a gun and finish what I started.

My eyes dart around the room, searching for the two guns I know are here somewhere. One’s across the room, and I run to it, picking it up off the ground and pointing it at Zac. Jayce finds the one that was Drew’s on the counter where Zac must have put it earlier. He doesn’t point it at Zac though, he just holds it – I assume so Zac can’t get to it.

“Do it,” Zac says huskily. “I’m ready to die. I want this.”

I stare at him with furrowed brows. Could I really kill a person? I know I just came close, but to do it like this? While he’s lying on the floor, begging me for it? Would this be doing him a favour?

“Allira, you don’t need to do it,” Jayce says. “We’re safe. He’s contained.”

“He tried to kill me.
Twice
. You don’t think he’ll come back and try again?” I’m trying to rationalise what I really want to do.

My hand begins to tremble. It’s like I have my own devil versus angel thing going on in my head, only my anger is the devil, and Jayce is the angel. I know that killing Zac like this would be wrong. It’s not self-defence. If I do this, I’d be just like him. But what happens if he gets out of prison and comes to find me again?

“Allira,” Jayce says soothingly. “It’s okay.”

Before I have the chance to make a decision, the door to the warehouse flies open. Men and women in black head to toe protective gear rush in, guns aimed at us.

“Drop your weapons!” a deep commanding voice yells. “Put your weapons down on the ground.” Jayce and I do as we’re told. “Hands up and walk slowly over to the far wall.”

Over at the wall, the intruders start to cuff the three of us.

Jayce is next to me and I recognise the blonde hair under the protective helmet of the officer arresting him. My suspicions are confirmed when I hear Jenna’s voice.

“Hey, little brother. I told you to stay away from her, didn’t I?” she says in a playful tone. “Mum’s going to be so pissed when she hears about this!”