Chapter 11

Jagger

I’m mid-sentence, waiting for Stella to reappear when I realize my mistake.

I duck out into the hallway and don’t need to go upstairs to know she’s gone.

“Goddammit, woman,” I spit.

Dad appears behind me, coffee in his hand as he peers at the front door. “Ah, she bolted. Thought she might. A bit too domestic for her, I think.”

I spin on my heel and frown at him. “How do you know? Did she say anything to you last night?”

He gestures to the living room. “No. But I got the feeling she’s used to looking after herself.”

I slump into the chair and hate that she gave me the slip. “She still doesn’t trust me.”

“Her life is at stake. She asked you for a place to stay, you gave her that. Maybe she didn’t want anything else?”

I blow out a breath. “These are bad people dad.”

He eyes me over his coffee. “But it’s more than that isn’t it? You like this woman and you wanted more than to rescue her.”

I lean my head back on the couch. “I must be crazy.”

He chuckles. “Why?”

I shake my head. “Because I barely know her. And whatever we had it’s not worth this.”

He snorts. “Bullshit on both counts. You brought her home. You wouldn’t have done that if this was a fling.”

I frown at him. “I brought her home because I needed…”

But I can’t think and I can’t say anything that isn’t a flat out lie.

The words slip out before I can filter them. “I brought her home because I wanted to show her I was someone she could trust.”

He gestures to a photo of my mom on the wall. “First time I met your mother, I knew she’d never understood what it felt like to be unwanted. And it scared me to death.”

I shake my head. “You can’t compare mom and Stella. They’re nothing alike.”

He chokes on a laugh. “I’m comparing myself to Stella. Not everyone gets what you and Dawson did. I sure as shit didn’t, and from what I’ve seen I don’t think Stella did either.”

When I don’t say anything, he shakes his head. “I’m not wrong, am I? She told you enough to know I’m speaking the truth right now.”

I scratch my chin and look at the photo on the wall. “Yeah. She had it rough.”

He nods. “So trust doesn’t come easy for her. Didn’t for me either. I don’t know where I’d be if your mother had washed her hands of me. God knows she should have.”

I smile and don’t have any time to think about it when my phone buzzes and I know I’m out of time.

I look at dad. “It’s my boss. I need to tell him when I’ll be going back.”

He nods and reaches for the remote. “You don’t need to worry about me. Go make your arrangements,” he says.

I nod, but when I slip out the door and look at my phone to answer it, I’m not thinking about my boss.

I’m staring at the message that came in from an unknown number about five minutes ago.

Sorry.

***

Stella

I grip the handhold and stare out the window as Zane drives far too slowly for my liking.

I want to get out of here, away from Jagger, away from his family, and as far away from all this guilt before my head explodes.

As Zane takes a right, I frown as I see the signs for the industrial section of the waterfront. “This is where your friend’s equipment is? Are you sure it’ll be good enough?”

He doesn’t answer for a few seconds, just looks at me. “You know for a long time I thought I was in love with you.”

I pull a face at him. “We were kids back then. Neither of us knew what love was.”

He shakes his head. “You never even gave me a chance. You just dismissed me. Dismissed us.”

I smother a groan. “You were still working for her.”

He slows and stops outside an office block. “So you don’t contact me for seven years. Until you get so desperate you have to?”

I blow out a sigh. “I can’t believe you’re holding a grudge. You know what she’s like. She’d have been monitoring you.”

His forehead creases and I’m a little concerned at the way he’s looking at me. “You knew I’d gone legit, and you still didn’t get in touch. Why? I’m not good enough for you?”

I can’t deny it because I have been keeping track of him, and not for the reason he’s hoping for.

A self-taught hacker who liked to party, Zane was the closest thing to a friend my mother would allow.

“It’s not that. I wanted to start over.”

He reaches forward into the glove box and pulls out a pack of cigarettes. “So you just cut me from your life? Just like that? I thought you were different. Guess the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, huh?”

All my muscles clench as I see this from his perspective. We did have a few stolen nights together, usually facilitated by my mother’s absence, alcohol, and Zane’s close proximity when I was lonely or horny or both.

“I had no idea you wanted to leave. Maybe if you’d told me that, things could have been different.”

He snorts. “You’re such a liar. You never would have told me your plans to leave. You don’t trust anyone.”

This is not going how I’d hoped it would and when he lights up and takes a drag I know I need to smooth this over or I’ll never get a new identity.

“It wasn’t about trust. I didn’t want to get you in trouble.”

His eyebrow cocks and for a second I think he’s buying it, but he just shakes his head. “You really think your mother didn’t know about us fucking? She came to me the day after you left.”

I swallow hard as heat tracks across my cheeks. “What did she say?”

He laughs, but there’s nothing but bitterness in his voice. “She said you’d be back. And when you came, you’d be crawling on your hands and knees.”

A shiver of fear snakes its way down my spine as he stubs out his cigarette. “She also said, if I didn’t help her find you, she’d kill my entire fucking family.”

I suck in a breath and too late realize I’ve made a massive mistake. I reach for the door but he just presses the lock sealing me in.

Panic now flowing freely through me, I shake my head. “You sold me out,” I say.

He flinches. “You never should have contacted me,” he says.

***

Jagger

While dad is busy watching more of the comedy shows Stella introduced him too, I’m sitting in the kitchen with a still pissed off Dawson trying to explain Stella’s disappearance.

A nagging feeling is tugging at me, making it hard to focus on what he’s complaining about.

“Dad’s actually upset she’s gone. One night and he’s moping about.”

I lean back in my chair and try not to sound like I’m moping myself. “She’s in trouble, and too damn stubborn to realize she can’t solve this on her own.”

Dawson shakes his head. “This is exactly what I was worried about. Dad got attached, and now she’s gone.”

Considering I can hear dad laughing I doubt he’s feeling quite as bad as Dawson thinks he is.

“He’s fine. But I do need to start thinking about going back to work.”

Dawson’s jaw works and he looks about ready to remind me I’m leaving him to babysit dad again when my phone rings.

Hoping it’s Stella calling to explain herself I glance at it and mutter a curse as I see who’s calling.

Dawson peers over at it. “Who’s Matt? Your boss?”

I shake my head. “The reason I went to Oregon.”

“Are you going to answer?”

I stare at my phone and my curiosity gets the better of me. “Where the fuck have you been? I owe you a beating you sack of shit,” I growl.

Dawson’s eyes pop, so I get up and have the rest of the conversation out of his hearing.

Wherever he is, the connection is bad, and his voice keeps cutting out. “—tried to warn you about her.”

“Her? Who her? Stella? What does she have to do with this?”

“—kind—never get caught. People who can see everything and know everyone. They were just waiting—"

“What the fuck are you talking about? Are you on drugs?”

“—trying to warn you. Leaving—as—can. That woman—”

I interrupt him as my heart rate starts to speed. “Stella? What does she have to do with your gambling debts?”

Static comes down the line before his answer comes in loud and clear. “Not Stella. The bitch who told Waylon to hire her,” he says.

***

Stella

After realizing there was no point in trying to run, I meekly followed Zane into the office, gripping my pack, and wishing I’d brought a weapon with me.

I glare at Zane as he leans against the wall but he’s not looking at me, his attention is on the door.

Just when I think it can’t get any worse, I hear footsteps in the corridor, heels, tap, tap, tapping, like a nail in my coffin.

I brace myself and can’t breathe as Chanel No5 wafts towards me just as my mother appears, looking flawless in her Louboutins and Oscar de la Renta one off suit.

Cold blue eyes locked on me; a flick of her wrist sends Zane out of the room without a word. “Why? I’ve been gone seven years,” I say.

She pulls out a chair and sits just out of my reach. “I needed you. And you needed to learn a lesson. You can’t rely on anyone, Stella. Everyone has a price, and everyone and everything can be bought.”

I swallow hard, digging my nails into my fingers to keep from letting my emotions show. “Is there even a contract?”

A perfectly plucked eyebrow arches. “It doesn’t matter. What matters is you’re wasting your talent. Talent I gave you. Talent I need right now.”

“I’m not coming back to work for you. Find someone else.”

Her brow knits. “Even if I could find someone to break this code, you still need my protection. You’ll always need my protection.”

When I don’t answer her, she sits on the edge of the desk, and peers at me like I’m a curiosity.

“You don’t seriously think that muscle-bound cretin could have helped you, do you? I thought I taught you better than that.”

At the mention of Jagger all my muscles tense. “He has nothing to do with this. And you taught me less than you take credit for, Mommy Dearest,” I spit.

She leans forward and grips my chin, hard. “You asked him for help. A man you’ve known all of three days. Why? What lies did he tell you?”

I jerk out of her grip and struggle against the restraints. “He didn’t lie to me you psycho bitch. That’s why I ran to him. Because he’s nothing like you. He’s normal,” I spit.

Her shoulders tense, and her perfectly made-up lips press together before she snarls and uses a whiny voice to mock me. “But mom, everyone else has friends. Why can’t we be a normal family? Why can’t I sleepover at Kelly’s?”

I wince at the reminder of a childhood spent locked in my bedroom studying computer science while she conducted her business flashes before me.

She leans in closer. “There are no normal families. The sooner you accept that and let go of this foolish idea Hollywood and Hallmark planted in your brain, the happier you’ll be.”

I choke on a laugh. “Happy? What the fuck would you know about happiness? You are a miserable bitch who manipulates and uses everyone around her.”

She smiles coolly. “My, we have gotten an attitude since we’ve been away. Or maybe it’s this Jagger person who’s been filling your head with idiotic ideas to control you?”

I take a breath and try not to give her the satisfaction of seeing me squirm.

“He’s not trying to control me. I know it’s beyond your understanding, but he actually cares about me.”

Her calm façade now gone completely, I can see the pleasure on her face and know she’s going to tell me something crushing.

She slowly shakes her head and pulls a mock sad face. “I don’t think so. He’s already booked his return ticket home. All it took was a text for him to walk away from you.”

I blink, my heart thumping in my chest as she pushes off the chair, looking smug as she flicks her hair over her shoulder. “Forget him, Stella. And forget this pathetic little life you’ve tried to make. You belong at my side, and it’s time you accepted that.”

The room starts to close in on me, and I’m right back to where I was seven years ago, under her control with no means to escape.

But I’ve learned a few tricks since then. And I’m not about to make the same mistake again.

Even if it means doing something I promised myself I’d never do, I need to get out of here. “And if I say no my business will dry up and I’ll have to anyway?”

She smiles coolly. “You’ve already got a reputation as a hothead, Stella. It wouldn’t take much for me to tip the scales in my favor. Not much need for a cyber expert who leaks private information for money.”

A shiver travels down my spine. My reputation is the glue that holds my business together.

And because of her, it’s all I have.

“Is there a contract out on me or not?”

Her eyes stay locked on me and I have to force myself not to react when I see the extent of her manipulation.

“Of course not. No one would dare. But if you cross me again, there will be one out on Jagger,” she says.

I’m so angry I can’t even speak, and just like she always did, she takes my silence for agreement.

“He’s not worth your time, Stella. Sex is one thing, growing attached to a plaything is another. I never would have allowed him to work with you if I’d known you’d want to keep him.”

I clench my jaw and force the words out. “What do you mean allow me to work with him?”

She blows out a breath and shrugs her narrow shoulders. “Did you really think you were getting all these jobs all by yourself? You were a newbie with no references, fresh out of MIT.”

My hands twitch in my lap. “I worked for free, I proved myself—”

She laughs. “I knew you were delusional, but this is almost priceless. No, Stella. You didn’t earn anything. What you have, I allowed you to have. Your little friends Meredith and Jagger included.”

Fire now spreading through my veins as I think of all the work I’ve done, all the contacts I’d made, a life she now wants to claim as her work.

All the pieces fall into place. No wonder Waylon keep insisting I work from the motel. My mother must have given him implicit instructions.

The only question is who ransacked my room? Given Matt wasn’t in the area, I can only imagine my mother paid someone to, probably to put the frighteners into me before she texted me.

I’m so furious at the level of her involvement I spit the first words that come to mind. “Did you know my boss tried to rape me? Or did you ask him to teach me a lesson?” I spit.

Her eyebrow arches. “A lesson I’d hoped would bring you home.”

I spring to my feet, and know I’m screeching like a banshee, but she doesn’t even flinch. “You risked me getting raped just to prove a point? You demented bitch. If you ever cared about me, you’d let me live my fucking life!”

She looks at me with such absolute bewilderment I know I’ll never get through to her. “But I do care about you, Stella, why can’t you see that?”

I shake my head and know I’m wasting my breath. Just like I always was.

Jagger was right.

She may have fooled the CIA, but my mother is a controlling psychopath.

***

Jagger

I’m standing outside in the garden, watching dad and Dawson in the greenhouse and having a less confusing conversation with my boss than the one I had with Matt.

I’m still trying to figure out whether it’s worth my time to investigate what Matt’s saying about why Stella was hired, but with my leave coming to a close, I’m already stretching my goodwill with my unit commander to its limit by asking for an extension.

“How did those tracking devices work out? You said you found a place to test them?” he asks.

I nod. “I got a chance to trial a couple short-range over a few days. Long-range might be an issue, but I’ll know more soon.”

“Just let me know how many to order, and whether we need to bring in a tech whizz. In short supply over here.”

A smile tugs at my lips. “Here too.”

As Dawson walks towards me, I end the call with a promise to stay in touch and slide my phone into my pocket.

“I need to clear some things up in Oregon. I’ll be back in a few days.”

Dawson frowns. “And then what? You’ll be back on a plane to Malawi and we won’t see you for another year?”

I look over his shoulder at dad in the garden. “I think I have a workable solution for you and dad. I just need to check on something first.”

Dawson doesn’t look convinced, but I haven’t got time to argue.

“Remember that vacation we went on after mom died?”

He frowns. “To the lake? Yeah. I remember. Dad was happy. Said it was good to go somewhere mom’s ghost wasn’t lurking.”

I give him a distracted nod. “What if we could repeat that. But in a different location. You think he’d go for it?”

He shrugs. “I can barely get him to leave the house. Can’t imagine him wanting to go on a vacation with us. Besides what’s the point? He’ll just be coming back to the house after to stare at the walls. And I’ll have to choose between him or a life with Megan.”

I scratch my chin and know everything hinges on how I present this both to him and to dad. “I don’t have enough time to go into details. But you think he’d ever sell the house?”

Dawson’s eyebrows rise. “Maybe if you give him a good enough reason to,” he says.

I nod. “I can think of a few good reasons,” I say through a smile.

***

Stella

From inside the office where I’m being held hostage, I’m listening to Mosh, drinking my third coffee and completely in my zone when I realize Zane is talking to me.

I slide my headphones off my head and frown at him. “What?”

“You think it’s Russian?”

I nod. “You already knew that. But yeah, probably KGB. Old school. Cold war era. It’s probably just someone messing around trying to see if the CIA pay attention.”

Zane nods. “That’s what I thought. But your mom didn’t believe me.”

At the tension on his face, I know she doesn’t trust his judgment. Not a good sign considering she’s already used him to get me back.

If she thinks he’s expendable and was only keeping him around to lure me back, she’ll dispose of him.

As bizarre as it is to acknowledge it, I’m still the only person she’s ever trusted.

I swallow hard, and despite myself, I slide closer and pretend to be looking at his screen. “How close has she been monitoring?”

He keeps his eyes on the screen, and we use the same method to communicate we always did when we were being observed.

He taps out his answer in Glyphtek and I have enough time to read it before it disappears.

ꟺɵЯꝄ. ɱ€₪ ¥ɵƱ ꟻƱ¢Ꝅ€ↁ. ₪ɵꝉ ɱƱ¢ƕ ɵ₪£ᵻ₪€ Ʊ₪ꝉᵻ£ ¥ɵƱ ƿᵻ§§€ↁ ɵꟻꟻ Ʌ ꞡƱ¥ Ʌ₪ↁ ƕ€ ƿɵ§ꝉ€ↁ ¥ɵƱЯ ƿᵻ¢ ɵ₪ ꟻɅ¢€ßɵɵꝄ.

Work. Men you fucked. Not much online till you pissed off a guy and he posted your pic on Facebook.

Shit. Chad. Chad had the number to my burner phone.

I scowl at the screen and try not to curse. Chad would have been an easy target. All my mother had to do was check his Facebook account and track him down.

Everything makes sense, even Matt trying to keep Jagger and me apart. He may have been using Jagger as a cover, but he must have known Waylon was up to something too.

I have no way of knowing if Jagger has pieced all this together. I keep my face impassive and shift so I’m in front of my own screen.

My own laptop is sitting right beside me, and I’m itching to open it to try to contact Jagger, but I can’t do that or my mother will carry through with her threat.

I’ve seen enough to know she’s not bluffing.

I type out a reply. ¥ɵƱ ¢Ʌ₪'ꝉ ꝉЯƱ§ꝉ ƕ€Я

You can’t trust her.

He slides a look sidelong before he nods. “I know.”

I’m well overdue a break, so I push back from the desk, and gesture to the door. “I’m getting more coffee. You want anything?”

He shakes his head and goes back to his screen. “Just don’t do anything stupid. Your mom is right next door.”

I sigh and open the door to find an armed guard standing in the hallway. When he moves to follow me, I glare at him. “Fantastic. I have you to deal with too now.”

He doesn’t even react, just follows me down the hall to the staff room my mother has filled with snacks and enough caffeine to keep Zane and I working well into the night.

I blow out a breath and load the expensive coffee machine up and look at the clock on the wall to see how much time has passed.

I was so involved in breaking the code, I’m a little surprised when I see it’s been over ten hours since I left Jagger.

No wonder I’m exhausted, I need sleep. And since I’m pretty sure the code my mother asked me to break probably isn't real, I grab my coffee and make my way back down the hallway.

I’m so focused on where I’m going, I miss the slightest noise coming from behind me until I hear a grunt and something heavy crash to the floor.

I spin around and see a masked man holding a gun.

My bodyguard is lying crumpled on the ground.

The man raises his arm, aims at my chest, and fires.

***

Stella

I wake dazed, and my head aching to find myself in the back of a van, a lot like Zane’s.

But instead of Zane’s double-crossing face, it’s Jagger’s concerned one I see.

He’s crouching over me, dressed in black, and even in my confused state, it doesn’t take a genius to figure out he’s the man who shot me.

I’m so overwhelmed and so groggy, I say the first thing that comes to mind. “You’re supposed to be on a plane,” I croak.

He winks. “Told you I came to bait and trap. I didn’t get the poacher, so I figured you’d do.”

I ease up onto my elbows and look at the empty van he must have brought with him.

Wherever we are, it’s quiet. No sirens, no traffic noise. “How did you find me?”

He sits beside me and runs a hand through his hair. “I had a feeling you might do something stupid, so I put a tracking device on you.”

I stare at him, both irritated and pleased. “You did not!”

He grins. “I put one on your boot heel on the way to Seattle.”

I groan as I try to sit up. “What did you do to me?”

He winces and slides a hand to my back to help me. “Tranquilizer gun. Looks real enough, but if we’re going to finish this, it’ll take more than that to make it look good.”

I rub at my aching temple and frown at him. “What are you talking about?”

He presses a finger to my lips. “Do you trust me?”

I swallow. “Yes.”

A smile flickers at his lips. “Then do what I say, woman and let me help you,” he says.