It was my turn to chuckle. “As I’m sure you’re aware, I’m no longer doing jobs for Vault.”
He clucked his tongue and I wanted to reach through the phone and tear it from his throat. “But you’ll do this job for me because I know it’s what you’re after.”
“And what is that?”
“The other board member.” He paused. “You see, Kai, you killed your mother. You broke out your sister and Dr. Westbrook’s daughter, London. You’re making sure you have everyone out before you go after the rest of us.” He paused. “Or shall I call that girl Raven?” Jesus fuckin’ Christ. “A shame I didn’t have the pleasure of tasting some of that while she was in the… industry.”
Keep your shit together, Kai. I normally didn’t let words bother me. They were meaningless, but him talking about London was like a knife in the gut.
Deck moved in beside me and I tilted the cell so he could hear.
“Let’s get something clear, Dorsey.” Any amusement left my tone. “You bring my girl into this, there will be nothing in this world I won’t do in order to get to you. And when I get to you, it won’t be a quick death. Because like Vault says, death is a privilege.”
Dorsey paused, and for a second I thought he hung up, except for his crackled breath. “Feed his finger to the shark,” he said, but it wasn’t to me; it was to someone with him.
There was nothing I could do. I knew his game and giving in to him would only make it worse. Deck lowered his head and the vibration of anger emanated off him, but he knew it, too. He knew I couldn’t give in to Dorsey.
Ernie’s fate didn’t look good. Fuck. I should’ve gone myself.
“I’ll make you a deal. Give me the drug, the files and the girl, and you can have your man back in one piece. Well, minus a finger.” He laughed.
“How about this? I find you, then nice and slow like, cut you up with my knife. And I’ll do it for weeks, so your shark has meals for a while. And when you beg me for mercy, shit, right, I don’t have mercy. The farm made certain of that.”
He didn’t laugh this time; instead, I heard shuffling and then his words were muffled as he put his hand over the receiver and spoke to someone else. “You just killed your friend.”
“I don’t have friends,” I replied calmly.
But I did. I did have friends. I had Ernie. Had. Fuck, Ernie.
That made him pause and maybe he was getting that I wouldn’t give in to anything he said. But it could’ve been to the sacrifice of Ernie’s life. I wanted to lose my shit. I wanted to whip my phone through the window and destroy everything in sight.
The rage burning through me was putting me on the edge of doing something stupid and blowing this all to shit.
“Okay,” Dorsey said and it was yielding. “You want to head Vault, I can make that happen.”
I laughed. “I don’t need you to make that happen. I can do that myself. But that’s not what I want.”
“You would’ve been here yourself if you wanted me, so my earlier guess is correct. And I want the same thing, so I believe we can come to some sort of agreement.”
“I’m listening.”
“Not over the phone,” Dorsey said. “Meet me. In Vegas. Without the ex-JTF2 guy.”
“I’m alive today because I don’t meet my enemies where they choose.”
“Who said we’re enemies, Kai. We’re merely negotiating for what we both want. And I want the files for the drug.”
“Okay.”
“I give you the information you need and you give me Dr. Westbrook’s files.” I waited for him to include London, but he didn’t. “I can find another scientist, although the girl would’ve made things easier. But I know you won’t give her up. Not after what you’ve done to free her. But I want Connor and the pills you stole from the lab.”
I glanced at Deck, whose scowl was fierce, the lines around his mouth tight. “No Connor. And no Vegas. I’ll meet you tonight. Eleven. Should give you enough time to fly to Toronto. Twenty-four hour diner on Spadina at Niagara. Bring Ernie or none of this happens.” I hung up, opened the back of my phone, took out the SIM card, and smashed it with the edge of the phone on the counter.
“You trust him?” Deck asked.
“Fuck, no.” But Dorsey was all about power and money, which meant he’d probably be willing to give up the board member who obviously had more power than him. “But he wants the drug. If he controls that, he doesn’t need the farm. He’ll do what was done to Connor. Use it on men who are already killers. Make them into machines. Not sure about the conditioning though. That was Mother’s expertise.”
“And even more reason to not give it to him.”
I grinned. “My morals are more flexible than yours, Deck. I have no qualms about making a deal then reneging.”
Deck’s lip twitched.
“I want to come with you,” Chess said.
Tristan laughed to which she smacked him on the arm. He just laughed harder. “Not happening, babe.”