Chapter 9 Revealing the Betrayal

Jake's POV

Victor entered the light and my heart fell; the shadow in the gateway was clear-cut. His icy eyes gleamed with success, and I knew we were straight entering his trap. Though my head ran, looking for a way out, it felt as though we were already enmeshed in his web.

"Well, well, what do we have here?" Though Victor's voice was silky, there was malice behind it. He turned to face every one of us, dwelling especially on Nadia. "I told you that running wouldn't save you, didn't I?"

Nadia tightened the paper we had just found, her hand quivering just slightly. Her eyes flicked to me, a whirl of terror and will deep inside them. I have to keep her safe anywhere.

"What are you looking for, Victor?" I insisted, moving forward to sit between Nadia and him. "You have already wrecked enough lives. Let us go; we will forget we ever saw you."

Victor laughed, a terrible sound filling the space. "You believe you could simply turn away? NO, Jake. You are unaware of how much more this is. You have stumbled into something much outside your reach."

Sam moved next to me, his back stiff. Though Victor wasn't alone, I could tell he was prepared to fight. The little rustling of feet behind him indicated that his guys were close by. We were outnumbered, and I realized that in a straight confrontation, we had no chance.

"We know what you have been doing," Nadia responded, sounding more forcefully than I would have expected. "The blackmail, the secrets-you have been performing, using people like puppets. But it is past right now."

Victor stepped closer, and his eyes closed. "Oh, Nadia, you have always been quite naive. With that tiny bit of paper, do you believe you could stop me? Venessa was only one participant in a far bigger game. And today you will also be involved."

As Victor's words sank in, my hands closed at my sides. He was a genius, not only a criminal; we were pawns in his warped game. I had to act quickly; otherwise, we would always be caught in his web.

Gritted teeth, "We're not your pawns," I said. "And we are not going to let you win."

Victor grinned, obviously delighted by my rebellion. "Brave language, Jake. But bravery is useless for saving you. You should learn that the hard way now."

Victor indicated to his troops with a flick of his wrist, guiding them from the shadows like animals approaching their target. As I came to see there was no escape, my heart hammered. We surrounded each other.

Nadia grabbed for my hand, her hold strong with terror. Trying to soothe her even as panic tore at my chest, I squeezed back. I kept her from seeing my level of fear.

Victor said, "Get them," his voice icy and detached.

My mind flew as the soldiers moved forward. I needed a strategy, something to give us time. Still, all I had was seconds.

Then, without warning, the room echoed with a great crash. The air filled with the sound of breaking glass, and I turned just in time to see Sam hurling a big vase at one of the guys. He lost his equilibrium and fell to the floor.

" Run!" Sam yelled, his voice slicing across the anarchy.

I reached for Nadia's hand without thinking and drew her toward the door. Sam was already ahead of us, unexpectedly strongly carving a way as he repelled Victor's soldiers. Though he had always been the quiet one, the thinker, I could now see the fighter hiding inside the guardian.

We barreled down the hall, yells and footfall echoing behind us. As we rushed for the exit, my lungs burned; there was no time to pause. Every two seconds counted.

Nadia gasped when we arrived at the front door, unable to keep on running. "We have to have a strategy."

Though all I could think of was getting her to safety, I knew she was correct. I remarked, throwing open the door and almost dragging her outdoors, "Let's get out of here first."

The evening air, fresh and clean on our sweat-soaked skin, struck us like a wall. I turned about, looking for any trace of Victor's soldiers. Though the grounds of the estate were shockingly calm, I knew it wouldn't remain that way for very long.

Sam said, his voice low, "There's a shed near the back. We might hide there till we decide what to do next."

I nodded, and we started across the meadow, the soft grass muffled underfoot. Tucked behind a row of tall bushes, the little and battered hut was not much; it would have to do.

Once inside, I closed the door softly, attempting to slow down my pounding heart. The darkness crept in all around us, and I could hear frantic breathing next to me.

"Are you alright?" Whispering, I turned to face her.

She nodded; however, her face still showed traces of anxiety. "I am good. But about Sam?"

Sam said, stepping into the low light coming from a wall crack: "I'm here. We have to go quickly. Victor is not going to give up easily."

Though I wanted to agree, a part of me knew we couldn't keep going endlessly. We had to exact revenge and figure out how to flip the odds on Victor before he surrounded us once more.

"There's got to be something in those documents," I murmured, attempting to clear the veil of terror from my head. "Something we could turn against him."

Sam took out the crumpled document Nadia had discovered earlier, his eyes glancing over the pages with deliberate accuracy. "There's a name here," he added after a moment. "Someone Venessa was scheduled to see. Though it's nebulous, it could be the lead."

"Who is it?" Wondered with a mixture of optimism and anxiety in her voice, Nadia questioned.

Sam hesitated, his eyes darting between us. "It just says "The Broker." No true name, no location; only that they participated in anything significant. Should we be able to locate them, perhaps we could establish the upper hand."

"The Broker," I said again; the term makes me shudder. Whichever they were, they had to be equally lethal as Victor. However, perhaps we could take advantage of them being an opponent of Victor's.

"We have to find this broker," I murmured, my chest stiffening with the will. "This is our only chance."

Nadia stared at me, her doubtful eyes shining. "And if not? What if this sets us into an even more severe trap?"

For that, I lacked an answer. One thing was very evident, though: we could not remain here waiting for Victor to find us. We have to move quickly and aggressively.

"Then we'll fight our way out," I answered, my voice steely. "Together."

Sam nodded, and for the first time, I could see hope flickering in his eyes. "I will start looking for any data on this broker. Through some of Venessa's former contacts or online, we could be able to locate something."

I watched Sam work from the window, my eyes darting the dark ground for any movement. Every shadow seemed to move; every leaf rustling caused my heart to leap. We were living on borrowed time, and I knew it would just take a few hours, maybe minutes, until Victor located us once more.

I wasn't ready to give up, though. Not just now. Not when Nadia and Sam relied on me.

"Jake," Nadia said, her voice dragging me from my daydream. Turning to find her standing nearby, I saw her countenance soften. "Thank you. For all things."

Her comments startled me, and for a minute all the tension and anxiety vanished, leaving just the warmth of her gaze. I answered, meaning every word, "I'll always protect you."

Sam's words sliced across the moment before I could say more. "I located something, a speech. Though hardly significant, it's a beginning."

We both knew we were thinking the same thing when Nadia and I looked at each other. Though it was a long shot, all we had.

"Let's go," I murmured, straightening myself for whatever lay ahead. One way or another, we will terminate this.

I couldn't get rid of the sense that we were going to enter something considerably more perilous than we had ever dreamed as we were ready to leave the security of the shed. But turning back now was not possible.

The actual fight was still to start.