Chapter 14

"Hey, I should be going. Could you let me up, Max?" Zah asked.

"Sure thing!" said Max, stretching out to take up as much room as possible. There was no way that Zah was going to get past him.

"Of course not," complained Zah.

"Why won't you let him though? As Vicky's nephew, shouldn't he be able to get what he wants? And right now it looks like he wants to leave," Sammy said to Max. I laughed.

"Victor doesn't give a crap about him! Which means he follows our rules, not the other way around," I told her. Just then my phone beeped with a text message alert, and I pulled it out of my pocket to have a look at it. I groaned and put my phone back. "Ok, ladies, coffee break is over. Roadblocks are gone and Victoria is wondering where his nephew is. Well, there was another word before 'nephew' but I think you guys are too young to have your brains poisoned like that," I said.

I got up and Max and I led the two kids back out to his car. Zah, Sammy and I climbed into the back, while Max passed me my gun. I took it eagerly.

"I don't feel like me without it," I said to Sammy, sliding it into its usual position.

"So then you feel smart, good looking…" Sammy mocked. I pulled back my fist as if I was going to punch her, warning her not to push her luck. I sighed as Max started the car and began driving us back to Victor's place. Time to get back to work.

"So Sammy, have you decided what you're going to tell Victor?" I asked. She sighed.

"Yeah, the truth. Which is that I don't have any clue whatsoever as to what is going on," she said. I looked down at her, disappointed.

"Well that answer will most definitely seal your fate. You realise he won't be happy unless you tell him everything, right?" I warned. Sammy nodded slowly and averted her eyes to the floor of the car by her feet.

"Sort of hard when no one told you what was happening though. Dad was going to explain an 'amazing scientific discovery' to me on my birthday, but you, Davis and William took him away the night before. Even if you had left it until the afternoon to come I would've been a much better help to you," she insisted. Just perfect. That means Victor will probably end up wanting me to kill her.

"Well, that's sort of ironic then, isn't it? My fault that you can't help yourself, that's a damn shame. Good luck! You know, you remind me a lot of Jason. He was a lot of help! Not. The kid was sure to make himself disappear just before every raid, and appear again in time for Victor say we were done for the day. Don't get me wrong, he was a hilarious guy. But when it was time for business…" I said sourly. I've never had to kill a kid before. Only grown men who get way past their debts.

"Is Jason ok?" she asked.

"As ok as you can get when you constantly refuse to cooperate," I told her. In other words: barely breathing, physically exhausted and constantly losing consciousness. When I hit someone, I hit them hard.

Max pulled into Victor's driveway, and both Zah and Sammy appeared to get edgier the closer we got to the house. Zahkane was practically out of the car and inside before Max even turned it off. I grabbed the shoulder of Sammy's shirt and pulled her out, leading her inside and upstairs.

Leaning against the door to the room Jonathon and Jason were kept in was Victor, talking to Zah. I smiled to myself as Zah shook his head irritably and made himself scarce, retreating back to his room downstairs.

"Sammy, finally I get to meet you in person," Victor said. She took a subtle step back and I tightened my grip.

"Where would you like her, Victor?" I asked.

"In with the others," he told me, smiling because he knew that Sammy wouldn't like what she saw. He opened the door and stood aside so we could walk in, and I pushed Sammy in ahead of me. She froze and looked around the room. Jonathon had his eyes averted from us, and Jason appeared to be unconscious once more.

Suddenly Sammy attempted to rush forward, and I snatched the back of her shirt just in time to stop her.

"Dad!" she cried. Jonathon looked up at her, momentarily confused.

"Sammy! Let her go, Victor!" he yelled, struggling with his bound wrists. Victor nodded at me and I dragged Sammy over to the third pole. I pushed her up against it and grabbed the extra coil of rope to tie her hands up. All the while, Jonathon was swearing at us.

Sammy appeared shocked at her father's language.

"Such a potty mouth you've got there, Jonathon. You wouldn't want your daughter to have a habit of swearing now, would you?" Victor mocked. Suddenly Jonathon spat at Victor.

With Sammy's hands bound in place, I got up and walked over to Jonny, pulling him to his feet.

"You get what you bargain for," I sneered, before punching him. He howled in pain and I let him drop to the floor again as Victor got down in front of Sammy.

"Go ahead, Sammy. Take your best shot," he said.

"Why? So you can have the pleasure of beating me up too?" she snapped.

"Smart move. So I gave you until twelve, as promised, and you still haven't been harmed. In fact, I believe I even gave you the extra chance when you ran into Harrison the other day. Must've been so much fun just sitting in the car while you waited to find out what we would do with you… What is your opinion of all of this?" he asked her. She looked him up and down in consideration.

"I've been here five minutes and I already know that I don't like you," she answered. To my surprise, Victor didn't look the slightest bit pissed.

"Very honest. Most people say something like 'nice house' or 'your mate can pack quite a punch'. Ok then. If you are so honest, would you rather be locked in this room with me, or Harrison?" he asked.

"I thought I was here to be interrogated, not stuck playing childish games of 'would you rather'," she scolded.

"Answer my question," said Victor.

"Harrison," Sammy answered without hesitation. Wait… what? Victor sat for a few more minutes, just watching her. Suddenly a smug smile crossed his lips and he gestured for me to speak to him in the corner of the room.

"Take the rest of the day off, hey?" he whispered. "I'll see you tomorrow." And with that, he was gone. I was still wondering why the fuck Sammy said my name, until what just happened finally clicked.

"Hey boss, wait!" I called, trying to pull open the door. Locked. Fucking shit!