Dahlia’s study was more impressive than anything Jet had ever seen. Dahlia took a seat in a nearby chair. Eva sat on his right side and gave Jet an appraising look. Jet didn’t know her. She looked old enough to be a teenager and had an intimidating look about her.

“I suggest we all get comfortable. We need to plan our next moves,” Dahlia said.

Jet gave Nigel her best smile. He didn’t react.

I should give him some time. He’s been through a lot.

Another red-haired girl strode into the room. She commanded the room like someone much older than she looked.

“Blanka will join us soon,” Vedrana said.

“Good. Perhaps her presence will cheer Nigel up,” Dahlia said.

What in the hell does she mean by that?

Eva took out a dagger and played with the edge of the blade. She rubbed it against the smooth metal of a cybernetic arm.

“We are here to strategize our next moves. Since Nigel failed to accomplish a simple hacking challenge, it has put the next phase of our plans in jeopardy. For someone who reined in the Kraken, I expected more.”

“What’s the Kraken?” Jet asked.

A woman in black leather clothing strode into the room. It impressed jet in the way she handled herself. It was like her every move was planned and measured against a high standard. She paused when she saw Nigel. After a brief pause, she went to him and put a hand on his cheek.

“Are you alright my—Nigel?” Blanka said.

Nigel nodded, then looked away as another tear rolled down his cheek.

Blanka took a seat to the right of Dahlia.

The positioning makes sense. The younger lackeys were to the left and her lieutenant to the right. What’s going on between her and Nigel?

There was a lot that she needed to get caught up on. Nigel had been with Dahlia and her team for far too long, and Jet planned to get him away from them as soon as she could.

“What do you have to say for yourself?” Dahlia said.

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When Nigel didn’t respond, Dahlia continued.

“Josephine—”

“Please call me Jet.”

Dahlia gave her a nod.

“I’m not sure how much you know of your boyfriend’s involvement in recent events, but we are all proud of him. He took a hack from a bumbling oaf and created a masterpiece that brought down the world’s infrastructure. There are not too many—”

“Wait, what are you talking about?” Jet asked, clearly confused.

“Nigel created a computer program so profound that it created the perfect storm. Unfortunately, the cabal took it a little too far and people got hurt. But you’ve got to admire its effectiveness. Nigel is gifted.”

Jet shot a glance at her boyfriend. He seemed unaffected by praise from one of the world’s deadliest assassins.

“Indeed he is,” Jet said as she took his hand.

He returned the affection by giving her a hug. It saddened her that he had to witness a barbaric show of force. Dahlia and her crew disgusted her. She longed to be away from them all, but she didn’t want to let Nigel stay with them any longer than he had to. There was something unsettling about their arrangement.

“You are lucky to have Nigel,” Blanka said.

The woman was beautiful. Her raven black hair and white skin contrasted her features. She could have had any man she wanted, but she seems to be—in love with Nigel. And he doesn’t realize it.

“We’ve been separated for far too long. Now that we’ve been reunited, we will be leaving this place,” Jet replied.

Dahlia smiled.

“Neither of you will leave until your Nigel makes good on his commitments.”

“The hack doesn’t matter anymore. The cabal’s funds have been drained,” Nigel said.

“You didn’t mention that during your briefing. You never mentioned that. Explain yourself.”

“When I broke into the cabal’s crypto wallet, I discovered it wasn’t the one responsible for holding any cryptocurrency. They used it for communications. Freeman used vulnerable code when creating the bounty hunter network. As a result, it got hacked and the funds are gone.”

“Can you recover them?” Dahlia asked.

“No, what Freeman did was like leaving the vault door open. Someone came in and cleaned most of it out. There’s nothing I can do to get those funds back.”

Dahlia did her best to hide her annoyance. What Jet knew of the woman was chilling. She knew her as the Black Heart and even killed the father of her son while he slept. Jet didn’t think they could leave. She was not to be trusted.

“Well, I have fulfilled my end of our bargain. But since you have not, then you still owe me a favor.”

Nigel gave her a look of disgust.

“I will not help you.”

“Are you sure you want to play this game, boy?”

Dahlia removed a nasty looking gun and jammed the barrel into Nigel’s temple.

“No!” Jet yelled.

“You will not be the only Watson that I fell today,” Dahlia said. “You’d better watch your tone with me. I have given you plenty of leeway. It would be ill-advised to press me.”

“Let’s take a moment. I’m sure Madam Dahlia does not want any more bloodshed,” Blanka said.

After a moment, Dahlia stepped away, then pounced, pistol-whipping Nigel. He wiped the blood away from his face. His eye was black and was already swelling.

“Stop it. I will help you,” Jet said.

Dahlia paused, then looked at the young lovers.

“No, you both shall work together. I want the cabal’s financial resources drained by tomorrow night. If you fail, then—well, you don’t want to know what happens next.”

Dahlia left the room. Her cadre of young assassins followed. Blanka gave Nigel a sad look, then departed.