Weeks passed and the trust between Ivan and Jaya grew. Jaya was seeing Ivan as a different man than the one who kidnapped her and kept her locked in cages. A different man than the one she’d spent half a lifetime hearing described to her in gruesome detail. But at the same time, Ivan was still the same man she had been attracted to from the very beginning. He was cool, in control and completely, unbearably dominant. He only warmed for Jaya. He only unbent for the woman he loved. If anything, his newfound love made him more unapologetically vicious to the world around them.

Jaya tried to point this out to him, tried to get him soften his approach to others. Especially his poor secretary, Anna, who flew in from Athens for a three-day business meeting. But he would not be swayed. He simply looked at Jaya as though she should know better and carried on with business as usual; murder, mayhem and arms dealing on an international scale. Or so she presumed. He didn’t involve her in his work and she was glad he chose not to.

Ivan had given Jaya a few restrictions when he’d given her a laptop and access to the internet. If she wanted to work, then she had to run her contracts through either Ivan or Keane before she agreed to them. She could shop at will and she had to keep a low profile while chatting. Under no circumstances could she tell anyone where she was or who she was with. Ivan was to have access to her internet and chat history at any time if he chose to look.

So when she finally felt brave enough to contact Father, she had to do it completely in code and she had to strike a perfect balance so she wouldn’t tip Ivan’s tech people off. She decided to contact him in a chat room on the dark web, which would automatically arouse Ivan’s suspicion, but could be easily explained once he read the transcripts. She thought it might arouse too much suspicion to try a regular web connect given that most of her work was conducted through the dark web. If she put the suspicious stuff right out in the open, Ivan would most likely sink his teeth into that instead and ignore the deeper subtext. Or so she hoped.

As usual, Ivan left early that morning, kissing her on the head before rolling out of bed and leaving for his morning workout. She knew she likely wouldn’t see him again until that evening and felt safe in pulling out her laptop and settling on the balcony to their room. There was no point in wasting a gorgeous morning breeze while planning subterfuge. She turned the laptop on and quickly got to work, bringing up the restricted site she used to contact certain clients. It came up with a notice saying it had been shut down and users were to contact the administrator for further information. She clicked on the unhappy face icon which brought up username and password boxes. She filled them out and was taken to correct site; simply called Buy and Sell Web Services. But it was so much more than that. This was the website, where the world’s elite hackers convened to bid for jobs. Or if they were really good, like XSourse, the clients vied and bid for her attention.

Jaya grinned in relief when she saw exactly what she was looking for, an ad looking for a specific hacker. Her. She saw that the ad had been put up repeatedly every week since she went off the grid. It said:

Daddy is looking for his lost cat. The cat is small with dark hair and sticky paws. He’s good at getting into spaces he shouldn’t. Contact me if you’ve seen him, I just want to know that he’s safe.

Jaya wrinkled her nose and rolled her eyes at the ‘Daddy’ reference, but they’d agreed that Father should place a lost cat ad, so she was pretty sure it was him. She supposed he didn’t want to call himself Father because she and his other foundlings called him Father so maybe it was too recognizable, but still… she glanced at Haty who was lolling on her back on the warm paving stones.

“That just sounds dirty,” she told the cat. “And I’m so not going there with a man that’s actually like my father figure. Ugh, nope, need some mental bleach.”

She replied to the ad:

XSource: Found your lost cat. He’s fine and looking for work.

She brought up another tab and began searching other sites, checking in with friends, expecting it to take time for Father’s reply. She was surprised when a chat window popped up right away.

Daddy: Glad you’re good. I have a job for you.

XSource: Drop the ‘Daddy’ bullshit and I’ll think about it. Can’t work while choking on vomit.

Daddy: Do you want the job or not?

XSource: It’s. Just. So. Wrong.

Daddy: …

XSource: Dude, you’re really going to make me call you daddy? Fine. Where, when and how much?

Daddy: That’s Big Daddy to you kitten.

XSource: I hate you so much.

Daddy: The job’s in Atlanta. Tomorrow. Four million. Will send the exact job details once you’ve accepted.

Jaya gasped and sat back in her chair with a thump as the image of his words burned in her brain. He’d answered all three of her questions quickly and succinctly, unwittingly piercing her heart in the process. She actually rubbed a hand over her chest, trying to soothe the ache within. Atlanta meant he knew where she was and he was extracting her tomorrow. Four million meant he was bringing a team of four. Reading between the lines she would guess it wasn’t an entire assault team, since four men against Ivan’s entire well-trained army wasn’t going to end well for Father. So, he must have a different plan for her extraction.

Still, the thought of anyone on either side getting hurt because of her stole her breath and made her feel faint. Some of the men that Father might bring were people she’d practically grown up with. He’d always been careful to maintain distance between the talented children he collected. But lonely kids, starving for affection found ways of being together. She’d lost her virginity to one of those boys at the age of sixteen in a mango grove behind the barracks. Thank goodness she hadn’t become pregnant. Father, while occasionally benevolent, was overall a brutal leader, especially with the men he conditioned to follow him. Jaya had been special, his intelligent genius pet. The weapon he might one day use against his greatest enemy.

She set the laptop aside and stood, taking two restless steps away from the chair and then back. If she was honest, it was mostly the thought of anything happening to Ivan that nearly brought her to her knees. She knew on an intellectual level that Ivan could take care of himself, but the thought of a bullet finding his flesh, the thought of Father finally winning vengeance, and all because of her… it gutted her. She blinked back tears and dropped back into the chair, lifting her hands to the keyboard and typing.

XSource: Job rejected. Not enough time to plan.

Though she knew it was just her overactive imagination, she swore she could feel the heat of Father’s anger through the laptop. She knew what he was probably thinking. Betrayal. It was what she would be thinking in his place. Standing up, she began pacing again, guilt eating at her. This man had tried to raise her after her family died. He’d rescued her from the streets, an ugly situation that had been rapidly deteriorating for a vulnerable young woman. She owed him better than to turn her back on him. But did she owe him her entire life, her happiness? Did she owe him the life of the man she loved?

She heard the message box pop up again. Tears pricked her eyes because she already knew what it was going to say. She turned on her heel, grabbed the edge of her skirt and sat. She narrowed her eyes at the screen.

Daddy: Unacceptable. You are needed for this job to go forward. Be ready.

She shook her head and lifted her hands to the laptop, about to refuse again. But then dropped them. What choice did she have? Somehow Father had a lock on her location. Probably the jewelry store thing. It had her signature all over it. From the outside it would look like a regular heist gone wrong. But anyone looking closer would see the necessary skill involved in the way she’d manipulated the security and fire systems. Father probably had an algorithm running the world over searching for her digital fingerprints in hopes of picking her up somewhere. He would be coming to Ivan’s Jakarta penthouse tomorrow, with or without her cooperation. Perhaps if she agreed to go with him, there would be less of a chance of anyone getting hurt.

XSource: Alright. I want 6 million, wired to my Bahamas account. Half now, half after the job. Give me the details.

Daddy: Five million. Check your account, 2.5 transferred now.

Jaya checked her account, knowing there was an excellent chance Ivan’s people were monitoring her chat. Sure enough, two and a half million dollars had just been transferred to her account. She sucked in a quick breath. Father meant business. He wasn’t messing around in his intention to get her back. Or to kill Ivan. She just hoped she could prevent one of those from happening. Actually, she hoped she could prevent both. She was beginning to think she’d finally found her place in life. She was cautiously optimistic that the Ivan thing was going to work out for her.

XSource: Deal. Now the job details?

Daddy: I’ll send tomorrow at noon. Be ready, kitten.

The nickname finally clicked. He’d called her kitten twice now and she’d been too grossed out to think about the code word. That, and when she lived with Father at his compound, she’d rarely trained with him and his men. The word ‘kitten’ was code for rooftop. He was trying to tell her that the extraction would take place on the roof. Which made sense since there weren’t many other places he could do it. Unless he had a key to the extremely locked down elevator. And then he’d have to somehow get off the elevator without getting mowed down by Ivan’s people. He was also giving her the time for her extraction. 10am, two hours before the stated time. She logged off the chat site, closed the laptop and stared sightlessly across the downtown skyline.

Ivan stood next to his tech guy, watching Jaya’s online conversation in real time. It had taken about a minute for his guy to catch up to her. At first they were simply looking at a replica of her screen, but she somehow managed to black them out. Once they figured out what she was doing, the tech guy began retracing her footsteps. When he’d tried to log onto the chat site she was using he was instantly rerouted. Finally, after some fast and fancy typing they were in. Ivan watched, far more impressed with Jaya’s skills than those of his own people. If they had half the talent she did, they would at least be able to keep up with her.

It wasn’t until he began reading her conversation that admiration swiftly turned to rage. He wasn’t exactly sure what part of the conversation enraged him more; the part where she thought she was duping them through a badly coded conversation, her use of the term ‘Daddy’ while speaking to another man or her blatant betrayal of him while knowing he was most likely somewhere nearby reading a transcript of her conversation. Did she really think he was so stupid that he couldn’t read through this weak attempt to connect with her Father or one of his disciples?

The love he felt for her burned and churned in his gut, made him wish he could hate her. But then, hatred was a feeling too. And Jaya was the only person capable of pulling any kind of emotion from him.

“What’re we gonna do?” Keane grunted from beside him. “Canary going back in her cage so she don’t get caught in the crossfire?”

Ivan wanted to nod his head, wanted to agree with the man. But he was smarter than that. If he wanted to finish with this threat on his life, the same threat that was also putting Jaya at risk then he needed her involvement. Though her move to connect with Father angered him, he knew it was a good move, he could use it to their advantage. Flush the enemy out, invite him to Ivan’s doorstep and then take him apart piece by piece.

“No,” he said coolly. “We’ll use her to bring Father in. Make sure she’s visible, then get her to safety. It’s your job to make sure nothing happens to her.”

Keane snorted. “I think I’ll request compassion leave. My auntie is sick and I need to some time off. Think my survival is higher that way.”

Ivan ignored him, turned and left the room.