The Operator

“Michael, stop it,” he demanded, then louder, “Jack? Let’s go!”

Curled in a ball, Harmony looked up, clearly in pain, both from the kick and the bullet. “You son of a bitch! This was a setup?”

It hadn’t been, but no need to let Jack think he knew otherwise until Jack was down. The door to the bathroom cracked open, and Bill’s pulse jumped when he came out, his weapon dangling from a finger. “Bill. I’ve got this. She trusts me now. I just need a little more time.”

Bill’s gaze flicked to Michael, and the taller man lashed out, knocking the weapon from Jack’s hand, then slamming Jack into the wall. The smaller blond man grunted as he hit, sliding down only a few inches before Michael shoved him again, cuffing him as he held him against the wall. Harmony didn’t move, pinned by Bill’s weapon. Jack was compliant, knowing if he died while within a draft, there were no second chances.

But that didn’t mean he wouldn’t keep trying. “Bill, I can explain!” Jack exclaimed as Dan came in, taking Jack when Michael pushed him at him. “I had to leave Peri to keep WEFT from catching her,” Jack said even as Dan yanked him out onto the raised walkway. “As soon as she runs out of the Evocane, she’ll come running. I promise you, Bill. She wants to come back. She just doesn’t know it yet. I’ll get her. I have to.”

“Isn’t that the truth,” Bill said, but Jack was gone. Bill held his hand out for the duct tape, giving his Glock to Michael as he dropped to kneel before Harmony.

“I should have listened to Peri,” Harmony said as Bill wrapped her wrists in front of her. “You’re lying bastards. All of you.”

Truer words have never been spoken, Bill thought. But the danger was over. All that was left was the haul-away. “Michael, go wait in the van.”

“The van?” he echoed incredulously as he picked up Jack’s Glock. “Are you fucking kidding me? This is my task.”

Bill rubbed his forehead. God help him, he was going to shoot this stupid kid in the head just for the hell of it. “I’m not going to let you knock me unconscious at the end of your draft so you feel safe. Go wait in the van.”

Clearly frustrated, Michael spun, pushing Sean out of the way to storm out.

“Don’t touch me. Don’t you touch me!” Harmony shouted, furious when Bill tried to get her to stand up. Eyebrows high, Bill ripped a second piece of tape free and taped her mouth shut. Her fury was suddenly muffled.

“Give me a hand here, Sean,” Bill said, and the man gingerly took her feet and they lifted. The draft ended almost without notice, Sean stumbling slightly on the stair as time meshed and the old timeline where Michael lay dying was rubbed out by the new. The van was already pulled up. They only had to get her to it.

Together they tossed Harmony into the back to slide into a silent, white-faced Jack. Furious, the woman kicked at him until he pulled himself away. Michael was already in the front seat, and Bill ignored him.

“Good man.” Bill clapped Sean over the shoulder, shutting the van and motioning Jillian to head back to Opti without them. He needed some time to think about how to handle Michael. This attempted end run had him worried. “You want some coffee?” he said to Sean, leading him away from the van. “I need some coffee. Did you have fun? How did it feel to fire that gun for real?”

Sean’s eyes flicked over his shoulder to the van, and then to his hands, spotted with Harmony’s blood. “I don’t know, sir. Can I get back to you on that?”

Bill laughed, but inside, he stewed. It was obvious that Jack had teamed up with Harmony to put an end to Michael, changing his story when it suited him to keep his ass out of a cell. Bill couldn’t fault him for that. He wanted to put an end to the dangerous, fickle man himself. But not yet. Not yet.

He needed Peri first.

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

Jack stumbled when the guard shoved him. His hands were cuffed in front of him, and his shoulder hurt. That Bill hadn’t believed him wasn’t a surprise, but it left him thinking he should have shot Bill when he’d had the chance. Even with Michael drafting to rub it out, he would have had the satisfaction of having done it.

Even if it didn’t change where I am now, he thought as the man behind him jerked him to a stop before the first of two cells. His head came up, and he stiffened. Harmony was in there.

“Oh, hell no,” Jack said, turning to the guard. “I want my own cell.”

Harmony sat up from the single cot, rumpled in her black suit and smiling in a not very nice way. “Hello-o-o-o, Jack,” she said, hitting his name hard.

“I’m serious!” Jack protested, and the guard unlocked the door and pushed him in.

“Bill doesn’t want you to get lonely,” the man said, ignoring Jack’s cuffed hands as he wedged them through the bars to be unlocked. “Have fun,” he called over his shoulder as he left.

It felt as if something was crawling down his spine. Cuffs clinking, Jack turned to find it was Harmony’s stare.

She stood at the back of the one-person, ten-by-twelve cell, her hip cocked and her arms over her chest. “Wishes do come true,” she said lightly, a seriously pissed look in her eyes.

“Harmony,” he said, trying for calm but knowing it probably came across as pleading. “You don’t know what’s going on. I can explain,” he said, cuffed hands up in placation.

“Yeah.” She let her arms dangle, hands clenching into fists. “I want to hear that.” Expression ugly, she came at him, aiming a side kick at his gut.