Once the sobs had receded, Venom took huge gasping breathes in an attempt to take control of herself. Breaking down did not suit her; she was stronger than this. If she was going to die, she was going to die fighting. There was no other option. Grabbing a half-made bowl of ramen, she threw it in the microwave and took the coffee. When she had some sustenance in her, she felt a whole lot better. She glanced to the door and felt the guilt bubbling up inside her. Jacques was only trying to look out for her. Hopefully, he went to his teammates’ place and didn't end up back on the streets. Feeling her mood drop further forced her mind to focus. What hack came next?
So far, the announcer and owner of OwnPlace had completely eluded her. The first two days had been spent chasing what she thought was a legitimate trail but turned out to be nothing more than a sophisticated fake ID. Hitting a dead end, she tried seeking out the owner of the building OwnPlace resided in. Hacking City Hall had taken a full day, even with the boost NeuroPep gave her. The guy was a 50-something small time business man with nine properties he rented out and an extreme dislike for filing any paperwork. According to his records, the place was derelict, waiting for planning permission it had received ten years ago. After that, the only option was to look through all the hackers that attended and hope a contact overlapped. The laborious task of tracing each hacker, slipping through their defenses, and scanning their connections had exhausted the rest of the week. Now here she was with twenty-four hours to go and no hope.
Venom drained the last of the coffee and gave a sigh, looking into the bottom of the cup. This shit instant cup of coffee could be the last thing she drank. She dropped the cup in the sink and headed back to the Nexus Gateway. Her brain needed downtime, but she didn’t have the luxury. If she Neural shocked herself to death, then at least she was saving her killer some time. Heading for the night stand, she reached for the bag of NeuroPep. When her fingers came up empty, she looked down. The bag wasn’t where she left it. She swore. Dropping to her knees, she frantically searched around on the floor for the missing pills. When her search came up empty, she leaned back and dragged her hand through her hair. Her breathing was quickening as panic set in.
Suddenly, realization struck. Her head snapped to the door where Jacques had just left. He had fucking taken them. That's why he had been so long, the fucker had swiped her pills. With a sigh, she pushed herself to her feet. There was no point going after him; she would be wasting time. Settling in the chair, she took the wires from the Nexus Gateway and slid them into the port. Watching the activation sequence, she slid seamlessly into the dreamscape. One last hurrah.
Chapter Ten
Xander leaned back in his chair with Keira lying on his chest, and he felt relaxed for the first time in God only knows how long. Both his teams had completed their jobs, and the Network had them on downtime for a couple days. The Network cared for their staff and didn’t overwork them where possible. They had a work hard, play hard mentality and paid them well. These were a few of the many reasons that he loved the company. His eyes flickered closed as the tiredness he felt started to overcome him, but his nap was not meant to be. There was a loud knocking on the door. Jumping a little, he glared in the direction of the noise as Keira started to whine in his arms.
“Front door camera,” Xander said aloud to the home network. The pictures on the AR wall flickered, and a new screen opened showing the front stoop to his apartment. Standing there was Jacques, looking really impatient. What the hell was he doing here? With a grunt, Xander forced himself to his feet and moved in the direction of the door, rocking Keira as he went.
“What’s up?” he asked as he opened the door. He felt a lot more relieved as Keira started to calm and fall back asleep.
“I need to talk to you,” Jacques responded quickly. The guy seemed on edge, kind of angry. It wasn’t something he had seen from him before. Was he on drugs or something?
“That’s what we have comms for,” he joked, stepping out of the way and motioning for him to come inside. “Come in. Close the door.”
As Xander reached the center of the living room, he stopped and regarded Jacques. Something was off. His shoulders slouched slightly, his eyes darted around the room, and his hands curled unconsciously into fists. Xander looked quizzical as he rocked Keira back to sleep.
“Can I get you a coffee or maybe something stronger? I have beer or even some whisky,” Xander offered, feeling need to placate the man.
“Whiskey… you better pour else I’ll drink the bottle,” Jacques responded darkly.
With Keira asleep, he laid her in her Moses basket so his arms were freed up. If Jacques’ mood turned sour, he didn't want her in the same room. Xander nodded and indicated for Jacques to follow him into the kitchen. Opening a cupboard, he fished out the half a bottle of whiskey he kept there and poured a double measure into each glass, handing one to Jacques.
“So, are you going to tell me why you’re here?” Xander asked as he leaned back against the kitchen counter. It was weird for him to trust the man before him, since only months ago he had been with a probational team under his command. Now Jacques carried the wings and had infiltrated his friendship circle, and a large part of that was likely because he infiltrated Venom’s bed.
“We need to talk about Venom.” Jacques said with a heavy sigh.
“Oh, god. What the hell has she done now?” Xander asked, his brows creasing in a combination of worry and aggravation.
“She looks like hell, man; hasn’t been eating, hasn’t been drinking, and I’m not sure she’s even been to bed. She was supposed to having a week off work to relax, and all she’s done is sit in the gateway,” Jacques said quickly as he started to pace the kitchen floor.
“So she’s gone on a hacking bender?” Xander asked. It wasn’t unusual for Venom to disappear into the Nexus for days at a time.
“No. It’s not a simple bender. Normally, she makes some kind of effort to look after herself, but this is entirely different. She’s just a fucking mess,” Jacques replied, dragging his hand through his hair. Xander cocked his head slightly as he watched the behavior of the man before him. He knew he had to ask a question he really didn’t want to know the answer to.
“Is she taking any kind of pills?” Xander asked hoping and praying that he was going to be told no.
“I was heading through her bedroom to the balcony the other day for a smoke, and there was a pack of pills on her nightstand,” Jacques said, looking to Xander with narrowed eyes.
“Were they a prescription or street? What did they look like?” Xander asked urgently. There was a sickness starting in his stomach.
“Unless your pharmacy delivers in clear baggies, I’m assuming they’re street,” Jacques explained as he tossed his bag on the kitchen side and started to rifle through the contents. He extracted something and shoved it into Xander's hand. He looked at the small bag, with five very familiar pink pills.
Xander's stomach dropped as his fears were confirmed. He rubbed his forehead as he gave a heavy sigh. She had said she wasn’t going to take them again; she had lied to him. Had she intended to go behind his back when they talked about it or had it wormed its way back into her life? Right now, he had no idea what to do. He wanted to go up there and shout and scream at her until she saw sense, but that would get him nowhere.
“Ok, you look like you know something I don’t,” Jacques said, swigging the full measure of whiskey and handing the glass back to Xander. Xander poured him a second measure.
“It’s a drug called NeuroPep. She told me that she would stop taking it.” Xander sighed as he sipped from the expensive whiskey. He’d only have one; he had Keira to look after today.
“Not one I’ve heard of,” Jacques responded.
“It’s a hacker drug used mainly by sleepers… you know… the immersed,” Xander explained. He realized that he seemed to making a big deal about a few pills. “I did my research on the drug, and it’s killing people. I don’t understand the ins and outs, but it in
creases the chance of fatal Neural Feedback and brain damage. And before you say it, I know the risks that drugs carry, but this is higher than anything I’ve seen before.”
“Shit. When did this start?” Jacques asked.
“I don’t know when it started, but I first found out that night when I brought her home. When she was an absolute mess. The scary thing is she had only taken one pill,” Xander said, finishing the glass and putting it in the sink, “I tried talking to her, and she obviously lied to me. Any idea what we could do?”
“Me? No idea, and I can’t even help anyway. She kicked me out, not quite sure she’s gonna talk to me again,” he said with a shrug. Even though he acted nonchalant, Xander could see the hurt in his eyes. He had no idea what the relationship between Jacques and Venom had been, but he was sure they had quickly grown close.
“Shit. She is really not herself. Do you have somewhere to stay?” Xander asked. He wasn’t sure what Caitlyn would think of Jacques crashing on the couch, but there were programs the Network ran to make sure their operatives were appropriately housed. Maybe some of his contacts could help out.
“I’m alright. I’m gonna go and crash with Lucy and Steven for a bit, and I’ll figure it out from there,” he said with a shrug before grabbing his pack off the side. “I just wanted you to know what was going on with Venom. I’ll catch you another time.”
He started back towards the door. The confident young man’s shoulders slouched a little more than normal. Xander felt for him. In the short time Jacques and Venom had been friends, Xander had seen the comradery between them, and he was sure it was a friendship made to last. It must be hard to have lost it so suddenly. Venom was a good person. She was a bitch sometimes, but everyone was now and then. This was so out of character for her. With Jacques out of the picture, it was his job to help her.
“Look after her, Blue. Make sure she doesn’t destroy herself,” Jacques said as he clapped palms with Xander.
After making sure the door was shut behind Jacques, Xander re-examined the bag that he had in his hand. He sighed as he turned it over. How long had it taken her to replace the pills he flushed? Heading to the kitchen, he emptied the pills into the garbage disposal before heading back and collapsing on the couch. He leaned forward and held his head in his hands as he tried to figure out what the hell he was going to do. Venom was stubborn and very determined. If he couldn’t come up with anything, he would have to have another chat with Caitlyn. Maybe she would have a better idea than him.
Chapter Eleven
Venom was in the Nexus all afternoon, darting from access point to access point as she tried desperately to find something, anything to point her in the right direction. By the end of the day, she was still in the same position where she was before, nowhere. She had nothing. With no contact for the mysterious stranger, she had no way to try and barter for more time. As the pre-set timer ticked down to zero, Venom started the log off procedures.
Opening her eyes on the normal plain, she let out a sigh. She glanced to her bedroom door, expecting to see the suited guy with a gun pointed at her, but instead, she saw nothing unusual. So what happened now? Was he just going to attack when she wasn’t expecting it? Maybe shoot her when she went for groceries or at the club? Were assassins going to come and beat down her door? This was the scariest part of all. They were going to get to her, and she didn’t know how or where or when. She had considered running, but where could she have gone? Everything and everyone she knew was here, and her leaving could cause even more trouble for those she left behind.
She stepped out of the gateway and stood up, carefully making sure that her legs would hold her weight. After living on a strict diet of pills and not much else, her body was starting to protest. Slowly, she made her way to the kitchen, using the walls as support. It had been a long time since she had pushed herself this far. It was over now, though. The hack was incomplete, but it was done. She could desperately spend her time now trying to complete what she started, but after so long of trying and getting nothing back, she had given up.
Reaching the kitchen, she flicked on the coffee machine and went through the cupboards; they were looking pretty bare right now. Ordering take out was a consideration until she remembered that she had emptied her bank account to buy the last load of pills. She was completely broke, so her last meal was going to be something like ramen or freeze dried rice. If she made it long enough, payday was only 9 days away. She had just thrown her food on to cook when she heard a notification from her comms. She instantly opened it, and reading the message, her blood ran cold.
::You stole something of mine. Now I take something of yours. Get that file back Miss Sutton::
When he’d held the gun at her side, she’d assumed the threat was a death threat, but now she wasn't so sure. You didn't tell a dead woman to get something for you. What the hell were they going to take of hers? Other than the mediocre items that were held in this apartment and her data which was protected by the Network, she had no idea what they could possibly take. Did this mean the game wasn’t over? She had no idea what to do now. She had no ideas, no leads, and no pills. She just had to hope whatever they took wasn’t that important.
*****
After his conversation with Jacques, Xander had wanted to run off and confront Venom about her new habit, but before he had a chance, Leander had called him in for an emergency job. It had been a long day at work as he clocked out after a fifteen hour shift. He had been monitoring two teams’ progress so far, and this morning, Leander added another to the roster. Being on call for three groups was going to be seriously draining. It seemed like the Network was on a recruitment spree, which meant a whole lot of work for everyone.
On route to his car, he checked the time; it was a little after three am. He groaned, knowing that he had a meeting with Leander about his failing team at 9, and he still had to find the time to deal with Venom. He stood there for a moment, actually tossing up whether it was worth driving home or whether getting a hotel room on the next street was a better idea. He wasn’t even sure when the last time he got a decent night’s sleep was. With Keira’s restless night, his needy teams, and having to worry about Venom, he hadn’t had a full night's sleep in weeks.
When he reached the car park, he dragged his hand down over his face. He was starting to wonder whether he was even safe to drive. Placing his hand on the door, it registered the ID chip in his palm and the lock clicked open. Suddenly, someone grabbed his hair. Before he could react, his face was slammed against the car, and pain blossomed throughout his face.
Xander wasn’t a huge guy, but combat training was something the Network had provided. Planting his hands on the car, he forced himself backwards, his body colliding with the attacker behind. Hearing the sound of a body hitting the concrete, he whirled around to find himself face to face with a second attacker. It was a masculine figure dressed entirely in black with his face covered in a grayscale masquerade mask. Xander felt something running down the side of his face, and as it pooled at the corner of his mouth, he tasted copper. Blood. He was bleeding from somewhere.
The second attacker seemed to waiver as Xander readjusted his weight, taking a defensive stance. Curling his hands into fists, he watched for any sign of attack as he listened to the other scrabbling to his feet. With one behind him and one in front, Xander couldn’t watch both. The attacker before him pulled a pocket knife and flicked it open, revealing a gleaming silver blade. Once upon a time, he would have gone to town on these guys, but now he had something to lose.
“You want money? I can give it to you,” Xander said confidently; his life was worth much more than the money in his account. He could earn more of that, for God's sake. Robbery was a common thing on the streets. Most people had a story from the first time someone held them up. Xander pulled from his fighting stance and held his hands up in defeat. Yes, he could fight them, but the risk wasn’t worth it. He had a wife and a daughter to come home to.
When there was no
response, Xander’s brows furrowed in confusion. He was giving up the money willingly, so why weren’t they going for it? Turning his palm face up, he stretched his hand out, praying they’d take the money and just leave him alone.
“Come on, just take it and leave me be,” Xander encouraged. His heart was thudding in his chest as he tried to reason with his attackers.
Suddenly, pain ricocheted through his leg as a heavy boot kicked the back of his knee, forcing his leg to buckle, and he pitched forward. His hands scrabbled on the smooth bonnet as he stopped himself from hitting the ground. This wasn’t a robbery. With a car either side of him and a guy in front and behind, it looked like he was going to have to fight his way out.
The aggressor before him lunged forward with knife in hand, the blow aimed for Xander’s abdomen. Xander threw himself out of the way of the attack, the blade grazing his shirt, tearing a small gash. The knife wielder came at him a second time. Xander grabbed his wrist. They grappled for the weapon. Xander dug in his fingers, putting as much pressure on the joint as he could. Success. The guy’s grip loosened, and the knife dropped to the floor. With his free hand, Xander struck out. Once, twice, three times. The guy staggered from the series of quick blows, giving Xander opportunity to run. It was cut short by the second assailant jumping in from behind and grabbing him in a full nelson.
This guy was stronger than he appeared. Xander fought against him, his arms straining and pain blossoming from his shoulders as he tried to free himself. Panic erupted in him; he couldn’t get out. This was it. He was helpless.
Caustic (The Seraphim Network - Everyday Series Book 1) Page 10