The Price of Knowing: A Powers of Influence Novel (The Powers of Influence Book 2)

by C. B. Haight

  Jeffery looked into her deep brown eyes one last time, grabbed the envelope, and blinked from the room, leaving his mother alone with her fears and grief.

  He’d wanted to call her so many times, but didn’t have any idea where she was which was for the best. If he contacted her, it was likely someone with The Faction would find and use her to get him to give up Jarrett or Collett.

  Jarrett’s words to him in the forest near Rederrick’s home echoed in his head. “You know the problem with young idiots like you casting your lot in with demons, Jeffery? They will always find a way to control you. By using men like me or using what you care for. Either way, they own you.” Hunter or not, Jarrett had been the first person, besides his mom, to help him—even if he did almost break his arm in the process.

  It was surprising how much he changed in the last couple weeks. Not long ago he’d been an angry kid with too much power, no self-control, and way too much attitude to boot. He’d once been trying to capture Collet for The Faction. That haunted him now, and he wanted to make up for it. What was worse, he’d never thought of his mom the whole time he worked for them.

  Now, working with The Brotherhood, Jeffery thought of her every day and wondered how she was doing. He even enjoyed being part of a team and was loyal to their cause.

  He’d been liberated from The Faction’s dominion thanks to the man lying unconscious and bleeding on the kitchen table. If only I had met Jarrett sooner, Jeffery thought as he drifted to sleep.

  Three hours later, Ashley finally tightened the last stitch and straitened to stretch her stiff muscles. Jeffery had left some time ago to rest, but Cade and Nate remained vigilant in case she needed them. Pulling the surgical gloves from her hands and removing her mask, she instructed, “Go ahead and take him into my other room, but be gentle. Don’t open those stitches.”

  Cade nodded, and lifting him together, the men carried Jarrett into her bedroom while Ashley cleaned things up. There was blood all over. She realized the rug under the table was ruined and would need to be replaced. She lamented the loss but berated herself for such petty thoughts. Shaking her head, she grabbed a trash bag and began tossing away the remnants of her impromptu surgery.

  Nate returned and moved to take the bag from her hands. “Go sit down, Ashley. I’ll take care of this.”

  “I’ve got it,” she insisted as she arched her back in an effort to loosen the cramped muscles.

  He gently pried the bag from her fingers, and she offered little resistance. He set the bag down, laid his hands on her shoulders, and could feel the tension beneath his fingers. “You’ve done all you can do, and you look beat.”

  Shaking her head, she placed a hand on his. “I need to clean things up to stay busy.” She stepped away from him, and he let her go. Over at the sink, she placed bloody instruments in the basin for later sterilization. “So what are you all doing in my neck of the woods anyway?”

  He came up behind her and began to knead the tight muscles in her neck. “Well, isn’t it obvious? We missed you.”

  With her eyes closed, a little smile pulled at her lips. “Some girls get flowers when they’re missed. Me, I get bloody men to clean up. Be still my heart,” she retorted with exaggeration.

  Nate smiled at her quick comeback. “Only the best for you, Baby.”

  She snorted.

  “Ash?”

  The pair turned at the sound of Cade’s deep, but quiet voice interrupting their banter. Ashley sobered and moved from Nate’s reach.

  “He’ll be fine,” she said hurriedly. “The wound was very deep and hit some organs. He was still slowly bleeding internally, not to mention the infection spreading through him. If he had been human he’d be dead instead of unconscious in the next room.”

  “And the rest?” he asked, referring to the other lingering wounds.

  “I can’t be sure, but even though he didn’t fully heal, I could sense his body was trying. A few of the wounds had started to, but they were the oldest ones. I suspect the infection and constant injuries made it too hard to keep up.”

  He nodded because he suspected much the same.

  “He’ll be okay now that it is stitched up and cared for properly. If we get rid of the infection, his body will do the rest. Though, his side will take a while to completely heal.”

  Nobody said anything else for a long time. The silence stretched out too long and created an uncomfortable awkwardness. Cade ran his fingers through his hair, knowing what he wanted to ask, but reluctant to breach the subject. He could tell she knew what was coming, so he blurted out, “Ash, you know Jarrett.” It was accusation, rather than a question.

  “Yes, Cade. I know Jarrett.” Ashley lowered her head, not wanting to see Cade’s disappointment after the confession. She held her breath and waited for what would come next. Despite Cade’s tone and Nate’s grim expression, she did feel relief from finally saying the words.

  “How…why didn’t you—”

  “Why didn’t I tell you? Tell you what?” she interrupted. “Hey Cade, I ran into your twin brother the other day. You know, the one you never wanted to talk about, not to mention your general reaction to his name.

  “Oh yeah, and let’s not forget how my over-protective dad would have reacted. You know him, Rederrick, the same man who wanted to hire bodyguards for me when I started high school. Hmm, I wonder why I couldn’t tell you.” Her last words were laced with a bitter longing, as if she had wanted to tell him.

  “You should have told me. He’s not—he could have...”

  “Hurt me?” she finished for him. “No, in fact, our first meeting was quite the opposite. He saved me, from a dog of all things.” She laughed nervously. “Ironic huh? Something was wrong with the boxer, and I tried to help. It attacked like it was rabid, but it wasn’t. Some idiot infected it with demon blood. I assume he did it to make it a better fighter.” She shrugged. “When it happened—when he stepped in—well, I thought it was you, and after—it didn’t really matter to me.”

  “How long ago?” Cade asked, feeling the slightly betrayed.

  She answered his tone with resolve, “A little over a year.”

  He cursed, “Ashley, a year?”

  “It’s not that I didn’t trust you, Cade. I just didn’t want to hurt you.” She kept her tone placating, “Plus, there was also that whole over-protective father to consider. Can you imagine what Dad would have done if he found out? Jarrett said it would bother you, and I knew it was the truth.”

  “Why would you listen to him?”

  “Because he’s my friend,” she defended sharply.

  “Ash, you don’t know what he can be like. He kidnapped Collett. Does that sound rational?”

  “I think it’s you that doesn’t understand what he can be like,” she shot back. She couldn’t have shocked him more if she’d slapped him. His eyes went wide, and Nate reacted similarly. “Why are you here, Cade? Why help him and bring him to me?”

  “Collett said he needed help, and I didn’t have anywhere else to take him.” He raked his fingers through his hair again in frustration.

  “That’s it? You’re here because you had no choice?” He said nothing, so she continued, “I don’t buy it. Not entirely anyway. Collett may have got you moving, but if you didn’t care, you wouldn’t be here. Deep down, you hope he’s not all he pretends to be. You’re here because he’s your brother like he’s my friend. We both want to save him, right?”

  “Of course I want to!” he snapped.

  She nodded knowingly. “I can’t figure out why he didn’t come to me sooner on his own. He’s come here before.”

  “He couldn’t come here without endangering you,” Nate offered, understanding Jarrett must have wanted to avoid bringing this to her as much as he did.

  “He knew I could help though, and we’re friends.” She looked to Cade with sympathy and apologized, “I’m sorry if that hurts you. It was never my intention.”

  “How good of friends?” Nate questioned.

/>   Tired, his innuendo annoyed her, and Ashley glared at him.

  He didn’t relent, and Cade acted surprised because that line of thought never occurred to him.

  “Give me a break! I’ve only helped him out a couple of times with people that needed medical attention, and he stops in to check on me from time to time when he’s around. That’s all,” she said, waving away their concern.

  “You do know he works for The Faction?” said Nate.

  “Of course I knew that. How could I have grown up with my parents and Mr. Protective here and not known that?” she said incredulously, gesturing at Cade. She was frustrated that all the men in her life thought she was still a silly child with no common sense. “I have to wonder though, do either of you know what he does for them or rather, what he doesn’t do?”

  “What are you getting at, Ashley?” Cade asked, tired of being in the dark and feeling defensive.

  “You really think he was just a mindless killer doing as he was told, don’t you?” Saddened and exasperated by the session of twenty questions, Ashley decided to tell them all she knew. “He deals with the worst of the worst, Cade. The greediest and most power hungry members of The Faction that step out of line get a special one-on-one meeting with Jarrett. They don’t even call him by name. To them, he’s known as The Hunter.

  “Essentially, he kills the killers, Cade. He takes care of the worst kind of selfish, vicious killers. Really, he’s somewhat of a legend to them, but you likely didn’t know that.”

  Cade just stared at her, and she didn’t stop. Knowing she had his full attention, she prepped him for the rest, “You might want to sit down for this next part.

  “What do you think he does when he goes after someone who isn’t the scum of the earth? I’ll tell you. If Jarrett believes that person is simply caught up in the wrong mess, he takes care of them too. Only, he doesn’t kill them. He fakes their deaths, at his own risk, then moves them somewhere else at his own cost. He makes it so no one else will come looking. In short, the brother that you think so little of has essentially become the only way out of The Faction-one way or another.”

  Cade didn’t know how to reply, but Nate, being the more cynical of the two, shot back, “Is that what he told you?”

  Keeping her soft grey eyes on Cade, she replied, “No, he didn’t have to. The people he’s brought to me have told me enough. I’ve put the rest together, not that he would admit to any of it. As hard and stubborn as he is, he would rather I believe him to be the monster you think he is.

  “So chew on that for a bit. Be careful though, you might choke when you realize your brother isn’t so bad after all.” She pushed past Cade and mumbled, “Excuse me,” as she left to check on Jarrett.

  Chapter 14

  Cade looked down at the floor pondering Ashley’s revelation and knew it made sense. Jeffery’s story about his mother and the event with Collett were evidence of Jarrett’s good intentions. He thought his brother’s change of heart was a recent event, but having Ashley explain that Jarrett may have always been this way made him re-examine their history.

  Blowing out a breath and rubbing a hand over his face, Cade looked up to Nate who stood with his back toward the counter and his hands resting upon it. “Where’s Jeffery?”

  “His head was spinning a bit from the jumps, so he’s on the couch.” Nate said as he gestured with his head toward the living room. “Oh come on, Cade, don’t act so shocked. You always knew something was different, or you would have ended it instead of only ignoring it.”

  “I tried, remember?” he said, rubbing the scar on his chin.

  “Bull! You never wanted to kill him, otherwise you would have, and vice versa. You knew that if Jarrett wanted you dead, he would have seen to it a long time ago. You even stopped me from shooting him two years ago. You knew then. Hell, maybe I knew too.”

  “You don’t seem too happy today either,” Cade accused.

  “I have different reasons for my reaction.” Nate paused and, shaking his head, finished, “It doesn’t really matter. We came to find him, and we did. There’s old memories and bad blood between you, but we have to put it aside. What’s next for us?”

  Cade’s thoughts jumped to Jarrett’s connection to Collett for a second, but as Nate suggested, he brushed it aside. “I have to get him to stay with me until he heals and we can make a plan. He won’t survive long on his own in this condition.”

  Knowing that would be no easy task, Nate groaned. “Well on that note, I think I’ll go make the arrangements to get Ashley and me out of here. I’ll let you tell her the good news.”

  With a nod, Cade turned and went into the bedroom. Entering, he found Ashley listening to Jarrett’s chest with her stethoscope. “His heart rate and rhythm are, well, as normal as you guys get anyway. He isn’t panting so much anymore. He’s a bit more relaxed too,” she said with her back to him. She lifted the blanket and probed the skin around the wound.

  “Look Ash, I didn’t mean to upset you. It’s complicated, things between us, I mean. You don’t know everything, and his past behaviors make me nervous.”

  “So tell me then.” His jaw clenched, and he said nothing even though she could see he wanted to.

  “You’re right, Cade. I don’t know everything, but what I do know is enough. His bad-ass, super scary, ‘I’m the villain,’ persona is just a front. He really isn’t what you think. What he was like before doesn’t matter. I won’t judge him for life choices I know nothing about. Who he is today is what matters to me.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me at the wedding? You knew about Collett, and you knew about the letter. Why not tell me then?” he asked.

  She sighed, “I don’t know. All I can say is, it just didn’t feel right. Besides, what good would come from telling you? Like I said before, I didn’t want to hurt you, and to be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to say.” She paused, and the room remained silent except the sound of the ticking clock that hung on the far wall. “I thought about telling you so many other times,” she admitted, “but it kind of felt like I was betraying you both. So, it was really hard for me to know how to handle it.”

  “Okay.”

  “Okay?” she questioned.

  “I get it, and I’m sorry.” He did too. He fully understood her dilemma, and somewhere buried deep inside, he was even relieved that Jarrett had somebody who was looking out for him.

  “Thank you, Cade,” she said, relieved that everything was out in the open and back to normal between them. She turned her attention back to Jarrett. “He needs rest, and I’ll get some antibiotics from the clinic I work at. I’m not sure it’ll work great, but his body needs something.”

  “We can’t stay. It’s not safe.”

  “He shouldn’t be moved yet. Stay tonight at least, then you can get back out tomorrow. Are you going home?”

  He was already shaking his head. “We can’t. They’ve been tracking him. When I say we can’t stay, it includes you.”

  “Oh,” she replied softly.

  “I’m sorry, Ash. I wouldn’t have come here if there was anyone else, but I needed your help,” he said with regret and compassion in his eyes. “You’re going to need to take some time off and get out of here. Nate will go with you to keep you safe.”

  “Um, all right. I just finished my exams today, so I guess I can do that.” Her voice sounded unsteady, even to herself. “I’ll go home for Christmas then.”

  “You can’t go there either.”

  “Oh,” she repeated. Ashley was disappointed, but understood the situation must be very bad for Cade to refuse sending her home. Home was the safest place she knew of. “Where then?”

  “I want you to go with Nate and listen to him. Got it?” She nodded. “Head to New York, and get Tracy. I’m not sure how long she’ll be safe if they trace us to you and you to her. Nate will take care of the rest.”

  “What about you?”

  “I’m not really sure yet, but don’t worry. I’ll figure it out.”
/>
  Nate popped his head in and asked, “Did you tell her yet?” Ashley looked over to him, nodding in reply. “Good. The hotel is arranged. We need to leave. Get your stuff together.”

  “I can’t leave that quick. What about Jarrett? You can’t just drag him all over. He needs rest, antibiotics, and you might open his stitches.”

  “Tell me what he needs. I’ll take care of it,” Cade replied and watched her eyes dart back to Jarrett.

  “I’ll get what you need, and then I’ll go with Nate,” she replied with grim determination.

  “Ash—”

  “No. You want me to go, I get it. But you came here so I could help him. Let me do that. I can easily get what you need. Nate can tag along if it will make you feel better.”

  Cade looked at Nate and considered the risks. Finally, he nodded. “Get what we need, then get back here. I’ll put your stuff together.”

  “It’s too dangerous. That’ll take too much time,” Nate insisted. His expression made it clear that he was only concerned about Ashley’s safety and getting her out of harm’s way.

  “Really, it’s better this way. She’ll be gone if they come looking. I’ll get her stuff together while you two get the meds. Pick up a TracFone and call the house before you bring her back to make sure it’s safe.”

  Pressing his lips together in a tight line, Nate jerked his head in assent. Ashley moved to him, and together they left. Cade went to her closet and began to pull clothes from hangers to throw into a bag.

  “You should’ve made her leave,” came a deep, groggy voice Cade barely recognized.

  Cade emerged from the closet holding a suitcase. “Not dead after all.”

  Jarrett only grunted, not even bothering to open his eyes. He wasn’t even sure he could.

  Cade moved to Ashley’s drawer and began pulling jeans out.

  “She’s wrong. I am exactly what you think,” Jarrett rasped.

  “Well, I’m not sure what I think,” he paused, “at least not anymore. Get some rest. We’ll be leaving soon.”