7.10
“What?” Walker says into the phone. It’s hard to tell what exactly he’s responding to, but he sounds like the wind’s been knocked out of him.
Did something happen to Jacob? Landis’s stomach churns uncomfortably. Was this whole thing some kind of a distraction, some weird slight-of-hand trick to kidnap Austin and cause a stir at the Department while someone else tried to take out Jacob? Walker didn’t actually tell anyone at the Department that Austin was missing. Maybe their plan didn’t account for that - maybe whoever’s working with them panicked and went ahead with the other end anyway.
Walker is listening intently, the phone pressed to his ear. He starts to pace around the motel room as he talks, weaving through the different people scattered throughout. “Uh-huh. Where -”
He stops short of finishing the question, furrowing his eyebrows as, presumably, the person on the other end says something. “Oh. Okay. Well, you could have led with that.”
Landis loses track of what Walker is saying after that - there’s a sudden, constricting pain around his knuckles that distracts him from eavesdropping. He glances down to find Austin’s hand locked in a vice grip around his own. Wincing a little, he squeezes Austin’s hand back in what he hopes is a reassuring way.
“Something happened to Jacob,” Austin murmurs, his voice still weak and dry from disuse. “I’ve been sick all day, when they weren’t keeping me asleep. I thought it was because they were gonna kill me, or you, or Walker, but -”
He stops short, Adam’s apple bobbing erratically in his throat. Landis squeezes his hand again, but Austin doesn’t squeeze back this time.
“Alright,” Walker says loudly, snapping his phone shut, the noise sharp enough to make both Austin and Landis jump. “So, minor setback. Jacob’s in the hospital.”
“What happened?” Landis asks, feeling only distant surprise. Austin was right. He usually is, about this stuff.
“He got stabbed,” Walker says. “He’s been unconscious, too, but they think it’s just because he lost a lot of blood. He hasn’t totally come around yet, but they’re optimistic.”
“How much blood?” Austin asks. “How much did he lose?”
Walker looks a little taken aback at the question, but recovers quickly. His voice lacks the usual sarcastic affect Landis has come to expect of it, instead becoming soft and deferential as he talks directly to Austin. “Cillian said if that they’d found him a little later, he’d probably be dead.”
“Where did they find him?” Austin asks.
“In his office. They think he was there for twenty, twenty-five minutes before anyone found him.”
Austin nods. “Any idea who did it?”
“No solid leads until Jacob wakes up, but they’re starting to look into it.” Walker sits down on the empty bed across from Austin and Landis. He ducks his head and combs his fingers anxiously through his hair, making it stand on end. “Christ. I’m sorry you had to find out like this, Austin.”
“I don’t understand,” Alloces says lightly. “What’s happened?”
“Someone made an attempt on my brother’s life,” Austin says. His voice is atonal, but he’s looking at the floor, his hair shielding his face, and he’s holding on to Landis even tighter than before. Landis can feel Austin’s hand shaking in his, but chooses not to comment.
Alloces cocks their head to one side. “I don’t see how that’s relevant.”
“It means he can’t access the money to actually one-up your employer’s offer,” Walker says. “So, congratulations, or whatever. You’ve got the upper hand again.”
There’s a brief period of silence in the motel room. The mercenaries look far from smug or relieved, instead looking back and forth from one to the other in obvious confusion. It isn’t the reaction Landis expected, but it does lend to his theory. They didn’t know that this was going to happen. They’re just as surprised by it as we are, which means that they’re pretty far from having the upper hand on us. In fact, this might have just thrown us all onto even footing.
“So,” Hall says slowly, addressing the other mercenaries, “where does that put us, exactly?”
“Walker is correct. It puts you in a position of relative power as far as these negotiations are concerned.” Naberius looks uncomfortable, somewhere squarely between upset and angry. He folds his arms over his chest and leans his back up against the wall, declining to say anything more.
Hall frowns. “That isn’t what I meant.”
“Yeah, this wasn’t the plan,” Oates adds. Jenny glares at him, and he shrugs back at her, looking totally unconcerned. “What? Everything’s already gotten all cocked up, might as well be honest about it, yeah?”
“Weren’t you two just talking about confidentiality?” Jenny asks cooly, arching an eyebrow.
“Hey, client confidentiality is one thing. And I’m not arguing that it’s important,” Hall says. “But we’re off-book now, aren’t we? I don’t see where we’re supposed to go from here.”
“Hall’s right.” Oakes slings an arm around Hall’s hips and glares back at Jenny. Landis suddenly has the uncanny impression that this must be the verbal equivalent of a fencing match, though he’s never actually seen one in his life. “We were supposed to deliver the kid to his brother. How’re we supposed to do that now that his brother’s in the hospital?”
“Wait,” Austin interrupts, “was Jacob paying you? To escort me back to Havenwood?”
“Hell no.” Oakes laughs. “We wouldn’t have known your brother from Adam if we hadn’t been told to bring you to him.”
“Someone wants to see you have a happy little family reunion, I suppose.” It’s Hall’s turn to shrug, now, though the motion is a little less exaggerated. “We don’t ask questions about the things we’re paid to do. It’s one of the reasons we can charge so much for our services.”
“I’m calling him,” Jenny announces, crossing the room to the desk and pulling what Landis assumes is her own cell phone out of the top drawer. She opens it and immediately starts pressing buttons. “He knows the head of the DPR is a high priority target, I’m sure he made a backup plan in case something like this happened.”
“Then why hasn’t he called us yet?” Oates asks.
“He probably doesn’t know it happened yet,” Jenny says confidently. She holds the phone up to her ear, glaring at Hall and Oates the entire time.
Landis, Austin, Walker and the demons watch in silence as a relatively familiar scene plays out - Jenny leaning against the desk as she waits for someone on the other line to pick up. She drums her fingers a few times, boredly, her nails clicking sharply on the polished wood desktop. Then, with no warning whatsoever, she throws her cell phone to the floor. It bounces weakly, soundlessly, off the carpet upon impact. No one says anything.
“He deactivated his fucking cell,” Jenny hisses between her teeth.
“You’re kidding,” Hall says, at the same time as Oakes says “Our money -”
“What about your money?” Walker asks, his eyes wide and innocent as the mercenaries turn to look at him.
“He only paid us half,” Jenny says. She’s clearly seething with anger, her whole body language quickly turning from controlled and calm to tense and nervous. Her hands are flexing open and shut at her sides, and she struggles for something to do with them, settling on taking her hair out of its ponytail and putting it back up in a tighter one. “He said we’d get the rest of the money once we delivered Austin.”
“Sounds like you got cheated,” Austin says, smiling wryly.
“Well, shit,” Oates says. “What do we do now, pack it up and go home?”
“Might as well.” Jenny bends over to pick her phone up off the floor. “No point in staying.”
“If you go home, you can always find your supposed employer down and shake him down for the rest of the money,” Alloces suggests to Hall and Oates, beaming with a mouthful of fangs. Landis grimaces and looks away.
“Hang on,” Austin says, as the mercenaries mill about the room, Hall and Oates using their powers to move furniture back into place and tidy things up. “Will you take me with you? Back to Havenwood? I want to visit Jacob and - and make sure he’s okay.”
There’s a steely edge to his voice, something he isn’t saying. Landis exchanges a glance with Walker to make sure that they’re on the same page about it.
He’s out for revenge. He’s going to track down whoever hurt Jacob on his own, and probably demand an eye for an eye. Landis can’t bring himself to call Austin out for it. He’s an only child, so he can’t claim to understand sibling bonds, but he imagines the way Austin is feeling right now is something akin to how he was feeling after hearing that Austin was in Hell. We don’t have the right to stop him from going home. Or from doing what he has to do once he gets there.
“Why should we take you?” Jenny asks, punctuating the question with a little laugh. “We’re not being paid to make sure you’re safe anymore, and you don’t have the money to cover the difference.”
“What if I make up the difference?” Walker asks.
Everyone in the room turns towards him, Jenny leading the pack. She looks genuinely shocked, as does Austin.
“You don’t have to -” Austin starts.
“You would seriously -” Jenny says.
“Yeah,” Walker cuts them both off. “I’ve probably got enough money in my account to cover it. And Austin can just pay me back once he has access to the family fortune again.”
“Right,” Austin says, a little dazedly. “I’ll…yeah. Okay.”
“I don’t see a problem with it,” Hall says. Oates nods along beside him. Naberius and Alloces exchange a quick glance, but neither looks particularly worried about the solution.
“Then it’s settled,” Walker says. “You’ll take Austin to Havenwood.”
Austin leans into Landis, resting his head in the crook of Landis’s neck and giving a dry little chuckle. “Just as long as nobody tells Jacob. He might actually die if he finds out.”