Page 18 of Factory Thief

Andrew sighed. “Look, Tori, why would we do that to you? It only makes it less likely you’ll deliver the asset to us.”

He has a point. Still, I can’t let go of my suspicions.

“Where are you, Tori?”

“Someplace safe, for now.”

“How soon can you have the asset delivered to me at the designated location?”

I grimace, not wanting to drag out my association with the Factory any longer than I have to, but plagued by my conscience.

“Soon. Right now, I have to lay low, but I’ll get him to you. I promise.”

“Don’t wait too long, Tori. You don’t want to know the price of failure if you don’t deliver the asset.”

“I know, damn it. And he’s called Jack. He has a fucking name.”

I ended the call and tossed the phone into the back of a pickup carrying steaming horse manure. I hope they try to track me down by following the phone signal.

I shouldn’t be the only one to have to wade through shit.

JACK

Iwould never have believed it in a million years but, I got better sleep handcuffed to a cheap motel room bed than I did all those months of living in a concrete cell.

The sunlight shone through the vinyl blinds, casting fragmented shadows across the thin carpet. I yawn and stretch as much as I can. I glance down at the floor, looking for Victoria, but all I see are rumpled blankets and a dented pillow.

“Victoria?” My voice echoes weirdly off the motel room walls. I peer toward the bathroom but see no sign of her in its darkened environs. “You in here? I have to pee.”

Nothing. She left me here. The thought that I should try and escape hit me, but then again, where would I go? I’m a fugitive, an escaped convict.

Besides, I think Victoria might be changing her mind about me ever since I told her about the flash drive. She seemed quite troubled by the idea of Xtera duping the public into thinking their cancer drugs actually worked.

There’s a story there, I’m sure. Hopefully I’ll be able to draw it out of her. Assuming she hasn’t been arrested while I was slumbering. In that case, it’s only a matter of time until the cops burst into the motel room.

I guess I should be grateful she threw a pillow over my junk.

I hear footsteps outside the door and tense up. A shadow passes by the window, darkening the interior, but I can’t make out if it’s Victoria or not.

I hear the click of a key in the lock, and the door swings open. I blink in the sudden brightness, squinting my eyes against the painful sunlight.

The door closes and I open them again. Victoria stands staring at me, her gaze carefully remaining above neck level.

“Good morning, sunshine,” I said. “You want to unlock me so I can go and pee?”

She licks her lips anxiously before speaking.

“Were you telling me the truth?”

I nod firmly. “I didn’t kill that woman—”

“Not about that,” she snaps. “I mean, Xtera’s cancer drugs. Were you telling the truth about that?”

I sigh. “I almost wish I weren’t, but yes. It’s all true, and I’ve got the proof stashed away.”

“Where?”

I pull at the cuffs. “Tell you what. Let me go so I can piss, and I’ll sing like the proverbial canary.”

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