Page 147 of Fight or Flight
Over a week might have passed since we pulled off the mission that never should have worked, but I haven’t heard anything from the leaders or Jace about what was in the files we stole. I assumed the leaders and Carter are keeping that info close to their chests while they figure out who the mole is, but the total blackout on any sort of information or updates has been plaguing me as much as all the other shit that’s been going on.
Now, even after going through all of that and potentially putting my life in danger to get the files, I was stupid enough to leave that flash drive in my desk, and it’s gone.
More panic fills me, and static fills my vision as the reality of the situation hits. I literally handed whoever stole my shit a file of information they can use against me and my family, all because I was too stupid to put the damn drive in a safe place.
The world sort of goes in and out a few times, like when you zoom in and out while filming, and I have to grab onto my desk so I don’t topple over.
That drive might be tame compared to what could be in it, but in the hands of the wrong people, it could absolutely ruin me. Especially with all the advances in AI and deepfakes. There’sno telling what someone might do with them, or how they could alter them, to destroy me.
Closing my eyes, I pull in a few deep, slow breaths. I need to calm the fuck down so I don’t pass out. When I feel more stable and can think clearly again, I open my eyes and step back from my desk.
Something metallic on the floor catches my eye, and I kneel so I can look under my desk.
Tucked in the back corner and pressed right up against the wood so it’s almost out of sight is a folded-up butterfly knife.
The exact same knife Jace was spinning and flipping in the video from last night, and the same one he used that night we hooked up and he introduced me to one of my more unexpected kinks.
Gingerly, I pick up the knife and turn it over in my hands a few times.
“You named your knife Betty?”
“Yup. The other one from the set is Veronica, but I left Ronnie at home tonight.”
Is this Betty? Or maybe it’s Veronica?
He’s the only person I’ve ever seen play with a knife like this, and as far as I know, none of the other guys in the house have a thing for them.
Did Jace break into my room and steal my devices and flash drives?
I already know he has skills that no one else on campus has, and breaking into places to steal shit is just another one of his unique hobbies.
Picking the lock on my door would be like child’s play for him, but why would he steal the flash drive he gave me?
And why would he want my other flash drives? The only thing he’ll find on those are backups of the last few years of my photos, and a fuck ton of porn I downloaded so I don’t have touse the house Wi-Fi when I want to have some solo time and don’t want to worry about my searches being tracked.
And there’s nothing interesting on my computer unless he’s looking for my assignments and other school files. Even my tablet and old phone don’t have anything worthwhile on them if he’s not looking for my game scores and checking out what I read or what music I listen to.
Is that why Jace brought me home last night? Was it so he could look around when I was passed out and decide what he was going to come back to steal later?
Was he nice to me today because he was trying to manipulate me into letting my guard down so I wouldn’t suspect him after he broke into my room?
I freeze as another thought occurs to me.
Was he the one who locked me in the room with the fire?
I dismissed the possibility before, but he’s the only person I know of outside the leaders who can lock communal doors.
But why would he bust down the door to save me like some sort of action hero if he’s the one who locked it in the first place? Was he trying to make it look like he was saving me when he was actually the one who put me in danger in the first place?
A heavy, dull ache fills my chest as my stomach goes sour.
Is that why he got high with me? Why he fucked me at the party? And why it was so different and sweet that second time in my room? Was all of that just a way for him to get information out of me? Was anything he said that night true?
More of that dull ache spreads through me.
Is anything that’s happened between us real? Or has he been stringing me along so he can manipulate me the way he does everyone else?
Thattracks with the Jace I’ve known for the past two and a half years, and I want to kick myself for being so stupid and thinking that maybe things were different, thatIwas different.
