Ketterdam University

{fourteen}

            The front door flew open and Jesper jumped, his spine straightening at the sound of the door bouncing off of the opposite wall. Water from the soapy sink splashed around the faucet as he recovered from the suddenness. Is this the nonsense that Wylan always had to put up with? He would think twice next time he came home from work.

            "Jesus," Jesper gasped, eyeing the figure in the doorway. Kaz Brekker.

            Jes's breath caught in his throat. He was not expecting Kaz today, a Sunday. The Lord's day.

He was also achingly aware of Kaz's clothes, a disheveled dress shirt, sleeves rolled with suspenders, slacks, gloves. His dark hair was unkempt like he had done nothing but run his fingers through it moments before, wet from the downpour outside. Jesper's eyes trained on Kaz's lip, a new cut blossoming there. What did Kaz get into this time?

             "I'm close," Kaz announced in his guttural voice. "I'm so very close, Jes."

            Jesper dragged his hands out of the water and wiped them on a drying cloth. "Close to what? And can you please not barge in here? I have neighbors."

            Kaz paid no heed to Jesper's comment. He grasped a dining room chair and straddled it backward, his arms crossing over the top rail, his cane on the floor now. His eyes were fiery, excited and wild. Kaz Brekker was onto something.

            "Before I go on, is there anything you need to tell me about Wylan? His mood, his schedule?"

            Jesper rolled his eyes and took a seat across from Kaz. "He's been better lately. When Kuwei and I got together, he was in a really bad place." Kaz's eyebrow cocked at Kuwei's name but failed to make a comment. "But we talked about it, and he said it was mostly just issues with his dad. Why?"

            "Stop asking why. Just be patient." Kaz cracked his knuckles, working his jaw. "He's having more troubles with his dad?"

            "I guess so," Jesper shrugged. "That's what he told me."

            "Hmm," was all Kaz said for a long while.

            "For the love of Christ, will you tell me what you're thinking right now so I don't have to guess?"

            Kaz cut him a sharp killer look, but relented. "I'm in."

            "'In'? In where?"

            "Van Eck. I'm on the inside."

            "Jesus, Kaz, what the heck are you talking about?"

            "I've hacked him. His personal files, his billing accounts, his bank statements, his emails, his mobile devices, almost everything."

            Hacked? Is that why Kaz had been asking Jesper for personal information on Wylan? To get into one of the biggest businessmen in the continent? This was bigger than just spying on a flatmate. Bigger than Kaz.

            "Kaz..." Jesper pinched the bridge of his nose briefly. "What're you doing?"

            "I'm taking him down."

            "By yourself?"

            "Of course not," Kaz said like the mere proposition was tomfoolery. "I normally don't work with teams, but there are people with me in on this. We're so close, Jes." And Kaz smiled. A child's gleeful grin, like a seven-year-old stepped foot in a candy shop, eyes gleaming with mischief.

            "What...ehm, what do you intend to do, once you've hacked this man? What has he done wrong?" Jesper's head was pounding. Who was Kaz Brekker? What exactly was he capable of? And why was he telling Jesper this? Jesper wondered how much information Kaz was actually going to share with him. Why did he drop a crazy-bomb like this on a Sunday? What did weekends ever do to him? There were too many questions, Jesper's head throbbed and spun.