The Billionaire's Assistant

Chapter 97

Now in the alley behind Spatchy's, Kat unfurled the note again and poured over it frantically as if she'd never read it. Appilier, that was in the warehouse district she'd been in just last week. She wasn't sure how'd she make it there with no ride, but was determined.

All Andy wanted was the microgrids, her note had made that exceptionally clear. She obviously thought she could blackmail Jove with Kat as leverage, but what she didn't know was that Jove had already agreed to Andy's terms, all of them, no contentions. If she could tell Andy that, tell Andy that her threats and letter were useless in the face of Jove's good character, then this whole thing would settle, she'd be able to sleep at night.

Her head was beginning to pound again but Kat ignored it, setting off down the street the opposite of the way that Jove was parked. She was sleepy, dizzy, and emotionally wrecked, but she knew she was the only one who could solve this, who could make things right for everyone before they went too far.

She was unsure where she was going and unsure how she'd possibly walk that distance when, stopped at a red light directly in front of her, was one of the city's last remaining yellow cabs, the industry failing to recover after Megga, a popular rideshare app, all but replaced them.

Kat, having never hailed a cab in her life, ran at it, wildly waving. The driver shot her a concerned look.

"Excuse me!" she said, through the closed window, standing in the middle of traffic. "Can you take me to Appilier street?"

The man looked disgruntled then nodded, the locks clicking to indicate that she could enter. She slid into the backseat gratefully as the light changed and traffic stirred to life around her.

Once settled in the cab Kat froze, realizing she had no money whatsoever, no ID, not even a phone to use as collateral.

"Do you do round trips?" she asked sheepishly.

The man nodded, eyeing her in the rearview mirror.

"Ok, perfect," she said. "How long can you wait? I'll pay whatever."

"I can wait," the man said gruffly. "It'll cost ya, but I can wait."

"That's totally fine," she said, thinking of what Jove would tell her to do. "Just name your price."

She settled back into the seat, wanting to close her eyes to prepare for the long drive ahead but too restless to remain in darkness, instead needing the distraction of the cars and people passing by.

Her idea, initially brilliant to her, was beginning to lose some of its luster. She was headed towards Andy on her own, just like Andy had asked, but it wasn't as if she were falling into a trap. Kat had a purpose, a reason to speak to her, to both of them. They'd find out that their goal was accomplished and it wouldn't heal them exactly, it wouldn't make things better, but she'd be able to reverse some of the damage that had been done. Get Jack and Emma out of jail, find them a new den, maybe one that they bought instead of rented with Jove's help. She could right things, she could make them normal again.

She grabbed the side of her head, the pain beginning to thrum behind her eye and making her feel like it was bulging out of her head. She'd never had a headache like this before, never so pervasive, so all encompassing. Every part of her head and jaw felt tender as if she'd just taken a beating, and the lights of the city began to blur together as she fought to see through the head splitting pain. Time began to run together until Kat could no longer distinguish one moment from another, had no idea how long she'd been in the backseat of the car.

She looked around again, realizing the street was in view of the large white dome Jove had taken her too the week before. As the car slowed, Kat remembered she'd only told the man the street name, not the number, in an effort to prove to Andy she was really coming alone.

"Here's good," she said to the driver.

He frowned.

"Here? There's nothing here."

"It's a warehouse," she answered obviously, nonsensically. "It's ok, I'll be right back."

Kat exited the car before the man could argue and found herself standing on a cracked sidewalk illuminated by one street lamp clearly in need of repair. The tall squat buildings around her hulking intimidatingly, and Kat headed for the only one of the street with a red brick facade, seemingly abandoned with its upper windows busted out.

"Oh hell no, what is this, some type of robbery? Some cult shit? Hell no."

Kat heard from behind her, and the car's brakes squealed as the man quickly reversed and peeled away, his pay forgotten.