Nausea: Sequel to Warcrossed

Connections

'John?'
'Are you gonna answer???'
'I'm not mad at you.'
'Seriously? You always answer your phone.'

The second I pulled up the keyboard, another message appeared.

It wasn't from Alexander, but from some US number I didn't recognize. It definitely wasn't a South Carolina number, or a New York number. And I was too lazy and too tired to look it up.

'Is this John Laurens?'

'Who's asking?'

That was a dead giveaway. Nobody ever said that unless it was the person in question. It didn't make a difference to me. Not like I could be killed through the phone.

'An associate of Jayce's. My identity is irrelevant. Now, then, I'll ask again: Is this John Laurens?'

I honestly debated over whether or not to block the number. Jayce's "associates" were dangerous people. After he'd gotten a degree, he'd started working for some guy in Canada, who worked for some guy in Russia, and it all was a whole ring of connections between the smartest people in the world. Doctors, scientists, police, the NSA, the military, hackers, assassins... the whole nine yards. All from one Bachelor's degree that a lot of people had.

It made sense though; he'd been in the top percentile of students in the country and scarily ambitious. The first time I'd met one of his associates, we were dating. Someone had threatened him, and the guy apparently owed Jayce a favor, and it just so happened he was a hitman. I had asked what Jayce had done for the man to owe him a favor, but he'd always found a way around my question no matter how I worded it.

I glanced again back at the message. If I answered, it meant I was that much closer to understanding why, but it also meant Jayce had me wrapped around his finger and I owed him big time.

And nobody could run from Jayce. He'd find you, no matter what corner of the world you tried to hide in.

It made me wonder again how a simple degree in biology could give him almost unlimited power. Nothing short of nuclear war could stop him once he set his mind to something.

I sucked in a deep breath.

'Yeah. This is him.'

What was I getting myself into over some information that wouldn't even change anything?

And why was I doing it?