Ruins (The Jewel Project #6)

22. Cat and Mouse

"Tom and Angie almost died."

The words sent a jolt of pain through Jerry, but he fought not to express anything other than relief. For Sarah's sake.

He still couldn't breathe properly, not after an hour in which he'd been out of his mind with worry because she'd been taken away from him. Fortunately, she returned safe and sound, without a scratch on her. Just confused.

"They didn't hurt us. Just served us lunch," she said.

"Us?" The word made no sense.

"Yeah. Christine, Kay, Angie and me. It was weird." And then she'd dropped the bomb. "Angie said they both passed out and she has no idea what happened next. They woke up in their cell."

"I don't understand." It was all he could say to the news, because everything that was happening escaped the mold of what he'd become used to.

Like in a foreign dream, he remembered complaining about it in the jungle, on their first mission, pointing out how Snitch Gravel made no sense. Tom had contradicted him, claimed that they just couldn't see it yet.

And for the longest time, Jerry had thought his brother had been right. Because once they dug into Snitch Gravel's organization and learned more about what they were doing, it became obvious.

Test them, not kill them. Thwart the Agency. After a while, Jerry could even lie to himself that it was nothing personal. Just Snitch Gravel against the Agency with them caught in the middle. Once Freider died, the illusion was broken, but so was the war with Snitch Gravel. He left them alone. Until now.

He was back to square one, not understanding, and it pushed him back years, returned him to the state of confused teenager, unable to tell up from down.

"Jerry, are you okay?"

The sound of his name rolling off Sarah's lips forced him back to cold, cruel reality. He couldn't afford this pity party. He was beyond that.

"No, I'm not. And neither are you."

She gave him a tight-lipped smile. "Fake it till you make it."

He shook his head. Being alive was not something one could fake. "Any other news? How are Kay, Angie and Christine?"

"Fine. Angie was a little shook, understandably, but other than that... Christine talked the most. Sam says we're in Japan and that Snitch Gravel has the next jewel. Also she claims Sammy and your mom are safe, but couldn't say more since there were guards there."

Jerry's heart skipped a beat at the news, but he just nodded. He wished he'd be allowed to talk to everyone, too, but this was the next best thing. So he focused on Sarah now. 

Ever since they'd met, he knew she was strong in a way that was completely different from him or from anyone he knew. She didn't have the fire that Kay, Jessie and Angie had, not even Christine's warrior attitude. And yet, here she was, taking this all in stride, trying to fake bravery until it became part of her.

"Sarah, it's okay to be scared," he said.

She nodded. "I never said I wasn't. This is not easy to handle."

"Then why aren't you here?"

"What do you mean?"

He opened his arms. "Ever since you were brought here, you've done your best to show me how strong you are, that you can take this. I don't need that. I already know." She'd also avoided calling him Remy, as if any show of emotion testified an unexplained weakness.

Her lower lip trembled. "No, you don't know."

"Strength is strength, Sarah. No matter how you came to posses it. And what you went through was just as bad as this."