License to Love

Chapter 37 True Love

Just some hopeful music for the mood. ⤴

The girls had been knocked out with chloroform and bundled into the Ignis Viperae van, where they were driven to a disused warehouse far away from the hangar. Jada had gone with them and watched impassively as the men unloaded them from the van to the warehouse. She had them rounded up and placed in the middle of the floor. They were still unconscious; when they came around, they opened their eyes and saw a computer placed on a chair a few feet away in front of them. Michelle shook her head feeling groggy. The dusty smell of cardboard hit her senses.

"What... where are we?" She asked in confusion.

"Does it matter?" Jada asked coolly. "You're about to die."

"Even if I have to come back and haunt you as a ghost, Alvarez, I swear I'll send you to hell one way or another!" Paige vociferated.

"You always were all bark and no bite, Manes," Jada replied airily. "When hell freezes over, maybe."

"Oh-ho, I'll show you bite!" Paige raged through gritted teeth while straining at her ropes. Jada ignored her and turned to Reuben who called her attention.

"We have a job to do," he said to her with a gleam in his eyes.

"Go then, I'll keep them here," Jada waved her hand dismissively. They exited the warehouse, leaving the four women inside. Jada began to fiddle on the computer while Michelle, Paige, and Leslie watched with bated breaths.

"Why are you doing this, Jada?" Michelle asked. "When I came to you for help, you didn't hesitate to ask for it in return. Why team up with a deranged killer then, and betray us?"

"There are only two warranted reasons for betrayal, Michelle." Jada looked her straight in the eye as she spoke. "Love—and money. I won't deny LaCroix has been paying off my bills and clearing my debts but money alone didn't buy my loyalty. I had to think of my family. I'm the eldest and I know what it's like to have someone depend on you. I had to keep them afloat, even if I went down under for it."

"So you sacrificed the people who were helping you to accept dough from a nutcase," Paige spat out. "Don't be a blind fool, Alvarez. That guy's manipulating you. What do you think he'll do when he's done with you? You've done your research. He's hired, fired, and discarded the lackeys he no longer has use for. Why would he keep a liability like you alive when all you're doing is emptying his pockets?"

"Getting you Night Blazers was the last job I had to do before cutting ties with him," Jada replied. "After this, my family and I are leaving for Mexico, back to our hometown. I'll never see LaCroix again."

"Do you think you could live with yourself after what you've done?" Leslie asked in a hard voice. "You destroy one family and expect to live happily with your own?"

"I cast off my conscience a long time ago, Leslie," Jada replied in an emotionless voice. "If it's for Trish and Austin, so be it."

"But we were helping you," Michelle cried, trying to appeal to her. "Brook won the NNC. You guys were gonna get half the earnings, all if you wanted! We never did it for the money. Wouldn't that have been enough for you?" Jada gave her a long, inscrutable stare.

"Maybe it would've," she said in a low voice. "But it's too late for me to turn back now."

"It's never too late to do the right thing, Jada," Leslie said quietly. A flicker of emotion finally passed Jada's face but she hid it quickly.