Firebreak (Jackson's Hollow #2)

Chapter 14

"Fighting each other isn't helping anything," Malachi said, pushing Wes away from Diego. "And look, I know you're mad because Jax is gone, but you have to talk to the rest of us before making decisions."

"She's basically part of our team now, I don't get why we can't tell her," Cal said. He sat down on the edge of her bed and glanced at her, his eyes somewhat apologetic. "Sorry Diego's been such an asshole. It's on purpose. He's only half that much of an asshole."

"Cal," Diego growled.

"What? You were acting like an evil villain in a sci-fi movie," Cal retorted, rolling his eyes.

"Cal's right, she's on our team, and if she doesn't know things, like why Jax left and why you're treating her like she's a pain, she's going to be confused and upset," Wes said, waving a hand at Jo. He sighed. "Jo, it's nothing against you, I just want you to have more of the cards. You need to know what's going on."

Jo looped her arms around her knees, not really caring if it put her in a vulnerable-looking position. She was unhappy and scared and worried and she couldn't stop thinking about Ryker and exactly what he was planning to do. Her brain was foggy.

"What happened in the gym?" she asked. "Let's start there."

"You got hit by a paintball," Cal said, "Right upside your head."

"I'm sorry," Diego said. She slid her eyes toward him, and she was surprised to see him looking guilty. Granted, it wasn't much, but Diego's expression never gave away much. "I never would have done that on purpose."

"Okay..." Jo said, finally nodding. Not really forgiveness, but something close.

"He wouldn't," Malachi said, "I think it rattled you pretty good. You were screaming about going home? And someone named Ryker."

"That's her boyfriend, he's in the file," Cal said flippantly. "Didn't you read the dossier?"

"I was going to let her explain," Malachi said, giving Cal an exasperated look.

Jo stared at them. "You know who Ryker is?" How much did they know?

"There's not a lot about him, but your files list everyone important to you," Wes said, sounding gentler. "That's part of why we have to be careful, Jo. They know who's important to each of us."

"Like Diego has two younger siblings," Cal said, waving a hand at their leader. "And he freaks out about them all the time."

"Cal!" Diego made a swipe for the younger man, but he was blocked by some kind of invisible shield. Telekinesis? He scowled ferociously at Cal, who shrugged.

"She's on our team!" Cal said, reiterating his earlier point. "We're all on the same team, and that's the one that's against PsyOps."

Malachi ran a hand down his face. "Maybe this was a bad idea."

"Too late now," Wes said, frowning. There were small sweat beads popping out on his forehead. "I can't loop these forever, not this many. Whatever we need to tell her, we have to tell her now."

You'd think they'd only need one camera and one mic for this room, but apparently that wasn't enough. Apparently every single shadowy space and corner of this room had to be covered.

"Look," Cal said, leaning forward. "To sum it up, we don't like PsyOps either and we don't want to hurt you. But if we don't push you, PsyOps will take over and make things even worse."

"And they'll become more suspicious of us, which would make any attempt at leaving, protecting our loved ones, or helping those on the outside harder," Malachi said heavily.