𝓒𝓸𝓵𝓭 𝓐𝓼 𝓘𝓬𝓮 [𝕮𝖍𝖆𝖊𝖓𝖓𝖎𝖊]

12

If Kai's disappearance was going to put a stop to that, or at least she hoped so. Kai was a control freak and if anyone was negotiating with terrorist he'd be the man, and he'd be the one holding the purse strings. Maybe the men he'd chosen for the job of destroying the oil fields were ready to die for the glory if Allah. Kai knew how to exploit weakness or fanaticism. They could still need money to cover expenses and they'd want their wives and families taken care of. Without Kai's financial security there was a good chance the attack would be aborted.

But that wasn't he only thing Kai had planned. They knew that there were seven targets. They'd only identified two. They were taking it on faith that disposing of Kai would stop the other five attempts before they could come to fruition.

It all depended on how carefully Kai planned and whether he was willing to delegate, and since she and the others had been in Kai's employ, watching him, there'd been little chance for him to use anyone else to implement his Rule of Seven. They'd already agreed it was useless trying to get information out of him-Kai liked pain too much to respond to torture and he kept clear technology. No cell phone, PDA, or computer to hack into-he kept his own secrets.

Ms. Jennie Kim was a different matter. If she knew anything at all she'd break quite easily, and if she were thinking with her usual icy detachment she wouldn't hesitate.
But she wasn't going to touch her. She'd kill her if she had to, but she hadn't given up hoping she'd find a way out, despite the recent orders that had been handed down by Madame Lee. Easy enough for her to decide, when she wasn't on the scene, she thought.

Her priorities may have gotten a little skewed, but her instincts were still solid, and she knew Jennie had been nothing more than an innocent courier, someone who happened to get in the way of something a lot bigger and badder than she could even begin to realize.

She was still looking at her hopefully. She considered lying to her, telling her she'd get her out safely. She'd never disobeyed a direct order in all the time she'd been with the Committee, and she want about to start, but she didn't need to spend the last two days of her life being terrified.
But she didn't want to lie to her. "I can't help you," she said. "Don't waste your time on me-it won't get you anywhere. I've been playing this game a lot longer than you have, and I've seen every angle. It's going to be up to you. Just don't make stupid mistakes."

If it were up to her she'd die. There was only so much she could teach her, to give her a fighting chance. In the end, it wouldn't be enough, and she knew it. But she didn't have to like it.

She would have preferred it if she'd gone looking for another priceless vase to throw. Instead, she stood very still, looking at her clearly enough-she'd checked her glasses before she'd tossed then, and her prescription wants that strong. She could see her well enough to know what a worthless piece of shit she actually was, and for the first time, she could see defeat in the narrow shoulders beneath her white T-shirt.
But only a moment. She shrugged, clearly dismissing her. "Where did you say the kitchen was?" She asks in a calm voice.

She was wondering whether she was going to try to take some of the kitchen knives. It wouldn't do her any more good than that tiny pocketknife-she was up against professionals. "Down the hall to the left." She had enough sense not to renew her request for lunch. It had been mainly to goad her, keep her off balance. She was hungry; once Kai was subdued Chanyeol hadn't felt obliged to exercise his culinary talents, and Rosé hadn't eaten much at all. She tended to prefer it that way before a job-it kept her sharp. But it was going to be two more days until the job was finished, and she couldn't hardly fast till then.

Jennie had disappeared without a word, and she leaned back and closed her eyes. She wondered whether she needed to warn the men to keep away from her. She'd already made that abundantly clear, she hadn't worked much with either Bobby and Chanyeol and she wasn't entirely sure how good they were at following directions. They wee only one step up from hired thugs-they weren't hobbled by an illusions hat they were working for the greater good. Even she was beginning to doubt it.