𝓒𝓸𝓵𝓭 𝓐𝓼 𝓘𝓬𝓮 [𝕮𝖍𝖆𝖊𝖓𝖓𝖎𝖊]

25

The Kevlar vest was too small, and Jennie had the sudden, distressing thought that if Rosé were there, if she'd been in charge of outfitting her, it would have been the right size. Of course, she'd known what size she was before she'd gotten her naked. Now she'd know even better.

She managed to fasten it anyway, then pulled her T-shirt and sweatshirt over it. Her boobs were squashed and she was having a hard time breathing, but none of it mattered. She sat in the back of the nondescript car, uncomfortably similar to the sedan Rose had showed up with, and let them drive her up the winding road into the mountains. twisting and turning.

She wondered if she was going to throw up again all over her Kevlar vest. It would serve the elegant Madame Lee right if she puked on her designer shoes, but the some might get down into the vest and that would be very unpleasant. Not that she figured the vest was going to do a bit of good. If Kai's plan was to have someone shoot her, he'd have them go for a head shot. Lawyer's brains. she thought again, with a little shiver.

"Are you cold?" Madame Lee asked. "It gets a bit chilly and damp up here, and there's supposed to be fog tonight. I can get you a blanket."

"I'm fine," Jennie said in a tight voice.

"What about medication? Chaeyoung said you were fond of tranquilizers."

"Fuck Rosé," she snapped. As a matter of fact she hadn't thought of her blessed little yellow pills in a long time. I guess when things get really bad I don't need them, she thought. They're just for minor annoyances, not life and death.

"I believe you already did," Madame Lee murmured. "I can get you whatever you need. It will just take a phone call and it'll be waiting for us."

She almost asked for Tab. She'd been careful with her last meal, her experience at Carl's Junior had taught her not to shove food into her face, but she'd had to make do with Diet Coke. Surely she deserved a can of Tab before walking into the valley of death.

"I'm fine," she said. They were climbing higher and higher into the mountains, and a light fog was rolling in. There must have been some kind of massive forest fire in the last few years. Twisted black stalks of dead trees covered the hillsides, making it look like a strange sort of cemetery. She kept her eyes away from the road; the driver was going way too fast for the conditions, and she was nervous enough. Was she ready to die on this strange, barren hillside? Was she to have any choice?

The fog was getting thicker the higher they climbed. Madame Lee was busy with her BlackBerry-like device, a duplicate of the one Rosé had used. Modern technology and the spy world, Jennie thought. Except they weren't spies, were they? She didn't know what the hell they were, and she didn't care.

"Supposing you manage to kill Kai?" She said. "What then?"

"Then it all gets covered up very neatly. We have the full cooperation of certain branches of the U.S government, and no one will ever know he didn't die in an unfortunate car wreck on one these twisty roads. They have rock slides all the time, sometimes boulders the size of a Volkswagen bug come down on the road. One could squash Kai, and even his good friend the president will have no idea what really happened."

"Squash a bug with a bug. Sounds fitting," she said. "And what about me with all my unfortunate knowledge? Aren't you going to have to squash me, too?"

"You read too many thrillers, Jennie," Madame Lee said. "You aren't going to say a word to anyone. For one thing, no one would believe you. For another, you'll want to forget these past few weeks, put them completely behind you. And there's one more thing."