Chapter 32

Aiden sent Nigel off and locked his office, not bringing up his termination of employment. He hadn't exactly processed it yet, nor had the time to analyze it, because the first thing he'd done had been to summon Darren to his office. It had been an impulsive decision, and he wasn't sure where it had come from, but as much as he hated hearing Darren speak of Claudia, having him in the office had chased some of the anxiety away. Anger was easier to deal with, a beast Aiden knew how to tame for the most part.

After he swung by the staff room for a cup of coffee, he made his way to the level before the last level, where the new cell blocks were going to be. He greeted the two security guards at the checkpoint, then followed the main corridor that circled the entire trunk of the asteroid to zone D-3. There, he passed a set of access doors into one of the narrower hallways that wove its way deeper into the rock's body.

This part of the facility was not currently in use because of a faulty power line, and he wondered whether the inspectors were here to discuss finally getting it up and running if they were only interested in the new area of the prison. It comprised three new cell blocks, but the issue with the line had halted construction.

Conference room four was just off a viewing deck on the other end of zone D-3. Albeit functional, this part of Horizons wasn't in use because of its inconvenient location and the fact that you had to pass through this level's entire inner section. Which, now that he thought about it, made him question why the inspectors hadn't waited for him at the checkpoint with the guards, but had chosen to come straight here.

Tablet in hand, Aiden knocked to announce himself and entered the office. As soon as he saw the two burly men standing by the projector board, something felt even more off. They had their backs to him, but spun around and faced him upon his entry, sunglasses obscuring their eyes. The long black coats they wore were also out of place since management types liked to flaunt their expensive suits wherever they went.

"Hello, inspectors," Aiden greeted them in a professional tone.

The one wearing a fedora motioned for him to sit. He was about to do so when his senses flared and sent a barrage of warnings to his brain, making him stop dead in his tracks. Something wasn't right.

Scrambling to grasp what was making him feel so uneasy, he subtly scoped the visitors and his surroundings. Other than their imposing size and strange choice of clothes, there didn't seem to be anything ‘wrong' with the men, per se. The same was true for the room, at least until his gaze swept over the disconnected surveillance camera in the corner.

"Mr. Kesley, please take a seat," Fedora Guy insisted in his deep baritone. "We'd like to ask you a few questions before we inspect the premises."

"Of course." Instead of taking a seat next to the now sitting inspector, Aiden chose a chair on the other end of the table. "How can I help?"

Upon a nod from Fedora Guy, who didn't have a name tag as he should have, the second man circled the table and stood by the door. Aiden narrowed his eyes, demanding an explanation, but when one was not offered, he twisted his head and glared at the silent guy behind him. Now that he could study the man from up close, Aiden didn't miss the outline of a concealed gun bulging from the side of his long coat or the hand hovering suspiciously close to it.

A lump lodged itself in Aiden's throat. Firearms were confiscated upon entering a prison's premises, replaced by taser bracelets, unless you were a guard at the gate. Plus, audit inspectors didn't usuallycarry.

"Well, gentlemen." He smiled his business smile, placing his tablet on the table and pocketing the pen. The bad feeling that had possessed his stomach spread all over him, intensifying with every tense second that passed, but he did his best to come across calm. "It's quite obvious you are not here to marvel at our amazing facility. What is this about? Some new form of audit?"

Fedora Guy produced a tablet out of a bag that Aiden hadn't noticed was propped by one of the table's legs. He held it up and performed a scan of some sorts, though that wasn't what caught Aiden's attention. The crowned mountain logo at its bottom corner was.

"Did Marcus send you?" he blurted out, prickles crawling under his skin.

Fedora Guy smiled in that same fake way Aiden had. "We're just here to ask you a couple of questions, Mr. Kesley."

"Is that why your friend's blocking the only exit?"

"Simply answer the questions and no harm will come to you, Mr. Kesley," Fedora Guy insisted in a leveled voice.

Somehow Aiden doubted that or they wouldn't have picked the most secluded part of the station. He should've known something was up before he'd gotten stuck with them, but he'd been lost in his head and ignored the red flags. Why were they after him when he couldn't really offer anything of use? Surely Marcus had bought his cluelessness, or he wouldn't have let him off the hook yesterday…

A wave of panic flooded Aiden's system as he thought back to this morning as he stared down the goon watching him from behind expensive sunglasses. PIDeverson. He was dead and this proved it was no accident.

"Shoot," Aiden said, his mind hazy and racing. He needed to get out of here.

"Do you know who the Valrais are?" Fedora Guy asked, getting straight to the point.

"No, never heard of them," Aiden quickly denied, pushing his chair back ever so slightly.

The man let out a sigh and steepled his fingers. "I will repeat the question, Mr. Kesley. Do you know who the Valrais are?"

"Yes," Aiden corrected unwillingly, concluding that the tablet had lie detection software running.

"Do you know the current location of white raven?"

Aiden folded his arms, but his right shoulder complained, forcing him to let them hang back down. "No."

The man nodded. After glancing at something on the tablet, he said, "Mr. Kesley, tell us everything you know about the ‘dead sister's AI' and her ‘Valrais secret'."

Aiden's pulse pounded in his ears. Marcus knew about those two things already, but if his goons were asking this, then he was aware Aiden hadn't told him the entire truth. Why and how had Marcus figured it out between now and yesterday? Aiden hadn't spoken to anyone besides Darren about Sara, and Marcus ought to have bought Aiden's bullshit or he would've been sat down in an interrogation room right away. He'd also thoroughly checked his office this morning and there had been no hidden bugs or cameras…

And yet, Fedora Guy had used his exact words from earlier.

Shit. Aiden clenched his teeth, unease stirring in his stomach. How were they doing it? How did they know?

"Mr. Kesley, please answer the question truthfully," Fedora Guy encouraged, tapping his fingers on the table.

Aiden squeezed the armrests of his chair, biting off a grunt when pain shot down from his shoulder. Seriously, what the fuck had he hit last night?Why couldn't he remember?

"I know the princess was killed when she was young because…" he trailed off, the memory Sara had shown him surfacing from its dark corner. Aiden considered if there was any point in pretending he didn't know about the coup and didn't see one. Still, he chose his words carefully, not wanting to put Sara in danger regardless of how much he hated Darren Howe. "Because the Valrais family possessed something that the Global Nations wanted."

"Mr. Kesley, let me rephrase my question. Where is the ‘dead sister's AI' hiding?"

So this was about the hideout then. They were just playing games with him for some reason, instead of asking him about it. Or… were they fishing for more? Feeling him up in hopes he would let something slip without realizing it?

Aiden stared down the guy sitting across from him. He wanted Darren to suffer, but was he okay with condemning Bea and assisting Marcus in his hunt for a legacy that he had no right to? Was he okay letting the AI carrying Princess Sara's memories and knowledge fall into the hands of the man who'd massacred the Valrais and erased them from Earth's history?

The answer came to him immediately, his choice as easy and effortless as breathing.

"Tell Marcus that I don't know."

Fedora Guy shook his head. "We know for a fact that you do. So, Mr. Kesley, don't make this any more difficult than it has to be."

Except that even if he gave them what they wanted, he could tell they wouldn't let him go. Not if Marcus had figured out he'd lied yesterday.

"Look, I don't remember, okay? I was in distress and wasn't thinking clearly, so I'm afraid that's all I can give you." He directed a pleading smile Fedora Guy's way. "If I remember anything else, I promise I'll contact Marcus. Just… let me go now and I'll keep my mouth shut about this whole thing." He pushed his chair back a bit more, the legs scraping against the smooth floor with a nasty screech.

Fedora nodded at his partner by the door. "I'm afraid you won't be able to leave until you answer our questions, Mr. Kesley."

Aiden realized these men had not been sent to simply interrogate him. They were here to get the information out of him one way or another, and once they had it, to kill him.

Heeding Marcus' repeated advice to let Claudia rest in peace should've been what Aiden had done. Ignoring his pride and stupid gut feeling and letting her go even if things hadn't exactly added up. Instead, he'd kept digging and done the one thing Marcus couldn't overlook—he'd found out the truth and then arrogantly thought he could outplay a DuLaurent at their own game.

Really, what had Aiden been thinking, believing that a fake ID and a capable PI were all it would take for him to solve a mysterious death that the authorities themselves didn't want solved? Why hadn't he put two and two together sooner, realized that whoever was behind this wouldn't simply allow him to poke his nose where it didn't belong? God, he'd been so focused on the end goal, so obsessed with Darren Howe, that he'd ignored all the little signs.

Blood thrumming in his ears, Aiden acted on impulse just as Fedora Guy opened his mouth to say something. Adrenaline flooded him as his fight-or-flight response kicked in, and before he'd even realized what he was doing, he lunged at the man standing by the door. Grabbing the tablet pen, he slammed it right into the artery along the guy's neck. Blood spurted everywhere, but Aiden didn't even register it because one single directive dominated his mind as he twisted and buried the pen deeper.

He had to kill these men before they killed him.

Hauling the still writhing body to the side, Aiden ducked behind it as bullets flew in his direction. One managed to graze his forearm, but he felt no pain with the adrenaline high in his bloodstream. Later, he would worry about it; all that he needed to worry about now was surviving.

Aiden reached for the gun he'd seen strapped around the dead man's hip, but he didn't get the chance to snatch it as the other man bolted at him and a gloved hand grasped his wrist. It squeezed, yanking him forward and smashing his side into the table's edge. Sharp pain knocked the air out of his lungs and he slumped onto the floor, gasping. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the kick coming just in time to roll to the left and avoid the worst of it. Instead of his head, the right side of his back took the hit.

"Fuck!" Aiden cried out, pain exploding all over his already sore shoulder blade. Black dots appeared all over his vision, but he ignored them, reaching for the table's leg so he could slide around it and launch his legs at the standing man's knees. The force of the impact threw Fedora Guy off balance, and he landed on the floor, glasses flying off toward the window.

Before he'd even yelped, Aiden rushed at him, pinning him with thighs and weight in a sorry excuse for an immobilizing hold that somehow did the job. It had been years since he had practiced, so his moves were uncoordinated, but, hell, was he glad he'd kept his body in shape. Clasping his hands around the man's throat, he squeezed, going for a strangling choke.

It took about a minute for Fedora Guy to stop thrashing. Aiden let go and rolled off the man, heart rate through the roof and blood pounding in his ears. He stayed with his hands splayed on his face until the violent scorch in his chest was bearable and he could breathe without wheezing.

The realization of what he'd done crashed into him, turning his stomach upside down. He'd killed someone. Two someone-s, with his own hands. A tremor elevated his heart rate again. He'd had no choice. It was him or them, because even if he had cooperated, he had already become a liability to Marcus. A lying pawn that had outlasted its use.

Aiden stuffed down the nausea and focused on what he needed to do next. When his brain successfully compartmentalized what had happened and what he'd done, he sat up. His first thought was relief that this part of the station wasn't manned. And then he realized he didn't have much time left. He needed to rush for the next shuttle and get the fuck away from this place, grab some money and leave Europa.

But then what?When news of this reached Marcus, he'd go after Aiden and he would be in an interrogation room, or worse, in no time. Besides, when was the next shuttle even? In four hours? Five? Marcus would be here long before then.

"Fuck!"

Aiden rushed to the tablet Fedora Guy had been using. The screen had gone black, telling him he wouldn't be getting past the lock screen. He stared at it, then at the dead men, a sense of dread settling over him not just because of what he'd had to do. He tried to swallow it down, but couldn't stop the shivers. Marcus' goons were probably meant to check in once they'd finished interrogating Aiden, and when they didn't, there'd be dozens of them here within the hour. They'd storm the place and he would have nowhere to hide.

Taking a deep inhale, Aiden closed his eyes and blocked out everything. He needed to calm down, to pause for a moment, and think.

But thinking was so hard. His head was a mess, the constant ache back along with the stinging pain along his shoulder and arm. What was he going to do? What could he even do? When had the inspectors arrived? How long did he have?

Head spinning, he forced his thoughts to slow down, focusing on one problem at a time. The fake inspectors had arrived maybe about thirty minutes ago. It would take them an hour or so to question him. And then they would call Marcus. When they failed to do so, he'd know something had gone wrong and he'd send reinforcements.

Two hours. At most. That was how much time Aiden had to get off the station. He squinted at the clock above the door. The next shuttle was not due for another four.

Controlling his shaking hands as much as he could, Aiden flipped over the body of the man he'd stabbed with the tablet pen and snatched the loaded gun. Because of the checkpoint he had to go through, he couldn't take it upstairs, so he decided to hide it here on this level and pick it up on his way out. He moved on to Fedora Guy and took his long coat. He traded it for his ruined vest, though didn't bother to remove his torn shirt. He didn't even glance at the wound on his arm, deeming that if it wasn't bleeding profusely, it was probably fine.

Aiden took out his phone next, but stopped himself before he'd booked a private shuttle to come pick him up. Was his phone tapped? Was that how Marcus had found out he knew about the hideout? He couldn't use it then, or Marcus would immediately know his men had messed up. Wired money… was the same. It could be tracked, spied on. He needed cash from somewhere. But where the fuck was he going to get it the short window of time he had? Assuming he even found a way to get off Horizons without getting caught.

Nerves on edge, Aiden took a deep breath. One problem at a time. He left the room and hid the gun in a restroom, already mapping his escape route. He'd go through the storage areas and avoid all personnel.

Once in the elevator that would take him to the prison floor, it occurred to him that someone on the inside had to have known about this. Someone here was working for Marcus. It didn't matter who it was anymore, so he didn't waste what mental capacity he had left on it. He tried to gather his thoughts instead. Lunch break had started ten minutes ago, so most of the guards would be in the staff room, granting him about forty minutes to pull off a near-impossible escape.

How was he going to do it?He couldn't use his laptop or phone and he couldn't ask any of the staff for theirs because he didn't know who Marcus' inside man was.

Turning the corner, Aiden stopped dead in his tracks, a suffocating episode freezing him mid-step. Even if he made it out of Horizons alive, what was he going to do? Where would he go? How would he get money? His apartment was out of the question, his bank accounts were useless and worst of all, he couldn't trust anyone. Not even Rick, because he couldn't drag his best friend into this mess and risk getting him killed like PI Deverson.

Aiden clutched his chest, trying to fight off the panic, then shoved his hand in his pocket in search of Claudia's stone. It wasn't there. A sense of uncontrollable grief and anger spread through him as he realized he must've lost it during the fight with the two impostor inspectors, but as much as he wanted to go back and find it, he couldn't afford to waste any time.

Marcus had him at a checkmate, his only option to call for a shuttle and hope it would get here before Marcus' men. If it even got dispatched, because Marcus could ground it, couldn't he? Aiden hung his head back and stared at the ceiling.

Was that it then? The end of his road? He was going to go down without even asking for help because he had no one he trusted.

Shouting from the fields outside pulled his attention, unleashing a soul-shaking shudder from his head to his toes. No. There was one man who Aiden could trust, as much as he hated to admit it. One last ace he could play against Marcus now that he had nothing left to lose but his life.

Darren Howe.