Chapter 8

CHAPTER EIGHT

SHEP

The following day, we collectively decided to give Four sweets in the hopes he'd talk. Angel informed us that he and the twins would be home tomorrow, and we'd need to have something to go on so a plan could form. I'd just returned from my watch at the hospital and Gabe was back there, so I'd decided chocolate chip cookies were easiest.

"They just have to cool." I set them on the counter and joined Max, Four, Mason, and JJ, who were all sitting at the table.

"Gabe texted and said to call him; he wants to be on speaker for this." Mason didn't look up from his phone.

"That's fine, and once the other three are here, we can come up with a better rotation than him and me going to the hospital. With the five of us, it'll be easier."

He nodded and shot me a smile. "It's okay; this is for a good reason."

I squeezed Mason's shoulder and went to the fridge. "Anyone want some milk with their cookies?"

"Me, me, me." JJ raised his hand and added a little wiggle.

I snorted. "I know, babe. Anyone else?"

"I'm going to pass, if that's okay. I don't have a sweet tooth." Max shrugged. "I'm sure they're really delicious, though."

"No worries." I went about pouring all of us, sans Max, glasses of milk. I wasn't sure if Four would drink it, but he did sip the water we'd given him.

It didn't take long for the cookies to cool, so I put them on a platter and brought them to the table. JJ immediately placed one in front of Four.

To be safe, we had Maxwell on the opposite side of the table as Four, the three of us in the middle, in case when Four looked at him, he thought to try and murder him again.

Four picked up the cookie and began eating.

"Hey, Four, how are you doing?" JJ initiated the conversation.

"These are good."

His voice was scratchy, likely from lack of use. I motioned for JJ to continue. We all figured it would be easiest if only one person spoke; that way it wouldn't confuse him or cause chaos. Of course if the rest had questions, they could ask but had to wait for a lull.

"Shep is a great cook." JJ grinned and Four peered over his cookie, directly at me. Which told me he was aware of who everyone was—that was good.

"Sooooo…Four, we have some questions. Can we ask you?"

Four nodded at JJ but chomped away at his cookie. JJ put three more in front of him, so we'd have a little time to hopefully get some words out.

"If at any time our questions upset you, can you tell me?"

Four's nose scrunched up. "Why does it matter if it upsets me?"

JJ, not showing an ounce of the shock that the question had hit me with, just smiled. "I like you, Four, and I want to be your friend. Friends don't hurt or upset each other."

"I don't know what a friend is. What is that?"

What the fuck? I gazed at JJ, whose eyes widened briefly.

"A friend is someone you have a connection with. They're someone you trust, love, and share things with. You're safe with your friends."

Four didn't say anything. He took a bite, his brow furrowed, and JJ continued.

"Whose blood was all over you when we found you?"

"Man, tried to mug me."

I guessed some random guy was dead somewhere but he seemed like a piece of shit, so I didn't care to know more. The others either shrugged or nodded as if they too were fine with his answer.

"Why do you only speak to us when you are eating sweet things?"

That's a good one to start with , I thought, my eyes never leaving Four.

"When given a dessert, it's a reward and the only time speaking is acceptable. Follow the rules; get the rewards." His tone was matter of fact, no inflection, almost as if he were reading from a manual.

"And how long have you had to follow this rule?"

Four regarded JJ briefly. "Forever."

That was vague but told us that at least for as far as Four's memories took him, this had been his way of life…and what a shit show that was.

"Would you like some milk?" JJ pushed the glass closer. Four sniffed it, took it, and drank a few sips.

"Good."

JJ chuckled. "Cold milk and cookies are my favorite."

Four cocked his head as if JJ's words were foreign to him, but what exactly confused him he never said.

"Hard question." JJ took a loud breath. "What is the Alabastrine Consortium?"

Four stopped midchew, eyes wide as he stared at JJ.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Four's response was rehearsed.

"He's not going to tell you," Max interrupted. "Look what happened to me when I told a friend about it—I'm sentenced to death."

JJ grunted. "Four, we want to protect you, help you get away from them. Don't you want that?"

"I don't understand."

Mason sighed. "JJ, he's brainwashed—Stockholm Syndrome, something like that. None of us are equipped to break him free of anything like that."

"We need a professional, but bringing anyone else in is dangerous," I stated.

"Four, can I ask you why you were in dirty clothes with no shoes when I met you?" JJ's voice was soft.

"Not allowed home before I was done."

"Done with what?" JJ was pushing, and maybe if we didn't ask him directly about the consortium he'd tell us more.

"My job." Four regarded Maxwell, then in a flash began eating again.

"He was searching for Maxwell to kill him, and until he succeeded, he wasn't allowed back to the consortium," Mason concluded.

"Uh huh, thanks, we figured that much out." I rolled my eyes, earning a glare from Mason.

"So, Maxwell's still alive; is that what's keeping him here and why he's not leaving?" JJ looked at Four. "Is that why you're not fighting us on leaving?"

"When the job is done, you can come home." He spoke like it was a repeated message, one he'd heard many times and was burned in his brain.

"We need to kill Max in order to follow him to this place?" Mason scrunched up his nose.

"Hey!" Max argued.

"Calm down, no one is dying here. There are other ways." I narrowed my eyes at Four. "Question, Four. What happens if you don't return home?"

"Jobs take time," he mumbled around the cookie.

"How long do jobs normally take?" JJ reached over and brushed some crumbs from Four's face.

"Depends."

"How long were you searching for Maxwell?"

"Didn't know he wasn't home. Waited. Fourteen days, three hours, seventeen minutes."

I turned toward Max. "Where were you?"

"I was at the hospital for a whole week, stayed in a hotel across from it to be closer, and afterward I had a business trip."

"Why didn't you go to the hospital?" JJ asked Four.

"Only at his home. Nowhere else." That explained why he wasn't attacking Maxwell here. He'd been ordered to kill him at his home.

"Four, if you don't return after a certain amount of time, what happens?" JJ's voice was small.

Four looked up and tilted his head at JJ. "They'll come get me."

"And how would they do that?" I had an inkling of how but hoped I was wrong.

He held out his arm. There was a tattoo. Simply the letter A, so small JJ and I both had missed it. "They know where I am."

Well, that changed everything.