Blaze (Linear Tactical) by Janie Crouch

Author:Janie Crouch [Crouch, Janie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Calamittie Jane Publishing
Published: 2021-05-10T18:30:00+00:00

Chapter 15

“Ian, man, I’m so sorry we haven’t made more progress on the drive. It’s been a nightmare. I’ve been way too cocky or something, but this thing has been an absolute fucking nemesis.”

Neo stared down at the pictures spread out over the table as Kendrick continued to apologize for something that wasn’t his fault. Ian and Landon assured him that they knew he was doing his best. That this new version of Mosaic was more well organized and technically savvy than the first group ever had been.

Sevier had been trying to use Mosaic’s own system against them, but something had evidently gone wrong.

The discussion went on around her at a distance, like it was on the other side of some sort of thick bubble, and she could only hear if she forced herself to concentrate.

And she couldn’t force herself to concentrate on it anymore. Not after seeing these pictures.

She was backing away emotionally from the present—zipping herself into her own skin, removed from everyone. She could separate herself enough from it all to recognize her behavior for what it was: a coping mechanism.

She’d developed it as a child when she’d been bounced from one foster home to another. There came a point—and most chronic foster kids learned to pinpoint it—when she’d known each time that a decision had been made and she was no longer going to be part of the inner circle. Her only option had been to wrap walls around herself so no pain could get through.

As a child, she hadn’t had the choice of whether to stay or go. The choice to be removed from each family had been made whether she wanted it or not.

But this time, she was making the choice to take herself out of the inner circle.

She ran her fingers along the photo of one of the caged women Ian had shown them. A teenager. Her eyes were blank, haunted.

Hopeless.

Every time Neo stopped Kendrick from making forward progress on the drive, she was contributing to whatever physical or emotional torture the people trapped by Mosaic were going through.

It was time to take herself out of the equation. It was the only way. If she didn’t, Varela would certainly go through with his threat to tell Kendrick and everyone else at Linear what she’d done, about the surveillance she’d set up. That, coupled with how she’d hindered things here, would remove her from the equation anyway.

Unlike the child she’d been, who’d had no choice in whether she was shown the door, she could at least make the choice now. It was better for everyone if she just walked, didn’t let them know how much she’d betrayed their trust. Better for everyone if she just disappeared.

But walking away from the people she’d surrounded herself with for the past year—the closest thing she’d ever had to a permanent family—was going to hurt. Her subconscious was trying to protect her, withdrawing until the wall was solid, until nothing could hurt her.

“Hey.” She flinched as Kendrick trailed a gentle hand across her shoulder.

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