Treatment 265_Badass in Disguise

Chapter 265 

 Jade’s POV:

 The armored SUV roared through the narrow streets of Suriname, Ures squealing against the cracked asphalt. Eleanor’s knuckles were white as she gripped the steering wheel, her eyes constantly darting to the rearview mirror.

 “Are you sure we’re not being followed? Eleanor asked, her voice light with anxiety.

 I nced back through the rear window. “For now, but it won’t take one long to regroup.” I turned my attention to Chris Jensen, who was slumped in the passenger seat beside Eleanor. His wrists were still bound by metal handcuffs, the skin around them raw and inmed.

 “Let me see those,” I said, pulling a small toolkit from my pocket. I selected a thin metal pick and began working on the lock. Within seconds, the handcuffs clicked open.

 Chris winced as the metal pulled away from his broken skin. The wounds were ugly–deep red with yellowish discharge seeping from the edges. ssic signs of infection.

 “These need to be cleaned and treated,” I said, carefully examining the damage. The infection’s spreading.”

 “I’ll be fine,” Chris muttered, though his pallor and the sweat beading on his forehead told a different story.

 My eyes drifted to the back seat where Liann sat huddled against the door, her eyes wild and darting. The surge of hatred that rose in my chest surprised even me. For a moment, I imagined wrapping my hands around her slender throat and watching the life drain from her eyes. I suppressed the urge–barely.

 Liana must have sensed my thoughts. She scrambled upright, her chest heaving with panicked breaths. The whip she’d used on Chris was still clutched in her hand.

 “Stop the car!” she screamed, brandishing the leather whip. “Let me out right now or I swear I

 I drew my gun in one fluid motion and pressed it against her temple, the cold metal silencing her mid–sentence.

 “You’ll what?” I asked quietly. The sudden stillness of my voice was more terrifying than any shout could have been. “Finish that sentence. and I promise it will be yourst.”

 Liana’s eyes widened, her pupils dting with fear. She slowly lowered the whip.

 “That’s better,” I said, keeping the gun trained on her. “Now sit down and shut up, or the next bump in the road might make my finger slip.”

 I grabbed the leather whip from her hand and, with practiced efficiency, bound her wrists together tightly.

 Eleanor drove frantically, taking random turns through unfamiliar streets. “I don’t know where I’m going,” she admitted, panic edging into her voice. “This ce is a maze.”

 A ck sedan appeared in the side mirror, gaining speed.

 “Switch,” Imanded, holstering my gun. “I’ll drive.”

 Eleanor pulled over just long enough for us to change ces. The moment my hands touched the wheel, I felt a familiar calm wash over me. This was my element.

 I stomped on the elerator, feeling the SUV surge forward. Then, without warning, I yanked the wheel hard, executing a perfect 180- degree turn. We were now facing directly toward our pursuers.

 “What are you doing?” Eleanor screamed.

 I didn’t answer. Instead, I floored it, driving straight at the approaching sedan. The other driver, caughtpletely off guard by my maneuver, swerved instinctively. The sedan skidded sideways, and I clipped its rear quarter panel at precisely the right angle. The impact sent their vehicle spinning out of control, flipping twice beforending on its roof.

 “Take the wheel,” I told Eleanor, already reaching for the door handle. “Drive straight for about five miles, then take the first right, Wait for me there.”

 “But-

 “Go!” I ordered, jumping out.

 I approached the overturned vehicle with my gun drawn. The driver was dead, his neck broken by the impact. The passenger was alive but dazed. He fumbled for his weapon, but I was faster. One shot, and the problem was solved.

 When I rejoined the others fifteen minutester, Eleanor was sitting behind the wheel, her face ashen, Chris had managed to move to the back seat and was leaning against the window, his eyes closed.

 “Is he unconscious?” I asked, sliding into the passenger seat.

 “Just resting.” Eleanor replied. “I think the fever’s getting worse.”

 I got in the car when a piercing scream shattered the silence. I whipped around to see Liana standing rigid, her eyes fixed on something outside the window.

 “What the hell?” I muttered, following her gaze.

 About fifty yards from the road, a massive python was colled around what appeared to be a human corpse, slowly consuming its meal. The snake’s </bws were distended around the dead man’s head.

 Liana’s screams intensified, bing unhinged and hysterical. Her eyes bulged, unseeing, as she wed at the car door.

 She shrieked, her body convulsing violently.

 “Restrain her,” I told Eleanor, who had pulled over at themotion.

 As Eleanor tried to calm Liana, I observed her symptoms with clinical detachment. The dted pupils, the disconnection from reality, the extreme reaction to a specific trigger….

 “She’s having a severe psychotic episode,” I said. “Probably has an underlying condition–schizophrenia or bipr with psychotic features The trauma of the past likely triggered it.”

 “How do you know that? Eleanor usked, struggling to hold Liana’s thrashing body.

 12:30 Sat, Sep 27…

 Chris suddenlyughed, a weak sound from his Injured state. “Turns out she’s the one terrified of the snakes.

 Three dayster, I sat in the spacious living room of Chris Jensen’s private vi near the Thai border. The modern structure with its clean lines and ss walls offered spectacr views of the surrounding Jungle.

 Chris entered the room, moving slowly but steadily. The color had returned to his face, and the Infection in his wrists was finally responding to the antibiotics,

 “How are you feeling?”

 “Better, thanks to you two. He smiled weakly. “Eleanor’s been an excellent nurse. Though she threatens to suffocate me with don’t take my medicine.”

 a pillow if 1

 I nodded. “She can be persuasive.

 “So,” Chris leaned forward slightly,

 lightly, “want to tell me how you found me? Last I knew, I was in Guyana with nomunication out.”

 “When you went dark in Guyana, your father called Night, Night called me.” I shrugged. “I ran into Eleanor at the airport. She insisted oning along.”

 The sliding door opened, and Maddox Jensen strode in. Tall and broad–shouldered, with silver hair and piercing blue eyes, he radiated authority without saying a word. He nodded to me before taking a seat at the head of the table.

 Eleanor entered carrying a tray of breakfast, her movements nervous and jerky. Sitting across from the most powerful crime lord in Southeast Asia would make anyone anxious.

 “50,” 

 said under his breath as his father engaged Eleanor in polite conversation, “how are things with Ethan Haxton?”

 Chris said

 “What?” I asked quietly.

 “He clearly has designs on you, and you’re not exactly fighting him off. I refuse to believe there’s nothing happening.”

 “That car crash incident had the whole country in an uproar, and your ssmates problems. Your rtionship ismon knowledge.”

 are convinced Ethan found a hacker to solve your

 “Getting kidnapped and still finding time for gossip,” I muttered. “No wonder you got caught.”

 Chris chuckled, then winced as the movement pulled at his healing wounds. After breakfast, Maddox called him away to the upstairs study, leaving Eleanor and me alone at the living room.

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Treatment 265