Kindred Spirit - Noah Harris Page 0,51
being uncomfortable, exhausted, hungry, and injured. If anything, I wouldn’t have blamed you for complaining or dragging your heels. You might not think that’s all that impressive, but it sure as hell is to someone who had to be trained first and then endure it several times.”
Levi shrugged. “No real point in it. We’ve got a bunch of crazy people coming down on us from all angles. We didn’t really have time to kiss my boo-boos and make me feel better.”
“I’m still impressed.”
“Being practical is not all that impressive.”
“You’d be surprised.”
Levi shook his head. “Stubborn.”
Jacob chuckled, watching as Levi’s face scrunched up in annoyance. To his amusement, he watched Levi swat over his shoulder at what appeared to be thin air. It seemed like the more time they spent together, the more relaxed Levi was about showing his interactions with Lou.
“Well, it’s probably my turn,” Jacob said, pushing himself up.
“Left you a towel!” Levi called softly after him.
It turned out, a hot shower after the past twenty-four hours did, in fact, have a restorative effect. The hot water had stung a little on his wound, but Jacob was willing to endure it. There wasn’t much of a selection of soap, but he duly washed himself off and let himself linger under the hot spray for a little longer before getting out. It seemed a shame to put the dirty clothes back on, but they were all he had for the moment. And as much as parading around naked made him grin, he decided against it. It wasn’t like he knew where Levi stood on them as an item just yet.
He emerged, rubbing at his hair with a towel. “So, I have a question. You can feel free not to answer it if you want, but there’s something that’s been bothering me.”
Levi looked up, eyes darting over Jacob before nodding. “Shoot.”
Jacob slid down the wall, back into his spot. “Well, 2218 are coming after us pretty hard.”
“Beating them up, killing them, and then trying to blow them up will do that,” Levi said dryly.
Jacob snorted. “Granted, but they came prepared for something big. They don’t normally hit that hard the first time. They do that when they have a very good reason for it.”
Levi frowned thoughtfully. “You guys knew about me, why wouldn’t they?”
“Well, they did, which is why they’re here. But unless I wasn’t given all the facts about what you and Lou could do, then something’s missing.”
“Who’s to say your bosses didn’t give you all the facts?”
“They could’ve, that’s why I offered it as a possibility. But that doesn’t sit right with me, doesn’t make sense.”
“Why?”
“If they knew what you could do, what would be the point of having me watch you undercover? All they had was a whole history of different weird things that have happened around you but were never tied directly to you. Knowing what I know now, I can see why they thought that, but…”
Levi’s gaze went distant. “You think 2218 had more information.”
“Somehow, someway, yes.”
“How?”
Jacob shrugged. “Either they had someone watching you for a real long time, and we didn’t know. Or something happened that we didn’t hear about.”
Levi’s gaze snapped to him. “You’re saying that this is the first time the DDI has come after me?”
“I didn’t come after you. I was here to observe and protect if necessary. If they knew exactly what you could do, they wouldn’t have sent just one guy.”
Levi smiled grimly. “They would have sent a whole team of men with nice, big guns.”
Jacob shook his head. “I’ve never been sent after someone unless they were presenting an obvious and clear danger to the people around them. I’m not a hitman Levi, I don’t gun down random people for the thrill of it or because I was ordered to.”
“And my dad?”
Jacob frowned. “Car accident, wasn’t it?”
“That’s what they tried to tell me. Funny how it happened after he told a bunch of suits to piss off when they wanted to take me to some lab.”
“Uh, in all the reports I had, it was reported as an accident.”
“Just a coincidence.”
Jacob could hear the bitter doubt in Levi’s voice and looked at him helplessly. It was possible something else had been at play at the time. As far as Jacob knew, Levi’s father had died tragically, but purely by accident. The DDI had never given Jacob reason to doubt them, and despite understanding Levi’s doubt, he still didn’t see how his organization was responsible.
Levi looked up toward the ceiling and