Chapter 11, we'll be in touch
Jack stared at her phone in shock. Struggling (and failing) to control her temper, she stormed to the nearest restaurant and sat down. Ordering a meal, she set the waiter scurrying off when she glared at him as though contemplating thrusting her fork up his nose. Grinding her teeth, she sat and thought for awhile. Then, an idea sprung to life. Jack picked her phone up and took out a list of numbers she kept in case of emergencies in her bag. It took an hour, but finally her plan succeeded.
"Hello, this is John Craweley. Is this Jack Starbright?"
Jack felt oddly elated. Somehow she'd done it, she'd reached MI6.
"Ms. Starbright, are you there?"
Shaking herself, Jack answered quickly.
"Y-yes, I'm here."
For a moment, there was no sound, then…
"Ms. Starbright, I am going to put you through to Mrs. Jones."
A surge of triumph jolted Jack; she was going to give these people a what for! A weary voice spoke suddenly.
"Ms. Starbright, this is Mrs. Jones. I think I know what you want."
Composing herself, Jack answered.
"Look I don't care what you think I want, I sure as hell do want to know what you've done to Alex this time!" She growled. A tired sigh on the other end sounded like a rush of static. For some strange reason, Jack felt a quick bust of sympathy for the English woman.
"Jack…if I may call you that?"
She gave a grunt in way of a yes.
"Jack, I really don't know too much more then you do, but what news I can provide is bad."
Trying to keep from screaming in frustration, the American grit her teeth and asked.
"Why have you got Alex, he mentioned heads on platters and running. Did a mission go wrong?"
The hesitant pause from Mrs. Jones made Jack prepare herself for the worst.
"As a matter of fact, Alex isn't with us. We believe him to be with two Russian, one of them is Yassen Gregorovich."
The name was familiar to Jack, but oddly so.
"Wait, isn't he the one who…"
"Killed Ian Rider? Yes, he is."
Confusion swept through Jack, she was sure she was missing something here.
"What's Alex doing with him, has he been kidnapped?!"
Again the pause. Mrs. Jones did her best to avoid answering bluntly.
"Ms. Starbright, I don't think that I'm the right person to tell…"
Jack snarled at the MI6 deputy before she could continue.
"ANSWER ME STRAIGHT DAMMIT!"
When Mrs. Jones spoke again, her voice was much less friendly. It was colder and contained a note of steel.
"Alex has turned on us. He's working with the other two now, he's become a traitor."
A sense of horror trickled through Jack.
"No!" she whispered, scarcely believing her own ears. "No, he couldn't!?"
"I'm afraid it's the truth Jack, we also have reason to believe that Alex was involved in the deaths of six agents."
A sickening mix of anger and fear churned nauseatingly in Jack's stomach. She wanted so hard to hang up, but the cold words kept coming and she couldn't ignore them.
"We will of course do our best to bring him in, but be warned, there are always the risk of…injuries."
Jack swallowed dryly, she felt sick.
"Depending on the circumstances of course, Alex may well be charged criminally. At 16, laws work a little differently for him."
Suddenly, Jack had had enough, she snapped back into focus. Her emotions flooded back, Anger leading the way.
"You can't do this, he's not a killer, and you have no right!!!" She stopped yelling for a moment, everyone in the restaurant was staring at her. Mrs. Jones answered emotionlessly.
"Actually Ms. Starbright, I think you'll find we do have the right."
Jack couldn't think of anything to say, so she bowed her head limply.
"Good Evening Ms. Starbright, we'll be in touch."
The line went silent as Mrs. Jones hung up.
For a moment, Jack simply stared around her. Then, she burst into tears, because in her heart, Jack knew everything MI6 had told her was true. Alex Rider had turned, and this time there was no going back.