He had come that morning with a television and had set her free to shower and step out for fresh air while he ran the digital antenna. It’d been kind of endearing, the way he’d spent so much time trying to get her the best reception the remoteness would allow. After, they’d sat on the porch, eating lunch out of cans and boxes, a proper hobo picnic, and he’d told her what he had planned, and she’d told him that letting Hayes control the narrative was like putting a chicken in front of a terrier and expecting the dog not to chase.

Hayes would use the opportunity to grab more extrajudicial power, and for all they knew, he was as much a partisan hack as the next guy, and there was no guarantee that whatever spin he spun would be in the country’s best interest.

“No,” Jack had said. “But he’ll do what’s in his own best interest.”

He hadn’t elaborated on how the two aligned.

Power grabs and politicking would go on regardless, he’d said. He wanted to prevent civil war, and wanted his freedom. Attempting to control more would make him yet another person trying to impose their worldview on the masses.

They talked until Jen stepped out to tell him it was time, and he guided Kara back to the shackle.

“I’d prefer to ask you to stay and wait, and to take you at your word,” he said. “But there’s too much at stake for that. Not just for us but you. Anyone finds you before we get back and you’re not locked up, then you’re an accomplice.”

She shoved her leg at him, hating that she was forced to understand logic that shouldn’t exist in the first place, hating that he’d do it whether she agreed or not.

“We’ll be gone three days at most,” he said.

She hoped to God he was right, because Hayes was about to go all out in an effort to scratch him off the Broker list. He’d have already called up every kill team not on active assignment, he’d have a small army at his back, and if they made it past round one and continued on to targets, there’d be SWAT teams and Capitol Police and FBI and probably multiple Boomerangs—gunfire locators mostly used against snipers.

That was simply the way things worked.

She would say as much to Jack if stating the obvious wouldn’t insult them both. She had her own reasons for wanting Hayes to lose.

For the sake of her freedom, she needed Jack to stay alive.

“I’ve made sure you’ll be okay,” he said. “No matter what happens to us, you’ll be all right. You have my word.”

He left her with nothing but television and time.

It was a hell of a wait.