The Debt Collectors War

Chapter 91

Terry had been watching Ellie talk with the operations centre. He seemed to be becoming nervous. He seemed to be wondering if he’d made the right decision.

“You said you’d help us,” he said to her, when she broke the comm connection.

“I know,” she said.

“You said you’d help us if I helped you.”

“Yes, I know. I’m working out how much I can help.”

Terry just looked at her. He seemed a little disappointed.

“This is different to what I thought,” Ellie said. “An attack, involving one of our own. That’s bad.”

“Yes.”

“It’s far worse than I thought. It’s worse than a random kidnapping.”

“It is. That’s why we need your help.”

“I’ll help,” Ellie said. “I’m helping. As much as I can. I’m just working out how much that is.”

“But…” Terry said.

“Quiet,” Ellie said. “Let me think.”

Behind Ellie, Sameh said, “We need to secure this area.”

“I know,” Ellie said.

“We need to move, to go after the kid.”

Ellie nodded.

“We need to go now,” Sameh said.

“Yes,” Ellie said. She knew. They had to move, but first Ellie had to decide what to do with Terry and his friends. She couldn’t just leave them here, able to contact the rest of their organization and pass on warnings. Or to make trouble for the next debt recovery team that came along. She needed to do something with them, but she wasn’t sure what. She either had to have them all arrested, which they wouldn’t like, or she had to kill them, which they really wouldn’t like. She was stuck, though. She couldn’t see any other possibilities.

“Here’s the problem,” Ellie said to Terry. “You’re hostile, and I’m badly outnumbered, and I need you contained while we go after this kid. So I really need to call in backup and have you all arrested.”

Terry looked at her. “You promised…”

“I said I’d help,” Ellie said. “I didn’t promise.”

“This isn’t helping.”

“It’s that or kill you all,” Ellie said. “Which would you prefer?”

He didn’t answer.

“Seriously?” Ellie said, a little surprised.

“You said you’d help,” Terry said.

“This is me helping. Arrested isn’t the same as dead.”

“It might as well be.”

Ellie wondered about that. She thought, then realized. “Oh,” she said. “Because you all have some pretty serious debt by now?”

Terry didn’t answer, but she could see it on his face.

Ellie sighed. She understood. Everyone in Terry’s group would have debt, either because they’d joined the group in the first place fleeing it, or because they’d incurred it after joining to make a point. They would all have debt, which meant everyone in the group would be heading to forced-labor workhouses if they were arrested.

She understood why he was upset, and she could see it was a concern for him, but she also didn’t especially care. She needed to worry about her own operation.