Total pages in book: 158
Estimated words: 149641 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 748(@200wpm)___ 599(@250wpm)___ 499(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 149641 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 748(@200wpm)___ 599(@250wpm)___ 499(@300wpm)
“I have a video that states otherwise,” Kala said, her voice dead calm.
That was when Kala was at her most dangerous.
Video?
“Whatever he sent you, it’s a lie.”
She wore all black, her hair tied back and a black cap on to help her blend into the night. She stared down at him, not a hint of real expression on her face. “I watched you fuck her and talk about what a moron I am for believing you would care about me. Tell me where she is, Ben. I would like to have a word.”
He was going to throw up. What the hell had Manny done?
“I listened every time you told her you loved her. It makes sense now why you wouldn’t tell me,” she said quietly, every word a condemnation. “I listened to you tell her how you’ll kill me when the time is right and I’m no longer useful.”
“Kala,” a deep voice said. “I didn’t tell you to torture him. We took out the cameras. The place is empty, but I think it’s supposed to be. Tris, turn the lights on.”
The lights came on and Ben had to blink.
“Step back.” Ian Taggart was dressed like his daughter. Tactical pants, black shirt. He’d pulled up his balaclava and looked predatory as he pressed something against the cell door. “It doesn’t make much of a mess, but you can never tell. Fire in the hole.”
Ben scrambled away, expecting an explosion, but there was a small poof and the door swung open.
“Mr. Taggart, I…” Ben began.
Cooper strode in, dropping to one knee and holding up a small flashlight. “Hey, look here. Do you know what he gave you?”
“You didn’t have to be so harsh,” Taggart was complaining. “You know she wouldn’t want you to.”
“Well, if she wanted to handle it differently, she would be here doing her job and she would have let me do mine,” Kala complained.
Kenzie hadn’t wanted to come get him. He suffered through Coop’s basic exam, telling him it was some kind of sedative and he had no idea where he was or how long he’d been gone.
“You’ve been gone for almost twenty hours.” Cooper was a cool professional, taking his pulse. “You’re in France. We believe this is where they kept Sosa and the others. It looks like they cleared out. Sami saw them bringing someone in and then we found the message from Huisman.”
Something about Gabby. Yes. He remembered now. “Gabby said Sosa was sick, too, but she didn’t eat the pizza. I think…”
“You shouldn’t think,” Kala said with no small amount of venom. “Gabby and Claire were plants, and they’re now MI6’s problem. Tim and Sosa were poisoned. Like really poisoned. By assassins, who tend to know how to poison a person.”
“Hey, we talked about this,” Cooper admonished.
“Yeah, I’m supposed to be fine because my sister wants this complete asshole to feel good about himself. He ran off. He knew the protocols and he still ran off like a puppy being called by his master,” Kala accused. “He got Lou kidnapped, and god only knows what’s happening to her now.”
“She’s not here.” TJ strode in. “The place is deserted.”
A new face was with him. Tristan Dean-Miles. He’d met the man before, but it had been a while. “He planned this out. It’s his way of letting us know whatever we discover about him, he can get out of it. Sami and Lucy are going through what look like the offices, but I think he bricked everything before he left. We also found the tunnels they used to get everyone out under Sami’s watch. She saw nothing out of the ordinary until they brought Ben in. Huisman wasn’t sighted at all.”
“Because he never meant to be here. Ben was the distraction,” Taggart said and touched his ear where Ben was sure a comm was. “We have the target. Tell our doc he’ll need to look him over, but Coop thinks he’s good to come back to base. No. No sign of her, but then we knew that would happen.”
Cooper stood and reached for his wife’s hand. “Come on. Let’s get back to base and try to figure out where to look next.”
“Lou?” They were talking about Lou. He’d gotten Lou caught. His anger was at a low simmer since guilt seemed to be taking up all the space. And anxiety. What had Kenzie seen? What had she believed? Was that the reason she wasn’t here?
He needed to see her, to let her know he wasn’t going to allow a few fucking words to keep them apart. Who was to say this feeling he had for her wasn’t love? It was definitely commitment and passion and companionship and affection. She made him think about the future in a way he hadn’t in years.
“Lou’s somewhere being tortured because of you, asshole,” Kala spat.