“They are hunting you down because of the case you’re building. That’s why you’re here. You’re hiding out here and for some reason you think you’re safe.”
“In a nutshell. I brought all my case files with me and I am determined to go through it all and find that one piece of evidence that will take them all down.”
“And yet you risked showing up at my underground fight club for what?” He inhales deeply, filling his chest with calm, I imagine. The sight is beautiful all the same and I can appreciate the way his shoulders rock back and all that taut muscle ripples as he exhales.
“Why, is what I want to know? These men aren’t bothered with the law. They normally don’t bat an eye at badges. Nah. You have something else they can’t risk you knowing about. What is it?”
Their chemist, my mind sing-songs. I have their chemist feeding me tiny details here and there but nothing solid.
But I place that in my mental vault and go with, “Veles has a hard-on for me for a while now. We’ve been hunting him and those nasty Vultures for a year now. Nothing we have can slam the cell door closed on them permanently. I’ve been working to get all the dirt on them I can.”
“That is what last night’s fight was about? What did the big guy you fought last night have that you wanted?” he asks.
I hesitate, chewing my lip. “I was challenged. The behemoth said if I beat him in this fight club thing he knew about then I’d earnthe location of the Vulture president. At the time, I needed that information,” I lie. It takes a crap ton of effort, but I manage to keep my tone breezy, hiding the pounding of my heart. “But, like I said, you already know where he is. Or did. He just escaped from your cells, didn’t he?”
Cipher grins, all wolf and pride. “You always were fast on your feet.”
“Now tell me what you were really after.”
Fuck. Busted.
I guess I see no harm in giving him a few details of what I have. I’m not giving my source away or putting her life in danger. Maybe by giving him enough information where he thinks he has what he needs, he’ll uncuff me and I can kick his ass for denying me another orgasm.
That puts a smile on my face.
“Not many women smile about getting knocked around.”
Not why I’m smiling, but I keep that to myself and opt for, “Yeah, but did you see the other guy by the time I was done?”
Cipher nods with pure pride sitting on his expression.
“Now, answer my question and I might give you this.” He holds up the key to the cuffs and I play along.
“They have a chemist who’s been feeding me information. Sometimes it’s a picture of one of them making a deal, sometimes it’s part of the formula she uses to cook up the Euphoria batches. But what she sends me is all blurry and with no faces or only parts of the formula. There’s nothing I can use. It’s like she only has seconds to herself to get the informationand send it my way. It’s never enough to build a solid case that will lock anyone up.”
A dark smile spreads across his face and it’s filled with dark delight and pure…well, euphoria, for lack of a better word.
“What’s her name?”
I shake my head. “Nope. I’m not giving you my source.”
“Her first name then.”
Fine. “Layla.”
“And you were really in the ring to find out what?”
Damn this man. “I was in that ring to learn the last known location of the Euphoria cook. I’ve been out of communication with her for two weeks. They’ve either moved her again or killed her. And the behemoth from last night swore he knew, but he wanted to get me in the ring. That was the only way he would tell me. If I won. Which I did. But a big brute kidnapped me before I could get the information.”
His phone rings. He takes it, stepping away into the shadows of the cabin. The fire crackles behind me, snow tapping at the window, the whole world closing in until it’s just me, the fucking cuffs around my wrists.
I start working on the cuffs. Silly man. He should have known better than to leave my hands so close together. I rip the loosened seam and slip out the key tucked inside my hair tie. It doesn’t take three seconds before I’m free. There are a lot of tricks an agent learns about getting out of jams just like this one and carrying a spare cuff key is crucial to staying alive.
I work the tumblers with quick, efficient fingers, and click. The cuffs clatter to the floor, victory tight in my chest. Boom, baby! Freedom. I tie my hair back for what I know comes next.
I’m a damn good agent for a reason.
Cipher’s footsteps thump back down the hall and then I hear him return to the living room.
