The minutes stretch from one to another. Exhaustion tugs at my heavy lids. I’m so fucking compromised, physically and mentally, there’s no way I’ll be able to fight my way out of here.
I must nod off, because I jerk awake when the door bangs open. Collins and Doherty enter, with Sutton hanging back in the hall, a pistol in his hand.
Gladys’s arms tighten around me, though she glares at the men with fire in her brown eyes.
Doherty holds up his phone so we can see the screen. Natasha sits in a car, her cheeks glistening with tears. “Doc? Gladys?”
“Don’t do this, baby. Please. Walk away. Right now.” I can’t let her confess to all Bastian’s crimes. She doesn’t know what they’re planning. She thinks she’ll be safe—that Hidden Agenda will get her out, even if it takes them a few days. She doesn’t have that long.
Collins bites back an oath. Sutton beelines for me, then jams his pistol to my temple. “Shut up, old man.”
Bastian’s voice comes through the speaker. “Natasha won’t dare disobey me. If she does, the two of you serve no purpose.”
I sit up a little straighter. “Get it over with, fucker. We all know Gladys and I aren’t walking out of here alive.”
Sutton slams the butt of the pistol against my skull. Stars burst in front of my eyes, and Collins drags Gladys away from me. Her fist connects with his nuts, but there’s no power behind the punch, and it only serves to piss him off. He shoves her to the floor, and she whimpers softly.
“Stop! Don’t hurt her!” Natasha cries. “I’m here! I’ll walk in there right now and confess to everything. But let Gladys and Doc go!”
“I’m not a complete monster,” Bastian says. “The old woman knows I can get to her and her pretty niece any time I want. I’ll return her to Seattle—alive—once your signed confession is partof the public record and you’ve been arrested. As for the doctor…he’s dead either way. But if you try anything—or if you fail to confess to even one of the crimes on my list, I’ll torture him forweeksbefore I kill him.”
Natasha swipes at her tears. Her gaze pings from Bastian behind the phone to someone obviously in the back seat.
Even if shewerewilling to walk away, the asshole won’t let her. I can hear it in his voice. He’d kill her right now if she tried to run.
With a nod, she clears her throat. “Just…let me say goodbye. Please. Give me this one thing.”
The video shakes, and he must hand her the phone, because her face fills the screen. “Gladys?”
Doherty turns so she can see the older woman huddled on the floor.
“You’re the grandmother every woman wishes she had. But you’re also my best friend. I should have told you everything from the beginning. I hated keeping so much of myself from you, and I’ll regret it every day for the rest of my life. I’m so sorry.”
Gladys pushes up on an elbow. “Ain’t nothin’ to forgive. Love you, baby girl.”
Doherty pans back to me. “Doc, on the plane, I tried…I wanted to tell you?—”
“No. Not like this.” I straighten as much as my body will allow. I thought I had to tell her—and I do—but I won’t give that fucker the satisfaction of listening in. “He’s taken too much from you—from us—already. I’ll always be with you. No matter what. Get a good lawyer. Stay out of prison as long as you can. It’s…dangerous inside. Everyone has ahidden agenda. Make sure you find yours. Watch your back.Live, Natasha. Live for me.”
Sutton cocks the pistol. He’s not going to wait. He’ll kill me in front of her. Fuck. I can’t let her watch this.
“Hang up, baby. Right now!”
“Enough!” Bastian snarls. “He stays alive until I know Natasha has done her part. Sutton, back off. I’ll let you know when you can have your fun.”
The call drops. Sutton punches me in the face, and I taste blood, before the three men stalk out of the room and lock the door behind them.
Was it enough? Telling her to find Hidden Agenda? Will she understand I was trying to warn her? Or is this the end for all of us?
Natasha
I cast one last look over my shoulder. Bastian leans against the hood of the car, a crazed smile on his face. Kerr takes his place behind the wheel, glaring at me.
My former squad leader sends a pointed look at the door to the Army CID office, a not-so-subtle warning to get my ass inside.
My fingers find the sea glass in my pocket. It’s the only piece of freedom I have left, and in minutes, I’ll lose this too.
Does he have people on the inside? Probably. He’s had them everywhere else. The plane. The airport. From Doc’s cryptic warning about staying out of prison, he probably has someone there too.
