"Help!" Tears spilled down her cheeks as his long, strong fingers pressed deeply into her fair skin, raising angry red welts. Black dots from lack of oxygen and the drugs formed in front of her eyes.
"We had a lot of fun with you." Sebastian's free hand tore at her dress's neckline, mashing her breast. Teeth gnashed her neck, breaking the fragile skin. His tongue lapped at the drop of blood. "I love the taste of you. You haven't changed a bit."
Cassie crammed down the revulsion and dug her fingers into the pressure points on his arm. Her nails clawed his flesh as she kicked at his shins.
"Damn you," he yelled, throwing her hard against the far wall. Cassie sucked in much-needed air. "You were always a bitch. Thought you were better than everyone else. Wouldn't give someone like me the time of day. Not then. Not now."
Her vision was blurring. As she attempted to flee, Sebastian grabbed her around her waist. "You're not going anywhere. I'll take what's mine—and then you will fetch an excellent price."
Cassie punched at him, but he managed to snag her wrists in one hand. She strained hard against him, but he held her in a way that eliminated her leverage. Without mercy, he slammed her head into the mirror. The silver glass cracked in a spiral, the shards cutting into her scalp. Dizzy and choking, a whole different type of panic, started to set in.
Panic gets you killed.A pool exercise from Quantico popped into her head.Fight, Cassie.She urged herself from the approaching darkness.Focus.Her heels dug into his thighs with vicious kicks.Gun. Get your gun.
"Sebastian, let me go. I'm not who you think I am. I'm a special agent with the FBI. My team knows where I am. You won't get away with this."
Still holding her around her waist, he dropped her wrists and pulled a sizeable serrated carving knife from his jacket. "Well, then, time to die. Whore."
Cassie tried to roll away from the impending blow and grab his forearm, but her body didn't comply. He raised the weapon and plunged the blade into her right shoulder, separating it like a chef carves a chicken. She cried out in agony. Blood trickled down her arm. Closing her mind to the searing ache, her left hand reached to free her Glock from its holster. Everything was moving in slow motion.
Without letting her go, Sebastian hacked at her left leg and fingers to stop her from reaching for anything. "Die, bitch!"
Blood spurted from the leg wounds. The fingers on her left hand burned. Her battle to live continued in an adrenaline and drug-filled haze. Cassie's fight was growing weaker. "Why are you doing this? Sebastian, stop!"
Laughter fell from his lips. "You pathetic, frigid bitch. You know too much. I can't let you destroy the plan." He took a half step back but did not lower the knife, his brown eyes turning black with pure evil.
Cassie's sight fish-eyed. She clutched her weapon with her left hand, then fumbled for the safety with blood-slicked fingers and fired a shot. The sound reverberated in the marble room.Cassie, calm down. Try to breathe.
Sebastian's voice was consumed with his hatred. "Fucking FBI whore, I won't let you ruin everything." He raised the knife with both hands, charging at her. This time, the blade wrenched apart her right side, air whooshing out of her lungs. She couldn't think.
"We used you up. Made you a whore. You should have died six years ago. You couldn't even do that right. Now, look what you've done. If you didn't fight so hard, I could have reminded you how good it felt, but now, there's no time. No one will save you. Cassiopeia will be dead to the world forever."
Flashes of light appeared again as she wheezed. He yanked the knife from her chest with a slurping sound and stabbed her again. Dark rings in front of her eyes blocked the light.
Listening for his breathing, Cassie raised her weapon with her last bit of strength, firing one more shot. Sebastian dropped, unmoving, in front of the jammed door. The noise of the knife hitting the floor echoed. The gun slipped from her fingers, and she slid down to the floor, her head falling back against the wall.
* * *
In the hallway, patrons heard two muffled pops. A group of women stood together, complaining about the locked restroom. Preston, Brice, and Hector returned from giving their statements to Metro Police about the armed intruder. Hector walked over to try to settle down the ladies. He worked the door; it was jammed, not locked.
Brice looked into the dining room. "Anyone have eyes on Cassie. Cassie, location?" The silence was deafening.
Greg Wilds said, "Last location, women's bathroom. Any eyes on Modine?"
"Negative," five agents replied.
"Secure the package. Repeat—secure the package," Wilds commanded.
* * *
Ian was antsy. Kieran called to tell him the FBI made more arrests in Susie Tanner's kidnapping. They were worried about deeper involvement. Returning to the ballroom, his neck tingled; Cassie had not returned to the table. That feeling saved him and his team many times.What am I doing?He didn't care what she thought anymore. He wasn't going to ignore his instincts any longer. Something was wrong.
Moving around Cassie's seat, his eye caught a powdery white film at the bottom of her empty water glass. "Son of a bitch." Wrapping it in a napkin, he handed the glass to Monique. "Don't let this go."
He signaled Jason and Colby. After assuring Monique's safety, he planned to find Cassie. Looking across the room, he saw Greg Wilds and another agent exiting the area. Two Capitol police officers approached Senator Bynum and Betty to escort them from the table. They left with a practiced urgency as house security started safeguarding the exits.
Jason approached him. "Text our people and tell them to secure their clients. Something is going on." Ian continued scanning, then leaned down and whispered into Monique's ear, "Stay with Cowboy. Text me if you spot Cassie or Ames."
After a heated discussion with a house security officer at one exit, Ian made it into the corridor by the coatroom. Two women were whining. "A hotel like this should be able to keep their restrooms working."
