16
Nightshade paceddown the hall of the first story, hiding in the darkened interior while she cooled off. Cotter’s absolute blindness to Caroline’s needs was exactly what Nightshade had expected all along. But up until now, he’d been the exact opposite. He’d shown what she’d thought was love for Caroline, but not today. Today he’d let the loving father façade slip and his true colors peek out.
To plan a party a week after Caroline had returned home was insanity. A civilian couldn’t handle that kind of crowd. She’d break, just as easily as she’d broken at the palace when Nightshade confronted her. Caroline was delicate.
But Cotter wasn’t concerned with her well-being; he wanted to show her off to the world. He wanted to use her as a pawn.
So why was Nightshade so angry? Hadn’t she expected this all along, the sly villain who’d hurt anyone and anything to achieve the power he wanted?
Except there were moments when he’d seemed to show nothing but genuine affection for her. He’d cried and told her he loved her, even when they were alone, so much so that she’d started to believe him.
Nightshade froze on the spot.She had started to believe him.
All those hugs and tears – he’d been playing her all along. And gullible little Nightshade fell for it, trusting him.
She doubled over, her gut wrenching in two. Her real father, Mankel, had warned her over and over about Cotter’s smoothness. His complete disregard for others as he climbed the ladder of power in D.C. His ability to fool everyone around him was the reason why he was head of the JSOC today.
And the reason why Nightshade had grown up without her sister.
This whole place was a lie. The polished mansion that promised peace and tranquility. The fun stylist. The cook and maid that doted like mothers. Nightshade shoved the back of her hand into her mouth to keep from choking.
It was all a lie and she’d started to slip without even realizing her blunder. What about her team? She’d let them slide to the background, lulled into a haze of complacency.
No more. Nightshade would do whatever it took to find them. She’d block out everyone and everything and concentrate on her mission. She had to get into Cotter’s study, and she had to do it right now.
After the fight at lunch, she knew Francis and Harriet would be waiting to try and reconcile her with Cotter, and she couldn’t risk running into either of them. But she couldn’t circle around the outside of the house either without looking completely suspicious. Plus, Merc said he’d put trip wires on all the windows.
Nightshade pressed her palms to her forehead and leaned against the wall.Think. She had to get into Cotter’s study and still be Caroline. What would Caroline do?
She’d stride right down this hall to her father’s study because she lived here.
For every minute Nightshade hesitated, her sister would be suffering. She had to act now, and she had to keep her head.
Nightshade squared her shoulders and strode down the hallway. She checked to make sure the foyer was empty and stepped into the open space, strolling around the staircase and past the dining room, where the men's voices drifted out of the open door, then slipped into the study, not breathing until she’d quietly shut the door behind her.
She went to the first row of books, located what had to be a first edition ofAnna Karenina, and tagged its location in her mind. If someone caught her snooping around, she could claim she was looking for that book, and it would be a plausible excuse.
As long as it wasn't Merc.
She got the feeling he saw beneath her surface, and if she wasn't careful, he might figure out the truth. It didn’t matter how much she’d grown to admire the man or how much attraction there was between them, her teammates and her sister were more important. And if it came down to it, she’d do what it took to ensure her teammates’ freedom, even if it meant neutralizing Merc.
Shaking off the sense of foreboding, Nightshade quickly moved to the senator’s desk and flipped open the laptop. It was password-protected, but she was able to easily hack it and was inside in seconds, the blue LED backlight glowing on her fingers as they flew across the keyboard. Those years of computer programming classes she’d hated, bored out of her mind when she had much rather been training, paid off and she was able to quickly sweep the system and files.
Moments later she carefully logged out and lowered the screen, her heart sinking into her stomach. Cotter’s computer contained absolutely nothing useful, not even mildly classified government documents. Even more surprising was the various pictures of Caroline at all stages of life stored on the drive.
Undeterred, she went to the farthest corner of the bookshelf and started her search, tapping lightly with her fingernail for a hidden door. It would be obvious of course, and way too predictable, but she still had to check.
She made her way completely around the room, stopping at the last shelf by the doorway and yankedAnna Kareninafrom its spot with a frustrated sigh. At least she’d ruled out the study. The next logical place to look would be the senator’s bedroom. Third floor, left at the stairway, straight to the end of the hall. Although there was less traffic to worry about on the upper stories, she’d have a less plausible excuse to be there if she were caught.
Nightshade clutched the book to her chest and breezed out of the study, head held high as if she hadn't just been on a secret mission to find Cotter's hidden server and tap into the United States government secrets.
Merc leaned forward, studying the screen in front of him carefully. When he’d failed to locate Caroline after lunch, he went immediately to the securities room they’d set up and scanned the monitors, shocked to find her only one room over from where they’d just been eating lunch — in her father’s study. He’d thought she’d be hiding out somewhere far from her father’s presence, fuming over their fight.
But more than this, it was the way she was moving about the room that truly surprised him, her fingers touching on every third book on the shelves. Almost as if... His eyes narrowed. Almost as if she were searching for a hidden panel.
Cotter had already given him the full blueprints for the house. There was no secret room in the study, but there was one in his bedroom, one that only the Senator and now Merc and Task Force Scorpion were aware of.
What the hell was going on here?
