“Their game?” Kala asked.
“The game we were sent here to play,” Sosa admitted. She looked like a shrunken version of herself.
How could they believe her? Except she looked as sick as Tim. “Why?”
“Why did they do it or why do I turn on them? It all comes down to same thing. It comes down to him. Huisman. He’s monster, and when he plans this, I decide this is how we get out. It is first time we ever have such freedoms. I think I will wait until Gabby and Claire are ‘caught’ and then we will run. Then I talk to your parents and think maybe we will not have to. But Gabby… I thought she was listening to your mother. I thought Charlotte was getting through to her, but it was all act. She believes if she delivers everything he wants, he will elevate her. I know better, but she talk to Claire. They poison me last night and Tim. Huisman wants the smart one.”
“And you didn’t bother to tell us?” Kala didn’t seem to know where to point that gun anymore.
“I wanted more time.” Sosa sounded exhausted, as though all the weight of years of torture were on her now. “To sway them. They are like sisters to me. At least that was how it feels. Felt. I have no one now. It doesn’t matter what happens to me, but Tim did not betray you.He needs doctor. I have written down how they make the poison. It might help. It’s not a quick kill. There’s still time. They were eating with him so he gets a lower dose since they can easily handle it. Our training was cruel but effective.”
“And you?”
Sosa managed to shrug. “I’m only alive because I ate half. I save other half. It’s a habit they should remember from our childhoods. I eat half and save the rest in case they choose not to feed us. They have gotten greedy. I never forget. Given how I feel, they gave me much,” she said, a hand over her stomach.
Could they believe her? Or was this another trick? If Tim was working with them, it was a good way to hide his connections and keep him on the inside.
Of course, if she believed the video Huisman sent to her supposedly private cell phone, then it was Ben and not Tim who betrayed them all.
For Deanna. Who was alive. But was she?
Kenzie had questions.
How much lying had Sosa done? First, they needed a damn doctor, and they couldn’t leave until someone was here to make sure the rest of the fuckers didn’t get out.
The security system beeped once and then cut out. Kala moved to the monitor.
“Is it Mom and Dad?” Kenzie asked. They would be with Damon, who would absolutely be able to get through the lockdown. She was sure his senior agents would know how, and Oliver, too. She’d shot him a text to get his ass back to base, but it would be a half hour before he made it through traffic.
“Better.” Kala kept her weapon at her side. “Tris is here, and he’s not alone. Asshole didn’t lose a step. He doesn’t have that passcode, but he was a warm knife through cold butter.”
Tris. He would be able to tell her if that video was real.
Kenzie started out the door, but she could already hear Tris calling for them. “We’re in the basement.”
It wasn’t long before Tris was walking in. He’d easily gotten through the security system, and Kala was right. He hadn’t come alone. He’d brought his partners with him. Carys and Aidan strode in behind him. The doctors. Aidan specialized in trauma and Carys in obstetrics,but they could handle this.
“I got here as fast as I could,” Tris announced, not seeming to notice the dude hunched over the trash can or the half-dead assassin slumped in the chair usually used by Cooper. “Gabby is a plant. I have proof.”
“No shit, Sherlock.” Kala gestured around the room. “She’s locked in for now, but she’s already poisoned these two.”
Aidan was on one knee, a hand on Tim’s back while Carys had noticed Sosa.
“This is a pharmacological effect,” Carys said, examining Sosa’s eyes. “She’s almost surely been poisoned. We need to get her to the hospital. She says she knows the formulary.”
“This one, too, and he’s in worse shape.” Aidan frowned up at his partner. “I told you to text them but no, you had to have your cinematic moment.”
“I called Uncle Ian this morning and he said everything was fine.” Tris ran a hand through his hair, pink staining his cheeks. “I told him I had some intel I was bringing him. He didn’t demand it or anything. Damn it. I’m sorry. I wanted to verify my findings with Lou before I did anything. Where is she?”
“With Huisman.” Kala said every word cold. “Ben took her straight to him, and he’s using something to block her tracker. Everyone’s gone. They knew exactly when to strike. I’ve got word to Lucy and Sami. They’re going to watch the chateau, but it seems so obvious.”
“Obvious might be the whole point. He won’t keep Lou there, but I think he might keep Ben somewhere different hoping we’ll focus on the chateau. He has to know we’re looking into it. Chaos. He wants chaos. It’s why he sent me a video right before he took Lou.” Kenzie started to explain as Carys was helping Sosa stand.
“She is right. This was his plan. I was not in on most of this,” Sosa managed, standing with Carys’s aid. “Gabby was the lead, and that mean the rest of us follow. What was on video?”
“A video of Ben fucking the hell out of his supposedly dead fiancée and saying some shitty things about me,” she admitted.
It was a porn-worthy performance, and that alone made her question the authenticity. She knew how Ben made…had sex.
