It would be better than having to face what he’d lost. Her. He could hear it in the ice of her tone, the way she’d mentioned his mistress.
Manny had been hard at work. He still had no fucking idea if Deanna was alive or dead, but it was clear Manny had sent information to Kenzie that made him look bad. Look like he betrayed her in the worst possible way.
His head still ached from whatever drugs Manny used on him. He couldn’t see straight, couldn’t think properly. All that mattered was her.
He knew that now. He’d been a complete idiot. She was the most important thing in his world.
“Do it, Kenz. Do it and get the hell out of here. He wants to hurt you. He thinks hurting you will bring Kala out into the open,” he said. “He’s probably watching us right now.”
She was silent for a moment. “Did you enjoy fucking your mistress? Or do we call her a girlfriend? Fiancée? You take a long time getting to the ceremony, Parker.”
He went still.
Was that Kenzie? Kenzie would never call him Parker.
What game were they playing now? Despite how upset his stomach was, he forced himself to turn. In the moonlight, he saw herstanding over him. Avenging angel. Beautiful and cold and not his girl.
He held his hands up. “I haven’t seen Deanna since the day she died.”
Manny was likely watching. If Kala wanted him to believe she was Kenzie, then he wasn’t going to wreck her play. Kenzie would be somewhere in this building, likely doing a far more dangerous job.
“I have a video that states otherwise,” Kala said, her voice dead calm.
That was when Kala was at her most dangerous.
Video?
“Whatever he sent you, it’s a lie.”
She wore all black, her hair tied back and a black cap on to help her blend into the night. She stared down at him, not a hint of real expression on her face. “I watched you fuck her and talk about what a moron I am for believing you would care about me. Tell me where she is, Ben. I would like to have a word.”
He was going to throw up. What the hell had Manny done?
“I listened every time you told her you loved her. It makes sense now why you wouldn’t tell me,” she said quietly, every word a condemnation. “I listened to you tell her how you’ll kill me when the time is right and I’m no longer useful.”
“Kala,” a deep voice said. “I didn’t tell you to torture him. We took out the cameras. The place is empty, but I think it’s supposed to be. Tris, turn the lights on.”
The lights came on and Ben had to blink.
“Step back.” Ian Taggart was dressed like his daughter. Tactical pants, black shirt. He’d pulled up his balaclava and looked predatory as he pressed something against the cell door. “It doesn’t make much of a mess, but you can never tell. Fire in the hole.”
Ben scrambled away, expecting an explosion, but there was a small poof and the door swung open.
“Mr. Taggart, I…” Ben began.
Cooper strode in, dropping to one knee and holding up a small flashlight. “Hey, look here. Do you know what he gave you?”
“You didn’t have to be so harsh,” Taggart was complaining. “You know she wouldn’t want you to.”
“Well, if she wanted to handle it differently, she would be here doing her job and she would have let me do mine,” Kala complained.
Kenzie hadn’t wanted to come get him. He suffered through Coop’s basic exam, telling him it was some kind of sedative and he had no idea where he was or how long he’d been gone.
“You’ve been gone for almost twenty hours.” Cooper was a cool professional, taking his pulse. “You’re in France. We believe this is where they kept Sosa and the others. It looks like they cleared out. Sami saw them bringing someone in and then we found the message from Huisman.”
Something about Gabby. Yes. He remembered now. “Gabby said Sosa was sick, too, but she didn’t eat the pizza. I think…”
“You shouldn’t think,” Kala said with no small amount of venom. “Gabby and Claire were plants, and they’re now MI6’s problem. Tim and Sosa were poisoned. Like really poisoned. By assassins, who tend to know how to poison a person.”
