“Then, why are you here?”
He smiled that sick, evil smile again. “You may not know where the evidence against me is hidden, but having you in my possession keeps me protected. No one would dare come after me to rescue you. If they did, they’d only be ensuring their deaths, as well as yours.”
“So, what is your plan, then? To keep me here indefinitely?”
“Not indefinitely, no. Just for the next few weeks, until President Russell and I sign the treaty guaranteeing US protection for the people of my country.”
Gracie snorted. “You don’t give a shit about anyone but yourself. So, what’s this treaty really about?”
Seemingly impressed, Yavuz grinned. “You’re a very intelligent woman, Miss McDaniels.” Shrugging, he said, “I suppose it won’t hurt to tell you, since you’re death has already been ordered to be carried out the minute your president and I have signed our names on the dotted line.”
What an arrogant prick.
“That agreement puts me as an ally of your country. It will allow me to sit in on important meetings with your president. Meetings which will divulge high-level information. Information I can then bring back to my country to use against the United States. Eventually, I will gain enough trust within your government to infiltrate and destroy your precious country from the inside out.”
Jesus.This guy wasn’t just arrogant. He was insane.
Yavuz looked at his watch. “Oh, dear. I did not realize the time. I have a meeting I must attend. Actually, it is a conference call with President Russell, himself.”
Gracie didn’t bother to hide her sarcastic tone when she said, “Tell him I said hi.”
Chuckling, Yavuz turned toward the door. “I’ll do that,” he told her from over his shoulder, just before shutting and locking the door behind him.
So, this was how she’d be spending the rest of her days. Chained to a bed in what should have been a gorgeous room. Alone.
If only she’d listened to Nate and gone with him to get that damn firewood. He’d still be alive, and she’d be with him instead of lying here, waiting to die, too.
She’d never forget the look on Nate’s face when he realized Adrian Walker was about to shoot him. His eyes had grown so wide.
In that last second, he’d tried to move to the side, away from the bullet’s trajectory, but he was too late.
Gracie had screamed, then. Over and over, she’d screamed his name, but Nate remained on the floor where he’d fallen. His body still and bleeding.
She remembered thinking if she could just get to him and stop the bleeding, he’d be okay. Before she had the chance, Walker had stuck a needle in her neck, whatever chemicals the syringe had been filled with causing her to lose consciousness almost immediately.
She was taken and Nate was left in the cabin to die alone.
“I’m sorry, Nate,” she whispered to him. Eyes closed, more tears fell as she pictured his beautifully handsome face smiling back at her. “I’m so, so sorry.”
Unable to handle the grief festering up inside, Gracie gave into her worn down body’s need for rest and the remnants of the drugs she’d been given.
Within minutes, she was unconscious once again.
* * *
“Goddamnit!”
Nate slammed his laptop closed and stood from Jake’s couch. Ignoring the pain and pull in his shoulder, he linked his fingers on the top of his head and began to pace the room.
There had to besomethingthey’d missed that would lead them to Gracie. For the life of him, he just didn’t know what.
That was the most frustrating part. He was supposed to be the brainiac of the team, yet every lead he thought they had was nothing more than a dead end. Every. Single. One.
Maybe I’m in the wrong profession.
“Fuck!” he shouted out at no one in particular.
From the corner of his eye, he saw Sarah jump a little. She’d been curled up in one of Jake’s recliners, her phone clutched tightly in her fist.
