Page 92 of Dangerous Liaisons

Chapter Sixty-Seven

Grey walls, a cot, and sterile air. Jesse shifted her cheek against the rough wool of the army blanket she lay on. The place didn’t smell of urine, and no screams sounded in the corridors, but there was little difference between this cell and Perez’s prison. OIA would lock her up and throw away the key. Jesse could live with that, if not for the certainty Lanton would eventually get to Amanda.

Nothing she’d said in the eight-hour grilling had moved her interrogators. She hadn’t expected to be accepted back into the fold, but neither had she expected to be treated like the traitor Lanton was. Jesse gave a bitter laugh. If she hadn’t rescued Cole in Colombia, she would have had a chance. He’d convinced her they would get Lanton. They had a common goal. He cared.

Still, his actions didn’t make sense. Why had he gone to Houghton House? Rage boiled to the top. He had caught her at Houghton House. Without him, Neilson wouldn’t have gotten a lead on her fast enough to stop her from getting Amanda out. Tears sprang to her eyes. Was Amanda still at Houghton House? For all Jesse knew—she choked back a sob. Her interrogators, Wesley and MacDonald, had been unwilling to talk about Amanda. After two hours of threats, cajoling and begging, she’d finally given in with the hope they would answer her questions if she cooperated. They hadn’t.

She’d lied to herself right down the line. Why did it matter? Cole had been nothing more than a one-night stand. Would it hurt so much if not for Amanda? The unexpected question gave her pause. Maybe not. It was one thing when a man lied to a woman, quite another when he sacrificed an innocent person on the altar of his lust. No, not just lust. He’d had a full-fledged agenda. He had wanted Perez and Lanton. He’d worked side-by-side with her to get Lanton only to let him go. Why?

Why come for her at Houghton House? He could have let the shooter kill her—but the shooter had missed by a hair’s breadth.

That was it. Cole was back up.

Her heavy metal cell door shuddered open.

Jesse sprang to her feet. Neilson entered, followed by Cole. She flushed warm and looked from one to the other, aware panic had shifted her heartbeat into overdrive. She wanted to scream at them, felt her mouth open to do so, then forced it closed. Cole was free—she wasn’t. Smart, she told herself. Play it smart. Don’t let them see you sweat.

But something must have shown on her face, for Cole brushed past Nielson. “Jess.” He reached her side and opened his arms. She stepped back, but he caught her arm and hugged her to his chest.

“Where’s my sister?” Tears streamed down her face. “I want the truth. I deserve that much.”

“She’s fine,” Cole soothed. “I told you that last night.”

Jesse struck him with a half-hearted punch. “Liar! What do you want from me?”

Nielson appeared beside them. “Miss Evans.”

She shoved free of Cole and turned a cold eye on her superior.

He didn’t flinch from her glare, only gave a tiny nod. “Playing James Bond on your own is a bitch, isn’t it?”

Jesse blinked, then fury made her see red. “Where the hell were you?”

He gave a short laugh, which infuriated her all the more. “I’ve wanted Robert Lanton for a long time. You nearly botched the deal.”

Her mouth dropped open. “What—”

He held up a hand. “First off, rest assured, your sister is well, and in good hands.”

“She’s my sister. You have no right to use her.”

“We didn’t use your sister, we got her out of there,” Nielson cut in. “You have Cole to thank for that.”

She looked at Cole.

“Did it ever occur to you, the right thing to do was to come home?” Neilson asked.

The significance of the question didn’t hit her at first. She couldn’t tear her eyes from Cole. He stared at her, brows raised as if they were two high school kids caught necking, and he was asking, “What now?”

She finally faced Nielson.

“I didn’t think so.” He released a tired breath. “Your devotion to your sister is admirable, but you went about things all wrong.”

“You knew Lanton was guilty?” she asked.

Nielson gave her a disgusted look. “What makes you think you’re the only one with brains around here?”

“You let those men die?”