Page 6 of Dauntless

“Sorry, but now that our cover is blown, we’re operating blindly,” Elliott told Dane. “We need to try to at least try to keep Gia, Angel, and all the other women targets safe.”

Dane quietly nodded.

I squeezed Dane’s hand in reassurance, then followed Elliott over to the reception desk. Elliott showed the female receptionist his badge and answered the questions she had before allowing me through.

“Only two people at a time for fifteen minutes,” she warned.

“I’m going with her,” Elliott informed her. He then spoke softly into my ear. “I’ll stay near the door, listening and taping your conversation with her. You focus on her and don’t acknowledge that I’m there. Even though she knows me from back in the day, we thought she’d be more willing to talk with women, although she didn’t hit it off with Trish—”

“It’s fine,” I tried to assure him. “I want to try. I want all The Agency members involved to be brought to justice as much as you do.”

Elliott smiled. “Thanks for this.”

We shadowed the nurse until we reached Angel’s room. Elliott waited by the wall, and I went the rest of the way through the curtain divider to where Angel was. The sound of the air-conditioning and EKG machines were the only noises in the room on entry. Her facial expression gave nothing away even after the nurse mentioned to her I’d come to see her.

When the nurse left, and we were still quiet, I decided to speak first. “Hello, Angel, I’m Gia. I don’t know if you remember me… I was one of the group of women brought to Vincent’s house when you were there.…”

Her lips spread into a crooked smile. “Well now here you are.”

I nodded and sat on the plastic chair that was close to her bedside. She had been frail at Vincent’s but looked more so in the twin-sized hospital bed. The gown was all she had on. She had a white sheet bunched underneath her legs, which were bare and visibly scarred. I would have thought her cold, but her blonde hair appeared damp with a light sheen of sweat on her pale skin.

I swallowed. She could have been me. “I’m happy to see you’re getting better…”

Her eyes focused intently on me. “Why would you care?” she asked.

“Because you’ve been missing. My…Our friend, Dane’s been searching for you,” I softened. “Your little girl, Melinda, needs you.”

“I don’t know that little girl,” Angel replied flatly.

I lowered my brows. Was she joking? “She calls you mommy.”

“Simon says to call me mommy, but I’m not with her,” Angel answered. “Simon can get the little girl to call you mommy now.”

I puzzled and frowned. Simon? “No, she should call her mother mommy. I thought she was yours because she looks just like you.” And Dane.

“Yes, and that’s part of my game, silly,” Angel said and grinned. “When I play it. I never play as much as they liked. I stayed free, and they get angry.”

I puzzled. “What game?”

“The game of my life,” she answered.

My brows knitted. “The men that kept you told you keeping you was part of a game? Do all of the women get their own game?”

“I shouldn’t spoil it.” She placed her hand over her mouth and laughed.

“No, Angel, you’re not spoiling anything,” I told her. “The games are over. You and Melinda are safe now. You don’t have to play any more games. You can return to your old life.”

My words only made her laugh more. “There is no more life for me. I’m finished. I won. You can play now. Simon says it’s your turn.”

The hair raised on the back of my neck. “Like the nursery rhyme, ‘Simon Says,’ or is his name Simon? Simon told you about me?”

She giggled. “Simon says to call him Simon. Simon knows who’s playing. You have to play if you want to survive.”

I lowered my brows. “Sorry, Angel, but I’m not playing any games.”

“Oh, yes you are,” she spoke over me. “You’ve already started playing with Dane. You went to him. You love sex, and he will train you to be good at sex. He’s the best trainer.”

I shook my head. “Dane’s not training me. He helped you and me.”

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