Page 115 of Sweet Little Spies

There was a knock on the door, and Carys lifted her head towatch a big man in fatigues walk in.

“Ils sont éveillés,” he said.

“Emmenez-les dans la salle à manger,” Huismanreplied. “Ladies, I will have to leave you here for now, though someone willcome for Ms. Taggart in a moment. Carys, that is. I’ll keep Taggart’s pit bullwhere she is for now. I hope he wants you safe. You should hope he has someaffection for your family.”

“Tristan loves me, but he doesn’t know anything,” Caryssaid.

“Tris knows everything,” Kala replied. “He’ll tell you whatyou want to know. He’ll do whatever you want as long as you don’t hurt Carys.”

“He’s not The Jester,” Carys insisted.

“Shut the fuck up, Car.” Kala had a single tear sliding fromher eye. “You let Tris take whatever he has to. He said they’re awake. This isgoing down soon. Apparently in the dining room, unless this fucker is going toserve them a four-course meal before he kills us all.”

Huisman was behind her rather than following his guard out.She heard him moving around and then he was at Kala’s side, a needle in hishand. He pushed it into the injector cap. “I won’t kill you yet, but as long asyou’re here you can let me know if this works.”

“What are you doing to her?” Carys felt panic well again.“What’s in that?”

He pulled the needle away, holding it up. “In this? Anotherexperimental drug. This one should make her feel like her veins are on firefor…” He glanced down at his watch. “Well, I’m hoping for hours, but we’ll haveto see. Watch the clock for me, Dr. Taggart. Though it pains me to call you adoctor when you’re nothing more than a glorified midwife. If you ask me,childbirth should be a test, and if a woman can’t fulfill her role, let herdie. It’s one of the places we went wrong, putting all those resources intosaving weak women.”

Kala’s eyes had closed. A paralytic would hold her in placebut without a sedative…

Kala’s mouth came open, a scream shaking the room.

“Ah, there it is.” Huisman nodded as though satisfied.“Watch her for me. Don’t worry. Someone will come in and gag her. I wouldn’tleave you having to listen to a hysterical female. That would truly betorture.”

Kala was screaming as he walked through the door, and Carystried not to give in to despair.

* * * *

“Where do you think we are?” Zach stood in the middle of thegreat room of what appeared to be a mansion of some kind. He whispered thewords since they were surrounded by guards. “Whatever they gave us knocked meon my ass.”

Which meant they had no sense of time or even how they’dgotten where they were. At least they’d been released from the restraints he’dwoken up in. Tristan had come to in the back of a van beside Zach. They’d bothbeen led through a big garage and into this massive house. They’d passedthrough a living room with furniture still under dust covers and white drapesthat let in enough light to let him know it was day. Likely morning.

When they’d made it to the elegant dining room, one of theguards had taken the cuffs off.

Unfortunately, they were up against heavily armed guards,and he had no idea where Carys was and who was guarding her. He didn’t knowwhat the instructions were concerning her if he misbehaved. “No idea, man. Butwe have to play this cool.”

“We have to figure out what he wants and give it to him.”Zach glanced around, keeping his voice low. “I know you don’t trust me rightnow, but I swear I’m going to make you understand. When he asks if you’re TheJester, admit to it. I’ll back you up. We’ve been making money behind theAgency’s back. He’ll trust us more if he thinks we’re corrupt.”

It was the same plan he’d come up with, but he wasn’t sureif he could trust Zach. He was sure he didn’t have much of a choice. “I’ll dothe talking. You back me up.” He prayed Zach was right and there was areasonable explanation for what he’d learned back in the suite. “Do you have acount?”

“Four in here,” Zach whispered out of the side of his mouth.“But we had five on us at one point. I think he went to inform our host we’rehere. No. He’s back. At your nine on the balcony.”

There was a balcony landing that ran from one side of thehouse to the other, looking over the great rooms. Sure enough, there was aguard standing there.

So they had five known guns on them.

There were rooms off the balcony, and one of the doorsopened.

He heard a long scream before Huisman walked through andshut the door, the sound dulling.

“Was that Carys?” Tristan felt his heart threaten to seize.

“Stay fucking calm,” Zach hissed. “You make a move and we’llbe back in cuffs. We have to wait until the time is right. At least we knowwhere she is.”

They would have to take out all the guards in order to getupstairs, and even then, he couldn’t be sure what they were going into.

Chaos. Huisman had plunged them into chaos. He’d knownexactly what he was doing. He’d attacked before they’d thought a sane man wouldand given them absolutely no time to prepare. All their recon had been done onHuisman’s Montreal compound and the foundation building. Somehow he didn’tthink they were close to either.

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