Page 90 of Lethal Game

"She could have been set up."

"Which is why I wanted her out of this from the beginning," he said. "But she's the least of my concerns right now."

"You're working with him?" Alisa asked in shock, staring at the woman in front of her. "But you're an FBI agent. You said you were Jason's partner. You were there when his father was killed. And you were in the hospital for weeks. I don't understand. How did you go from being Novikov's victim to being his accomplice?"

Stephanie gave her a look that was impossible to decipher. She didn't seem apologetic or trapped. She wasn't trying to explain or make excuses. She was just there, as if she belonged there. "You don't need to understand," Stephanie said coldly.

"You were the one who orchestrated my kidnapping, weren't you? What if I hadn't asked you to go to the cafeteria with me? What were you going to do?"

"It doesn't matter," Stephanie replied, stepping forward, her limp no longer as pronounced as it had been. "You made it too easy for me, Alisa. I prefer a challenge."

"You're a traitor."

"You should be careful what you say. Your life might depend on it."

"Oh, please, I'm not going to make it out of here alive, no matter what I say, so you might as well hear the truth. Jason cares about you. He's been worried about you for years. He thought you were the best agent he'd ever worked with. And you were a fraud, a traitor. You didn't deserve his respect."

Stephanie's face tightened. "He didn't know what I went through. I did what I had to do."

"Silence," Novikov said. "We are done talking." He turned to her father. "Are they ready, Alexei? Or do we need to inspire you by showing your daughter what pain feels like?"

"They're ready," her father said quickly, motioning to the two cylindrical canisters on the table.

Novikov nodded to two of his men.

They walked toward her father, one with a vest in his hand. They forced her father to put on the vest, strapping his arms to his sides, and she suddenly realized his plan of detonating thebombs before they reached the complex had just ended. There was no way he could reach for a remote in his pocket.

Then her stomach flipped over when she saw them put one canister inside the pocket of the vest with the timing device showing through an open slit. Her heart stopped. Her father was going to be a suicide bomber. He would be sacrificed. He would be killed with everyone else, and there wasn't a damn thing she could do about it.

After ensuring the vest was in place, the other man forced her dad to put on a coat that would cover the vest. Now, he would look like any other guest at the hotel.

"No, Dad," she said, tears filling her eyes.

"I love you, Alisa," he said, his voice breaking. "You are the best daughter a man could have."

"I love you, too," she said as he was taken out of the room, leaving her alone with Novikov and Stephanie. "How can you do this? How can you want to hurt so many innocent people? What is wrong with you both?"

"Innocent?" Novikov spat. "Your father was never innocent, and his betrayal cost my brother his life. Did he tell you that?"

"He didn't tell me anything, and I can't stop you. I can't hurt you. Just let me go." It felt wrong to plead for her life when her father was about to be killed, but she had to beg because there was nothing else she could do.

"You will stay here, and you will remain alive until I'm ready to destroy this city."

"How can you want to kill so many people you don't even know: women, children, babies?"

"They are the means to an end," he said with a shrug.

"The end to what?"

"Power," he said simply. "Money. Control. That's all that matters, and it's mine for the taking. It always has been. No one can stop me. I'm invincible."

He was completely insane and without a soul. She could see why he was one of the most wanted men in the world.

"And you're going to help him?" she asked Stephanie in bewilderment.

Stephanie gave her a long look, then said, "A long time ago, I had to choose a side."

"And you chosehisside?"

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