Page 119 of Relentless

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

Liam prayed the pervasive weakness would leave his body fast. He knew from experience, however, it wouldn’t be fast enough to spare himself or Piper from a lot of pain.

He dragged in a few deep breaths, forcing oxygen into his bloodstream. His head cleared a little more. Couldn’t do that too often or he’d make himself dizzy. “If you get a chance, run.”

Piper scowled. “I’m not leaving you here.”

“I’ll be okay.” Maybe. “Need you safe.”

“Tough. We go or stay together.”

Liam hated being helpless, especially when Piper’s life was in danger. He hoped his team was close. As soon as Piper sent the emergency signal to Fortress, Zane would have notified Bravo and Texas that he and Piper were in trouble and where they were located.

Even as he the thoughts surfaced in his mind, Liam felt the GPS tracker under his right shoulder blade radiate heat. Good. Trent and the others would come. All he and Piper had to do was hang on until help arrived or his muscles responded to commands for Liam to free himself and the woman he loved from the hands of their captors.

A key was shoved into the lock on the door. The knob turned and Moe walked inside the room, followed by the second guard. What did Piper call him? Oh, yeah. Billy.

The two traitors eyed Liam. Billy looked twitchy and had an ugly gleam in his eyes. Liam could guess which guard was going to volunteer first to work on Liam in an effort to force the secrets they wanted from Piper.

More footsteps, these lighter than those of the two guards.

Liam’s gaze shifted toward the door again to see Brandy Strickland enter. His suspicions were right. Brandy was in this up to her pretty neck. His only question was whether she worked for Gino in this matter, herself, or Barone? If Barone called the shots, more thugs were at Brandy’s disposal. At the moment, Liam couldn’t defend himself or Piper against a kitten much less the two guards across the room. No way could he take on more of Barone’s crew. Even if he freed himself, he’d end up in a heap on the ground. His fingers were starting to respond to commands. Not his legs, though.

Piper released Liam and stood, placing her body between him and the other three people in the room. Thankfully, she’d moved aside enough for him to see what was happening.

“Surprised to see me, Piper?” Brandy smiled, her eyes cold and hard. “You’ve always been gullible.”

“Why did you kidnap us and bring us here, Brandy?”

“You know why.”

“Spell it out for me.”

Liam wiggled his fingers, mentally cheering as Piper stalled for more time. While Liam’s teammates were minutes away, they still had to assess the situation and come up with a plan. Breaching a building without intel was beyond stupid. As much as Liam wanted Piper out of danger, he didn’t want to cost a fellow operative his life.

Brandy’s smile morphed into a frown. “Don’t play dumb. I want the information Gavin left you.”

“Why?”

A harsh laugh rang out in the empty room. “It’s worth a boatload of money. That’s why.”

“You’re selling the information to the highest bidder?”

“Don’t be ridiculous. I’m giving it back to Gavin’s father. Gavin stole the information. His father wants it back. I’m delivering it to him.”

“Why would you do that? You’re betraying Gavin’s memory by returning information he gave his life for.”

“It’s worth everything to me.”

“I thought you loved Gavin. How could you betray him for money?”

“He believed I loved him.”

“But you didn’t.”

“He was weak with a wandering eye. When I found out what he’d been doing while you were dating, I knew I couldn’t trust him.”

“You stayed with him for three years after I left. Why do that if you didn’t trust him?”

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