Page 88 of Fury

Everyone in the building was about to be headed their way.

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GOLDEN TOWERS, ABU DHABI, UAE

Street noise from several stories below the apartment room filtered in despite the thick glass. From her place in one of the corners, Hollyn glared at Archie as he paced back and forth.

“Hollyn, please hear me out.” He took a step toward her.

“Hear you out?” She balked, adjusting her stance to reduce the strain on her shoulders from having her arms hooked around a marble column, hands zip-tied on the other side. “Look at me! You have me tied to a column. You killed my parents. And you want me tohear you?”

He huffed. “You were always too smart for your own good. That column is insurance. I don’t want you to get hurt trying to escape.”

“Is that a threat?”

Archie faltered. “No—that’s not . . . I didn’t mean?—”

“What kind of monster are you, doing this to someone who called you friend, took you on trips, spent countless hours debugging your code?” she growled, her throat raw. But who cared? “What did my parents ever do to you to deserve being murdered? What didanyof us do that you’d betray us?”

He took another step. “Nothing?—”

“Exactly!” she spat. “Yet you couldn’t help but seize your chance to steal from us to make a buck.” Hollyn strained against the zip ties but felt her shoulders scream in protest. “I can’t believe I ever trusted you! Yousnake!”

His face went ashen and he slumped back. “I don’t expect you to understand.”

“Well, good! Nothing you’d say could make this okay or bring my parents back!” Hot tears pricked her eyes, and she blinked them back. She was so far beyond shedding another tear for him. Time for another tactic. “Be thankful I’m tied to this column.”

A smirk said he wasn’t concerned about what she could do to him were she freed. Anger bubbling, she focused on the ties. She’d prove to him he had something to worry about. The zip ties caught on a notch in the marble. Hope leapt. If she could just use that nock in the marble . . . maybe she could wear down the integrity of the ties, break them. Just like she’d do to him. The coward!

“It’s not going to work,” Archie said quietly.

Hollyn gritted her teeth. Kept going. A burn started in her wrists where the sharp edges of her binding bit into her skin. What was a burn if it kept her alive? Determination dug deeper.

“Stop!” he yelled, launching forward.

She started, meeting his gaze briefly, but then resumed. If he wanted her to quit, she’d try harder! She refused to quit.

“Hollyn, it’s never going to break. Give up.”

Glowering at him, she didn’t.

“Fine.” He lifted his chin, anger darkening his eyes. “But we both know you’re never going to break them like that.”

In fact, shedidknow. That’s what ticked her off more. Here she was, trapped with the man responsible for murdering her parents and destroying her life, and she had no way to get free. No way to tell Davis or the others where she was. No digging herself out of the hole . . . the one she’d jumped into.

Looks like you’re shouldering your fair share of the blame, Hollyn.

Arms aching and burning, she slowed to a stop. Slumped against the column and shook her head. Studied the guy she’d considered a friend. Worked with. Laughed with. What had possessed him to do such a horrible thing to her and her family? She knew things like that were as unanswerable as existential questions, but . . . she had to know. “Why did you do it?”

Brown eyes slowly dragged to hers, and there, for the first time, she saw . . . apology. Regret. It permeated his posture. He dropped into a chair. Tapped the armrest in that irritating way of his that always drove her mad.

“Why!” she demanded.

“My sister.” He pushed his glasses up. Stared at her as if that explained everything.

“Your sisterwhat?”

He huffed and bent forward, shoving his thick black hair from his forehead. The curls hooked together and stayed in place but made him look slightly crazed. “She was diagnosed with a condition I can never pronounce, and it’ll take hundreds of thousands of dollars to treat. No insurance will touch it. Too risky.”

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