Page 87 of Thorn

“One in front. One in back,” Brigitte ordered. “We’re the filling in this sandwich.”

Honey and Gage took off together to the car that was behind them.

“They don’t really listen do they?” Brigitte asked.

The door slammed. The engines revved. Their driver pulled night vision goggles from his lap and strapped them on his head.

They proceeded on without lights.

The drivers moved in a tight formation at a fast clip through the black of night. Training. And tons of it.

As impressive as that was, it actually set off Thorn’s warning system.

He didn’t like being separated by from his team.

Arya was trembling beside him. He wanted to reach out and comfort her, but his attention needed to be outward. He needed his head to be disengaged from emotion. It was time to be coldly calculating, and, by all measurements, this scenario was off.

“How do you know Brigitte?” Arya whispered. “She’s on your team? Why don’t you want this man to be driving?”

“It’s a control thing,” Brigitte answered. “Thorn doesn’t like it much when someone else is at the helm. Do you, darling?”

“Funny,” Thorn said, but he knew that Arya would be searching for clues on who to trust and who not to. Brigitte was playing games. That endearment would have an effect on Arya. He needed Arya to trust him, even if he was a stranger. And there was Brigitte casting her seeds of doubt.

Arya cleared her throat, looking toward Brigitte, she said, “I really need to understand what’s happening here. I recognize your voice. You were on the roof after the fight.”

“That’s right.” Brigitte’s voice came from the front seat. Her silhouette just visible from the gauge lights.

“You’re American?” Ayra asked.

“I’m Israeli,” she answered. “Only Honey, Gage, and Thorn are American. You are right now in the custody of Israel.”

“Custody,” Arya whispered.

“And Thorn is my boyfriend,” she tossed out. “He handed you over to me.”

Thorn could feel Arya shifting beside him. “I’m no such thing, Arya. It’s a lot to take in but there are four groups that I know of who are involved here. There’s Iniquus, which is my team, we were sent by the United States government to find you, protect you, and bring you home safely. There are the two scientists that kidnapped you, and they are associated with both George Matthews and David DuBois. There is another set of operatives − very much like Iniquus in training and expertise − who are somehow linked to David DuBois, they’re called Omega. And then there’s Brigitte.”

“But why?” She gasped.

“I’m guessing it has to do with CHAMP and the possibilities of the other neuroweaponry systems.”

“Oh.” She breathed out. “Then as long as I know what I know, people will be chasing me down.”

“They’ll stop chasing you now,” Brigitte said. “It’s not going to be a problem anymore.”

“Why should I trust you?” Arya asked. “You lied about Thorn. I…he’s not…he’s…”

“Oh sweetheart, you are so naïve aren’t you?” Brigitte tsked. “I knew it when I watched you two on the roof and in the clinic. You think that this big handsome soldier boy swooped in as your hero, and that he would be your new pet. You’ve convinced your little heart that you love him.”

“I…” Arya’s voice wavered off.

Brigitte was laughing. “Oh I know, you thought that Thorn felt the same. And he does. Which is equally laughable.”

“Tracking. We put out a May Day. The French police are gathering a team,” Nutsbe said. “So far, Gage and Honey are still in the car behind you.”

“But Thorn is a dessert loving man,” Brigitte was saying. “Aren’t you Thorn? You just love to get a piece of pie. You don’t even care about the flavor. Just pie. Yum.”

Thorn heard a click to his left. He slid his hand over and felt Arya’s seat belt, and she’d unfastened herself.

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