Page 91 of Betrayed

“Who are you?” she demanded to know, hanging on as he turned another corner sharply, grunting in pain as her body went slamming into the center console.

He shoved her back into her seat, not out of concern for her but to get her off the gearshift that her hip had knocked into neutral.

“Ashworth. Raymond Ashworth, SAS at your service. You know us better as MI6.”

She stared at him in utter disbelief. “You’re an agent. Like Arturo? Are you insane?”

“Not like Arturo,” he spat in disgust. “Durand has gone soft. Talking about retirement when he’s got years left ahead of him. That’s bullshit. When you sign up, you sign up for life. There’s only one bloody way to get out.”

“Oh my god! It’s been you all along. You killed those agents.”

“You’re quick, love. Not Artie’s usual type. Oh, you’ve got the tits and ass that he likes, but a brain is not usually required.”

“You can’t possibly go on working for your government after this. You’re done now, too.”

His arm shot out and he took hold of her throat again, pinning her against the side window, uncaring that with his one-handed driving, he sideswiped a car as they careened wildly through busy downtown traffic.

“That stupid cunt Adriana is to blame for this. And her pussy husband.” Mari saw colored spots dance in front of her eyes when his fingers tightened and he demanded, “Where is the data file?”

“Can’t...breathe...” she choked out, feeling like she would pass out any second.

With a curse, he relinquished his hold the tiniest bit. With air allowed to pass through her throat into her lungs again, she coughed and gasped for precious oxygen.

“Tell me where, dammit, or I’ll crush your pretty throat.”

His fingers tightened again, but she managed a ragged reply. “My house.”

“Liar. We searched there.”

“Not well enough.”

Of course, she was bluffing. Arturo had the jump drive, but she wasn’t about to tell him that, certain that would be the end of her usefulness, and likewise, the end of her. But she needed to buy time for whoever was chasing them, hopefully Arturo and the Rossi team, to formulate a rescue plan.

Mari clung to the hope they would come up with one during the twenty-minute drive from downtown, because once they arrived at her home, she had nothing.

“You better not be bullshitting me.”

Slamming on the brakes, he did another one-eighty, this time amidst shrieking tires and blasting horns in the middle of Westheimer Road. And he laughed maniacally as the three black SUVs in pursuit braked while he shot past them in the opposite direction.

Mari knew she had pegged him correctly when she called him insane, for he was reckless and had obviously snapped. Perhaps it was the danger and stress of his job, but he clearly wasn’t operating on all cylinders. And, if he was killing agents he thought betrayed the badge, or their oath to the king, or whatever British secret agents swore to, it made him not only dangerous but scarier than hell because he had nothing to lose.

* * *

ARTURO CAUGHT A GLIMPSEof Mari’s pale, frightened face as Ashworth sped past them, and swore vehemently. He had a shot to take out his MI6 teammate in the parking lot, but with her half hanging out of the passenger door, he didn’t dare risk it. Other weapons had discharged, trying to disable the vehicle before it could leave the lot.

“Nom de Dieu!Be careful,” he’d shouted to the team of six through their earpieces. “Marilee is in there.”

Cap lowered his weapon and gripped the wheel, moving forward in hot pursuit all while quietly assuring him, “Aiming at the tires, bud.”

Before he had settled, Cap gunned the engine, and the Expedition was in pursuit as were Jonas and Lil T, in the SUV behind them. Dex and Sean who rounded the building on the other side, trailing in another.

Now, as Cap maneuvered around the stopped cars in the middle of the busy street, the drivers stunned by Ashworth’s erratic driving, he strained to keep an eye on the vehicle. As it moved farther away, with Mari trapped inside and at the mercy of a treacherous murderer, his helplessness to do anything but watch made him feel like he’d been gut-punched.

“We’re going to lose him,” he urgently warned Tony behind the wheel, as he watched the SUV take the freeway on ramp.

“No fucking way,” he gritted out between his teeth. Laying on the horn, he swerved around two minivans, drove onto the sidewalk bypassing a stopped motorcycle, and was soon in the clear. Then he punched the engine as he pursued them past the shopping center they’d just left and shot up the ramp.

“What the fuck is he doing?” Cap growled. “He’s blown his cover after last night.”

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