Page 46 of Dangerous Mission

My lip twisted into a smile. “Yes, but have you met any of the men who are part of the mercenary group he works with.”

“Ahh, no. Tell me more. I haven’t had sex in two years. No way was I letting my husband’s disease-infested dick anywhere near me. My lawyer thinks he can push the divorce through in a couple weeks. I’m not lying when I said I’m ready to date. Never going to marry again. Too many men want a leg up in the world. All I want is to scratch an itch.”

Terri couldn’t stop laughing as she talked with Emily. It was almost like seventeen years hadn’t passed since the last time they spoke. She was in the middle of another story about an incident on set when her doorbell rang.

“I promise to call you soon and make plans, but I’m guessing the secret service dude has to use the bathroom.”

“Talk to you soon.”

She clicked off the phone when the doorbell rang again. Terri let out an aggravated sigh as she wiped the door open without looking through the peephole. Renee stood on the steps with black mascara running down her face. Behind her stood Franny and a large man. It was the silver of the gun in Franny’s hand which caught her eye.

“What the hell, Franny. You won’t get away with this. Secret service is right there.” Terri pointed to the black SUV. Her stomach dropped when she saw the two men slumped over in the front seat. Her phone rang inside the house when she went to move the large man reached out. She deflected his grab but didn’t see the syringe in his other hand. It was too late. The needle went into her neck, and the world became blurry as she fell to the ground.

* * *

Terri groaned as she moved,but her hands were cuffed behind her. She didn’t need to open her eyes to know Franny was in the room. She would recognize the woman’s perfume from a mile away.

“I know you’re awake.”

She opened her eyes and glanced around. Renee was on a chair next to her. They were in a small room. Her hands were cuffed to a pole behind her.

“What the hell, Franny?”

“You ruined everything.”

Terri glared at Franny. Next to her stood two large men. “What do you mean?”

“Why couldn’t you listen to Senator Wilson?” Franny growled as she paced back and forth. “All you had to do was help fund his project, but you wouldn’t, and time ran out.”

“What do you mean, ‘time ran out’?”

“Carter killed Senator Wilson, and he’ll kill me also if I don’t get the project funded.” The words came out as a whine.

“I don’t even know anything about the project. So I’m not going to fund it. What I don’t understand is if you work for Carter, why is the Karva Organization after me?”

“I thought when I exposed your relationship with Axel to the world, your daddy would make you quiet, but he didn’t. Then Carter came up with the idea to steal Hex, because he had another agenda. As for the Karva Organization, I thought it would be fun to sell you to the same people you fight against. They’ll be here soon to get you.”

Renee whimpered, but Terri couldn’t think about that at the moment. Her former assistant was crazy. “My father won’t stop until he finds me.”

Franny shrugged. “Maybe, but by the time he does, you won’t be so perfect anymore, and your project will fall apart. The money will be diverted into Senator Wilson’s weapons project he brought to the floor. Especially when Carter has another senator attempt to pass the funding in memory of the deceased senator. He always wins, because if he doesn’t, people die.”

She laughed as she exited the room, then the door lock clicked.

It was go time. Terri worked her bracelet around then pinched the end between her fingers and pulled out the cuff key. The bracelet gave her the ability to get out of cuffs and smash car window. Renee mumbled, but Terri continued working. It took a couple of tries before she got the key into the hole, and the cuffs snapped open.

Terri jumped off the chair and got Renee out of her cuffs. Then she pulled the rag out of her mouth.

“I’m so sorry,” Renee said.

“You have nothing to say sorry about. But we do have to be quiet.”

Renee nodded as the cuffs dropped to the floor.

Terri ran to the landline phone next to the bed and sighed with relief when she picked it up and heard a dial tone. Barely needing to think about it, she dialed Tex’s number. She owed the man her life for making her memorize it.

He picked up on the second ring. Terri gave him the details about what she knew, which wasn’t much. He promised to get her help, but then the door lock clicked, and she knew she was out of time. She hoped Tex could get the information to Axel fast.

Axel

---