Page 114 of No More Spies

Devi was shoved in.

“I’m saving Devon for later,” Huisman explained. “I thinkZach is going to want proof of life, and he’ll be far more reasonable if she’sas perfectly pretty as she is right now. She’s the bait. Though if it doesn’twork, one can also make the bait bleed. Chum the waters a bit. However, Ithought I would start with you.”

Excellent. If they were going to let her out, she had ashot. Adrenaline started to pump through her, and she took a long breath,centering herself. She would have to be careful because the room was tight, andif they started firing it could hit Devi. But she could do this. There wereonly four of them, and Lena didn’t count. Lena would run the first chance shegot. Huisman might, too. He tended to run rather than fight. Coward. She wouldtake him down, and he wouldn’t get back up this time.

And then the dart hit her. Taser. Straight to her chest. Sheheard Devi’s startled scream and then she was falling to the floor, everymuscle in her body seizing and shaking. Her head hit hard, and her visionstarted to fade again.

“You idiot. I didn’t give you the order,” Huisman wassaying.

Someone pulled the dart out but her body kept shaking.

“It doesn’t matter,” Lena replied. “You would be better offputting her down. She’s nothing but an animal. She’ll turn on you in the end.If you ask me, she should have been put down as a child. There are some animalsthat can’t be tamed.”

As the world started to go dark, she heard the mostterrifying words come from Huisman’s mouth.

“That sounds like a challenge.”

ChapterEighteen

“You’re sure she’s there?” Drake looked through binocularsat the big house located on the outskirts of Winchester, Virginia. The small,sleepy town was peaceful at this time of the night. The moon was out but it wasin a half phase, and the woods around him were dark.

Cooper was sure there was no peace tonight for his futurewife. Did Kala even know she was back at the place of her original trauma? Hadshe woken up and looked around and screamed in despair?

Check that. His baby wouldn’t freak out. She would wake upand plan how to slaughter her enemies.

He hoped she knew he was coming for her. Well, he hoped sheknew they would do anything to find her. She slept through meetings. He waspretty sure she had no idea what Lou had created.

“Her tracker places her there, and I have zero doubt it doeseverything Lou says it does.” Big Tag had been quiet on the plane. They hadn’teven used their own plane. Big Tag was worried that Huisman had people watchingthe team, so they’d all gone into the MT building as though headed in for along meeting, and he’d slowly gotten them all out undercover. A few years back,he’d found a tunnel that led from their building to one two blocks over. Noidea why it was there, but they used it when they needed to.

They’d gone to an executive airfield where a BondAeronautics jet was waiting. It was owned by Big Tag’s brother andsister-in-law and wouldn’t show any of them as passengers. Cooper had flown thejet with quiet precision, happy he had something to focus on during thosehours.

“She’s in there,” Lou insisted. She’d changed into allblack, while TJ was in dark fatigues. “They moved her from one side of thehouse to another.”

“Well, at least we know where they’ll keep her,” Charlottesaid. She sat in the back of the van Drake had picked them up in, checking herguns.

“We have a go from Langley if you’re sure,” Drake informedthem.

“I wish you hadn’t told them.” Big Tag sounded irritated.Drake had met them at the DC airfield with two vans and all the equipment theywould need.

“You know I have to,” Drake argued. “This is an op onAmerican soil. If something goes down, we’ll need an umbrella. The good news isthis place is isolated. The nearest neighbor is two miles away.”

Drake should know since it used to be his house. Or ratherhis mother’s. At least some of this was the boss’s fault. “Well, I kind ofwished you hadn’t decided to sell it. Or maybe you could have checked and seenwho the buyer was.”

“Coop,” Kenzie began.

He wasn’t having any of it. “Nope. I’m kind of done with theolder generation telling me I should be more careful. I have a brother I didn’tknow I had and a bio mom who likes to blow shit up because they thought myfather was close enough to the Taggarts to protect me. No one vetted thembecause apparently I was a cute baby and they didn’t want to ask questions. Andnow Kala’s in a place where she’s already been tortured once because Drake herecouldn’t be bothered to read a contract.”

“In my defense, my mother sold the place.” Drake was in thepassenger seat, staring at the house down the hill. “We couldn’t go back afterwhat happened. We held on to it for almost ten years before she retired anddecided it was time to find a new place. I’ve never even taken my childrenhere.”

“And technically it’s not Big Tag’s fault you have a weaponsforward bio mom and a brother who should be more open emotionally andinformationally,” Tris quipped from behind his laptop. “Technically that’s yourbio dad’s fault because of the way semen works. See, this is why Big Tag issuch an advocate for condoms. Should we be looking for him? Is this all goingto be some weird family reunion?”

He might punch Tristan. They were getting nowhere. “If wehave a go, why aren’t we going yet? Tell me we’re not waiting for Theo andErin.”

Devi’s parents were on their way back from their trip, butit would take them hours to get there, and those hours would likely cost Kalaan enormous amount of pain. He wouldn’t allow it.

“We have to have a plan, Rambo,” Big Tag said with a longsigh. “Unfortunately, we don’t think we can move in the same way we did lasttime. Last time we used a set of tunnels that lead from about a half a mileaway to the basement. Huisman has to know about the tunnels.”

“Well, he’s definitely got some security up and running.”Tristan’s face was ghostly behind the lights coming from his laptop. Hispartner, Aidan, was in the van waiting a half a mile down the road. Tasha wasdriving a backup van in case things went bad.

---