Page 38 of Burning Justice

She lifted her chin, blinking so her eyes could focus. Single bare bulb with a weak yellow light. Elias and another guy in a cargo jacket—one of those militia people. And another man, standing in the shadows in the corner. Wearing a suit.

Not good.

Especially given the tray of what looked like surgical instruments on the rolling cart to one side.

She said, “I’ve seen this TV show.”

Now playing the part of Sydney Bristow…

Hmm. How did that intrepid double-agent spy get out of the predicaments she found herself in? Maria could use some of that information right now. A way out. A lifeline.

It started with getting out of this chair.

Elias stepped forward. “I think you hit your head. You’re not making any sense, Maria. But you need to start talking, or this is going to take a long time. And it’ll be painful for you.”

“I think your mother probably dropped you when you were a baby. I mean, normal people don’t do the things you’ve done.” Did he really think she was going to cower? It hadn’t happened last time, so why would she have changed? If anything, she was stronger now than she’d been two years ago.

Elias slapped her cheek with an open palm. Her face whipped to the side, her skin burning.

Maria blew out a breath. “This feels familiar, Elias.”

“It should. Seems like you and I are destined to go around and around.”

“So just tell me what you want, I’ll tell you what I know, and we can get this thing resolved.” She lifted her chin. There were far too many guys in here for her to make a stand and try to escape. She couldn’t fight all three tied to a chair, and she also couldn’t find out what they wanted if they left the room and she escaped.

Elias chuckled. “Very well. Give me the code to deploy the canister.”

She bit her lip. Not what she’d expected him to say, and she couldn’t react to it. Otherwise, he’d know she had no clue what he was talking about.

But now she knew why they were alive.

They had something he wanted, and Elias couldn’t kill them until he got it. Which made Maria leverage. Her father, leverage. Her friends, leverage. They were all weak because they cared about each other enough that they’d refuse to let the other get hurt if they could do anything about it.

She pretended to consider his request. “Hmm, let me think about…no.”

Maria wanted to adjust this awkward position on the chair, but she was tied so tightly she couldn’t move. She managed to wiggle her fingers, curling her right hand enough to know she still wore the ring.

One of Jade’s tracker rings.

Which meant her friends—her Trouble Boys—would find her.

Elias tugged something from his back. A phone. He took a picture of her, the flash so bright the white spot stayed in her vision after he was done.

“Kane isn’t going to make a trade with you,” she said.

“You think I care about him right now? That’s a loose end for later. Don’t worry. Those guys will get what’s coming to them for betraying me.”

“Betraying you…” She nearly choked.

“Your father, however? He’s the one who will show up for you. Isn’t that right? Wherever he’s hiding, he’ll burrow out and trade your life for the code. So it really doesn’t matter if you tell me or not. Either way, I’ll get what I want.”

Her cheek burned where he’d slapped her, but that was nothing compared to how it felt realizing he was going to play the victim. Elias seemed to have convinced himself that he was in the right.

Probably thought destroying America was some kind of righteous cause. A way to fix everything that was broken.

Her father was gone. “Hiding?”

Elias said, “Don’t play coy. He’s probably contacted you by now and your Fed friends have him in a safe house, all cozy.”

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