Page 28 of The Pursuit
He stepped up, cool fingertips trailing over the burning wound rising on my cheek. I wanted to recoil, but he yanked my head back ruthlessly. Black spots swam in myvision from the shooting pain.
“Did you really think you could waltz in here and try to take me out?” Max chuckled darkly. “You’re even more dumb than I thought. Luckily for you, I’m not gonna kill you just yet, Trisha.”
His hand closed around my throat, and fear shot through me. I hadn’t anticipated how swiftly things could escalate. I still needed to maintain his belief that I had failed and this was not just a ploy.
“Ron has been wanting to meet the spy bitch who made such a fool of me,” Max hissed into my ear, his lips brushing against my lobe. “He’ll want to personally deal with you for getting Marco, our best man, killed before we return the favour.”
Adrenaline spiked through my veins at the thought of being taken to Ron’s lair. This was it—the moment we’d been working towards all along. Now, I just had to survive whatever torment was coming first.
Laughing viciously, Max gripped my hair tighter, forcing my head back painfully. My scalp felt like it was being ripped from my skull.
“But before we hand you over, I get to make up for all those months you played me. You didn’t let me touch you back then… but now… how will you save yourself, Trisha?”
Revulsion churned in my gut at his meaning, his hot breath on my face. I expected him to strike, violate, and hurt me in every way imaginable. Maintaining my cover was one thing, but this...?
A call on Max’s mobile diverted his attention momentarily from me. I took a sigh of relief as he answered, his gaze fixed on me.
“We have caught the spy,” he said into the phone. “I’m bringing her to you soon.”
He must be speaking to Ron, his brother. Even though the call wasn’t on speaker mode, I could still hear Ron’s voice. He commanded Max not to waste time and to bring me to him urgently. Ron was worried that if I was here, my other agents could track me down at any moment and secure this place. So, he specifically asked Max to start immediately.
However, it gave me some relief knowing that this might deter Max from carrying out his plans of touching me and violating me anymore. Not that I couldn’t handle it. If I could safeguard myself all those months when I pretended to be his woman, I could do anything to protect myself even now.
Max reluctantly agreed with his brother and then disconnected the call, barking at his men to prepare for leaving.
A flicker of movement in my periphery made my blood run cold. Out of the corner of my eye, I glimpsed one of Max’s thugs holding a scanning device, running it slowly over my body.
No... they couldn’t be looking for...
“Let’s find out if our little spy is wired?” Max’s mocking voice dripped with cruel satisfaction.
My thundering heart felt like it would beat out of mychest. If they found the tracking chip, it was all over. No, I couldn’t let them take this chance.
“You’ll never find anything,” I rasped out defiantly.
Max leaned in so close I could smell his foul breath. “Is that so? Don’t worry; we will find out in no time.”
One rough hand jerked up the sleeve of my shirt while the other gripped my forearm, immobilising me. The thug with the scanner passed it over my bare skin, his eyes focused on his task.
I held my breath, stifling the scream that threatened to escape as the device swept down to my upper arm... right over the embedded chip. Please, no. God, no...
There was a tense pause in the room, everyone frozen in anticipation. My muscles locked, bracing for the worst. Then, the rhythmic beeping of the scanner echoed like a death sentence. My tracking chip was traced!!
KRISH
The surveillance monitors flickered suddenly, static filling the screens. My heart plummeted into my stomach as an ominous silence filled the van, parked a few blocks away from Max’s hideout where Trisha was supposed to be.
“We’ve lost her signal.”
The words rang hollow in my ears. I fought to keep my composure, but dread and panic clawed at my insides.
“What the hell do you mean we’ve lost her?” I turned sharply to one of my men, who was tracking Trisha on the laptop, unable to mask the desperation in my voice.
“Where’s Trisha’s locator ping? We need to get a fix on her now!” Ayaan asked him, meeting my wild gaze with a resolute expression, his jaw set in a grim line. Furiously, I typed furiously on the array of computers before me. But no matter what I did, Trisha’s tracking data remained stubbornly blank. My hands clenched into white-knuckled fists.
“They must have found the chip and disabled it somehow,” Ayaan yelled.
My worst nightmare was unfolding right before my eyes—Trisha captured and defenceless in Max’s clutches.
