Page 1 of Hidden Trial

Chapter1

The lightthat pooled on the street was a kaleidoscope of color, reflecting in the sheen of water and oil that covered the pavement.

The rain had been a fine mist all day but was increasing to a drizzle as Maddy checked the text message again.

I know who you are. Meet tonight or I’ll share your secret.

Her scowl masked the anxiety that had been building throughout the afternoon. When she’d first received the threat, her reaction was to ignore it. She wasn’t one to be pushed around and manipulated, especially when they’d only given her a few hours to respond and no details about what the blackmail was related to.

Her job demanded that she keep secrets, and lots of them. So, with no clue as to who or what she was facing tonight, she had to assume it was connected to her current operation—an assignment she’d worked on too hard and too long to allow some scumbag to ruin it.

At the last minute, she’d agreed to meet with the intention that, if the opportunity arose to remove the threat, she’d take it. Or, if she was really lucky, it would turn out to be a bluff, and she could teach them that she wasn’t a woman who could be played.

After double-checking the time, Maddy opened her recent calls and tapped the top name for the fifth time in the last two hours. It went to voicemail again.

“It’s me, Will. I don’t know where you are or what you’re doing, but it had better be important; otherwise, we’re having words next time we speak.”

Her finger stabbed at the phone to end the call. She didn’t like going in blind. Will’s eyes on this would have helped.

As she continued down the sidewalk, the clip of her heels echoed on the silent street. She despised wearing heels. It was the one thing she shared with her sister. Everything else, they were at odds about, but heels, they both hated. This outing wasn’t suited to them either. Sneakers or even her boots would have been better tonight, especially if things went south. But with no way to know what the blackmailer would threaten her with, she had to remain in the character she’d created for her current undercover operation. That meant stilettos and a power suit.

When she reached a chipped green metal door, she opened the map app on her phone to confirm her position against the address they’d given her. This was the place.

She checked up and down the empty street, then reached her hand for the door latch, but paused. Someone was watching her. She could always feel eyes on her. Lifting her head, she caught sight of a head ducking out of view on the roof.

“Idiot,” she mumbled.

It wouldn’t surprise her if she was working with a bunch of amateurs. No one who knew what they were doing would allow themselves to be seen by their quarry. At least, she wouldn’t.

Chances were some punk had found a piece of information on her by sheer luck. He didn’t realize it, but he’d gotten in over his head. She wasn’t a helpless woman to be taken advantage of, and, by the end of the night, she’d make sure he knew it.

With her hand still on the latch, she nudged it, but it wouldn’t move. She looked up to the roof again as she clicked her tongue, then smacked the heel of her hand up from underneath. It still wouldn’t budge.

“Not cool, guys. I’m already in a bad mood,” she said quietly.

After getting a solid grip on the handle, she planted her feet and shoved her shoulder into the door to loosen the tension.

An ear-shattering scrape erupted when the door grated against the concrete floor at its release, and she nearly tripped into the room.

As she righted herself, she reached for her gun in reflex but changed direction before releasing it from the holster, opting for the phone in her pocket instead. If someone was watching, she preferred to keep her weapon concealed as long as she could.

“Surprise,” she whispered, ducking her head back out the door to confirm the street was still clear. “I’m here.” She turned on the flashlight on her phone, shining it around the room. “Didn’t know that, did you? Can’t hear me at all with these ridiculous shoes and this horrible old door?”

A small stream of light from the streetlights outside made it through the high windows and offered a dull illumination that added to her phone light, but the corners of the large room remained in shadow.

She took a couple of tentative steps inside, aiming her light at the closest wall. Piles of debris had been swept against it. But as she continued her search of the room, she found it completely empty besides a flight of stairs on the far side. And there were no other exits except the one she had entered through. Her skin crawled, but she had little choice, so she headed for the stairs.

As she climbed the open staircase, she kept her light pointed at the floor below. Hopefully, they knew better than to back a woman like her into a corner.

The door she reached at the top of the stairs had a mottled glass window and was slightly ajar.

Pressing her back against the wall beside it, she pushed it open another couple of inches, then poked her head in to get a better look.

This room was smaller with a plain wooden table in the middle of the floor and a ladder attached to the wall that lead to the roof. The hatch in the ceiling was open, and the floor was wet underneath.

She rechecked the room behind her one last time and entered the second floor, shining her light in every corner before it settled on the opening to the roof.

“You’ve got to be kidding me.”

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