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Rog waved a hand in the air. “My new beauty seats six. I got you covered. Gather whatever supplies you have. I’ll meet you at the hotel in half an hour. We got this,” Rog insisted and shut the door softly.
Fenn pulled his face mask back up, hunched down in his parka and ran back to the hotel.
Rog’s last words echoed in his fuzzy brain.
We got this.
Yeah, they did.
“It’s on.” He challenged Steele, his words crystalizing in the frigid air. “I’m bringing everything I’ve got. You’re going down. Hard.”
37
The icy metalof the handcuffs bit into Kate’s wrists as she tugged against them, testing their strength. She let out a frustrated sigh, her breath forming a misty cloud in the frigid air. The abandoned communications lab had become her prison, and the steel bed frame, a cruel reminder of Hawk’s betrayal.
She shivered, but it was hard for her to tell if she was actually cold or just blindingly furious. The white-hot heat of betrayal burned inside her, and worry for Fenn consumed her thoughts.
She felt like an idiot for trusting Hawk, but mostly for convincing Fenn to trust him too. Sure, she had her doubts, but she’d gone along with his plan.
Kate closed her eyes and thought of Fenn’s cool collectedness, Bridger’s strong insights, Tai and Mason’s warrior fury, and Paige’s brilliance. Just picturing her friends—her family—calmed her.
Just because she’d been so stupid about Hawk didn’t mean she had to continue playing the idiot.
The steady rumble of the diesel generator filled the air, accompanied by the whoosh of the ad hoc heating system blowing through the flexible mylar pipes. Behind it all, shepicked up the murmur of male voices and the ominous drip of melting ice.
She couldn’t see a way to escape, but that didn’t stop her from running through every possible idea in her head. Hawk had lured the entire team there but had tried to arrange it so only she stayed behind. Then, when he had the chance to capture both her and Fenn, he declined to abduct Fenn. Why would he—or the Consortium—want her specifically?
The question nagged at her, and she couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something she was missing.
But what?
Before Kate could fully process the question, Hawk returned carrying a mug of hot broth and an MRE. The scent of something beefy and spicy wafted from the package, making her stomach heave. She accepted the broth, gulping it down to stay hydrated and warm, but ignored the food for the moment.
Then she fixed Hawk with a piercing stare. “Why me?” She asked the question that had been burning in her mind, knowing she couldn’t fool herself into thinking it had anything to do with any long-lost feelings he might have harbored for her.
“Insurance,” Hawk replied, his tone matter-of-fact. “My bosses have been chasing that idiot Jason Reilly around the globe, and they’re sick of it. Abducting you was my idea. They’re going to exchange you for Reilly.” He shrugged. “The guy’s a total boy scout. He’ll turn himself over to save you.”
Hawk truly was the complete opposite of everything she had believed about him. No one could have changed that much. The revelation stung, and she couldn’t resist questioning him about their shared past. “Did you ever love me?”
Hawk’s gaze flickered away from hers. “You were easy to date,” he admitted.
“But not marry.”
“That was never gonna happen. The engagement was just extra icing on the cake.” He shrugged off her comment. “I figured you’d say yes. It made a great way to pad my cover even better. I wasn’t exactly the type then. Nothing’s changed.”
But everything had changed for Kate. The man she thought she loved had never existed.
Just like he had never died.
If Hawk was willing to use her as a bargaining chip, what else was he capable of? And how far would the Consortium go to get their hands on Jason?
Questions that had no bearing on her escape. Fenn would be depending on her. She could sort through this dumpster fire later, when the people she truly loved were safe.
“Are you even a Christian?” she asked, remembering how he had professed a strong faith back in the day. It was one of the things that had first attracted her to him—his kindness and the classy way he wore his allegiance to the Lord.
Outspoken, but not overbearing. And it had all been a lie.
“Don’t answer that,” she said, catching the look on his face. She already knew the ugly truth.
