Page 77 of My Ghost

I gulp but try to put on a brave face.“If you wanted to talk, you could have just asked me.Coffee and a cookie can do wonders.”

The slap comes so fast I don’t have time to brace.One second he is standing a few feet away, the next my head snaps to the side, cheek stinging.Before I have time to register what happened, he grabs my hair and yanks hard so that my face is looking up at his.His eyes are ice-cold when he snarls at me.“Shut your fucking mouth before I cut your tongue out.”

I nod numbly at him, eyes stinging.

“Don’t damage her, we had a deal,” drawls a voice behind the FBI agent, and my heart stops.

“Dave!”I shriek.Sure enough, he is walking into the room, unhurried.What is happening?

“Dave, help me!”I cry out.“Did Matteo send you?”

He steps closer, and my stomach drops to my feet.He is smiling smugly at me, and the glint in his eyes has nothing to do with his usual self.Nausea roils in my gut when the realization hits me.This man is someone I don’t know.

“Hello, Erin.”He gently cups my jaw to lift my face to the light, turning it to the side, as if assessing the bruise from the slap.“Unfortunately, your precious Matteo is busy.But don’t worry, I’ll take good care of you now.”His predatory leer sends a shiver down my spine.He turns toward Rourke and hisses, “I told you not to touch her.She’s mine until I’m done with her.”

No, no, no!

I struggle against the restraints and shake my head, not believing the truth my muddled brain just stitched together.

They are together.But why?

“Dave, you have to let me go, I don’t know what is happening, and I don’t know anything about Matteo’s business.I won’t tell anyone about this, just let me go, please,” I beg.

“We already know everything about his business,” Rourke sneers.“Tell us about Manticore.”

I feel the blood drain from my face.Shit, that’s bad.

“I have no idea what that is,” I lie.

“Don’t lie,” Rourke sneers.“We know that you are helping Di Rossi.”He turns toward Dave.“You sure that she knows anything, and he’s not just keeping her around for a quick fuck?”

Dave grabs my chin and turns my face up with a chuckle.“Don’t trust her angel face.Erin is brilliant.She is definitely working for Matteo, that’s when he’s not screwing her.And she might even know theother guy.”He holds my jaw in a dead grip and crushes his mouth over mine.I clamp my lips shut and struggle as best as I can with my bound wrists until he pulls back with an amused laugh.Who is this man?I realize that I don’t know him, never did.Icy claws wrap around my heart and I can’t breathe.

Rourke watches me with a speculative gaze.Then he leans over me, hands on my tied wrists.“Is it true?You know the other guy, the Tracker?And what do you have over Manticore?”

I shake my head again, taking the risk of playing dumb.“I swear, I know nothing.Matteo, he…hired me to have me there when—”

Crack.

The slap resounds in the large empty space like a thunderclap.I sob, more from the emotional strain than from the sting.“I swear I—”

Crack.

My head snaps to the side once again and the successive sudden movements make me dizzy.The metallic taste of blood fills my mouth.

“Stop it, man,” Dave barks in an angry voice.“I told you not to—”

A loud gunshot cracks and suddenly there is deafening silence.Then I look at the scene.Dave is lying on the floor, a growing red patch on his chest.His face is stunned, immobile.Dead.

I scream.And scream.I keep screaming until my throat is raw.

When I can breathe again, I look up at the FBI agent through my tears.He seems utterly unfazed, casually leaning against the desk and holstering his gun again.

“As you see,” he says in a bored tone, “I’m serious, so you better answer my questions, or the girl is next.”

I am still sobbing and breathing too fast, but I nod frantically, just to appease him.

“Manticore,” he goes on.“Di Rossi brought you in to investigate them?”