Total pages in book: 141
Estimated words: 133213 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 666(@200wpm)___ 533(@250wpm)___ 444(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 133213 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 666(@200wpm)___ 533(@250wpm)___ 444(@300wpm)
When they’d made it to the elegant dining room, one of the guards had taken the cuffs off.
Unfortunately, they were up against heavily armed guards, and he had no idea where Carys was and who was guarding her. He didn’t know what the instructions were concerning her if he misbehaved. “No idea, man. But we have to play this cool.”
“We have to figure out what he wants and give it to him.” Zach glanced around, keeping his voice low. “I know you don’t trust me right now, but I swear I’m going to make you understand. When he asks if you’re The Jester, admit to it. I’ll back you up. We’ve been making money behind the Agency’s back. He’ll trust us more if he thinks we’re corrupt.”
It was the same plan he’d come up with, but he wasn’t sure if he could trust Zach. He was sure he didn’t have much of a choice. “I’ll do the talking. You back me up.” He prayed Zach was right and there was a reasonable explanation for what he’d learned back in the suite. “Do you have a count?”
“Four in here,” Zach whispered out of the side of his mouth. “But we had five on us at one point. I think he went to inform our host we’re here. No. He’s back. At your nine on the balcony.”
There was a balcony landing that ran from one side of the house to the other, looking over the great rooms. Sure enough, there was a guard standing there.
So they had five known guns on them.
There were rooms off the balcony, and one of the doors opened.
He heard a long scream before Huisman walked through and shut the door, the sound dulling.
“Was that Carys?” Tristan felt his heart threaten to seize.
“Stay fucking calm,” Zach hissed. “You make a move and we’ll be back in cuffs. We have to wait until the time is right. At least we know where she is.”
They would have to take out all the guards in order to get upstairs, and even then, he couldn’t be sure what they were going into.
Chaos. Huisman had plunged them into chaos. He’d known exactly what he was doing. He’d attacked before they’d thought a sane man would and given them absolutely no time to prepare. All their recon had been done on Huisman’s Montreal compound and the foundation building. Somehow he didn’t think they were close to either.
Huisman was saying something, and then the guard disappeared behind the door, that terrible scream threatening to shake the walls again. The door closed and Huisman started toward the stairs. “Welcome, Mr. Dean-Miles. Or should I call you The Jester?”
Good. They wouldn’t have to explain. “Call me pissed off. Is that Carys Taggart screaming?”
He needed control. He made every word cold as ice because showing how panicked he was at the thought of Carys in pain would give Huisman what he wanted.
“Not at all.” Huisman jogged down the steps. He was dressed in slacks and a black button-down, expensive loafers on his feet. He looked like an upscale doctor, not the fucking psychopath he obviously was. “I’m actually quite sorry she got caught up in this negotiation of ours. I know you will find this hard to believe, but I don’t have anything against her besides her last name. You plan on changing her name? Or did you actually move on? I rather thought I saw you at their wedding, though you weren’t dressed as a guest. I can’t be sure. The imbeciles I was forced to work with couldn’t cut into the security cameras, so I had to rely on the drone.” A grin hit his lips. “That was a spectacular crash, by the way. I’ve watched it at least fifty times.”
“So it was you who hired the mercenaries?” Tris tried to keep the question somewhat casual. If Huisman was going to be civil, he would keep it that way as long as possible. “I’m afraid I didn’t understand the logic behind that particular move.”
Had they found the trackers both he and Zach had in their arms? He hadn’t woken up with a gaping hole in his bicep, so he thought not. If he hadn’t, then all they needed was time because the team would come for them.
Who the hell was screaming? Had been screaming? It seemed to have stopped. That might scare him even more.
Kala. Had they taken her or Tasha? Had they gotten Aidan? He had no fucking idea, and it threatened to make him scream and try to fight his way up those stairs.
“Logic, like many things we think are a collective experience, is actually subjective.” Huisman walked into the dining room, his arms coming out. “Welcome to my childhood home. Sorry it’s not ready for company, but I had to move quickly. I thought it might take longer. So because I am a fair man, I’ll explain it all to you and then you can make your decision as to how we’re going to play out this scene we find ourselves in. I broke up the wedding because from what I could tell, Dr. O’Donnell hadn’t bothered to announce he was coming to Canada. I truly expected there to be a great outcry.”