“How long have you been doing it for?” Steff asked, slowly standing. Cynthia’s attention was still fixed outside. Her chance to do anything was now, if she had the courage–and she did.
“Years. I’d agreed to be taken too, because I was about to get my reward for all the hard work I’d done for Viktor. I had to play the part so you and anyone else taken wouldn’t get suspicious. I had everything planned out.” She turned, and Steff plopped back down on the chair, the wood groaning a little at the sudden movement. “What were you doing?” Her eyes narrowed.
“I just stood for a second, my butt was getting numb.” The lie tripped off Steff’s tongue as easily as water dripping out of a tap.
“Am I going to have to tie you down? Because I will.”
“No, I’m not going to do anything.” The last thing she wanted was to be restrained. She was only going to have a very short window to make her move.
“I don’t think I trust you. Seems we have a little time, perhaps you might enjoy some fun. Yes, I think that’s perfect.” Cynthia stalked over to her, and Steff sat up straight; she wasn’t going to show any weakness in front of her. “You remembereverything that happened to you all those years ago? Well, this is going to be just like that. Only worse. Those men I sent were mild to the ones I’ve got helping me now.”
Fear swarmed her, recalling all the horrible things done to her. The deprivation they seemed to crave and enjoy. And Cynthia was behind it all.
As she’d been living the nightmare, she hadn’t known if others were going through the same thing. Maybe they were, or maybe it had just been her.
“Why did you do that to me?” she whispered.
“Because I could.”
In that moment, it hit her that Cynthia had never been her true friend. To Cynthia, she was a job. A means to an end. “Was anything you ever said to me true? Like, had you been going to a therapist? Or did you really like me?”
Cynthia stared at her with a pitying look. “It was so easy to fool you. I did what I had to do to get closer to you, both times.”
“I was always a target, wasn’t I?”
“You were the ideal candidate. No parents. No one to look for you. And it would’ve been perfect if it wasn’t for the fact Teresa had hooked up with her old high school crush, and he worked for Alliez. It had been the ideal set up. And then it all got ruined.”
“What about Tom and Richard? Were you behind them getting hurt?”
She shrugged. “It doesn’t matter. All that matters is the here and now. You’re going to enjoy your new life after we get rid of Jag and the others.”
A laugh erupted out of Steff; she couldn’t suppress it. “If you think you’re going to defeat them all, you’re more delusional than I thought you were. These guys train every day. They’re skills are still as sharp as if they were still in the Navy.”
“And the ones who are lurking in the bushes waiting for them to arrive, are just as well trained, if not better.”
“Do you not feel any remorse about something happening to Fox?” Steff’s heart broke for the man. He’d been imagining a future with Cynthia, and she’d been planning his downfall along with Steff’s.
“No, I don’t. That night, I was trying to escape the warehouse so I could hide somewhere else and still make my contact so I could be taken to my new owner, but Fox scooped me up, and I had no choice but to play the victim. I’ve never forgiven him for that.”
“How did you know things were going to work out this way?” Steff asked, because it had only been a chance call from Teresa that had her turning up to Angelica’s birthday.
“I didn’t, but when I got that call from Teresa about her brat’s birthday, I began to plan. Trust me when I say Viktor was more than happy to cause Alliez Security more pain. He would love to get Isaac, but he knows that’s a dead end now. That it would be impossible to exact the type of revenge he wanted. But this gave him another opportunity.”
Steff didn’t like the sound of that at all. If–no, not if, but when she got out of here, this Viktor guy was going to be even more pissed at Alliez.
“And if it doesn’t work out? What then? What will Viktor do? Will he still come after Alliez?” She needed to know the answer so that she could tell Jag when this was all over.
“I don’t know. He seemed a little reluctant at first, but then I worked my magic, and he eventually agreed that it was a good idea.”
Steff didn’t need to be shown a picture book to know just how Cynthia had persuaded him to do what she wanted.
“But none of this is your concern, little Steffanie. After today, Alliez will be a memory, and you will start to make some better ones.”
Steff doubted that, but didn’t rebuke her; there was no point. If Cynthia wanted the last word, then she could have it.
Silence descended over the cabin, and Cynthia remained inside, which Steff was more than glad for. It meant she wasn’t going to bring in some sick person who thought he could have his way with her. Not that she would give in without a fight.
A low drone reached the cabin, and Cynthia clapped her hands in glee. “They’re arriving. That there, is a helicopter coming in. Let the fun begin.” She dug into her purse and pulled out a small square box and held it up to her mouth. “Incoming. You know what to do.”
