Page 40 of Deadly Alliance

Zin’s blue eyes glinted like cold steel. “I can’t wait.”

“Good. Are you open to suggestions?”

* * *

Emme satin the conference room ready to jump out of her skin. She was seated with Beatrice, Lucy, and Jace around the conference table. Lance was pacing the room, unusually silent and Zack was checking Bolton’s hideout with the others. Daniel had gone for a nap in a spare room, not wanting to be involved in this in any way, his concentration focused on his daughter and the woman who had murdered his wife, but remaining on site in case he was needed.

The interrogation room door had been closed for a couple of hours. She knew what was going to happen when she’d seen Shane speaking with Zin. Her Russian colleague may act like a teddy bear with her, but she wasn’t a fool. When confronted with difficult suspects, he was the one to be called.

Zin was an excellent man to those he loved and cared about, but to others, he was one of the deadliest. Known as the Viper, his background was still somewhat of a grey area for her. But she had seen the end results.

They may be criminals, but they were turned into bloody pulp. Emme was all about catching the bad guys, killing them too, but torture was a line she might never be able to cross. There was no way it didn’t come with a terrible price, one she could discern deep in Zin’s eyes, one that left more damage in him than it did his suspects.

The room was soundproof, but she knew Zin and Shane were working Bolton over. Another word for torture and beating.

Beatrice’s mobile on the table beeped. After a quick look, she put it down. It beeped again and this time, she only sighed.

Lance snorted. “Chicken shit.”

Emme turned her head towards the others who were both surprised and baffled before looking at Beatrice who shook her head. “I’m not afraid of my husband, Lance. Drop it.”

Lucy twiddled with her plastic bottle, a smirk on her face. “So, if you don’t answer, it is simply because you’re too busy. Got it.”

Beatrice’s look would have made weaker women jump for cover, but not Lucy. As an ex-member of the elite secret assassin group Zenobi, it took a lot to scare her. Only the welfare of her family and loved ones could make Lucy quake.

“It’s not fear; he’s just texting me constantly to find out when I’m coming back.”

Emme smiled. “That’s nice. He’s missing you.”

Lance plopped his large frame on a chair beside her and twirled. “Yeah, he wants to know when she’s back from her conference.”

The room was silent for a moment and Emme hesitated before commenting. “Conference?”

The green eyes that bore into hers flared before dying down. “James can be… overprotective. To say the least. Even if he knows what I’m capable of. In this case, it was better to tweak the truth a little.”

Jace touched Lucy’s hand who turned to look at him. “Now you know how I feel. And if you do the same as her, and ignore my calls, there will be hell to pay.” He said it with a little smirk as if it was a secret joke but anyone with eyes could see he meant it. Lucy merely raised an eyebrow at him and pouted.

Beatrice smiled. “Yeah. There will be hell to pay for me too. But this situation is different. He doesn’t mind me trying to catch a terrorist or serial killer. It’s the murderer coming specifically after me that will make him lose his mind. He has enough on his plate without worrying about me.”

“That’s the thing you tough women don’t get,” Jace said with a frustrated sigh. “It’s our right to worry about the women we love just as it’s yours to worry about us.”

Will entered the room and handed a file to Beatrice. “As requested. Hope it helps.”

Beatrice opened it and read a little before snarling. Emme was desperate for good news at this point and didn’t know if she should ask the question.

Beatrice closed it and turned to Jace. “Any news from the interrogation room?”

Jace checked the time. “I would say they should be out for air soon. I’m impressed with that asshole’s tenacity. With Zin in the room, I would have spilt my guts by now. I’m frustrated I couldn’t read him, but his mind was locked up tight.” Jace had the incredible ability of reading people’s thoughts thanks to a cocktail of drugs he had been given by a group calling themselves ‘The Devine Watchers’. That he couldn’t read this guy made things even more frustrating.

“I seriously doubt that,” Bea replied with a quirk of her eyebrow. “But Will just dug up all he could about our little friend, and I fear Zin and Shane might need more patience than we hoped. Bolton has had extensive RTI training.”

Emme blinked. “RTI? What’s that?”

Lance whistled. “Resistance to Interrogation. It’s a training programme run by the Brits to help endure torture if caught by the enemy. Something he did in the Marines.”

Jace nodded. “Yeah, I did it years ago. Hell is pretty much a synonym for that training.”

Lucy gasped at the revelation, telling Emme that the man had yet to reveal darker parts of his life to his fiancée. Emme had no doubt she would be asking questions later.

“We have something similar in the Navy. Well, in every specialised corps for that matter.”

Beatrice agreed with Lance on that. “You are right. What is less known is that a study was launched three years ago in the US in collaboration with the United Kingdom. An advanced RTI program created by psychologists. It was put on hold last year after a few of the volunteers developed psychosis. Experts are still debating the reason why that happened. The deep hypnosis used to reconfigure brain connections might be the cause.”

Lance leaned forward. “Let me guess, Bolton was one of the volunteers?”

Emme wasn’t sure what to think of this new information. “That means it will take more time to break him?”

Jace exhaled sharply. “That means that even if Zin starts cutting off his fingers and toes, we might still be here next year.”

“Better let the rest of the team know. Zack and the others should be back soon. We need to reconvene and find another tactic.”

Beatrice got to her feet. “We need to dig as deep as possible into Bolton’s life, past, and mind. Every man has his breaking point, and we’re going to find his.”