Page 52 of Deadly Alliance

Chapter Twenty

“Areyou certain Emme will be safe, wherever she is?” Shane wanted to hit himself on the head the moment the words flew out of his mouth, but he couldn’t help himself. Although he knew what he’d done was for the best, the pain in his chest only seemed to increase as time went by.

Sitting at the bar, Jace on his right, Lance on his left, Shane looked at the beer in front of him. After all that had happened, and the emotions swirling like a storm inside him, his throat was shut tight.

Lance slapped his shoulder. “For a guy not interested in Emme, you spend an awful lot of time thinking about her.” The growl that instinctively came out of him didn’t deter the SEAL. “Think with your head, buddy. Zack wouldn’t put her in danger. Right?”

Jace nodded. “You know that she is locked away deep in the Cunningham Estate. And she’s probably with Lucy as we speak. That’s another guard dog on her. She’s safe.”

Shane shook his head, the bottle in front of him still untouched. “No offence, but I have trust issues right now.”

Lance hunched his huge frame even more on his stool. “I know, man. I can’t believe what happened. My fingers are itching to call Bea to check if it’s all a bad joke.”

Shane nodded. He had the same reflex until the images of blood and death took his breath away. And slowly, Beatrice morphed into Emme.

Jace elbowed him. “Get out of your head, Shane.” He then ordered a round of shots. The barman was swift to pour three shots of vodka in front of them. Jace lifted his. “To Beatrice and James Feander. Two real warriors and friends. May they rest in peace.”

As Lance clicked his glass with the two men, fire returned in his cold, blue eyes. “And when I put a bullet in that bitch’s brain, may she forever burn in Hell.”

Lance’s words steadied Shane as much as the heat of alcohol sliding down his throat. The pain and anger may never completely disappear, but Lance was right. There was still work to do that would help bring closure.

“I think we were wrong from the beginning playing sitting ducks. I know we didn’t have any choice, but I prefer to be the hunter, not the hunted.”

Jace took another swig of beer, considering his words. “Totally agree with you. Sneaking around and circling behind your prey is the best feeling.”

Lance exhaled. “Yeah, and it’s probably the one thing that bitch loved about the chase. And succeeding probably got her off. Fuck, I can’t wait to tear her apart, limb by limb as she screams.”

Jace snorted. “I never thought you were that romantic, Sorenson.”

A shadow of a smile came to his mouth, but it looked so feral, Zin’s image came to mind.

Shane stretched a little, his limbs relaxing. It might be the booze, time, or sitting with men who could understand the situation, but his brain was starting to work again.

“That woman, she knew Beatrice. Said she rejected her. The weird thing is, Beatrice didn’t recognise her. And that woman has … had… an amazing memory.”

Lance frowned. “You are right. If she didn’t recognise her, that meant they had never met. And I know Dee searched her personal files without finding anything.”

“She kept files on potential candidates for Purgatory?” Jace looked impressed.

“Bea kept files on everyone and everything. Part of her job as a profiler. And her general work ethics. She never left a stone unturned or a possibility unexplored.”

Shane leaned back, crossing his arms. “If that’s the case, her murderer should be there. Unless she’s completely wacko and delusional, the bitch is there. Or at least there must be a thread we can pull on to find her.”

Jace ordered another round of shots. “Didn’t Dee cross-check every picture with the target? Wasn’t that one of her first tasks with Will?”

Lance downed his shot and grimaced. “Yeah. With so many files I think my eyes watered. If she were there, our computer wizards would have found her.”

“Maybe. But wouldn’t she only be there if she’d been in the late stage of the selection process?”

Jace made strange sense. Shane turned to Lance. “How often did Beatrice do a general recruitment? I thought she kept her ear to the ground and it was a person’s reputation and recommendations from others that made her hire new agents for Purgatory.”

Lance paused for a moment. “I think it would be unusual for her. If Bea had, it would be because she was searching for a specific skill set.”

Shane pushed away from the bar to grab his phone. “How many times did she do that?”

“I don’t know. She mentioned something briefly once but didn’t give me details.” Lance continued to think, frowning

Shane dialled Dee, hoping they were on to something concrete.