Page 186 of Barinov

Knox exhales. “Briggs, give her the device.”

I slide the band off my wrist and hand it over.

Her brows pinch in confusion. “A hair-tie?” she asks.

I hear Nate huff a dry, humorless laugh on the other end of the line.

“It’s not a fucking—” Knox cuts himself off and clears his throat. “It’s not a hair-tie Bella. I mean, yes it technically is, but just put it on your wrist.”

She obeys and carefully slides the elastic over her skin. “Now what?”

“Hold on.” The faint, rapid clicking of keys sounds through the speaker. “Okay, good. I’ve got a strong signal. I can see you.”

“Knox,” she snaps, her patience fraying. “What is this thing?”

“For one, it’s a GPS tracker,” he says. “And two, Laing and I loaded that thing with enough code to stop Luca’s remote.”

“Thank God,” she gasps, her shoulders dropping. A fresh wave of sobs break loose as relief floods her. Bella sways, her center of gravity giving out as she tips forward into me.

I lunge upward to catch her, my hands locking onto her shoulders to keep her from slamming to the floor.

“Shh,” I murmur, my voice vibrates against her hair as I rub my palms over her shaking shoulders.

She rakes her fingers through her dark waves, her elbows digging into her knees as she finally finds the strength to pull back and look at me. “Okay,” she breathes, trying to steady herself. “So can you get this thing off of me yet?”

Silence stretches through the speaker. It goes on too long and I see the panic flare back into her eyes.

“Knox!” she snaps.

“Not yet,” he admits. “This is the part I need you to stay calm for.”

She lets out a shaky sigh. “Alright.”

“You have to go back to Luca.”

She bolts upright, damn near knocking me onto my ass. “What?!” she shrieks.

“B, stop.” I push myself to my feet and grab her wrist. “Calm down.”

“No!” she yells, yanking free from me. “N-n-no I-I can’t go back there.”

“You have to,” I whisper, reaching out again. This time, she lets me take her hand. “Bella listen to him and sit down before you fall.”

We both take a seat on the bed.

“Bells,” Knox continues, his voice heavy. “You have to go back because deactivating that remote is a two-step process.”

“The hell does that mean?” she asks, her voice rising.

“It means that you have to provoke him.” He pauses. “Just one more time before I can fully override the signal.”

She gapes at me, shaking her head in a frantic no. “You want me to what?!”

“Once he activates your collar, the code on your wrist will engage,” Knox explains. “After a few moments, your wristband will override the remote and kill the signal for good. Then—and only then—will it be safe for us to move in.”

“Knox I can’t,” she whispers, fingers curling into her dress at her sides. “I’m not strong enough.”

“What the hell?” Knox snaps.