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Lila’s arms grew heavy from waiting.
“We’re coming out,” Connell barked at last. “Me first.”
Gun dangling by his thigh, he emerged from the room, leading Camille from Cecily’s room. She’d either changed or been allowed to change into a pair of jeans, a sweater, and sturdy brown boots. She eyed Lila’s tranq gun as she passed through the doorway. “You too?”
Lila nodded. “If you run, I will shoot you. If you move too quickly, I will shoot you. If you call out, I will shoot you. Do you understand?”
“Yes.”
“Good. You might believe that getting shot with a tranq isn’t a big deal, but you’d be wrong. As long as your heart is strong, you should wake up in eight to ten hours, but the catch is that you’ll wish you hadn’t.”
“My heart is strong. You can shoot me if you wish, but you’ll waste a tranq in the process. I don’t have any intentions of running, and I’m unarmed.”
“I frisked her myself,” Connell said. “She’s unarmed and has agreed to come quietly. A little too quietly, if you ask me. Let’s get to the basement before she changes her mind.”
Camille stiffened. “No, don’t take me to the basement. Ask your questions here. I won’t try to get away. I promise. I’ll speak with you as long as you wish.”
“You’re in no position to negotiate terms. We’ll talk in the basement. I won’t give you a chance to run away on my watch.”
She paled. Her eyes swept to Lila. “Please, don’t let him do this. I’m begging you. You have to let me stay in this cabin. I will tell you whatever you wish to know. Just let me stay here.”
“Why?”
“Because it’s not safe out there.”
“Not safe for whom?”
“For any of us.”
“Why?”
“Because I’m not who you think I am. You think I’m a mole, but I’m not.”
Lila narrowed her eyes. “You’re an Italian soldier, sending secret communications back home to your commanders. How does that not make you a mole?”
Camille dropped her eyes to the ground. “I don’t even know how to answer that anymore.”
“Try.”
“There is another. He’s the one you seek. He’s the one you should be worried about.”
Connell lifted his tranq. “We’ll find him. But every second you spend unsecured on this compound is a risk to the people I love, so move. Now.”
“I’d never hurt anyone in this house.”
“Pardon me for not believing a word that comes out of your mouth.” The purplecoat nodded to Lila. “I’ll lead. You two back me up.”
“It’s not the basement I fear, but him. It’s not me that I worry about, but you. All of you. When he sees me under guard, he’s going to come for me, and he’ll do whatever it takes to get me back or shut me up. He’ll end anyone who stands in the way.”
“My people can handle it,” Connell said.
“You can’t handle every bullet.”
Lila wavered. “Who is the person you fear?”
“My handler. If he shoots me, you’ll never find him, and you’ll never get the information you seek.”
“Lila found you. She can find him too.”
