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He winced. “Theatrics.”
My nostrils flared. “Explain better.”
“Bailey did see Chrissy, but it was a blank in the gun, and they rigged this pouch on the back of her head. When enough air punctures it, the contents inside explode. They use it in movies. Chrissy would’ve fallen forward from the impact of it, and they would’ve dragged her body out before Bailey could’ve registered what she was actually seeing. I’ve seen it. It’s… traumatizing.”
Jesus. All that for what? Why? “Tell me more.”
“I didn’t get to her in time. They were starting to brainwash her. They were going to use her to do something for them, and I know it’s altered her. She’ll never be the same woman, but she’s fierce. She’s strong.” Pride and respect rang from him. “I’d be damned proud to have her on my side, and she knows what side I’m on.”
I stilled at that.
Chrissy never said a word…
As if reading my mind, he kept going. “We had to keep it quiet. When the feds took us in, I knew they’d release her back to the Chesapeake. And I knew they’d keep me. I tried to prolong it, give her as much time as possible.”
“Time?” I was standing, slowly, every nerve in me stretched thin. What had Chrissy done? What was really going on? “For what?”
“Time to turn.”
“Turn who?”
Chase didn’t answer right away. He waited a beat, then said the last piece, the part that I knew I’d been blind to. “The new asset.”
“Who?”
He didn’t answer that, but still continued. “Calhoun messed up, easing from Quinn. She started to actually love Peter, got obsessed with him. Got obsessed with never losing him. When she sent Arcane in after Bailey, she did that on her own accord, but she never got Calhoun’s permission. She was supposed to get permission to do anything. That’s how he thinks. She’s only been given the go-ahead to fuck her man and be a mom to the kids. Our grandfather got wind something was going down, ordered by Quinn, and that’s why he sent me in.”
I was reeling.
He was sent in?
“Where?”
“With Arcane, the first time they tried to take your girl. That was me. That’s why they thought Calhoun was really behind the job, why they let me in on their team. I was sent to see what they were doing. I was supposed to report back to him whatQuinnwas doing, but I didn’t want anyone to get hurt. I’m the one who told Bailey that men were coming in to kidnap her. I was trying to help.”
Bailey had reported all this to Bright and Wilson.
“Keep going,” I grunted.
His head dipped once. “Have you been keeping up to date with Quinn’s trial?”
That was from left field.
“No.” I scowled. “Why?”
“Because Quinn made amends with Calhoun when she was arrested. They’re going to help get her acquitted. After, she’s supposed to set up a meet with you. She’s supposed to kill you, and I’m supposed to transition into your life. You asked if I was supposed to have plastic surgery to make us completely identical? I was. The surgery was supposed to happen last week.”
“How were they going to get Quinn acquitted?”
“They’d need to blame someone else.”
Someone else.
I had a feeling who that was, and I wasn’t liking it.
“They killed the Arcane team. Every last one of them. Drew Bonham was killed a month ago. That guard, also dead. Only two people remain alive that were at Bailey’s kidnapping: Quinn and”—another beat of hesitation—“Bailey.”
I sucked in some air because fuck him.
