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“I was the one who built it, actually. Turns out Levitsky is kinda known for that sort of stuff. All I had to do was follow his blueprints, call in a false report, and wait for the cops to show up. I knew you wouldn’t be able to resist tagging along.”
I shake my head. I feel numb. “But why? Why would you do this?”
“You know the old sayingcrime doesn’t pay? Well, it does. Once I’m done with this job, I’ll have made more than I ever could have in my whole career with the FBI.”
“You’re a traitor,” I snarl.
“Save me your speeches, Harper, I don’t give a shit.”
“I’ve always hated you.”
“Right back at you, bitch.”
With one hard shove, Pritt forces me onto a thin, barely-there mattress in the corner of the room. It does next to nothing to lessen the impact, my joints and bones aching painfully when I fall onto my side. Now that my vision is coming into focus, I can make out the sparse details of the room.
There are no windows. It’s fucking freezing down here—Iassumeit’s underground because of the musty smell filling my nose—and there’s only one door, a prison door with a sliding gate in the middle and several thick locks on the outside.
“Where am I?” I ask. “Where’s Luka? What did you do to him?”
Pritt shrugs. “Don’t know, don’t care. That’s none of my business. My only task is to keep you in your place.”
I take a deep breath, willing my angry heart to steady. “I won’t stop until I get out of here,” I say calmly, firmly. This is no time to fly off the handle—no matter how badly I want to. “I promise you this, Melissa. When I get out of here, and Iwillget out of here, you’re the first person I’m going to kill.”
Pritt clicks her tongue, unimpressed. “Are you sure about that?”
“Positive.”
“I don’t like being threatened, Harper. I’d hate to do something drastic… like paying your dear sister a visit.”
I freeze. “No… don’t you dare hurt her.”
“I have to get going,” she says casually. “I’ll see you later. Sleep tight, and don’t let the bedbugs bite. Seriously, I’m pretty sure this place is infested.”
“Melissa, wait—”
She exits in a hurry, slamming the door behind her. What little light spilled in from the hallway disappears, shrouding me in inky black. I sprint to the door, pound my fists against the heavy metal, scream until my voice is ripped and hoarse. It’s futile. I’m locked in, and I don’t see any way out.
Defeated, I carefully make my way back to the bare mattress. It’s not comfortable in the slightest, but at least it’ll keep me off the cold floor. Shivers wrack my body. Staying warm down here is a top priority, so even if it’s lumpy and smells like a wet dog, I’m going to use this mattress like a life raft at sea.
I hug my knees to my chest. I’m only just now coming down from my adrenaline rush. My mind is in turmoil. I can’t stop thinking about the explosion, the pain, the way they dragged me away from Luka. How could everything have gone so terribly wrong?
The more I think about it, the more I start to realize Pritt was trying to sabotage me from the very beginning. The way she fought me for control of the case. The way she stormed into Matianna and disobeyed my direct orders. She was trying to throw me from the start. How could I have been so blind? When did The Trinity even get their mitts on her?
I press the heels of my palms against my closed eyes, groaning at how dry and painful my eyes are. I’m not going to cry. This isn’t the time to cower in fear or lament everything that’s gone wrong. What I need to do right now is stay calm and think of a plan. There has to be a way out of this. I won’t rest until I get us out of here—whereverhereis.
I take a deep breath. In, out.
I hope Luka is okay. I don’t really understand what they want with him, but I’m going to take the fact that he wasn’t killed on the spot as a good sign. These people may be out for blood and don’t care who they hurt in the process, but I know this much: they’re not going to kill Luka. At least, not until they get whatever it is they truly want.
My mind races. So where does that leave me? Why bring me along?
I’ve only seen a handful of hostage scenarios in my time with the FBI, but it’s pretty clear I’m being used as leverage against him. They probably know I mean something to him, though it’s hard for me to believe. This is hardly the time to wonder what we are to each other, but right now, my survival sort of depends on Luka’s feelings toward me.
I hate to say it, but I’m probably here because he cares—and our captors know it.
Chapter 23
Luka
