Diane (The Town of Pearl 6)

“Marzban changed the plan. There are federal agents in the building.”

He pointed the gun at the woman. “You’re lying.”

“No. I’m not. Call him if you must.”

The man lowered the gun and reached into his pocket. Diane stared at the woman. She looked familiar, but her hair looked fake. The woman widened her eyes and jerked her head indicating for Diane to bend down. “Marzban, where do you want—”

Two quiet shots rang out as Diane gasped in shock. The woman just killed the man next to her.

“Diane, come with me. That man was going to take you away.”

“Who are you?”

“An old friend of Mark’s. He’s on his way, and the agents are moving in.”

“Brenda?” Diane asked.

The woman stopped. She smiled. “He told you about me?”

Diane nodded.

“He’s a great man. I just had my commander send him everything on Marzban.”

“They said you committed treason.”

“Then I did my job well,” Brenda stated as they came to the next door. “Stay back. If it’s clear I’m going to let you go on your own. Get to the second floor, room 210. Here’s the key card. My commander is there waiting. He’ll keep you safe until Mark and the team arrive.”

“What about Sage?”

“She’s been pulled into safety by agents Mark is working with. Now hurry up.”

Diane was overwhelmed with information. It turned out that Brenda wasn’t working with the bad guys but was deeply undercover. She wasn’t sure how she felt about this, but as she exited the door, she heard the gunshots, and ran like hell down the hallway. Looking over her shoulder, she saw another man with a gun and he was heading toward her. Did Brenda get shot?

As she fumbled with the key after finding room 210, she opened the door, closed it, and leaned against it as she gasped for air. Her eyes widened in shock the moment she saw Mr. Samir.

“Ah, right on time. We need to move quickly, and I expect you to cooperate.” Another guy grabbed her arm, and as she looked to the right she saw a man in a suit and he was talking on the phone.

“We can’t find her, Mark. She must be hiding out somewhere. We’ll search the hotel rooms. Every one of them until we find her.” She heard the man in the suit say. He disconnected the call and looked down at the table. That’s when she noticed the suitcase of money, and the gun and badge.

“Everything is set, Franks?” Mr. Samir asked.

“You’re good to go. Brenda is dead, the feds are raiding the docks, and you have easy access out of the building by the back exit. Just take the private elevator down the hall to the right.”

“Great. Take care of him,” Mr. Samir said to the other man in the room. The man raised a gun and shot the man in the suit twice in the head. Diane screamed and covered her face with her hands.

“Be quiet. We can’t have any loose ends now, can we?”

He opened the door and held her tight as they exited the room and headed toward the elevator.

“What in God’s name is going on? I don’t understand what you want from me.” Tears rolled down her cheeks. She couldn’t stop shaking. She just witnessed two people get shot at point-blank range and it seemed that Brenda was killed, too, and she saved Diane temporarily.

“No need for you to worry. You see, you’re going to come with me and be my little trophy after taking out all these federal agents. Your boyfriend, Agent Santos, is going to live with the fact that I have you, his prized possession, and that he will never see you again.”

“No.” She shook her head and tried to push away from him, but Mr. Samir was a big, strong man. He yanked her close so her face was right next to his.

“You will obey my commands or you will be tied up and beaten until you understand the rules. I have plans for you. You can remain sexy and beautiful, or battered and bloody. Either way, you are mine now.”

Diane closed her eyes and cried. She prayed that Mark and his team of agents knew what was going on and they could save her. But they were in Texas and here she was in New York. How the hell did this happen and what was she going to do to get out of it?