Undercover Captor (Shadow Agents 5)

His eyes narrowed.

“We’ll run the rest of the trace down soon enough.” She tried to keep all emotion from her face and eyes, just as the others had done. Maybe she was learning how to be an agent. “Tell us where they are.”

Anton glanced toward Drew. “Still haven’t gone for the knife yet... I guess you don’t care that much for your sisters after all.”

“You planned better than this.” Tina shook her head as she tried to puzzle through the nightmare. “You wouldn’t just count on Drew killing me.”

“Drew?” Anton murmured. “How intimate. I thought for sure he’d just be Agent Lancaster.”

She’d slipped up.

“Drew and Tina,” Anton continued, as if tasting their names. “Perhaps I see now why the sisters don’t matter as much. They can’t matter as much as a lover.”

“Get out,” Drew snapped. His eyes pinned Tina and then Mercer. “Both of you.” His steps were slow and certain as he advanced around the table and got close to Anton. “Turn off any video feeds. Secure the room. Leave him to me. I won’t negotiate.” He spat out the word. “I’ll make him tell me.”

“Anton has been tortured before,” Mercer said, voice grim.

“You should know,” Anton told him with a sly glance Mercer’s way. “I won’t break.”

This had to stop. “Take me. Take Drew. Take us both to the place where you have his sisters. As soon as Drew gets them...y-you can kill me.” Or, a much, much better option—we’ll find another way out of this mess by then.

Mercer grabbed Tina’s wrist once more. “You’re done here.”

No, she wasn’t. She kept talking and focusing on Anton. “You have men close by, you have to. A guy like you wouldn’t leave anything to chance.” She ignored the burn in her chest and spoke even faster as she said, “You knew Agent Lancaster wouldn’t just kill me without making sure his sisters were safe. You wanted an exchange—so here’s one. Get your men to come in. Take us to the women. Then, I’ll—”

“Die?” Anton finished.

“No,” Mercer snarled.

“I’ll trade my life for theirs,” Tina said.

Anton smiled. “I was wondering when someone would finally see reason.”

She didn’t think this man had seen reason in a very, very long time.

Anton’s lips pursed as he seemed to think about her offer. The silence and the tension stretched in the little room until—

“Mercer stays with me,” Anton finally said as he inclined his head. “Every minute. I want to see his face when he learns of your death.”

He was going to take her offer.

“You and your agent there... I’ll tell you exactly where to go. My men don’t need to take you there. They’ll just be waiting for you to arrive.”

No, more like waiting for them to walk into a trap, but Tina stayed quiet. He was talking, and that was what she’d wanted him to do.

“They’re hidden in a Mardi Gras float graveyard in New Orleans.” He rattled off the address easily, almost as if it didn’t matter. “You’ll find it near the river. Get down there, and only you two go in. The place is wired, and if more agents show, my men have orders to detonate. They’ll kill the women in an instant.”

Tina forced herself to speak through numb lips. “We can’t get down there fast enough. The time you gave us—”

He laughed. “Bring me a phone. Mercer’s phone will do nicely. I’ll tell the men to keep them alive, until you get there.”

We can’t believe anything he says.

“Remember, dear, only you and your agent Lancaster are to go in. Try to send in any cops or other agents first and you’ll watch the world explode.”

* * *

DREW DRAGGED TINA out of the interrogation room. His hold was too hard, too rough, but he couldn’t let her go.