With Ties That Bind (The Broken Bonds 4)

The man with the white mask faces me. He tsks. “Very well, Miss Johnson. I will honor your request, since you’ve been such an asset thus far.”

Relief floods me. Whatever happens next…I can get through it.

Only just as I grasp on to that fleeting ray of hope, it’s shattered.

I don’t even have time to fight. It happens so suddenly; the man is beside me; the syringe lowered; the needle inserted into my arm. Fire shoots into my system, racing through my bloodstream. My vision flickers as heat blankets my skin.

As my muscles go lax, I wilt against the strong arms supporting me. My head lulls against his hard chest.

“I expect we’ll get much better results from you, anyway,” he says, dropping the syringe in the trash and wiping his hands off on his gray slacks. “What better test subject than the drug designer herself?”

A dizziness sweeps over my senses, and I shake my head. The room spins. “I want…to leave.”

He chuckles. “Of course. We can’t very well record your progress here, can we?” He aims his attention to the man holding me at gunpoint. “Relocate her. Securely,” he stresses. “After all, the boss should be the one to enjoy the fruits of our accomplishment.”

It’s right on the tip of my tongue…the question. Wanting to know who this illusive boss is. But like the woman to my left, my fight has evaporated. As the drug blasts my arteries, exploding in euphoric shivers over my body…I’m lost.

My last thought: Quinn, save me.

10

Control

Quinn

“GPS has just been triggered on the bus.”

I hear Carson’s update, but I’m too invested in my rage for it to register.

“Quinn.” Sadie’s voice bleeds through the radio static. She reaches for the handset. “Carson, what’s the location?”

“Last pinged heading east toward TRM Bridge,” he responds.

That does sink in. Avery’s being taken to DC. Across the state line and into another jurisdiction. Not happening.

I check my rearview right before I pull off onto the median and come to an abrupt stop. Sadie braces her hands on the dash and swears. We’re moving again, making a hard U-turn before she has the chance to reprimand me.

“Hell, Quinn…”

Hell isn’t here—not today. If I have any say, Avery’s slipping right through its clutches. I’m driving toward oncoming traffic, cars blaring horns and veering left out of the way, until I find a clear space in the median to cross over.

We hit the patch of grass with a hard bump, another curse from Sadie, and I swerve into the right lane.

“We’re going to save her,” Sadie assures. “But not if you kill us first.”

My mouth crooks into a smile. “This from the woman who set off on her own to face a serial killer?”

I can’t see it, but I can feel her scowl. Those narrowed green eyes drilling me. “I thought we weren’t ever going to mention it.”

I pass a car, shooting around to get ahead of traffic. I grunt my derision. “I’m not mentioning it…technically. I’m expressing my dislike for your carelessness.”

I peek over to see her eyebrows hike. “Expressing, huh. Since when does hardboiled Detective Ethan Quinn express himself?” Her laugh is clipped. “What the hell’s gotten into you?”

Ignoring the baiting comment, I focus on getting through the intersection before the yellow light turns red.

“Carson,” Sadie says into the handset. “We need an update.”

A hiss of static. “Still eastbound on GWM and coming up on the island. I’m ten minutes away.”