Page 40 of Breached

I closed my eyes; I needed a moment. I had always been good at gaining people’s trust— it was a huge asset of mine, but I didn’t trust other people easily. I’d let my guard down with Blackstone and everyone at the house, and look where that got me. I suddenly felt tired and defeated, and that just wasn’t me. The drugs in my system were strong, and I didn’t have much more to give. So, I let my mouth go, hoping to at least piss the man off before he dropped me off at the gates of hell.

I let out a delirious laugh.

“What?” he snapped.

“It’ll never work.”

“What won’t?”

I laughed again, and he grunted. “You won’t get past the first gate. And here I was thinking Bruno was the stupid one.”

“I’ve been doing this type of work for years, Nicole.” He cut me a side glance. “You think this is my first time up against these idiots? My plan will work—because it’s worked in the past.”

“It won’t.” I swallowed past the lump in my throat. “I’m not who he really wants.”

“Maybe not, but he’s who I want.”

“And just how does handing me over get you Bruno?”

He suddenly swung his arm over and jammed the needle into my arm. I didn’t have time to react before things went black.

“Wake up.” Frank was shaking me again. He pushed another needle into my arm. “This will help with the fog.”

I yanked my arm free, feeling heavy and disoriented. Using all my strength, I pushed my bound hands on the armrest of the door to steady myself.

“How long was I out?” I licked my dry lips as I realized we were stopped on the shoulder of the road. His seatbelt was off.

“Five minutes,” he grunted as he pulled back onto the road.

“Why did we stop?” I didn’t get it. Why drug me for only five minutes?

“I already told you, we all need to make sacrifices,” he whispered. “Now, be still.”

Hold still? Why? What am I missing? What happened in that short time span?

I let my arms drop heavily onto my lap, then I felt it. My body tuned in to it, and everything went cold as the blood drained to my feet. Slowly, I lowered my head and pulled my sweater aside then sucked in a sharp breath at what I saw. Strapped around my chest was a suicide vest packed with explosives. I was terrified to even breathe.

“It’s the only way I can make a difference.”

Oh, my God! Oh, my God! Oh, my God!

“You’re not giving me over to Bruno—you’re using me to kill him?” Each word stuck on my tongue on the way to my lips, but I had to let Paul know.

He didn’t reply. His face was set as he stared at the road ahead, then he suddenly veered off, and a whole new level of panic coursed through me. Every bump had me thinking I was going to die one way or another. I couldn’t do this. I tried to play out what I could do, but my mind just shot off in different directions.

My natural survival instinct was telling me to fight him, but I wasn’t sure what would trigger the explosives I wore. He must have a receiver. I looked around wildly, but I couldn’t spot it. I thought about attacking him. Maybe I’d just grab the wheel and end it all.

Then he started to ease off on the gas, and I thought maybe he’d had a change of heart. My mind desperately clung to that, as we didn’t seem to be at a destination. Slowly, we came to a rolling stop, and I took a small breath of relief when he pulled a U-turn and put the Jeep into park. My stomach was in my throat as he turned to me.

“Out.”

“What?” I looked around, confused.

“I can’t risk getting too close. You’ll need to walk the rest of the way to the compound. It’s just a little farther down that way.” He pointed, and I could see some lights.

I looked at him. I was way past scared. I was in a different dimension.

“Frank, please—” He pulled out his gun and pointed it at me, and all thought that he might have changed his mind fizzled out.