The Espionage Effect(83)

I swiveled my head to track Escobar, then turned my body to fully face the room, not trusting any of them, not trusting anything. In a slow, calculated move, I landed my gaze on Alec, sized him up a moment, then scanned the rest of his men before aiming a hard scrutinizing stare directly at Escobar again.

Escobar’s eyes narrowed, the same calculation and mistrust shining from them. Adversaries at best, neither of us were willing to concede to the other; yet we each had something to gain.

“What do you say, Devin.” His head tilted down a fraction. “Ready to exact revenge?”

Against whom? My parents for lying to me? Anna for deceiving me? Alec for not telling me any of this, for leading me astray, for conning me into caring about him…maybe even into loving him?

None of it mattered.

Only the truth deep in my heart did.

The world sorted itself into good and bad. Black and white. Lost souls drifted in and out of the gray shaded in between. But I was no longer lost.

Thanks to Alec, thanks to the divisiveness of my parents, of an organization I’d hoped to join—that had apparently been recruiting me—I’d emerged from the land of the lost.

Escobar edged closer, stepped into my line of vision to break the spell of the rage burgeoning within me. “Join me, Devin.”

He flicked a glance at the Rolex on his wrist, then nodded to the soldiers that stood at ready alert toward the front. Two-thirds of them gave a sharp bow in return, then peeled away, exiting the room, including Miguel.

“Join the man who kidnapped me?” I scoffed.

“Only executed for effect. No better way to convince you.”

“By subjecting a girl traumatized by kidnapping to more of the same?”

“Were you so traumatized? Didn’t losing your sister to ruthless men shape who you are? One has to ask if they did you a favor.”

“By killing my sister?” Reasoning with a madman incensed the logical side of me, yet I couldn’t help myself.

Compassion washed over his expression and his head cocked as he took a step closer. “So certain she’s dead?”

My mind froze, his insinuation not computing. I opened my mouth to argue, but no words came forth.

Escobar’s tone softened. “With all the rampant lies, you have to wonder when they began, how far they went.”

I had wondered. In fact, I’d investigated Geneva’s supposed death myself. “I checked the records the moment I had the skills to break into their system.”

“And what did you find?”

“They didn’t exist. I was told they’d probably been sealed.” And at the time, I’d written it off to bureaucratic bumbling. Never had I imagined that a secret agency—above the awareness of the government—had been at play.

He gave a satisfied nod. “And the police report?”

“Entirely redacted.” Thick black lines had filled every boxed section, obscuring any trace of useful data aside from her name.

He reached his hand up and caressed the side of my face, his eyes searching mine. “We are more alike than you think, Devin. Betrayed by those we trusted. Out to seek vengeance on those who thought themselves above retribution. Help me deliver justice to the world.”

The same promises Alec made, but a different side of the coin altogether. Or was it? Who defined light and shadow, good and bad?

I did.

“Then let Anna go.”

“Ah, my lovely Devin. Negotiating already. But no. She must be punished for her crimes. Were your parents here, we’d punish them too.”

“The prisoners, the college students…set them free.”

Before my plea had been fully uttered, the trio of monitors flickered on. The screens showed hidden steel bridges sliding into place above the underground river, providing access to the prison cells across it. Soldiers armed with snub-nosed automatic assault rifles slung over their shoulders opened the five enclosures and motioned the prisoners to cross the bridges.

“I intend to. Once they’re on American soil, they’ll be free to run home to their mamas and papas. And their families—the ones that didn’t deceive them—will welcome them with open arms.”

He was goading me. I pressed my lips into a thin line, but then failed to keep my mouth shut. “With your Ebola running rampant in their bloodstream?”

“Aha!” He spun around toward Alec, then glanced back at me. “I knew the two of you snuck down into my laboratory. My guard discovered the river grate in the process of closing.” He fully faced me again, expression dead serious as he stared me down. “Are you a spy for EtherSphere?”

“No.” The half-truth rolled off my tongue, silky smooth like all the rest I’d spoken over my lifetime. “Alec and I were having fun. Part of it was breaking into a locked door.”

“Tsk tsk tsk,” he clicked with his tongue, shaking his head. “The curious often end up dead.” His hands slipped casually into his pockets, and he turned around. “Alec, why didn’t you mention this?”

Impassive from head to toe, Alec gave a half shrug. “Not my place to question your activities or motives. You don’t pay me for unsolicited advice.”

“True.” Escobar got into Alec’s face now.

The danger of the situation escalated, tension charging the air. The megalomaniac had a warped sense of right and wrong. Which made everything he did unpredictable.