A Covert Affair (Deadly Ops #5)(76)
“I did, sir.”
A real smile tugged at his boss’s mouth, for just an instant. “Stand down. You’re not in the Corps anymore. And I agree with everything you said. You’ll head up the team for Bell, Freeman, and Dax. Unless you have any arguments?”
The tension in Nathan’s shoulders loosened. “No.”
“Good. I’ve already put in an order to have a drone fly over the area, see if we can get some better images. Until then, gear up and meet back here in thirty. We’re going to nail down a solid infiltration so there’s no question of who does what. I want to put an end to this operation tonight.”
“What about the other properties Collette bought up?”
“I’ve got Karen looking into them and seeing what she can find via satellite. I’ll put a few men on the ground to do visual sweeps, but this place”—he nodded at the screen—“is the most likely for what we think she’s doing. We’ll have eyes on it until we move in.”
“Okay.” Nathan nodded, agreeing completely. Now it was go time. He just prayed that Amelia was okay. She was strong, one of the strongest women he knew. She’d make it through this.
Blinking to clear away the fuzziness, Amelia wrapped the pillowcase around her fist multiple times and stood up. She’d been awake for maybe twenty minutes and had already gone to the bathroom. She kept expecting someone to come into her room and knock her out again or something. Since that hadn’t happened, she was going to take action.
Yeah, she might feel woozy, but she could take on that prick of a doctor if he entered her room alone again. She just needed to get a weapon. The bathroom door squeaked as she opened it. There was a shower area, a toilet, and a small mirror hanging over a white sink. It was all very sparse.
She slammed her wrapped fist against the mirror, once, twice . . . crack. The glass splintered, sending a jolt of adrenaline ricocheting through her. She could do this.
With trembling fingers, she pulled on one of the pieces until it broke free from the broken mirror. She set it on the sink ledge before pulling off another jagged piece. A few shards dropped, falling onto the sink and floor.
Careful not to move near them, since her feet were bare and she was still unsteady, she took the first piece and cut the pillowcase in half. She sliced part of her palm but barely felt the sting. Her adrenaline was pumping too fast, her heartbeat out of control. If someone had heard her banging on the mirror, they could be here any second. Or maybe they were recording her room. She hadn’t seen any overt cameras, but that didn’t mean jack.
She wrapped both jagged pieces on one end with the pillowcase strips. Now she could hold on to the glass without slicing herself up and actually use them as a weapon.
On shaky legs, she stepped out of the bathroom and pulled the door closed behind her. She didn’t want to risk anyone seeing the broken glass. Chills racked her, more from terror than anything else. The adrenaline surging through her was good, though; it was pumping her up more. She had a feeling she’d only get one chance at attacking and escaping. She kept her makeshift weapons close to her body, hoping to hide them in case someone was watching her. After tucking them under her pillow, she opened the mini-refrigerator.
There were juices and various fruits on the shelves, but she didn’t trust anything these people provided not to be drugged. Shutting the door, she strode back to the bed. No one had stormed into her room yet, so she lay down on it and stretched out. She needed to regain her strength.
If that doctor—
The door handle jiggled, then a second later opened. Collette strode in—alone—wearing different clothes than earlier. She even looked different. In boots, black pants, and a black sweater she looked a little like the Grim Reaper. Her hair was pulled back into a sharp bun, and her eyes were cold and flat.
On instinct, Amelia sat up. She kept her pillow behind her, wanting to keep her weapons hidden. Collette was too hard to read and Amelia couldn’t tell if the woman knew what she was hiding.
“Glad to see you’re awake.” Collette flicked a semi-interested gaze over her as she leaned against the wall right next to the bathroom door.
Amelia didn’t respond, just watched her warily. Her fingers itched to slide back and grab the blade, but she didn’t want to give herself away.
Collette raised an eyebrow. “No questions about why I took you?”
“‘You’re a psycho’ seems like the most obvious answer.” Amelia probably wouldn’t be so bold if Collette had come into her room with backup, but if she could goad the woman into getting closer, maybe she’d have a chance to strike out. And she figured she’d only have one shot at this.
Collette’s gaze narrowed. “I’m surprised my father ever took an interest in you. You’re so unpolished.”
“Is that why you took me? Daddy issues?” Her voice was dry, but she couldn’t keep the slight tremble out of it.
Collette snorted and pushed off the wall, real amusement in her laugh, but she only took a single step forward. Not nearly close enough. “I took you for a profit. Fucking over my father was just a bonus. Besides, I heard you’d been getting friendly with a detective. Why?”
Amelia blinked in surprise. Was that why this psycho had kidnapped her? “Why have I been talking to a detective? Um, because one of my employees attacked me multiple times.” She wasn’t certain of the line of questioning, so it wasn’t hard to feign confusion.