“The best thing you can do is make a run for it. Otherwise, they’re going to catch you. After today, the truth will come out one way or another. If you kill me, you’ll make it worse for yourself.”
He was afraid now, but he tried to hide it. “Quinn will do what I tell him to do. He always has. He’s a good little soldier.”
“Do you want to know where the phone is right now? I’ll tell you. It’s in an EM-proof room at a secured facility in Colorado. Jack mailed it to Quinn in a Faraday bag. Right now, a Cobra team is getting ready to extract all of the data so they can share it with British Intelligence and Police Scotland.”
Lewis glared at her. “That’s not true. McManus brought it with him.”
Her mind still muddled by the drug, Elizabeth tried to remember details. “Jack mailed it to Cobra’s Denver facility on October twenty-eighth from that post office near the pet food store. Quinn was in Afghanistan until November fourth. You called him shortly after he’d gotten off the plane. He flew to Glasgow that night. The package arrived after he’d left for Scotland. Do the math. He doesn’t have the phone.”
The blow took her by surprise, pain leaving her stunned.
“You’re lying, you fucking CIA whore.”
Head spinning, she tried to seem unfazed. “Sorry, but they never paid me to do that sort of work.”
Was that a gunshot?
Elizabeth’s pulse skipped.
Lewis shot to his feet and turned toward the door just as the guard ran back in.
“There are men at the gate, sir,” he told Lewis. “Three or four.”
“It’s McManus.” Lewis glared at the guard. “What the fuck are you doing here? I’ll get rid of her. You get out there and do what you’re paid to do.”
The guard disappeared, leaving Elizabeth alone with a murderer.
Lewis turned to stare down at her, knife in hand. “I’ll make certain McManus knows this ishisfault.”
Elizabeth saw in Lewis’ eyes that he intended to kill her now, her heart beating so hard it hurt. She needed to buy herself time. “What twisted you? What made you turn on men who loved you like a brother? You betrayed them.”
More gunshots—closer this time.
A muscle in Lewis’ jaw twitched. “Jack turned onme. He was going to tell the police about that stupid girl’s death. All he had to do was keep his fucking mouth shut. And now McManus. He could have stayed out if it, but he had to charge in like a fucking white knight. I tried to get you both out of the way by planting drugs in your rooms, but somehow you knew and got rid of it.”
Elizabeth didn’t have time to wonder what dead girl Lewis was talking about, her gaze on the knife in his hand. “We set up security cameras.”
“Ah. Clever.” He nodded. “It would have been better for you to go to jail. After you showed up at the villa last night, I knew you had the phone. I knew you were onto us. It’s your fault that you’re here right now.”
“No, it’s entirely your fault.”
Shouts.
“Don’t worry. I’ll make it quick. I’ve done it before. You’ll be unconscious in a few seconds and dead in a minute at most. It’s a shame, really. You’re smart, pretty. I see why McManus wants you in his bed.”
Mind racing, Elizabeth curled up in a fetal position as if afraid, drawing her knees to her chest, tucking in her chin to protect her throat. She knew he’d be fast, so she had to move first.
He bent down, brought the blade close. “Say goodnight.”
She thrust her feet out together as hard as she could, catching him on the knee. “Fuck you!”
He cursed, fell backward, the knife clattering to the floor.
She rolled onto her side, wriggled toward it, trying to reach it first, but with her hands and feet tied she wasn’t fast enough.
He grabbed it, his face red with rage. “You fucking bitch!”
She tried to roll away, but he pinned her with his body. Then he fisted a hand in her hair, forcing her head back, baring her throat for his blade.