The two men entered the cell. Fear swept through her. Oh dear God they’re going to torture me, she thought.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she heard herself say.
“Come now,” The Jaguar said amicably. “Don’t be coy. I know all about the EDNA Project.” He smiled. “Well, almost everything, anyway. I’m particularly interested in phase two.”
Only when the wall collided with her back did Mattie realize she had been backing up. The men converged on her. There was no way she was going to be able to get away.
“Don’t get any closer.” She tried to sound authoritative, but her voice was high and tight with fear.
“They’re not going to hurt you,” The Jaguar said.
“I don’t believe you.” She stared at the cuffs, feeling trapped and more terrified than she’d ever been in her life.
A hint of a smile touched his mouth. “We’re going to take you on a tour of the compound.”
“I don’t want a tour. I want you to let me go.”
“I’m afraid I can’t do that.” He jerked his head at the man with the restraints. “Cuff her.” His gaze swept to Mattie. “Don’t fight them, Ms. Logan. You will not win.”
She jolted when strong fingers wrapped around her arm and spun her around. Knowing there was no escape, she allowed the man to cuff her hands behind her back.
When she turned back to The Jaguar, the smile had been replaced by a cruel light in his eyes. She saw that he was drawing a twisted sense of enjoyment from her fear.
“Shall we begin the tour?” Taking her arm, he motioned toward the steel reinforced door. “I believe once you’ve seen the facilities, you’ll be ready to tell me everything you know about EDNA. An absolutely pain-free process I’m sure you’ll appreciate.”
As he guided her toward the door Mattie realized that just as Cutter had warned her, her fate was in the hands of a sociopath.
MIKE MADRID located Daniel Savage’s condo and parked down the block. He entered the small backyard through the alley, using the hedge as cover from the prying eyes of neighbors. The security system was good, but Madrid was better. He chose the smallest point of entry—the downstairs bathroom window. He snipped wires to disable the sensor. In seconds he had the glass taped. Using the glasscutters, he scored the glass, tapped it out and removed it. A flick of his wrist and the lock snicked open.
He was in.
The condo smelled of eucalyptus oil and heated air. Soundlessly he left the bathroom and went into the darkened living room. Stairs to his left led to the second floor. The foyer and front door were straight ahead. The bedroom and study to his right. According to Savage’s secretary, he was working from home today.
The first level of the condo was clear. With the silence and grace of a predatory cat, Madrid took the steps two at a time to the second floor. He paused on the landing and listened. There was a radio playing nearby, probably in the master bedroom. No sign of Savage.
His boots were silent against the carpet as he made his way to the bedroom. The door stood slightly ajar. He opened it the rest of the way. There were two forms huddled beneath a white down comforter. Removing the syringe from the compartment in his belt, Madrid walked to the bed and jammed the needle into the female’s hip.
Yelling, she thrashed and turned over. Her eyes widened when she saw him. Then the fast-acting tranquilizer hit her system and she collapsed back into her pillow.
The commotion had wakened Daniel Savage. “What the—”
Madrid quickly subdued him. Cutter’s words echoed in his ears as he slid the knife from its sheath and set it against Savage’s carotid artery. “I’m going to ask you some questions,” he said. “Every time you give me the wrong answer, I’m going to cut you.”
“I…I have money. Take it. Please, don’t hurt me.”
“Shut up and listen,” Madrid ordered. “I need to know where The Jaguar’s headquarters is located.”
Confusion swam in Savage’s eyes. “The Jaguar?”
Madrid made good on his word and cut him. Blood trickled onto the sheets. He shifted the crisp white cotton and made certain Savage could see his own blood. “Wrong answer.”
Savage whimpered. “Please, don’t…”
“Where is the compound? This time I won’t miss the artery.”
Daniel Savage began to talk.
CUTTER PACED the room for the hundredth time, he tried to get a grip on the fear spiraling inside him. He knew better than to operate on emotion. It was the fastest way to get someone killed. But he’d never felt so helpless in his life. It tore him up to think of Mattie, of the horrors she might be enduring.
Cutter still remembered with stark and frightening clarity every second of agony The Jaguar had inflicted. He remembered the odd light of excitement in the other man’s eyes, and he’d realized The Jaguar was so good at what he did because he enjoyed it.
For a moment Cutter thought he would be sick. Dear God how had the situation spiraled so horribly out of his control?