Page 98 of Silver Fire
“Don’t give in, Sophie, don’t you fucking give in!” Beth cried.
“Hold still, Ms. Turner, or I might hit something of consequence,” Justin said sadistically. He positioned the knife close to Beth’s left side. Her friend froze, but her face was still defiant. “Don’t—Do—It—Sophie!”
“One more chance, Sophie.”
Sophie shook her head as she tearfully looked at Beth before lifting her gaze to Justin. “I’m not helping you. I can’t.”
Sophie watched in horror as Justin sunk the blade into Beth’s side, her friend screaming in agony.
“Noooooo!” Sophie screamed as she tried to break free from the man holding her. “Stop it. Please!”
“Don’t Sophie,” Beth managed to gasp through her pain.
“She’s going to bleed to death if we don’t swiftly give her medical attention. So what is it going to be?”
“Beth—”
“Don’t, baby girl.”
Justin grinned maniacally before sinking the knife again into Beth, her friend jerking and groaning.
“Stop! I’ll do it! God help me, I’ll do it!” Beth, by this time, had passed out from the pain. “Help her. Oh god, help her!”
It was as though acid scraped every pore from her skin, her nerve endings scorched by the possibility that she had just killed her best friend. A keening cry sounded in the barn, and it was a few seconds later when Sophie realized it was hers. Relentless tears blinded her, Sophie couldn’t believe how the situation had deteriorated so quickly. She tried to rush to her friend’s side when the man holding her released her, but she was foiled by Justin who held her back, hugging her in his arms and crooning softly into her hair, “I’ll take care of it.”
Justin gave orders for Beth to receive medical attention. “I did not hit any vital organs. Consider this a warning, Sophie. Beth will pay the price for your defiance. Remember that.”
Not trusting herself to say anything else and delay help for her friend, she nodded numbly and watched Morgan lift Beth and carry her out of the barn.
“Come on, you’ve had enough for today. You can work on the trigger tomorrow,” Justin whispered gently into her ear as he guided her out of the barn. She was shaking violently.
15
“Did Brett get in yet?”Derek asked as he entered the datacenter. He shoved his overnight bag under a table, prompting Tim to raise an eyebrow.
“I’m sleeping in the bunker until we get Sophie back,” he told the data analyst. “We’re pouring over every damned file you can pull up on Blackstone and Opperman.” It had been more than 48-hours since Sophie was taken. If he did not occupy his time with the objective of finding her, he would lose his mind. Waiting for news was not an option. Thankfully, Derek had been a tactical analyst during his tenure with AGS and had experience in the datacenter.
“He called five minutes before you came in, he just touched down in Dulles. He’s going to swing by his house for a change of clothes before he heads out here.”
“Excellent.”
Derek walked to the break room. He had not slept well since Saturday, not even bothering to shave. He couldn’t look at himself in the mirror. How could he fuck up the best thing that had ever happened to him? Although his instincts were telling him that he had no control over the evil scheme that was set into motion, he wondered if he had stayed with Sophie instead of attending the fundraiser, her abduction could have been prevented. Pouring himself a cup of coffee, he took a sip before he felt him.
He knew without looking that it was Viktor who stood behind him. That man generated his own brand of lethal frequency.
“You look like shit,” Viktor said, walking over to the coffee bar to pour himself a cup.
“Thanks, you’re not looking any better,” Derek muttered. He never knew Viktor to be anywhere except AGS. The man lived and breathed the agency.
Viktor chuckled. “I’ve been coordinating with the CIA.”
Derek turned a wary eye at the older man. “To do what?”
“Don’t worry, Derek, they’re not planning an assault on wherever Bishop is holding Sophie. They’re already working under the assumption that the bombs are built.”
“Sophie would never—” Derek began angrily.
“Wouldn’t she?”