Page 80 of Smoke and Shadows

“You’re the new girl in town, honey. Who do you think the local sheriff will believe?” Fletcher said.

Tyrell got impatient, lunged at Marissa and got her elbow. Fletcher took the opportunity to lock her in a bear hug. “Such a fighter, I love that.” He suddenly released her and she felt his hand in her back pocket. Marissa realized he had found her knife.

“What’s this?” the bigger man muttered. “What the hell is this?” Louder this time. “You gonna stick this to us, huh? You cunt!”

Marissa estimated her chances. It didn’t look good. She could probably scream. Or not. She hauled back and kicked Fletcher in the groin and the man dropped like a ton of bricks. She ran past him, but he managed to grab her foot. She kept her balance, and was about to kick him in the face, when Tyrell tackled her to the floor. Marissa’s scream was muffled when Tyrell covered her mouth with his hand.

She bit him and he howled in anger. Tyrell was yanked off her, and she was dragged up by Fletcher who took the opportunity to backhand her across the face. She felt her whole body spin around as she sank to her knees. Her nose was bleeding.

“What the hell’s going on here?” A third voice bellowed through the melee of heavy-breathing angry males.

Marissa glanced at the newcomer.

Owen Reed.

“I can’t believe you clowns. We have an op cooking, and you two are dicking around,” Reed said angrily. He turned his attention to Marissa. “Get out of here.”

Thankful for the reprieve, Marissa quickly got to her feet to move past the men. Reed’s hand shot out and stopped her, his eyes narrowing.

“What’s wrong with your nose?” he demanded.

Marissa’s hand flew to cover the body part in question. “I think Garett broke it.”

“No,” Reed said grimly. He reached for her face andyanked the prosthetic off her. Marissa flinched as the adhesive took some skin with it.

Oh, shit.

The other two men gasped in surprise as Reed shouted in fury, “Who the fuck are you?”

Marissa was dumpedinto the backseat of a pickup truck, hog-tied and gagged. From the turns and sounds along the way, she could tell they were heading back to Fletcher's house. Once they arrived, Fletcher hauled her out and tossed her over his shoulder. Marissa heard other voices, possibly Logan, but she wasn’t sure.

Marissa watched them carefully move a couple of crates to the waiting truck.

The Guardians were going to be too late. The raid wasn’t scheduled until 7:00 p.m. to take advantage of the best cover of night. Her and her prosthetic nose had put Reed and his men on high alert. She fucked up.

Reed approached her, a mixture of contempt and regret on his face. “I don’t know how you found us. I don’t have time to torture the information out of you, and I don’t want to bring you with me just in case you have a damned tracker on you. Such a waste. You should’ve just let DC rot, Ms. Cole.” He smiled derisively. “I’m afraid I have to leave you with Fletcher and Tyrell after all.”

He looked at the two men in question. “Get rid of her. Make it quick. I’ll meet you guys at the rendezvous.”

She made a noise through her gag. Reed’s mouth quirked up. He pulled the gag off her.

“You can’t even do your own dirty work. Instead, you’d let these two limp dicks do it for you,” Marissa taunted him. She was going to die, might as well do it spitting like a hellcat.

Reed yanked her hair to tilt her chin up. With his otherhand he held the muzzle of a gun to her head. “It’s too easy to simply blow your head off. I’ve decided to have these two fuck with you. But make no mistake that I don’t have the guts to kill you.” He lowered the gun and leaned in closer. “Who do you think shot Maia Pierce?”

Two black Ford Explorerssnaked their way through I-64. They were half an hour out from Chesapeake, WV. Viktor was in the lead car with Manning and Edmunds. Olsen and Connelly were in the second car.

Viktor was still simmering from the bureaucratic clusterfuck in Washington DC. More than a week wasted, his attention pulled in all directions by all the alphabet agencies. He hadn’t been able to keep an eye on what was going on in the hunt for the SK nerve gas. He hadn’t spoken to Marissa in four days, and though Tim assured him that she was communicating regularly, he missed her. That he was a total ass when she left only roiled his gut with unease.

He was strapping on his Kevlar vest when his phone rang. Nathan Stark was currently staking out Fletcher’s residence.

“What’s your ETA?” Nathan’s voice was so tense, Viktor felt himself stiffen.

“Thirty minutes.”

“Fuck.”

The back of Viktor’s neck prickled.