Once they chalked my contract up to a loss, someone else would be assigned. They wouldn’t stop until the mission was complete or the funding was pulled.
My body ached from Sam’s kicks and punches, but the dull ache of it was little more than an annoyance. I couldn’t forget what Cyryl had said. That interrogating me would require more finesse than Sam had shown. Which meant one of them was experienced in torture techniques. Great.
I curled up and let my shoulders shake for a while to give the illusion I was crying myself to sleep again. It wasn’t long before Moana quietly opened the door and deposited a tray of food and a gallon bottle of water just inside the room. So they weren’t going to starve me to death… small mercies, I supposed. It’d be fun to see what they’d do when I needed to take a shit, though.
Only time would tell. In the meantime, I was all kinds of curious to know what Leon was doing to try to get me back. Because somehow, I knew he hadn’t given up, no matter how many rules he was breaking in the process. Foolish little tech bunny.
20
I resisted the urge to tap my fingers impatiently on the table as I watched Danny’s best friend limping her way along the street at a painfully slow pace. She used a cane, and my research told me it was due to a workplace incident when the girls were seventeen. Judith Mackenzie had ended up needing titanium screws all through her leg, and she’d never quite regained a full range of motion.
Her gaze found me instantly on arriving at the cafe, and she headed straight over without even a flicker of hesitation.
“I’m guessing you’re Leon,” she said, pulling out the chair opposite me and sitting down without waiting for an invitation. “You already know my name, age, and blood type, so I won’t bother introducing myself.”
Funny. I could see why Danny was so attached to Judith Mackenzie. Despite her disability, she was assertive and confident.
A waitress came over to offer menus, and Judith accepted them before I could brush her off.
“Why don’t you tell me why I’m here, Leon?” she asked, perusing the menu. She made her mind up quickly and called the waitress back over with a small wave. “I’ll have the eggs benedict please, with a large coffee. Leon?”
I blinked at her a moment, confused why the fuck she was ordering breakfast while her best friend was missing. But then, I was kind of hungry myself.
“Mushroom omelet, black coffee,” I told the waitress, handing my menu back to her.
Once the waitress was gone, I turned back to Judith with a frown. “I’m here because you’re Danny’s best friend.”
She arched a brow. “And?”
I sat back in my chair, studying her. She showed no worry or concern… no stress . “And she’s been taken prisoner by Malachi Arden. I figured you could help me get her back.”
Judith’s brows shot up, and her lips parted in shock.
“You didn’t know,” I observed, tilting my head to the side as I studied her.
Her shocked expression shifted to outrage. “Of course I didn’t know! How would I have known? What the fuck, Leon, she was taken by”—she lowered her voice to a strangled whisper—“Ares? The arms dealer? Calls himself the god of war? That Malachi Arden? Are you fucking with me?”
“Shh,” I hissed, “keep your damn voice down.”
Judith gaped at me, then glanced around with embarrassment heating her face. “Sorry. That… I wasn’t expecting that. He has Danny? Are you sure?”
I nodded. “I’m positive.”
Judith frowned, looking down at the table for a few moments. Then she glanced back up with tears in her eyes. “She’s dead.”
Cold fury swept through me. “No, she’s not. She’s been taken .”
Judith shook her head, tears spilling over. “No, you don’t get it. Ares the infamous arms dealer? He doesn’t take captives. At the slightest hint of a threat, he shoots first and asks questions never. If Danny’s cover was blown, then she is dead . End of story.” She swiped the tears from her cheeks with her napkin, then dropped it on the table. “Thank you for telling me, but now I need to go deal with Stanley.”
Stanley again . None of my research had given me even a hint on who he was to Danny, and that drove me crazy. But right now, I had more pressing matters to deal with… like how the fuck I saved her before Ares—the arrogant bastard—killed her.
“She is not dead,” I snarled, damn near losing my cool. Judith froze halfway out of her seat, staring at me in confusion. Whatever she saw in my eyes made her slide back into her seat.
“You seem sure of that,” she said in a hoarse voice, sniffing away tears.
I nodded. “Security footage showed them strapping her into the back seat of a car. You wouldn’t do that with a body, you’d throw it in the trunk. They loaded her onto a private aircraft, but I got there too late to stop them.”
Judith frowned, thinking. “Flight plans?”
I gave a frustrated sigh. “False plans filed. They could be anywhere by now.”
She bit her lip, the tears drying up for now. “If she’s still alive, and that’s a huge if , then she’ll get herself out.”
What the fuck? “Seriously? That’s the best you’ve got?”
She spread her hands wide, anger flashing across her face. “What else did you want from me? In case you hadn’t noticed, I’m not a mercenary.” She lowered her voice on that last part to avoid being overheard. “I’m a librarian . Unless you think the secret location of Ares’s stronghold is buried in ancient tomes at the library, then I am less than useless on this. Literally all I can do is hope .”
Fuck. The truth of those words did something to my insides that I really didn’t like. How was I so fucking attached to Danny DeLuna already? This was beyond admiration for her skills. Way beyond.
I swallowed heavily, trying to gather my chaotic thoughts. Why had I felt so compelled to reach out to Danny’s best friend?
“She must have some kind of worst case scenario plan,” I said quietly, my fingers linked together on the table to avoid hitting something. “All mercs have contingencies in place for this kind of thing.”
Judith’s brow cocked. “Do you?”
Irritation made my teeth grind. “If anyone knows Danny’s backup plan, it’s you. So?”
She bit her lip for a moment, seeming lost in thought as our waitress returned with our breakfast orders. My stomach growled loudly as she placed the food down, and I took a forkful before Judith spoke again.
“I might… have an idea.”
Hope soared so fast it left me a little dizzy.
She held up a hand to pause me before I got carried away. “To be clear, I don’t know if she has a backup plan. Like I said, I’m a librarian and a crippled one at that, I’m hardly the one she’d call to run a life-or-death rescue mission. But… I might know who she would ask.”
I scowled. “Sabine?” I had thought to go to her first, but seeing as she was on an extended deep cover mission within Shadow Grove, I wasn’t even supposed to know where she was. Let alone potentially blow her cover by being seen meeting with her. If I got one of Danny’s only two friends killed, she would murder me herself.