Relentless (Option Zero #2) - Christy Reece Page 0,2
she finally said softly.
There was no need for her to elaborate. And since she wasn’t dead, they weren’t through with her yet. The chances of her getting out of this hellhole without being hurt again, or killed, were almost zero.
“Were you with friends, relatives?”
“No. I came to Paris to do some research for—”
“Paris?”
“Yes.”
Telling her that she was no longer in Paris without freaking her out was probably not going to happen. But she deserved to know.
“You’re not in Paris. You’re in Syria.”
There was a long pause and then the shocked words, “That’s not possible.”
“I wish it wasn’t, but it is.”
“But how…why?”
“Were you knocked out?”
“Yes…wait…no. Not knocked out. I think maybe they gave me an injection of something. My brain was all fuzzy for a while.”
Being drugged would account for the confusion. What was less apparent was why she’d been taken in the first place. He knew almost nothing about their captors, but kidnapping a woman in Paris and bringing her here to brutalize her seemed like an awful lot of trouble. There had to be something they wanted from her.
“You were in Paris alone?”
“Yes. My cousin was supposed to come, too, but she got sick at the last minute. I decided to come alone. I’m up for a part in a play. My character is French. I can read and understand French, but I can’t speak it as well as I need to. I thought a few days in Paris would help.”
“You’re an actress?”
“Yes…well, that and a college student.”
Liam’s heart hurt for her. She was young and naïve…an innocent. Even if she survived and returned home, that innocence would be gone.
“You have any family that would pay your ransom?”
“You think that’s why they took me? To ransom me?”
That would be a best-case scenario for her. And the one that made the most sense. Didn’t mean they wouldn’t abuse her while they had her, but if someone was willing to pay for her release, there was a chance she could survive.
Ransom wasn’t the reason for his and Xavier’s abductions. Even if it had been, they were SOL. No one was going to pay a ransom for them. Being on a black ops mission didn’t always mean you were on your own, but in this case it most definitely did. Five people had known about their op. The question of which one of those five had betrayed them would have to be answered after they got out of here. For now, he had enough on his plate.
Their captors apparently had prisoners here for a variety of reasons. What was this place? Some kind of eclectic prison clearinghouse?
“Are you still there?”
Liam shook his head to clear it. “Yeah…sorry. What questions have they asked you?”
“None, really. And they haven’t answered any of mine. My parents aren’t wealthy…I’m not wealthy. I don’t know why they would think I am.” She paused and then added, “Do you…are you here for ransom, too?”
For the first time, it occurred to him that she could be a plant. The delay in wondering about such a thing showed just how screwed up his head was. She could be a sister or wife to one of these assholes. Soften him up, charm him, and make him spill his secrets.
That wouldn’t happen. He knew how to keep secrets. But if she was legit, then he needed to figure out a way to help her.
“Do you think that’s why the other women are here, too? They’re going to ransom them?”
His heart sank. “Other women?”
“Yes. I was thrown in with them for a while, but when I couldn’t stop coughing, I think they decided I might be contagious. That’s when they put me in here by myself.”
It was clearer and much more dire than he’d feared. If they had other women here, ransoming her was not the likely reason she’d been taken. Things had just gotten a lot more serious and complicated. Human trafficking was rampant everywhere.
“Did you talk with any of the other women?”
“No. Not really. I was kind of out of it, but I saw them…heard them.”
“How many?”
“I don’t know. Maybe a half dozen or so.”
This changed things. He was going to have to scrap the escape plan he’d come up with before. No way in hell was he leaving this woman, or any of the others, behind.
She coughed again, the sound torturous. She wasn’t going to last long without medical care.
In a raspy voice, she asked tentatively, “Do you…can you tell me your name?”