Page 64 of Wrecked With You

“He’s been there a while,” she said, and Tony nodded.

“Probably killed not long after we saw him. He was cold when we ran the heat scan, that’s for sure.”

“On our way,” Quince said, his voice filling Tony’s ear.

“Negative,” Emma said. “Secure the second floor. We have this under control.”

She looked at Tony, “This doesn’t make any sense. It can’t be a coincidence.”

“No,” he agreed. “Someone knew we were coming. And that someone didn’t want us to talk to him.”

“But that doesn’t make any sense. Dailey only landed on your radar because of Thea—and she’s dead. And the only person who might have cause to know that she’d tell you about Dailey would be The Serpent, and I killed him.”

“Yes, Thea’s dead,” Tony said, “but it’s possible someone identified me while we were on the island.”

“You’re thinking that since Thea worked for Dailey there may be some other player who assumes that you’ll make the connection and follow the path back here.”

He nodded. “I suppose this confirms our suspicions about Dailey. But we still don’t know what information Dailey has.”

She lifted a shoulder. “And that’s why we’re going to be spending the next few hours going through his filing cabinets. And we should get Denny or Mario in here to hack his computer.”

He nodded and tapped his earpiece, relaying the command to come to the office to the rest of the team.

“Here’s another interesting tidbit to throw into the mix,” Denny said, her voice tinny in his ear. “I’ve been going through the records, trying to figure out why I missed that document the first time. It wasn’t uploaded into the Secretary of State’s records until about twenty minutes before I downloaded it.”

Emma and Tony looked at each other. He could see the moment she understood, just as he did.

“Oh, Christ. It’s a setup,” Denny said, obviously on the same wavelength they were. “Get the fuck out of there.”

They’d already started to move, but it was too late. He heard the creak of the floorboard, and turned just in time to see one of the wooden wall panels open, revealing not only a camouflaged hidey-hole, but also a familiar man dressed in a full-body skin suit—the kind designed to hide from heat-sensing technology. And he’s holding a pistol in his hand.

The Serpent.

He didn’t have the shot yet, though, and as he shifted his aim, Tony launched himself, tackling Emma to the ground at the same time the shot rang out.

It was followed immediately by another, and from his position on top of Emma, Tony saw The Serpent’s leg collapse under him. He fell, knocked down by the force of the bullet to his thigh and, undoubtedly, the searing pain of the injury.

Liam sprinted to him, the weapon he’d just fired still held at the ready. He kicked The Serpent’s firearm away, then held the not-dead-after-all man at bay with the point of his gun.

Quince appeared in the doorway next, also armed and ready. Immediately, he assessed the situation, then offered Tony and Emma a hand up.

He aimed his chin toward The Serpent, then looked back at Tony with a casual shrug. “To be honest, I’d rather just kill the fucker. But we should probably take him back to the office and let me have a go at him.” He flashed a dangerous smile that had the man on the floor cringing. “We’ll have a little party, you and me. And you can tell me every one of your goddamn bloody secrets.”

Chapter Twenty-Three

I pace in front of the one-way glass, watching Quincy as he sits in front of The Serpent. His leg is now bandaged, and from what Colonel Anderson Seagrave tells me, The Serpent’s not feeling any pain. On top of the drugs the SSA medic gave him before stitching up the wound, Quincy has filled him with a proprietary pharmaceutical array that not only eases the pain in his leg, but also makes him more willing to share all of his secrets.

I glanced down at Seagrave who’s idly moving his wheelchair back and forth as he watches the show going on behind the glass. He’s in his mid-forties with dark hair going gray at the temples and an easy smile that doesn’t detract from his commanding presence. We worked together for a long time, and though we butted heads often, I have nothing but respect for him.

“How long does this usually take?” I ask.

Behind me, Tony is pacing. “It’s never a fast process,” he says. “The stronger the subject, the longer it takes. Considering what we know about The Serpent, it might take forever.”

“Under the circumstances, I’m willing to wait forever.”

“Right now, Quince is working to obtain information about your father,” Seagrave says looking at Tony. “After that, he can take a break. We’ll take your new friend back to the SOC. Let our people work on him. You both did amazing work, by the way. Truly amazing.”

Tony shrugs, and I’m certain I know what he’s thinking. Seagrave doesn’t have to butter him up. Once he knows about his father, he doesn’t really care what happens to The Serpent.