Page 118 of Whistleblower

“You are wearing my patience thin,” she says, cutting me off while uncapping the silver tube. “You said yourself it was in your office. I checked all the drawers. Where is it?”

I shouldn’t be surprised that Ravi was behind my intruder, too, but it still makes my stomach churn. How long has she been watching me? Stalking me? This only ends one way…

“You’re not going to let me go,” I say softly.

“Excuse me?” Ravi asks.

“Porky lied to you. The data was wiped.” There’s only one reason Porky would throw me under the bus like this. I was the only one who could fight back. The only one who could get to the bottom of the truth… Because I have no family, and no friends for Ravi to threaten. Her normal manipulation tactics won’t work on me.

I was alone and somehow that made me powerful.

She underestimated the whistleblower.

“I don’t believe you.”

I sniffle, as the tears paint my cheeks. “Then beat me to death and keep searching for the rest of your life.”

“You’re a fucking idiot,” she growls as she taps the taser twice, just like Linc showed me. The sound of electricity buzzes and my heart begins to pound. I brace myself for more pain.

I close my eyes as she lunges, but I don’t feel the searing sting of an electric shock. Instead, I hear a thud and Ravi shouting profanities. Opening my eyes, I see Harmon on top of Ravi trying to wrestle the taser out of her hand.

“Run!” he yells. “Eden, go now!”

“I can’t!” I shriek, tugging against the zip ties.

“Shit,” he grumbles before he shouts in pain. He jerks and writhes on the floor, like his entire body is vibrating. Ravi pulls the taser from his neck and kicks him in the side. His eyes look blank and his mouth begins to foam. As far as I can tell, now it’s just me and Ravi alone in this room. She smiles as she pulls her gun from its holster.

“Ah,” I wail in agony when the butt of her gun finds my cheekbone. I can almost feel the crack as hot pressure balloons on the right side of my face.

“Last chance, Eden,” she says, cocking her gun and pressing it against my fractured cheek bone.

“Ravi, I told you—”

The door kicks open and of course the first thing I see is the barrel of yet another gun. “Jesus, Callen,” Ravi says, relieved. “Call first, hm?”

I feel nauseous when I see him smile. Fuck. Now, it’s over. No wonder Ravi knew where I was. No wonder he picked Harmon to accompany me. It’s really over.

“You alone?” she asks.

“Of course. Tweedle-dee and dumbass are searching for her at the correctional facility. But it won’t be long before they clue in. Let’s hurry this up.”

How could I be so wrong? There’s no way.

“Check Harmon’s pulse. He lost his fucking mind a moment ago.”

Callen does as he’s instructed. “He’s fine. Let him sleep it off.” He nods in my direction but doesn’t look at me. “Do you have what you need?”

“Nope. You two are chummy, want to take a stab at it?”

He snorts. “Is a pawn chummy with the chess player?” Now his cocky smile spreads, and his slanted eyes meet mine. “She’s more of a honey than vinegar girl though. Put that down.”

Ravi rolls her eyes and lowers the gun. As soon as the metal is no longer touching my face, Callen lunges. Ripping the gun from her hand, it goes off amidst the struggle putting a hole in my ceiling fan.

“Linc! She’s alive!” Callen shouts right before he groans and shrivels when Ravi knees him hard between the legs.

Oh, thank God.

Linc storms in and the entire room drops a few degrees. I shouldn’t be so relieved when I see the malice in his eyes. I have never seen such putrid hate before. It’s pouring out of his expression as he assesses the scene and then sets his sights on Ravi. She makes a feeble attempt to grab her gun, but she’s no match. Surpassing her in speed and agility, Linc slides the gun away and wraps his hand around her neck.

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