Page 61 of Defender

She trailed off.Fussing at her for using her cell phone on the plane.Where he thought she was.Summer suddenly realized what a mistake she’d made.She’d been so worried about Ashton’s safety she hadn’t even stopped to think that he wouldn’t have sent someone she didn’t know without preparing her.Especially if he had access to his phone.

She turned and looked at Agent Jennings, who was now standing right behind her.

But he wasn’t really an agent at all, was he?

It came to her.“You’re the man from the woods last night.”He looked different.His hair was lighter, thinner.His eyebrows were bushier.But it was definitely him.

He shrugged.“Like I said, you only met me very briefly.I don’t expect you to remember me.”

She felt a sharp pinch in her arm and realized he’d injected her with something.

“What do you want?”The world began spinning around her.Summer grasped the car to keep from falling.

“To use you as bait.”

It was the last thing she heard before everything faded to blackness.

* * *

THEFIRSTTHINGSummer knew when she woke up was that she wasn’t in a car.She was lying on some sort of couch.An old, dirty, smelly one.She sat straight up, moaning and grabbing her head as dizziness and nausea assailed her.She realized her hands were tied in front of her with a zip tie.

“Careful there, Summer.The effects of benzodiazepine can be pretty long lasting.You’ll probably be dizzy for several hours.”

It was the man who had called himself Agent Jennings.The one who had tried to kill her in the woods last night.

“Where’s Chloe?”she croaked the words out, struggling to open her eyes to look for her daughter.

“Right next to you in her car seat.I thought it better to keep her strapped in.Not that she’ll be waking up for a while.”

“What did you do to her?”Summer could see her now, a few feet away.She tried to stand but found her hands tied to the couch by a longer piece of rope.“Did you drug her?”

“Your daughter has only been given diphenhydramine, Ms.Worrall.There won’t be any long-lasting effects from that but should keep her sleeping for a few hours.”The man narrowed his eyes at her.“I’m sure you’d prefer that anyway.”

Summer struggled to push through the fog in her head.Diphenhydramine.That was an allergy medicine.Benadryl.It shouldn’t have lasting ill effects on Chloe.Just cause her to have a nice long nap.

If the man was telling the truth.At this point, Summer just had to pray he was.

But he was correct about one thing: Summer would prefer Chloe be asleep as long as possible until she figured out how to get out of this.She could see Chloe’s little chest moving as she breathed.That was enough for now.

“What do you want?Why are we here?”

“I’m about to give you to Curtis Harper as part of the grand plan for him to get his revenge on your boyfriend.”

None of this made any sense.“But last night you were about to kill us in the woods.Why don’t you have a gun pointed at me now?”

“Oh I do.It’s just a different sort.”

Summer wasn’t sure what that meant but knew it wasn’t good.

She heard loud music blaring from a car outside as it pulled up.Most of the windows in this house were knocked out and it looked like it hadn’t been occupied in years.The couch she was attached to had definitely seen better days.

“Ah, here’s Mr.Harper now.I’ll just go ahead and apologize for him.He’s a little difficult to bear.”

“Alright, Damien.I’m here.What’s your brilliant plan?”

The younger man came storming into the house, half tearing the door off the hinges, obviously not caring how much noise he made.This house—such as it was—definitely must be pretty isolated.

“Here’s the lovely Ms.Worrall and her daughter.All that you need to get Agent Fitzgerald out here alone.”

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