Page 19 of Broken Trust
“Because we found something we want you to see.”
They led her to the far corner. She looked on as Kennedy ran her fingertip along the smooth concrete wall. Then she stopped and pressed inward.
The wall split on three sides to form a door. Kennedy threw her a grin and pushed it inward.
The scent of dust and cold wafted out, but contrary to her polished exterior, Kennedy wasn’t a bit prissy or afraid. She stepped in and snapped on a light.
“Wow.” Elin encountered a lot of odd things in her life as a hacker, but the sight of a secret room was more surprising than she could ever imagine.
“Is this a…gaming room?” There was a blackjack table, a roulette wheel and several slot machines along one wall. On the opposite side of the space, a bar dominated the wall.
Sophie nodded. “And there’s a wine cellar too. Through that door.” She waved toward an old oak door.
“This is amazing.” The dust particles floating around her face made her nose itch. “And dusty.”
Sophie wrinkled her nose. “It needs a good cleaning. Then we want to surprise the team by bringing them here.”
Her eyes widened. “They don’t know it exists?”
“No! That’s the exciting part. We know something they don’t.” She and Kennedy shared a laugh that showed Elin they were close friends.
And Elin was an outsider. “Well…this is all really nice and I’m sure the team will be thrilled at the discovery, but my work is done. I’ll be gone.”
Sophie’s pointed glance at Kennedy made the air shift. Kennedy answered with a small, knowing smile and left the room in silence, designer boot heels clicking softly against the concrete floor.
She hated being cornered. Ever since the day a uniformed man had shown up at her door to tell her Liam was gone, something inside her had learned to run first and breathe later.
Elin folded her arms. “What is this?”
Sophie’s dark gaze held hers. “I brought you here thinking it might make you want to stay.”
“Stay?” She almost choked on the word. “For what?”
If she said Liam, Elinwouldrun.
Sophie’s brows pinched and the glimmer in her eyes changed, telling Elin she would not like this.
“There’s another threat.”
So this wasn’t about Liam. But was a threat better?
Sophie went on. “Here’s the problem. Twelve people around the globe are babysitting bombs for Cipher. We need to find those people.”
She rocked on her feet, stunned by the knowledge that mass destruction could befall the world any moment.
“The guys know about this?”
“Of course. But we need your help.”
She issued a short laugh. “So you’re telling me we literally have to save the world?”
Sophie nodded.
Elin took a step toward the bar. “I hope this alcohol is still consumable. Because I’m gonna need a drink.”
FIVE
The tight pull across Mason’s chest wasn’t exactly pain. It was a warning. The kind of instinct inside his body that whispered something was off before his mind caught up.
