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that answer will be.
    “That would’ve been impossible unless the back of the club was wired.”
    “I know. But still. Can you close in on the cars?”
    “Yeah, and we got a partial on one tag. But so far, nothing.”
    “Those aren’t any of ours, right?” I had to ask.
    “None that I know of. And look at their equipment. None of it speaks government issue.”
    “Don’t be so damn naïve, Colt. You remember how we operated. They have AK-47s. We carried those too.”
    “You’re not thinking …”
    “ All I’m saying is don’t rule anything out. If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it doesn’t always have to be a duck.”
    “I got it.” He’s frustrated. “Why would a hit team be after her? And why not just take her out with a sniper?”
    “Dude, you’ve been institutionalized too long. They don’t want her dead, fool. They want her … or rather somebody else does.”
    “Then the real question is, why?”
    “That’s what we need to find out. I’m gonna grab some sleep. She’s down for the count. I’ll cuff her to the bed in case she wakes up, but I need to crash so I’m fresh when things heat up with her.”
    “You’ve got her then, yeah?”
    “Yep. And thanks for bailing my ass out of there.”
    “Well, I should be kicking your ass.”
    “No, there’s something going on with her. We’ll find out what it is.” As soon as the words leave my mouth, I hope they’re correct. Because some big bad guys are after Onyx Eyes and I’m curious as hell to find out why.

 
     
     
    T he first thing I notice is that my mouth is like a desert. When I try to roll over, my arm prevents me from doing so. The room is so bright, I scream. The skull-splitter is back. A pillow! I need a pillow to block the light. My hand reaches for one, but it comes up empty. My right wrist is latched to the bed by something, but I don’t dare open my eyes to see what. Oh God, what is happening?
    “What’s the matter?” a deep voice asks, but I can barely breathe, much less answer him. My hand covers the left side of my face, trying to block the light as I cry out in pain. Whoever is in the room pulls my hand away and then I’m faced with my worst nightmare—blaring sun in my eyes.
    “No, no, no, no, no …” I repeat.
    A hand grasps mine and squeezes it so tightly that pain shoots up my arm. Ironically, I’m relieved for a bit because it takes my mind off the axe man … but only for a moment. The torturer, in his usual way, swings his blade at me again with all his might and forces me to focus back on him. He leaves me with no choice. I’m convulsing now. My brain erupts in flashes of brilliant fireworks and I have to find a way to tell this person to shut the damn curtains, but I’m not sure I can.
    My jaws are clenched so I do my best. “Curtains … c-c-close.”
    “What?” He growls as he clamps down on my hand again. I’m sure the bones will snap.
    By now, water is gushing down my cheeks and I want to die. “Sh-shut c-c-c-curtains!” The words burst forth in a scream and suddenly the room darkens. It helps but my pain is too far down the path of agony. I writhe, and the only thing I want to do is to curl up under the bed. But I can’t because my wrist is tethered. I am a prisoner.
    “Tell me what’s wrong,” the mystery voice demands.
    The words penetrate and under other circumstance s, I might laugh. But I can’t now because the only thing that’s possible for me to do is roll from side to side.
    “Shoot me,” I mutter. Death would be a welcome sweetness … the absence of pain.
    Maybe he ’s planning on doing that anyway. If I ask him, perhaps he’ll get it over with quickly. My thoughts are so scrambled, though, I’m not sure if I even said those words out loud.
    He lets out a short laugh. “You want me to shoot you?” Even though my mind is distorted with pain, I can see he’s not going to help me. “That’s a good one.”
    “Please.”
    “Why?”
    Why does he have to