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Samuelson’s lips tipped into a grin. It looked out of place on his face. “Suits you.”
Her gaze went back to Harrison West. “I have you to thank for it. Had you not set me up, raped me, and then blackmailed me, I wouldn’t have become who I am.”
“You’re welcome, Army Girl. But come on, it wasn’t that bad, was it? You want to take another ride, have another horizontal hot night?”
“Really?” she demanded, momentarily breaking character. “Yes, it was that bad, you soulless motherfucker.” Her fingers twitched around the knife in her pocket.
Harrison West chuckled at her outburst.
Just then, the door opened, and Liu came in without knocking. He closed the door behind himself. His gaze settled on her. He regarded her with suspicion. “Something feels wrong in the building,” he said.
West rolled his eyes. “Not this again. I don’t know how you can be so damned paranoid.”
“Paranoia keeps you alive,” Liu said.
“Do you have the cash?”
Liu reached into his pocket and pulled out a wad of cash larger than the one Samuelson gave Laura Lee. She reached her hand towards Liu to take it.
Samuelson grabbed her arm and spun her, so he held her to himself, her back to his chest. “Not so fast.”
Panic spiked. She briefly forgot the role she played. Briefly. “Get your fucking hands off me or you’re a dead man,” she growled.
“You do the job first. You have enough to get you to South Carolina. When we have confirmation of the captain’s untimely demise, you’ll get the rest.”
“How will you pay me?”
“Professor Liu will get you set up in our accounts payable system and get you access to our email,” West said.
Liu came in close to her. Too close. “Older than I normally prefer, but I’ll take a blowjob as a show of good faith.”
“What the fuck is wrong with you?” Laura Lee spat. “I’m not giving you a blowjob and anyone who lays a hand on me in a sexual way will have it cut off, and that’s no idle threat.”
She felt Samuelson’s arm tighten around her.
“Lightbulb!” she exclaimed. She leaned her weight all the way to her right side, drew the knife, depressing the button to expose the blade, and she pressed it against Samuelson’s neck while grabbing his hair to hold his head in place with her right hand.
The door to the office burst open. Garcia was in first, followed immediately by Jimmy, then BT. All three men had their weapons leading the way. Garcia was on Liu and had him face down on the floor a second later. Jimmy snatched Samuelson from her grasp and tripped him, forcing him to the floor. BT’s weapon was trained on West.
“Hands, let me see your hands!” BT commanded.
“You’ve made a grave error. I’m with the FBI,” West said as he reached towards his pocket.
“So am I, asshole,” BT said. “Now get those hands up.”
Mike Rogers was beside her. “It’s over,” he whispered, taking the knife from her. He wrapped an arm around her and led her from the room. “Are you okay?”
She nodded. But the truth was, she didn’t know. “They got all of that recorded, didn’t they?”
“Roger that, Lah-lee,” Caleb’s voice came through her comms. “All three of those guys are toast.”
She accepted Mike Roger’s arms around her. He held her, and she dropped her head onto his chest.
“It’s over,” he repeated.
“Nice work, team,” Shepherd’s voice came through next. “I’ll notify the FBI. They’re waiting. They’ll come to you for the handoff. Sit tight on the three of them until you hear from me.”
“Come on,” Mike said, pulling her towards the hallway that led to the stairs. “You don’t need to be here any longer. Let’s wait outside and get some fresh air.”