Page 49 of Stolen Empire

I sit across from her, leaning back in the chair.

"You want your freedom. I want information. We both get what we need if you follow my instructions."

Her jaw tightens, but she doesn’t argue.

Good.

She's learning.

I drink my coffee in two long swallows, then stand.

"Meet me at the door in ten minutes."

She nods, still not meeting my eyes as she takes her first sip of the black coffee and sighs lightly.

I walk to the bedroom and retrieve the pendant from the nightstand drawer.

The tracking chip I snuck inside is no larger than a grain of rice, embedded in the metal so cleanly that even under close inspection, it would go unnoticed.

I tested it myself before installing it.

The signal reaches up to five kilometers and feeds directly to an app on my phone.

She'll never be more than a stone's throw from me.

When she emerges from the guest room, dressed in her own clothes again, I hold the pendant out to her.

Her eyes widen as she opens her palm and I drop it into her grasp.

"I thought you were keeping this."

"I got something better last night… And you know the rules now."

I wink at her and straighten my collar as heat creeps into her cheeks.

She clips the chain around her neck, and I start for the door without telling her again to follow.

The drive to the track is quiet.

She stares out the window the whole way with her hands folded in her lap.

I focus on the road, running through the plan in my mind.

There are details to refine, contingencies to account for.

She's untrained, unpredictable, and her instinct will be to run the moment she sees an opening.

I need to make sure she doesn’t get that chance.

When we arrive, the track is still empty.

The morning crew won’t arrive for another hour.

I park near the training office and lead her inside.

"Sit," I tell her, gesturing to the chair across from my desk.

She sits, her posture tense, her eyes on the door as though she is already planning her escape.