Page 100 of Tag (The Golden Team #9)

Aponi

T he interrogation room was small, concrete, and cold. No windows. Just a single metal table bolted to the floor and two chairs.

Tessa Lawson sat in one of them, wrists cuffed, her posture perfect. Her silver eye tattoo caught the light from the bare bulb above us, and I hated that I could still see the satisfaction in her smile.

She looked like she was waiting for a dinner guest, not a federal debrief.

I stepped inside with Tag at my back, the door shutting with a heavy click.

“You’ve lost,” I said. No preamble. No dance.

Her smirk didn’t falter. “You took down one facility. Burned one file. You think that means the game’s over?”

“I think it means you’re not in control anymore.”

She tilted her head, studying me like I was a puzzle she’d almost solved. “Still so sure of yourself. Just like the first time I saw you.”

“I’m not that girl,” I said, leaning on the table. “And you don’t get to define me anymore.”

Her eyes glittered. “Oh, Isabelle… I didn’t define you. I refined you. And whether you admit it or not, part of you likes what you became.”

Tag’s voice was low, dangerous. “Keep talking and I’ll make sure you disappear before the sun sets.”

Tessa’s smile widened. “There it is. The weakness. Emotion. You protect her, she protects you. That’s leverage I can work with.”

I slammed my hands on the table, leaning in close. “No. That’s leverage you used to have.”

She laughed quietly, then sat back. “Fine. You want something? Here’s something: Chimera was never about one compound, or even a dozen. It’s a structure. A network. Cut off one head, two grow back. And the next head?” She paused, her gaze locking on mine. “It’s already in motion.”

I didn’t flinch. “Where?”

Her voice dropped to a whisper, like she wanted me to have to lean closer to hear. “Ask your brother.”

The words punched through me before I could stop them. “Faron?”

She shrugged, like it didn’t matter. “Everyone’s got a file, Isabelle. His is… interesting.”

Tag’s hand went to my shoulder, grounding me before I did something I might regret.

I stood, backing toward the door. “You’re done talking for now. Tomorrow, you tell me everything, or I’ll make sure you rot in a hole so deep Chimera won’t be able to find you.”

She smiled again, like I’d just proved her point. “Oh, sweetheart… Chimera’s already found you .”

The door slammed shut between us.