Edge of Obsession (SKALS #3) (29 page)

Her throat bobbed and a keening whine echoed off the cold, concrete walls. “Where am I?”

Outside
the modified oil silo, a massive storm brewed. Thunder rocked the building’s foundation, making the ground shake beneath his feet. Finding the weather a suitable accompaniment to his mood, Sebastian stood and regarded the woman with a condescending smirk.

“I’m afraid that isn’t important, Colleen.
”

Her watery gaze darted to Josh and
Vince before widening and flickering back to him. “How…how do you know me? How do you know who I am?”

“We know everything, honey,” Vince said. “Everything about everyone.”

The response unnerved her more. The divorcee bucked in her chair, her sinewy muscles straining with her efforts. After a few moments, she tired herself and gave up. “What do you want? I don’t have much, but you can have whatever money is in my account. Just don’t hurt me,” she rambled, shaking hard enough to jangle her restraints. “Please.”

“I’m not interested
in your finances, Mrs. James.” Sebastian strolled closer, not missing the way the woman flattened against the back of the sturdy metal chair. “What I am interested in is locating your ex-husband. A few days ago, two of my men paid you a visit. You gave them a list of names and promised these people would help us get in touch with Patrick. We took you at your word. Now, I’m sure you can only imagine how disappointing it was when those efforts failed to pan out, but I assure you, my displeasure is something I plan on making perfectly clear.”

She paled and a brief look of shock registered on her elegant features. “I told you everything I know.”

“No,” Sebastian stated. His expression hardened, making her wince. Folding his hands behind his back, he came to a stop in front of her. “You sent us to a string of abandoned houses. The names you gave us don’t even register in our system. I’m not sure what game you are trying to play here, Colleen, but I have had enough. I am only going to ask you one more time. Where is Patrick?”

She glanced up
as the overhead lights flickered, momentarily robbing the room of its dim phosphorous glow. The thought of being plunged into sudden darkness with three men she didn’t know only served to heighten the woman’s horror. A broken sob burst from her throat as she gave a desperate shake of her head.

“I swear to you, I don’t know. I haven’t had any contact with him
in three months.”

Sebastian’s shoulders jerked with his quiet huff. “I had a feeling you might say that. While we failed to locate your husband, we did manage to find another one of your family members. A man named….” He
paused and looked to Josh.

“Walter Radcliff.
Ring any bells, cupcake?”

Colleen blanched. Her thin body
quaked as she tried to squash another sob. Panicked, her eyes widened.

“Wally
is my brother. Where is he? Is he okay?”

Sebastian leveled her with a stern glare before shifting his attention to his partner. “He’s been here for what? Three days now?”

“Something like that,” Josh agreed. He pushed himself off the wall. The movement drew their captive’s full attention. “Your baby brother is a tough guy, princess, but he’s already starting to crack. Our team has been coming down on him and coming down hard. I really don’t think he cares for the accommodations.”

She shook her head. Desperation crawled across her face. “Please. Whatever you’re doing to him, please stop.”

Sensing her heartbreak, Sebastian fought a cruel smile. They had hit a nerve. Leaning over her, he braced his hands on either side of her head.

“No
t until you give us Patrick,” he murmured, brushing a flaxen curl from her face.

Trapped between his unyielding body and the
chair, Colleen slammed her eyes shut. Several tense seconds ticked by before her shoulders slumped. “Okay. I—I’ll ask around. I’ll find him. Just leave my brother alone. He has nothing to do with this.”

Sebastian straightened. S
he shrank back and cowered beneath his hard glare.

“We will release you under your own recognizance, but Walter will remain in our custody
. I suggest you uphold your end of the deal and do so quickly. Every day that passes is another day your brother will suffer at our hands.”

Colleen
flinched as Josh stepped forward to wrap a hand around her chin. She whimpered as he forced her teary gaze to his. “We will be watching you every step of the way, princess. You talk, he dies. You lie to us again, he dies. No second chances.”

An unintelligible response escaped
the woman. The words were buried beneath her anguished snuffles. After a few minutes, she managed to pull herself together enough to speak. “I understand.”

“
I sincerely hope that is true,” Sebastian retorted.

Eager to escape, he spun on his heel and
strode toward the door. Like all SKALS holding cells, the steel contraption lacked any windows or interior handles and was painted the same flat, dismal grey as the walls. He issued the coded knock the guards had given him before entering and waited. A few seconds later, the heavy metal door grated open.

The air inside the metal silo was stifling despite the cooling desert rain.
Even in the basin. Sweat already beaded along his skin and traced a languid path down his back. Sucking in a breath of fresh air, he nodded at the guards and stepped past. He stopped short upon seeing their director’s hulking form reclined against the far wall. A cruel smirk dangled from Marx’s lips as he lifted his chin. A fresh coat of blood glistened ominously across the battered scape of his knuckles, and his dark eyes harbored a malicious gleam of pleasure.

“Good work in there, gentleman,” he said, pushing off the wall.
“But you aren’t finished.”

“Sir?” J
osh asked, his voice holding a note of confusion.

“Mrs. James needs to understand the
full gravity of her brother’s situation.”

“With all due respect, sir, I am confident she does. She’s already agreed to get us the information we need,” Vince replied, glancing between Sebastian and their commander in uncertainty.

He tried to warn his teammate off with a guarded shake of his head, but it was too late. Marx prowled forward, all but backing Vince against the wall. Sebastian tensed as Josh stiffened beside him.

“I don’t give a damn what your opinion is, Agent Pellagreeni,” the director snarled. His thick forefinger stabbed the other man’s chest hard enough to draw a wince. “Get your ass back in there and don’t come out again until that woman
’s body is as broken as her spirit. Are we clear?”

“Yes, sir.”

Biting the inside of his cheeks, Sebastian watched his teammate peel himself off the cinderblocks and attempt to squeeze past Marx’s substantial bulk without further riling the man. His brow furrowed. Beating the woman and sending her on her way was a risky maneuver. It was a poor tactical move. Almost as poor as letting Laychee slip through the cracks when they had him in plain sight. His eyes narrowed at the memory and a fury rippled through his lean frame. A quick glance assured his partner was equally as baffled.

Casting him a
frustrated look, Josh shook his head and slid past.

Marx folded his arms. The sleeves of his uniform
tightened across his massive biceps and strained at the seams. “Why do I get the impression your team doesn’t agree with me on this matter?”

Careful to keep his expression neutral, Sebastian shrugged. “
Does it matter what they think? Their agreement isn’t necessary. Just compliance.”

Marx studied him. His square chin jutted in thought. After a long moment, he nodded. “Keep your men in line, Baas. Compliance or not, I won’t tolerate them questioning my decisions. I fail to see why your team can’t perform to capacity without
receiving directions on how to handle the matter, Sebastian. This is a very serious problem in my eyes. I’m starting to think you are being as lax with them as you are in your personal life. Neither of which I find pleasing.”

“I fail to see what torturing a woman we plan to release accomplishes, other than leaving evidence and complications this team doesn’t need. We have ample leverage to use against her and she’s well aware what the repercussions will be.”

Marx’s chest shook with his dour laugh. One of his stern brows inched higher. “You are not the one in charge here, Sebastian. I am.”

“I am painfully aware of that fact.
”

“I don’t
care for your tone or the implications behind it.”

Squeezing his temples, Sebastian
drew a deep breath, praying for some small measure of patience. “I am trying to watch out for my men and protect this organization. That’s what you’ve trained me to do.”

“SKALS doesn’t
need
your protection. As you pointed out, all that is required is your compliance. Do I have it or am I going to have to find a way to bring you crawling back to heel?”

He ground his teeth, his gaze narrowing into hate-fueled slits. “You have it.”

“I’m happy to hear that, Baas. Come. Take a walk with me. There is something I would like you to see.”

He frowned in confusion.
A cold twinge of curiosity danced along his nape as Marx led the way across the circular basin and keyed in the access code for the other holding cell. The harsh grate of metal scraping against concrete screeched in his ears as the director pushed the door open then gestured him inside.

A flurry of movement drew his attention
and threatened to kick his already heightened instincts into overdrive. His hand twitched, jumping toward his gun. He almost sprung toward the scuttling form, but Marx’s hand settled on his forearm, giving him pause. Blood and grime speckled her pale flesh, but there was no mistaking the bright copper of Irene’s hair as she scrambled to the far side of the room. If it weren’t for the fiery shade, he wouldn’t have recognized the pathetic mess.

The commander’s
ham-sized fists had done a brutal number on her face. Dark bruising and swelling forced her once saucy features into an unrecognizable pulp. Shaking, the waitress huddled deeper against the wall, a bleak look of terror flooding her eyes as she regarded the two of them.

“
You’ll have to excuse her appearance,” Marx said with thinly veiled humor. “It took us a while to reach a point of understanding.”

A firm snap of his fingers
had Irene crawling across the room. Keeping her head lowered, she crouched in submission before Marx’s feet. Sebastian watched with detached interest as she planted a kiss on top of the director’s polished boot.

“It never ceases to amaze me,” he said, folding his arms
with a pointed look. “Given proper motivation, even the most feral creatures will eventually come crawling back to heel.”

Sebastian stared at him in silence. The muscles in his cheek twitched with irritation as he weighed the meaning behind those words. Giving a
brief nod, he cast his attention back to the door. The temperature inside the abandoned silo continued to climb, reaching almost unbearable heights. His lungs ached, burning with the need for a breath of cool air and his hair lay plastered against his scalp. Swinging his pale stare back to Marx, he clenched his jaw. It figured the smug bastard would feel the need to draw things out and gloat.

“Is there a reason for this visit?” he asked.

“I was just making a point, Baas.
This
is what we do.
This
is what I’ve trained you to be. These are the results I expect when I lock you and your men in a room with another human being.”

“Understood.
Are we finished?”

“
For now. Make sure your team stays focused where they should be.”

He bristled.
“If you have something to say to me, just fucking say it. All of your implications are starting to piss me off.”

A taut silence hung between. Pale green warred with brown until the corners of the director’s mouth twitched. “When I
have something worth saying Sebastian, you’ll be the first to know. But I wouldn’t expect words. I prefer my statements be much more bold,” Marx stated with a colorful flourish of his hand. The gesture sent Irene scuttling for the unsubstantial safety of a corner.

Ignoring her, Sebastian
squared his shoulders and looked the commander in the eye. “Just what the hell is that supposed to mean?”

“
You are full of anger, determination, and fire. As much as I admire those qualities, they also make you a very difficult man to tame. I suspect they will force us to opposite sides of the battlefield one day, Agent Baas. But today is not that day.”

“It sounds
as if it’s something you look forward to,” he said, cocking his head.

Marx offered a wan smile. “Should that day come, I will mourn the loss of my
protégée, but I will welcome the challenge the turn of events brings.”

“Anything to keep life interesting huh, Marx?”