Deadly Lies by Cynthia Eden

promises.
    “Can you handle this?”
    Max blinked. “Don’t worry about me, I can—”
    “Sam?” The agent cut through his words.
    Her chin lifted a notch. “I’ve got it.”
    Dante grabbed the files. “Are you in, Ridgeway?”
    Samantha touched his arm. “There’s no other option now. I’m here.”
    Because she’d tricked him. He wouldn’t forget that.
    But now Frank would have to act. They’d get the money, and they’d damn well get Quinlan back.
    Get him back in pieces.
The bastard’s voice seemed to whisper through Max’s mind as he stepped away from Sam. “If Quinlan dies, I’ll destroy the
     SSD.”
    Samantha flinched. “I want to get him back for you.”
    But she wasn’t promising that she
would
get him back.
    “Trust us to do our jobs,” Dante said. “We’ll have eyes on you from now on. When you go to make the exchange, we will be there.”
    “And if they see you?” Max demanded. “What then?”
    “They won’t.” Certainty from Dante. “We know what we’re doing, and believe me, we have agents who specialize in not being
     seen.”
    “Ramirez,” Samantha murmured.
    Dante nodded. “Our agents will follow the kidnappers after the drop. They’ll track them back to their hole, and they
will
recover your brother.”
    The guy was obviously confident, but then, it wasn’t Dante’s brother on the line.
    Dante’s gaze searched his face. “Now do we have your cooperation on this?”
    Not like Max had any other options. He inclined his head in a grim nod.
    Samantha’s hand fell away from his arm. “Thank you,” she whispered.
    His jaw locked.
    “You made the right decision.” Dante turned toward the door. “Be careful, you two. I’ll be watching.”
    “Luke, you need to know, Quinlan was taken from The Core,” Samantha said.
    That stopped the other agent, and he glanced back at her. “You sure about that?”
    “
I’m
sure,” Max answered.
    “I was at The Core right before he vanished. If we’d stayed just a little longer…” She shook her head. “We need to get agents
     in that bar. Curtis Weatherly also visited that place shortly before he vanished. The Core is a link.”
    Dante nodded. “I’ll get Ramirez and Daniels to talk to the staff again. We interviewed them all before and ran background
     checks, but everyone turned up clean.” His head inclined. “So we’ll just look deeper, and we’ll make sure we keep our eyes
     on that place.”
    Shouldn’t have left Quinlan.
Guilt ate at Max’s gut. If he hadn’t left his brother in The Core…
    “I can get some plainclothes cops in there ASAP,” Dante continued. “We’ll keep a surveillance team in The Core from now on.”
    A little too late to help Quinlan.
    Dante rolled his shoulders and yanked open the door. “S-sorry, boss. Didn’t realize you were… occupied.” His southern drawl
     was thicker, his posture a bit weaker. “I’ll come back later.”
    “You do that,” Max called out, voice tight.
    And then the guy was gone.
    • • •
    Sam slipped upstairs when Max and Frank were on the telephone again with the bank. She moved as quickly and quietly as she
     could. Her gaze darted into the rooms, scanning, searching—
    There.
    The closed door. The one at the end of the long hallway. Quinlan Malone still had a room at his father’s house.
    She twisted the knob, and the door opened silently. Sam didn’t turn on the lights. No need. The computer sat waiting for her,
     right in the middle of Quinlan’s gleaming glass desk.
    Sam closed the door behind her. The bedroom was huge, more of a suite than just one room, but… there was nothing personal
     there. No pictures. No ball caps. No books or magazines. No intimate touches.
    A bed with a black bedspread. A chest of drawers. The desk—so neat and organized.
    And the laptop. Just waiting.
    Like a hotel room. Ready for any guest, not a particular person.
Shaking her head, Sam eased into the chair and booted up the computer. Time to get to work.