A soft thud from behind the closed bedroom door jerked him to attention. His eyes snapping open, he crossed to the closed door and listened. There was another faint thump, then silence.
'Iris?'
A flutter of movement filtered from the other side of the door. He heard a muffled whimper, his heart rate doubling. He turned the doorknob. It rattled uselessly in his hand. Locked.
A loud crash jolted his nerves. He drew the Beretta he'd retrieved from the hotel dresser before he and Iris had left, stepped back and kicked at the door, splintering the wood. Three kicks later, the door broke open to reveal two shadowy figures struggling in the darkened bedroom. Leveling the Beretta, Maddox flicked on the light.
The shadows froze, two sets of eyes turning toward him. Iris's gaze widened, and she slammed her head back, smashing the mouth of her captor, taking advantage of his distraction.
Letting out a string of curses, Quinn loosened his grip, and Iris jerked free, dashing to Maddox's side.
He grabbed her arm and pulled her behind him. 'Go into the living room. Iris'
Her lingers closed around his arm. 'What's he doing here?'
Quinn wiped his bloody lip with the back of his hand, his gaze never wavering from Maddox's. A glint of humor lightened his hazel eyes. 'Did you teach her that move. Heller?'
Rage burned a hole in Maddox's gut. He forced it back, struggling for control. 'What the hell are you doing, Quinn?'
'Quinn who?' Iris's voice was still close behind him,
'I told you to go to the living room. Iris.'
'You didn't tell her?' Alexander Quinn took a step forward, looking surprised.
Maddox twitched the gun. 'I didn't say you could move.'
Quinn halted in the middle of the bedroom.
'Somebody tell me what's going on-now.' Iris demanded.
Quinn arched an eyebrow at Maddox. 'Go ahead, Maddox. Tell her who I am. Tell her how you know me.'
A muscle knotted in Maddox'sjaw. He took a deep breath to keep from launching himself at Quinn. 'Go to hell.'
'Fine.' Iris said. 'The Mariposa police can sort it out.'
'I wouldn't do that' Quinn said.
'Well. I'm not you.' Iris said, stepping forward to stand next to Maddox. 'And you have a gun pointed at your heart. So I get to call the shots here.'
'Actually, Heller has the gun. He gets to call the shots.' Quinn corrected, looking back at Maddox. 'What's it going to be, Heller? In the mood for an international incident?'
Maddox gritted his teeth and slowly lowered the gun.
'What are you doing?' Iris asked, her voice trembling.
Maddox tucked the gun behind his back and caught her arm as she started for the door. 'Just calm down-'
She jerked her arm away from him. 'I trusted you!'
'You don't understand-'
She looked from him to Quinn and back. The look of betrayal on her face made his stomach ache. 'You're in on it.'
'Tell her who I am, Maddox.'
Maddox shot a look at Quinn. 'Are you sure?'
Quinn nodded. 'I was going to tell her myself, but she kept fighting back, I wasn't expecting that.'
'Who are you?' Iris asked. She looked at Maddox, lowering her voice. 'For that matter, who are you?'
Maddox laughed, the absurdity of the situation hitting him like a body blow. A day or so, his only worry was whether he had enough spending money to get by another week without dipping into the trust fund. Now here he was, standing in the wrecked remains of his bedroom between a pretty tourist and a man he'd hoped he'd never see again.
'I'm just a beach bum, sugar.' mirthless laughter lingered in his voice. 'What you see is what you get. But him?' He gestured at Quinn. 'That's Alexander Quinn of the CIA.'
Iris released a soft hiss of surprise. 'CIA?'
'Central Intelligence Agency.' Quinn offered helpfully.
Iris rounded on him, her eyes flashing with fury. 'I know what CIA stands for.'
Quinn glanced at Maddox. 'Beach bum?'
Maddox didn't answer, shooting him a warning look.
Iris crossed the bedroom, stopping a couple of feet out of Quinn's reach. 'What does the CIA want with me?'
'I'd like to know that myself.' Maddox murmured.
Iris turned around slowly, a look of hurt spreading over her face. 'Why didn't you tell me who he was?'
'I couldn't.' He knew it probably sounded like a lame excuse to her. But he'd learned a long time ago that loose lips didn't just sink ships, they got people killed.
He wasn't going to be the guy to burn a CIA agent.
Understanding flickered in Iris's eyes. 'You couldn't blow his cover. Of course you couldn't tell me. It's like treason.'
'Why don't we go in there and talk-' Quinn began.
Maddox glared at him. 'Why don't you start explaining why you broke in here and what you want from us?'
'I don't want anything from you.' Quinn met Maddox's gaze with a cold stare of his own. 'It's her help I need.'
'She's not going to play spy for you ' Maddox said.
'I think that's up to Ms. Browning.'
'For God's sake, call me Iris.' she interjected.
She was exhausted, she was afraid, and she was tired of being buffeted like a beach ball between the iron wills of the two men sitting across from her. 'You probably already know my bra size and the results of my latest dental exam, anyway.'
'A cavity in your left bicuspid and a molar that needs watching.' Quinn murmured with a half smile.
Iris felt a spark of humor breaking through the emptiness coming from him, like a bubble popping in her chest, 'Funny'
'I need you. You have access and a strong motive to help me get inside the Cassandra Society's focus group' Quinn pinned her with gaze so intense, it felt like a sledge hammer slamming into her body. 'You want to find Sandrine Beck. I want to know if Dr.Grinkov's experiment is a cover for terrorist activity. We can both get what we want'
'How could a hoodoo convention be a cover for terrorists?' Maddox's question drew Iris's attention to him. He had asked the question of Quinn, but his gaze was fixed on her face.
'It's not exactly unheard of for intelligence agencies to experiment with parapsychology.' Quinn answered.
'Remote viewing experiments.' Iris murmured, turning her gaze to the CIA agent. 'I thought that was a myth.'
'We are not talking about governments here.' Maddox argued. 'Since when did terrorists get into the hoodoo business?'
'That's part of what I want Iris to find out.'
Iris felt a surge of dark energy flow from Maddox. He stood suddenly and started pacing toward the window. 'You know what she can do, don't you?' he asked Quinn.
Iris looked at Maddox, her emotions trapped somewhere between bemusement and dismay, 'Of course he does'
Maddox returned to the sofa. 'This is crazy.'
She took a deep breath, trying not to be hurt by his words. It was a lot to process, and he'd already had a hellish day.
She looked at Quinn, 'I need time to think about it, Mr. Quinn. I'm exhausted. I need sleep. Please, can we discuss this another time?'
