“You could do that just as well,” Tiger whispered.

“He needs to,” Darkness whispered back.

True ignored them as he backed out and stepped into the other tunnel. It was just as low but he caught a whiff of Jeanie’s blood. “This one.” He found smudges of it on one of the walls a few feet in as if she’d brushed against it with her hand.

He led the way until they reached a curve and he saw light. He came to a halt, his ears straining. Darkness was suddenly there, pushing against him until they both were shoulder to shoulder.

Jeanie’s voice was faint, along with male voice. The words weren’t distinguishable but he was certain that was her. Darkness turned his head and frowned at him.

“Wait,” he mouthed. He removed his phone and texted something. He looked up and showed the screen to True and then touched it to pull up another app. It was a locator. Darkness pointed up. “They are surrounding the location. We know where we are and so do our males.”

He wasn’t sure if he had patience. He could hear Jeanie though, she was talking, and a few words filtered through. Her tone implied she was angry. Another male touched his back and he twisted his head. The male passed a rifle forward. Darkness accepted it and leaned closer.

“I won’t miss the shot. Back up and allow me to proceed. I’m going to go on my belly and crawl forward until I can reach them. I was trained as a sniper.”

Darkness dropped down and did just as he’d stated. True knew he should stay put but he couldn’t resist. He fell to his belly and scooted after the male. The tunnel ahead wasn’t that long and Jeanie’s words became clear. He couldn’t see around Darkness without lifting up, too worried he’d reveal their location if he did. Shock ran through his system though when he could hear all the conversation.

* * * * *

The chair slammed into Boris’ side hard enough to knock him off his feet. Jeanie managed to grab the chair when it bounced back. She caught it on the rounded edge of the back of the seat and on the side where the handcuffs were locked on the bar of the chair. She lifted it and smashed it down on him again.

He cried out and threw up an arm, trying to shield his head. It wasn’t effective as she used the legs of the chair to ram downward into his belly and chest. He gasped and she hit him again. Boris rolled onto his stomach at that point and she hit him one more time just for good measure.

A lot of pent-up anger drove her to nail him a few more times until she was out of breath from exertion. She only wished the chair was heavier and more solidly made. She dropped the chair and kicked him in the side. He rolled, curling into a ball. It hurt her a little when she kicked him again, this time in the chest, but it had the desired effect. He ended up sprawled on his back. She turned a little, used the last of her strength and lifted the chair. She brought it down so the legs of it landed on each side of his neck. The support bar along the bottom connecting the back legs pressed against his throat and she leaned over, resting her weight over the seatback.

Jerry Boris, or as she’d known him, Terry Brice, stared up at her with wide eyes as his face turned an ugly shade of purple.

“Can’t breathe?” She panted. “I know how that feels. Try having some douche bag shove his dirty hand over your mouth and nose. That’s what your ass**le goon did to me.”

She eased up just a little so he didn’t die. He sucked in air but his color didn’t improve. She glanced back and lifted her foot, slamming it down on his groin. He squealed.

“I know how that feels too. It’s a bitch not being able to scream, isn’t it? Does that hurt?” She ground her toes against the front of his sweats, a little grossed out, but no way was she about to let him get up. He outweighed her by a hundred pounds. Plus, I have no damn sympathy for you, ass**le.

Jeanie looked at his face, saw his terrified expression and the way his hands clawed at the bar against his throat. She eased a little of her weight off the chair until he managed to suck in more air. She pressed down again.

“You and I,” she got out, catching her breath a little more, “are going to have a talk. And what I mean by that is, I’m going to talk and you’re going to breathe when I say you can.”

She waited and let him have a little more air. It wasn’t her intention to kill him but she was determined to get answers. He knew where a Gift was and he’d put her through hell but she was mostly pissed about how he’d allowed True and the others to suffer longer than necessary because it amused him and he’d wanted to get more money.

“Those jerks you hired pushed me into a hole and let me fall into dirty water. I smell. I had a gag shoved into my mouth and you planned to poison me,” she reminded him. “I could kill you. Got that? Forget about your retirement plan. Forget about getting another penny from the NSO. You’re going to tell me where that Gift is or I’m going to watch you suffocate. I might take a nap here.” She lifted enough to let him get air. He choked a little but she held off until he took a few breaths.

“You bitch,” he wheezed.

She leaned over, putting her weight on the back of the chair. “Fuck you, Jerry. Yeah. I know who your name. I saw your picture when they showed me all the men who used to work for the NSO. Director Jerry Boris. You got fired because you were an ass**le to Fury’s mate. He said you almost got her killed and tried to take her from him. You just can’t leave mates alone, can you? You took me from mine and guess what? I’m furious.”