Kate drove across Albert Bridge into Chelsea. Her face was still flushed from her argument with Cade. Their month-long relationship ended so abruptly over something stupid.
He's not worth it, Kate told herself. She couldn't date someone so jealous.
Kate's cell phone rang. "Cameron."
"Kate, why aren't you at your workstation?" Ryan asked.
"I'm following a lead."
"What lead? You didn't tell me."
"Alex Rider is in danger. I need to make sure he isn't killed."
"You've been putting a lot of work into this case. Cade is getting upset over it. He told me about your leaving."
"I don't care. We broke up anyway. Besides, you know why I took this case."
"Yes, but I think you should leave things alone."
"I can't."
"Kate, just come back to base."
"I can't. I'm following this one through. I'm going dark."
Kate hung up and attached a signal scrambler to her phone. She parked her car in front of an apartment complex. She took her backpack and went inside. Once inside, she climbed the stairwell up to the roof. She took her laptop from the backpack and turned it on. While she waited for it to boot up, she set up the McMillan TAC-50 rifle. She streamed feeds from satellites aimed at Chelsea. She found Alex's house in the feeds and zoomed in. There were two figures in the kitchen – Hughes and Takahashi. Then Kate dialed a number into her phone.
"Walker."
"Dan, are you in position?"
"Yeah. Let's do this."
"On my signal."
Kate hung up and looked through the night vision scope of her rifle. There they were – Hughes and Takahashi. Kate steadied the rifle and took aim. She pulled the trigger.
A gunshot rang out above. Alex recognized the sound of a sniper rifle. Emily pulled a pocketknife out of her pocket and cut the ropes binding Alex to the chair.
"Let's go," she said.
She and Alex ran up the stairs. They crept passed the kitchen when more gunfire erupted. They ran for the backdoor and escaped into the cool summer night. Alex spotted Dan's car sitting on his driveway. Why was Dan at Alex's house? Was he the one who had fired the gun?
Emily and Alex ran down the streets until they were finally at a safe distance. The two hid in an old warehouse.
"Is it safe in here?" Alex asked.
"I think. I hope so."
Something struck the back of Alex's head. The world went dark and silent.
Kate's cell phone rang again. "Dan, what's going on?"
"We got Hughes. Takahashi's gone."
"Did you search the whole house?"
"Yeah. I can't find Rider either."
"What?"
"Check earlier satellite feeds. Find out if anyone else came into the house besides Hughes, Takahashi, and Rider."
Kate went to her laptop and looked at the older feeds. At 10:06, a girl walked into the house. Kate checked the most recent feeds. She saw the girl running out the back of the house with Alex.
"Kate?"
"I think I found them. Alex is with a girl."
Kate froze the satellite feed. She enhanced the image and ran it through recognition software.
"Who's the girl?" Dan asked.
"Emily Hughes."
"What's she doing with Rider?"
"I don't know."
Suddenly, the cold barrel of a gun touched Kate's neck.
"Put down the phone."
"Where is Rider going?" Dan asked.
Kate didn't move. She didn't speak.
"Put the phone down, or I will shoot you."
"Kate?"
Kate slowly lowered the phone down to the floor.
"Now turn around slowly."
Kate obeyed. She found herself face to face with Daisuke Takahashi. I found Takahashi, Kate thought.
Alex woke up with a pounding headache. He tried to move, but found that he had been bound again. His wrists were tied around the back of the chair. His ankles were tied to the legs of the chair. He began to panic. Where was Emily? Was she okay? Alex closed his eyes to clear his vision. When he opened them again, Emily stood before him.
"Emily, what's going-" Alex didn't need to ask anymore. He realized he had fallen into a trap. "Oh no, God, no."
"I'm sorry, Alex."
"Emily, don't do this. Please. I'm sorry for hurting you. I-"
Emily slapped him. "I should have gagged you. But I didn't for a reason."
"What?"
Emily flipped open her pocketknife. Alex stared at the blade in horror. He knew what was coming.
"Oh God…"
"That's right. I want to hear you scream."
"You lied to me. You said you weren't going to kill me."
"Oh, I wasn't lying, Alex. I'm not going to kill you. I'm going to do something much worse." Emily lifted up Alex's shirt.
"What are you going to do?"
Emily smirked. "Hm…maybe I should tell you first. It'll make it all the more painful." She straddled Alex's lap. "I'm going to carve my name into your chest. Emily Annelise Hughes. I'm going to make sure it's a name you'll never forget. You're going to feel the hurt that I felt when you walked away from me."
"Emily, I told you I didn't want to. I do want to have a relationship with you, but I can't. There are people who want to hurt me. I can't risk anyone hurting you to get to me."
"Say what you want to, Alex. It won't stop me."
"Emily, please."
"The only way to stop me is to kill me." Emily leaned closer to Alex so that her lips hovered over his. "And no one knows where we are." She kissed Alex slowly. Then she pressed the blade of her pocketknife to his skin.
"Emily, don't."
Emily pushed the blade through Alex's skin and began carving an "E."
"Who are you?" Daisuke demanded.
"What is it to you?"
Daisuke grabbed Kate by her shirt and hauled her up. "Who are you? Don't make me ask again."
"You don't need to."
Kate knocked the gun from Daisuke's hand and kneed him in the stomach. Daisuke retaliated by sweeping Kate off her feet and kicking her in the ribs. Kate grabbed his ankle and shoved him off balance. She scrambled to her feet and followed up with a fist in his face.
"Hasn't your mother ever told you not to hit girls?" Kate sent a sidekick toward Daisuke's stomach, but the attack was blocked. Daisuke grabbed her foot and flipped her onto the floor. He sat on her hips and grabbed her throat.
"You're a little too old to be called a girl, don't you think?"
Kate punched the side of the man's head, but he didn't falter. He tightened his grip on her throat. She hit him again and again, but it didn't do any good. She was too tense to do any effective fighting. She tried to calm herself a little so she could think. She thrust her fingers into the Japanese rogue's eyes. He cried out in pain and released her. Kate shoved him off and scrambled for her backpack. She reached inside and grabbed a Glock. Daisuke kicked her hand, sending the backpack and the gun sliding across the roof. Kate twisted her body, wrapped her leg around the back of Daisuke's neck, and slammed his head into the floor. Daisuke rammed his elbow into her stomach. He shoved her down and sat on her legs, pinning her arms to the floor.
"You really piss me off, bitch," Daisuke growled.
"Back at you."
"Before I take your life, I'm going to take something else of yours too."
"What?"
"I think you know…Camryn."