What She Thought She Knew (Rachel Moore Mystery Book 1), стр. 62

For a moment, the Phantom was quiet as he reflected over what I said.

He sighed dramatically. "That's such a shame." He replied almost genuinely. "After all the trouble I went through to keep you alive, this is how you repay me?"

I narrowed my eyes in confusion. "Keeping me alive? Hell, you just tortured me!"

Shadow chuckled. "No I didn't 'torture' you; that is simply part of your treatment." He then paced around the room. "Do you remember all those months ago when you were sent to Madison Square Garden? It blew up with your partner still inside. He died, yet you lived."

"My partner was a Phantom agent." I replied coldly.

Shadow hummed in acknowledgment. "Indeed he was." He stopped his pacing, and turned to face me. "Have you ever wondered how you survived? It was almost as if someone wanted to keep you alive."

My eyes widened as I felt a flashback from my first meeting with the Directors.

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I was in the small room with all of the Directors looking at me.

I took a deep breath before I answered. "I find all of this to be very strange. If the Phantoms wanted to kill me, as you believe, why bother killing their own agent? I wasn't even near him to say that they took a calculated risk by blowing up Madison Square Garden with both of us inside. Someone led me outside, as if to save me from the blast. That doesn't exactly fit the MO of the Phantoms. It's either the Phantoms had a change of heart and no longer desire to kill Seeker agents, or there is a separate party involved."

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I stared at Shadow in amazement. "So I was right. Your organization did purposely save me that day. So then why did I almost get killed by a team of Assassins afterwards?!"

The Phantom agent regarded me with a calculating look. "That was a misunderstanding. Their order was to capture you. Don't you understand by now, Agent Moore? We have no desire to kill you."

I huffed. "Why the change of heart? Phantoms have always killed Seeker agents in the past."

Shadow made a gesture of impatience. "Forget about the other Seeker agents. You're the only one who's an… exception."

Even through the pain, I managed to snort in indignation. "An exception, huh? Why; because of my history with your organization? Shouldn't that make me even more of a priority to eliminate?"

The Phantom agent cocked his head almost in confusion. "That would make no sense tactical wise." He then stepped forward until he was exactly in front of me.

He grabbed a hold of my chin again, and forced me to look up. "You're the golden girl of the Seekers. What better way to shatter their morale then by taking you away from them?"

I glared at him. "So I'm just a damsel in distress being used for an egotistic stand-off. I think I rather just be executed."

Shadow's shoulders shook as he chuckled. "You certainly have quite the sadistic sense of humor. There's more to your use than you know, but that's none of your concern." He got up, and made his way towards the door.

He opened it, and stepped outside.

The other Phantom agents from earlier got in, and unshackled me.

It was then that I noticed a familiar ring on Shadow's left finger.

My eyes widened slightly at the discovery. "You lured me there, didn't you?" I stated.

The Phantom agent looked at me in approval. "Ah, for once you used that dim-witted brain of yours. I told you that we didn't want to kill you."

I narrowed my eyes in displeasure as the two guards tied my hands behind my back with thick rope and waited for their next orders.

"Take her back to her cell." Agent Shadow said. "We'll continue with her treatment another time." With that said, he turned around, and walked away.

My 'escorts' guided me back to my cell, and shoved me inside.

They tied my legs together once more, and left the tiny room.

All that was heard was my loud breathing. The area where my pinky used to be still hurt like a bitch and my muscles ached all over.

I concentrated on slowing down my breathing. Well, at least I'm alive. I thought.

Chapter 30: Risky SOS

Exhaustion and an overwhelming amount of pain made me pass out.

My dreams were more like nightmares though as they replayed my torture. I still felt the pain as the Phantom agent cut off my pinky. The worst part was when he proceeded to cut off the rest of my fingers, each of them became a bloody stub…

I abruptly woke up.

My eyes were met with the same darkness that dominated my cramped cell.

Once I realized that I was still more or less in one piece, I focused on slowing down my breathing.

After a few minutes, I accomplished my small goal and proceeded to stare blankly at the door.

I was still tied up, so there wasn't much I could have done.

Aside from my cramped muscles and the slight throb at where my pinky used to be, I felt relatively ok physically. Mentally, however, was a whole other issue.

After all that I have been through, I was surprised that I didn't have a total mental breakdown.

I was trapped in god knows where with a sadistic Phantom agent who cuts off fingers for fun. There was also the fact that two of my team members were dead, with Gizmo probably being held in another cell and tortured just like I was. Or maybe he too was dead.

I shook my head fiercely in an attempt to block out all negative thoughts. If there is a God up there, please keep Gizmo safe, I prayed.

I sighed as I stared at the door once more.

I had no idea how much time had