Da Ge shoved my chair back, pressing the bottle against my mouth, not caring that much of the water splattered down my chin and onto my clothes. “Want me to kill him?” he asked.

I gulped at the water, trying to drink enough and not choke. But my eyes never left Jin. Jin half turned, and his gaze swept over me once more. “I’ll have lab results tomorrow from the syringes we picked up on-site.” He glanced at his Vox, strapped to his wrist by diamond-studded gold links. “Kill him after I question him in the morning.”

He gave a nod, as if wrapping up a business meeting, and left the room, closing the door quietly behind him.

•  •  •

Da Ge threw the empty water bottle into a corner, and it rattled noisily. Checking to make certain my feet and hands were bound securely, he then stuffed the dirty rag back in my mouth without saying a word. He clicked the buzzing lights off when he exited, so I was left in complete darkness.

I let my head drop, exhausted, praying that sleep would knock me out of my misery.

Again, I dozed off, but I didn’t know for how long when a pulsing alarm, like a polite car horn, began to blare. “Attention,” a soothing female voice said in precise Mandarin. “Please leave the building via your nearest exit. You have ten minutes.” The fire alarm had sounded. I immediately thought of my friends and the discussions we had just a few days back.

If I had recognized Da Ge, I had no doubt that Victor did as well. Which meant they would have been smart enough to tap into the security cameras to search for me within Jin Corp, and bullheaded enough to attempt to break in and rescue me if they had seen me on-screen.

My chest shook with laughter, smothered by the rag stuffed in my mouth.

Then I suddenly realized what the break-in meant. My friends couldn’t use the fire alarm ruse twice. Not without arousing suspicion from Jin security. We were planning on bombing Jin Corp within the week. Would they be doing it tonight instead—trying to save me and plant the bombs? I would. Especially knowing Jin kept more of his avian flu virus on-site. No opportunity wasted. We all risked our lives when we had agreed to this, I had said to Victor. The mission came first. If they couldn’t find me, I’d blow with the building.

The sleep spell had worn off, leaving my head and bruised face thrumming with pain. I struggled against the ropes that bound my hands, my arms uncooperative, my hands tingling, as if being stung by a thousand ants. Wiggling my fingers, I wrenched against the restraint, but it was useless. The fire alarm blared on, unrelenting and insistent.