Free The Shaughnessey Accord by Alison Kent

came stumbling into the storeroom, Danh shoving him from behind.
    Danh looked from Tripp to Glory to the older man who had gained his balance and now stood in the center of the room. Danh circled the professor or the agent or whoever the hell the man was, prodding him with the business end of his gun.
    "Here are the rules for this party. Mr. Shaughnessey , you will sit back down."
    Glory glanced at Tripp's inscrutable expression, watching his gaze never waver from Danh's , watching as he slid down the wall to sit.
    "Very well done," Danh said, turning his attention to her. "Miss Brighton, you will turn around so I can cut you free."
    Her heart fluttered at the thought of gaining her freedom, sank at the realization that she wasn't free at all. Simply being used as a pawn in Danh's game.
    Facing Tripp, she presented Danh with her bound hands, wincing as he cut through the hard plastic tie. Blood rushed back into her wrists and fingers; she clasped her hands at her waist and rubbed at the bruises.
    Tripp's face remained impossible to read. She had no idea if he wanted her to play nice, make a run for the door, maybe try to slip his knife out of the Advil box and use it.
    Or, if all she needed to do was distract Danh by cooperating with whatever he had in mind while Tripp did what he had been trained to do.
    In the end, the decision was taken out of her hands when Danh gave her a directive. "Now, Miss Brighton. I'm going to have you search the professor here for the information he has that belongs to my employer."
    Knowing the man wasn't a professor at all but a member of a crime syndicate should've made the prospect easier to face. But, in fact, the opposite was true.
    She looked up at his kindly, forgiving expression and tried to smile in return. Knowing the evil heart that beat beneath his tweed jacket and chocolate cashmere turtleneck sent her thoughts racing in directions she didn't want them to go.
    The idea of the crimes he might have committed, the horrors he'd perpetrated . . . she couldn't even pry her fingers apart to touch his clothes.
    "Haven't you done that already? Searched him, I mean?"
    "Cursorily. I want you to be more thorough. One hundred percent thorough. And you can start by helping him remove his jacket."
    Glory moved around behind the professor and lifted shaking hands to his shoulders.
    "I'm so sorry about this," she whispered, speaking to the man she wished he was, speaking to herself. Even speaking to Tripp, apologizing for not knowing anything to do to help him get them out of here.
    "Don't worry about it, my dear. We are all forced to deal with certain unpleasantries in our lives," he said, shrugging out of fashionable and expensive tweed.
    Glory stepped back, holding the jacket by the padded shoulders, waiting for further instruction. The professor smoothed down the rumpled sleeves of his shirt.
    Danh moved to face him, his gun now seeming to be an extension of his arm rather than a weapon. " Unpleasantries . An interesting turn of phrase for a man in your profession, yes?"
    The professor's gray eyes studied Danh from behind wire-rimmed glasses. "I suppose were you to poll my students, they might agree."
    Danh laughed at that, a tight humorless sound that left a trail as it crawled over Glory's skin "We're among friends here. Or at least among those similarly invested in leaving here unexposed."
    Glory slid her gaze to Tripp's face. His eyes were focused on the professor's. And she swore she saw him give the other man a signal. All this subterfuge . . . who did he think she was that she was going to fall apart while these three cats batted around a mouse she couldn't see?
    "Miss Brighton. The coat seams, collar, pockets, lining. Shred the garment if you must."
    "What am I looking for?"
    "Anything that doesn't belong."
    "And if I don't find anything?" she asked, fingering the collar from point to point.
    "Shoes or shirt next. We strip the professor bare if need be. And then we search his