Free Sealed with a Lie by Kat Carlton Page B

wig and punch the on button.
    “Hello?”
    “We warned you,” says the menacing mechanical voice that called me in Paris. “Now Charlie will pay the price.”

Chapter Eight
    Ice. I turn to ice. My mouth works, but only a croak comes out. Then I manage the word “NO!” at full volume.
    Evan and Matthis come running into my room and stare at me.
    “What are you talking about?” I say rapidly into the phone. “I haven’t involved police—”
    “Don’t lie to us. We have eyes everywhere.”
    “I’m not lying!”
    “You sent your redheaded friend to the bosses at GI. That will cost your brother dearly.”
    “No!” I say again. My whole body starts to shake. “No, no. Please , don’t hurt him.”
    Evan tries to grab the phone from me, but I dodge, feint, and hang on for dear life.
    “I didn’t send anyone to GI!” I insist. “I haven’t told anyone—”
    “Then who are the two boys you’re with?”
    “My roommate and a friend of Charlie’s! I had to put together a team to help! Other than them, only Abby, my other roommate, knows . . . because she was there when you called and we couldn’t just disappear on her.”
    “Charlie will lose the fingers on his left hand today, due to your carelessness. And perhaps an ear, if you don’t contain this. Are we clear?”
    “No! He’s just a little boy! He’s innocent. You can’t hurt him—you can’t be such a monster—”
    Evan immobilizes my wrist, peels my fingers off the phone, and puts it on speaker. “This is Evan Kincaid, Kari’s friend. How do you know about GI? It’s top secret.”
    “We know everything, Mister Kincaid. We know that you’re Rebecca Morrow’s adopted son. We know that you’re at Apprentice status in GI, with her as your mentor. We know that you’re pushing to be an Initiate—to go on missions without her. Perhaps this is your chance to do that.”
    Evan’s mouth tightens.
    But I don’t care about any of this. Tears stream down my face, and I could give a crap what these people know or how they know it. There’s only one talking point in this conversation, as far as I’m concerned. “Don’t hurt my brother. Please. I’ll do whatever you ask . . . just don’t hurt him.”
    I have this awful image of Charlie lying on his side on a dirty mattress in a dark basement. He’s bound and gagged and filthy. His hair is matted and his nose is bloody.
    “You will do whatever we ask, Karina.” The mechanicalvoice is menacing. “So will your friends. And now, here’s a little motivation for you—”
    An earsplitting shriek comes over the speaker. It’s prolonged, heart-wrenching, bloodcurdling—I can’t even describe it. It’s the worst thing I’ve ever heard, and I cannot control my reaction.
    Suddenly I’m screaming and crying and cussing and begging all at the same time. And I’m fighting Evan for the phone. “Wild” is not the word for me. It doesn’t cover it.
    “Christ,” Evan exclaims, before tossing the phone to a freaked-out Matthis.
    I’m still screaming as Evan tackles me onto the bed. “I will kill you! Don’t you touch my brother again! Don’t touch him! I will kill you!”
    Evan rolls me over and sits on me before I can hurt him. He yells toward the phone.
    “Listen! Listen to her. You want her this way? She is of no use to you if you do this. Understand?”
    “Get her under control,” the mechanical voice says.
    “I can’t do that, unless you stop what you’re doing. Lay another hand on that child and I’ll have to check Kari into a mental hospital.”
    Silence.
    I’m crying hysterically. “Charlie!” I keep screaming, over and over.
    “Do you hear me?” Evan shouts in the direction of the phone.
    More silence.
    Evan says, his voice hard and cold, “I have already shut down the leak that’s occurred on our end. I will makesure the information is contained and come up with a cover story so that you don’t have GI and all of Interpol breathing down your necks. But in