Excerpt of Infiltration by Janie Crouch

Cameron knew he had to think fast. A single word from Sophia, any sort of gesture that she knew him, would mean both their lives. In a split second, Cameron made a decision.

But he knew it wasn't going to be pretty.

He stormed up to Marco and grabbed Sophia out of his grasp. "What the hell, Marco? Is this a cop?"

Cameron pushed Sophia, probably a little rougher than necessary, face-first up against the warehouse wall. He heard her indrawn breath, but steeled himself against any thought of her pain or fear.

It was going to get much worse.

Cameron kept his hand pressed against Sophia's back, keeping her forced against the wall. Behind him he heard Fin and the other guys draw their weapons.

He willed Sophia to keep quiet.

Marco, a little shocked by Cameron's aggressive behavior, stuttered, "I just found her inside. She said she was an artist and was taking pictures of the warehouse."

"Did you check to see if she was wearing a wire or anything?" Cameron demanded. Marco looked sheepish and shook his head. Cameron made a big show of running his hands all over Sophia's body, as if looking for surveillance equipment. Behind him the guys made a couple of catcalls. Sophia shuddered.

When his body search led to her hands, he could feel Sophia press some sort of card into his palm--he wasn't sure what. He moved so he more clearly blocked her from Fin and the men's view, and palmed whatever she had given him without looking at it. As he turned, he slipped it into the pocket of his jeans.

"She's clean," Cameron said as he spun her around. Sophia attempted to straighten the clothes Cameron had lifted and moved during his search, her face burning.

"Listen..." Sophia began.

Cameron backhanded her.

Oh, God. He pulled the slap as much as he could without making it obvious, but he knew it still had to hurt. Her head flew to the side. He watched as a bit of blood began to ooze from a split in her lip. Cameron thought he might vomit.

But if she had said his name, they would both be dead, or at the very least his undercover work would be blown. He couldn't take the chance.

He stuck his finger in her face. "You shut the hell up unless I ask you a specific question, got it?"

Cameron prayed like he had never prayed before that Sophia would keep quiet. He felt a bit of relief when she nodded slowly, staring at the ground.

"Whoa, Cam. I didn't think you had that in you." Fin chuckled.