When he didn’t respond, Peyton smiled that sickly sweet smile I’d come to hate.
As much as we didn’t see eye to eye, she was a hell of a good agent, no one could deny her that.
‘It means that little girl of yours, Hailey, right?’ His eyes shot up and Peyton’s smile widened. ‘Little Hailey will have no daddy to tuck her in at night because he’ll be locked up in a cell.’
‘What do you want?’ He finally spoke up.
Peyton stopped flicking through the folder and closed it, neatly placing it in front of her.
‘I want to know what you were doing following the agent.’
‘Look, lady. I just did what I was told.’
‘By whom?’
‘Some creep. I don’t know. He gave me ten thousand dollars to follow her.’
Illarion stiffened beside me.
‘And do what?’ Peyton demanded.
‘Just follow her, take photos and tell that other guy where she was. He was going to take her. I don’t know.’
‘Take her?’
‘I don’t know anything else. He wasn’t there when the creep approached me. He must have had his own orders.’
‘So why would someone like you, with a family, get messed up in this sort of thing?’
‘Because the money was good.’ He said like it was the most obvious answer in the world.
Peyton didn’t buy it.
‘Ten thousand dollars is nothing in today’s economy. Try again.’
He stilled.
‘What was it? Gambling debt, some sop story about being poor, no work, maybe medical bills? Because see, I know none of that is true, Hailey’s healthy, so are you and your wife, and that job you have down at the car yard, that pays better than most jobs in this city.’
Damn. She was good.
Palmer paled.
‘So, I’m going to ask you again. What were you doing following the agent?’
Palmer pressed both his cuffed hands to the table and let out a long breath.
‘If you tell me something useful, something I can take to the DA, maybe I can cut you a deal. But right now, it’s not looking good for you.’
Palmer fisted his cuffed hands on the table and just as Peyton got up, collecting the folder, he called out to her.
‘Fine. Deal first.’
‘No can do.’
‘Then I’m not talking.’
‘They’re building a weapon.’ Peyton’s voice got louder. ‘If that weapon is finished, and you’re found to have been an asset in its creation, game over!’
‘Deal and then I’ll talk!’ He yelled back.
Peyton stared down at him, assessing her next move and then sat.
‘Fine. But this better be worth my while.’
‘I want to know that Hailey will be safe, in protective custody. Those people who paid me off, they’re crazy, they said they’d take her from school and kill her.’
My heart leapt into my throat.
‘I want to know she’ll be safe.’ He said again, louder this time. ‘Or I don’t talk.’
Peyton turned to the one-way mirror and nodded. Belfort quickly typed something up, printed it and then tapped on the glass. Peyton collected the paper and a pen and slapped it on the table in front of Palmer.
‘Talk.’
‘My wife, Sharna, she’s one of them.’
Peyton’s head cocked to the side.
‘Sensitive.’ He muttered. ‘This weapon, this weapon would mean she would die. I did what I did to save her.’
‘That weapon will kill all Sensitives. What makes you think Sharna would be spared.’
‘They promised me, help them and they’ll give her the antidote.’
‘What are you talking about?’ Peyton asked. ‘There’s nothing about that in my notes.’
‘There wouldn’t be, no one knows about it except the guy who paid me off and the scientists who made it.’
‘How does it work?’
‘I don’t know, but when the virus is released, people who have taken the antidote will survive.’
Peyton turned her gaze to the window.
There was an antidote? Holy hell. This changed everything. My heart skyrocketed and so did Illarion’s.
This war suddenly had a silver lining, maybe we had a chance, maybe we could walk away from this.
***
Illarion disappeared with Belfort the second Palmer’s signed document was handed back to him.
Peyton finished up, told him she’d be back and came out into the same room as me, for the first time since our less than pleasant meeting.
While the paperwork got moved from hand to hand and the agents continued their work, I stood silently in the corner. My heart racing and rattling my breath. If he was telling the truth, this was so much bigger than I imagined, but it also meant there was hope.
‘He’s got too much to lose if what he’s told us isn’t true.’ Peyton said to me, folding her arms across her chest and nodding to the sad man sitting in the room.
I saw by the way his aura was steady and his heartrate even, that he was telling the truth but none of that would be admissible should it ever get to that. In this agency, under their jurisdiction, I had to play by the non-Sensitive’s rules. It was tiring and drawn out.
‘You got him to talk, that’s a win for now.’ I said, gauging the level of terror running through Palmer.
‘You alright?’ She asked.
‘Yes.’
My eyes travelled back to Palmer. His entire being was trembling with fear. His mind kept snapping back to Hailey while the horror of what the Collectors would do, kept making him regret what he’d told us.
I folded my arms across my chest and kept my head up.
He was scum, I knew that from the first moment I looked at him, but he wasn’t a bad person, he was desperate, and I’d done a lot for love, God and Beings knew.
‘Listen, Hart.’ Peyton began, keeping her eyes ahead. ‘I’m sorry doesn’t even come close to making what I said, okay.’
Her apology caught me off guard, but I remained fixed in my spot, focusing my attention on Palmer.
‘I acted like a complete bitch, and I know that. And you didn’t deserve it, at all.’
This time, I turned to her, catching her eye.
She was sincere and deeply apologetic.
‘Why were you digging in the first place?’
She looked away for a moment before a smile crossed her lips, the kind that said she was embarrassed, knew she’d done wrong.
‘I was jealous.’
My brows rose, whatever was rattling around in her head and whatever made her act the way she did, I didn’t think it was jealousy.
‘Jealous of what?’ I asked incredulously and again she smiled but this time turned away from me.
‘When I was in high school, all I wanted to do was join the army, I wanted to go out there, see the world, stand for something I believed in and be proud of my life.’
Her eyes were vibrant, full of life as she looked far into her past, recalling the young Melina Peyton, standing at the precipice of her future, her career, the world she’d make for herself.
‘When I finished, I applied, I trained so hard and I didn’t get in. I tried twice more, and each time, I didn’t cut it.’
A pang of pain shot through me; I knew a little about that feeling.
‘Years went by, I worked a few jobs here and there and eventually after I’d licked my wounds, I applied for the NYPD and I got in. I worked narcotics for years until the FBI approached me and offered me a job.’
She was the best agent here, Belfort and Riley often said it, and the only reason I came close, was my field experience in the Agency and before that, Special Forces.
‘Don’t get me wrong, I love this job, I love what I do, but it wasn’t everything I wanted. Then you transferred over and suddenly you were reaching those heights I couldn’t, Belfort was jumping out of his skin when your creds landed on his desk. Not only did you come
from the Agency and you were field trained, you were also military, Special Forces, you’re a Sensitive, you are literally a gold mine for them.’
I frowned.
‘My attitude was unjust, and I treated you like shit, Ace. I’m sorry.’
‘You know I never asked for anything that was given to me. All I wanted was to fight for my country, live some semblance of a normal life and have a family. None of that transpired.’
‘No.’ Peyton looked away. ‘But even after all that, you’re better than the rest of us. You’re a good person, you’re humble.’
Our eyes met, and I didn’t know what to say.
‘For what it’s worth, I wanted to apologize, I wanted you to know that I’m sorry and whatever this is, this war that’s coming, I’m in.’
‘Thank you, Melina.’ I forced a tight smile.
She turned her eyes back to Palmer and nodded to the window. ‘We’ve got what we need, let’s see if Matt can break the other guy.’
***
Melina and Belfort took Palmer out to holding, leaving me, Illarion and Matt alone while we decided how to play this.
Though I should have been here, my mind was a million miles away. The conversation I had with Melina, played over and over in my head. Who the hell would have thought someone as successful as her, would have found something to be jealous about in me?
I didn’t know whether I should have been sad for her, or angry. Somehow, neither option made any sense. The whole situation was riddled with flaws from each angle.
I was only here because of a shitstorm I couldn’t weather in New York and she was only here because she couldn’t get to where she wanted to be.
So, in a way, we were both here for reasons neither of us chose and I guess that tied us together in a way nothing else could.
‘You listening?’ Matt nudged me and when I nudged him back, he smirked.
‘I know this is boring, but could you at least pretend to be interested?’ He asked, grinning.
‘Shut up.’ I smirked. ‘It’s boring because I should be in there, not watching from out here.’
Illarion stood with his arms folded behind his back and was uncharacteristically quiet on the matter.
‘You don’t have anything to say?’ I turned to him.
‘I don’t want you in there with him, but saying that, it’s probably the only way we’re going to get anything from him.’
My eyes widened, so did Matt’s.
‘I can try and work him; you can shield me. If we don’t get anywhere, you can go in.’ Matt said to me.
Illarion looked over both of us and then his gaze went back to Whiley, and that same, serious expression returned.
What was eating at him?
‘Okay.’ I said to Matt, ‘Let’s try that.’
He put together the file on Whiley and slipped in the photographs found of me in Palmer’s wallet and he entered the room.
Pulling my shield up, I cast it over Matt and firmly locked on to his mind. Whatever this Whiley guy was about, I wasn’t about to let him poke around Matt’s head.
Whiley, unlike Palmer, seemed to have no issues with authority, let alone the non-Sensitive kind. He smirked, keeping his eyes firmly locked on Matt and a small trickle of unease washed over me.
Illarion sensed it too because we both moved to the glass, curiosity piquing.
‘Thought you’d send the woman in.’ He spoked.
‘Why? So you can be a creep?’
He grinned.
‘No, she’s not stepping foot in here. You’re dealing with me, and me alone.’
‘Tough guy.’
‘Tougher than you.’ Matt said coolly. ‘See, I don’t need to creep around, following women to get them to notice me.’
‘So, you’re a regular boy scout then, are you?’
‘This conversation isn’t about me, Whiley, it’s about you. And the more you focus on that, the more chance there is of you walking out of here into a nice, minimum security facility, instead of the underground holding at the Agency.’
Whiley’s face hardened.
‘Oh, you think I don’t know about your kind?’ Matt said, leaning back in his chair, a smug grin on his face. ‘I know all about you. I know all about the good guys, and the pieces of shit like you. I also know that when they shoot you full of that crystal blue liquid, you beg and plead like a little bitch.’
‘Like she did?’ Whiley shot, and both me and Illarion flinched.
Ignoring the rapidly building fire inside me, I linked my fingers through Illarion’s and reminded him that it was okay.
Inside the interrogation room, Matt remained placid, though, between the anger raging through him and remembering our conversation about all this, he was holding himself together.
‘You know something about that and want to share? Or are you just a groupie who read about it somewhere?’
Whiley didn’t respond to that. He didn’t need to. Matt just pulled apart his façade and now we knew that he was a nobody, he probably didn’t even know Dalca personally.
He was just another follower, and like Matt said, he’d probably read about it somewhere.
‘Good, now that we’ve established that you don’t actually have any authority on the matter at hand. Let me ask you some questions and make this go smoother for you.’ Matt offered.
Whiley’s face turned sour and Matt paused, tilting his head.
‘We already know the man you were working with was just paid to follow her and tell you of her location.’
No smart-ass quips or insults.
‘I wasn’t working with him. He’s a human.’
‘Right.’ Matt considered. ‘You don’t usually mix with us, so what got you mixing with this guy?’
‘Money.’
‘Don’t even bother trying that angle. I called bullshit the second you stepped in with your Tom Ford blazer. You don’t need money. So, what is it?’
Whiley’s brows shot up.
‘I’ve already checked you out.’ Matt said. ‘You have more than enough money, and I know you think that’s the easy out when you’re talking to us humans, but we’re not all stupid. So, without risking looking like even more of a dumbass than you already are, reconsider your next response.’
I choked back a laugh when Whiley jerked back from Matt’s blunt response. Illarion shifted, a ghost of a smile pulled on his lips. He was starting to like him, and a smile quickly found me. Matt was good people and we needed good people in our corner.
‘Why were you following the woman and what were your orders?’
Leaning against the ledge of the one-way glass, I focused on my shield, finding Matt’s open mind.
“It’s me, Matt. Don’t react, just do what I say.”
He stiffened, ever so slightly but not enough to alert Whiley to my presence.
“He’s hiding something about the person who set him up to do this, try that angle.” I concentrated and frowned. “He’s got his own shield up, but I’m getting small trickles of information. Something about a guy called Davis?”
Matt shifted in his chair and then opened up the file in front of him. For a few seconds he flicked through the pages and then stopped, pulling one free.
He slid it across the table toward Whiley.
‘There was something in here that piqued my curiosity, someone that seemed to be linked to the both of you where there weren’t any links otherwise. Someone by the name of Burt Davis?’
Whiley’s eyes widened.
Jackpot. I smirked. Game on bitch.
‘Who’s Burt Davis?’ Matt asked firmly.
‘I want a lawyer.’.
‘Oh no.’ He ignored him and continued tapping on the file in front of him. ‘See, the law says that terrorists don’t get civil rights.’
‘I’m not a terrorist.’
‘What’s in here, says otherwise.’
‘This is horseshit.’
‘Going after an active member of the FBI is high up on the list of unsavo
ry activities you could have chosen to partake in. Now, I’d greatly appreciate if you stop wasting my time and answer the question before I send someone else in, someone who won’t be quite as patient as me.’
‘Idle threats.’ He spat.
Matt looked unamused and quite frankly, frustrated. He’d unhinged a portion of the mask, the rest would take some elbow grease, the kind that only a Sensitive could do.
Illarion gave me a knowing look and retrieved a small, black pouch. My stomach churned, and I looked away. The Serum, regardless of who it was getting administered to, it was a horrible thing.
He tapped on the glass and waited for Matt to acknowledge the shift change.
‘Last chance.’ He tapped the file. ‘Speak to me or take your chances with what comes next.’
‘Screw you.’
Matt snatched up the file and got up.
‘You’re on.’ He nodded at the glass.
Illarion moved to the door and stopped, giving me a quick look. ‘You should leave.’
‘I’m not going anywhere.’ I remained rooted in my spot.
‘Ace—’
‘Don’t bother trying to make me leave, Ila. I’m staying.’
His mouth straightened into a hard line and then he left, he disappeared behind the door and reappeared inside the room, shielded by Matt.
‘What is this?’ Whiley laughed. ‘Good cop bad cop?’
Neither Matt nor Illarion bothered replying.
‘Keep Belfort out,’ Illarion said quietly, keeping his eyes on the pouch in his hand. ‘If anyone else comes in, tell them I’m authorized.’
To that, Whiley’s eyes shot up. Good, the asshole was starting to get worried.
Illarion’s very casual, very calm demeanor was causing him anxiety. Matt had come in, rattled him around a bit with small talk and low-ball insults, but Illarion, oh he was a different story altogether. There would be no chit chat, no insults, no casual offers of reduced sentences. No, Whiley would be lucky to walk away from this at all.
Matt gave Illarion a stern look, questioning whether he was ready to do this, and when Illarion gave him the go ahead, Matt gave him a curt nod and left.
I dropped my shield and sucked in a deep breath, steadying myself against the ledge.
‘Hey,’ Matt shot, taking a hold of my arm. ‘You okay?’
Jack of Hart- Wild Card Page 26