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Coughing up blood, I spat it off to the side. I’d save spitting blood on people for the savages. Although, he had me on the verge of breaking free earlier than I’d prefer to hit him back.
“Why’d you have security cameras in Amsterdam? Were you trying to steal their work out from under them because you were upset about the takeover?”
So you don’t know how I really feel about Diana. You think I want her for what she can do. For her work. Of course you do, because you think with your wallet. “Did Jared or Craig tell you that? Or are both working for you?”
His smile was the only answer I needed to know the truth. Yes to both.
“Where. Is. Diana? I won’t ask you again.”
“Good, don’t ask. You should know by now I won’t tell you.” Shit, I had to rethink this. The fire-with-fire approach wasn’t working. Time for a change in tactics. I had to get into his narcissistic head and peel back his arrogant layers so he’d tell me what I needed to know.
He struck me, and the chair fell backward. I tucked my chin in to avoid slamming my skull against the concrete.
“Brody! Jackson!” he hollered, and the door opened a moment later. “Get him back upright.”
The two men came over, and one slipped in my blood, falling to his knee, as he tried to help the other guy place the chair back on its legs.
I brought my face close to one and headbutted him, unleashing the devil inside me that time, and the prick startled back, falling onto his ass that time.
“Get up, Brody. Stop embarrassing yourself. Go find Sierra and Jake,” Novak ordered, slipping the brass into his pockets as the two men left, shutting the door behind them. “Where were we?” Novak shook his hand out at his side.
Brass knuckles or not, you hit me and it’ll hurt you more than it does me. “We were just discussing the fact you’re the reason Rebecca Barclay is dead.” It was time to change the conversation away from Diana.
Novak’s lips parted, the shock registering there and in his eyes. “The Italian killed your wife. You killed The Italian.”
So, you have a man inside the CIA with high-level security clearance. Interesting. Not even Craig Paulsen, and definitely not Jared, knew that information. “You can cut the bullshit. You know Andrew Cutter was The Italian, which is why you set Rebecca on his path to get her off chasing leads about who killed her parents and why. You knew it’d lead back to your family.”
His gaze flicked to the camera in the corner of the room, the only other object in there besides the chair beneath my ass.
“Your father’s not watching. You turned off the cameras. Will he be pissed he’s not able to see the interrogation?” I made the leap and guessed. “He must not be here, or he’d have come and asked why your cameras are glitching. Maybe you can blame it on your hackers.” Time to get in his head. Find his weakness. With any luck, desperate for his father’s approval would be his. Men like him . . . yeah, not a stretch to make that assessment.
I rocked back on the hind legs of the chair again, hiding the fact I was working the rope free at my wrists. That fall to the ground had helped loosen the knots at both my wrists and ankles. Brody and Jackson were sure as hell never sailors.
“Let’s recap, shall we?” Since he wasn’t hitting me right now, and I was running on adrenaline to push through the pain in both my face and body, I went ahead and shared, “Back in 2008, your family, along with others, had the Barclays killed because they deviated from the plan. Rebecca’s father pursued cold fusion as an energy source and made too much noise at the government level about the need for it. So, he was silenced. The crash was made to look like an accident.”
This had Novak’s attention, and his arms went dead at his sides.
“All was good until Ivan, your head of security, grew a guilty conscience, or maybe always had one but finally stumbled upon evidence about the crash, and he anonymously sent it to Rebecca. The byproduct of this was not only her trying to determine if her parents were murdered, but she became hyper-focused on picking up where her father left off.” I let the chair legs thwack back to the ground. “Rebecca was close to Craig. She told him about the photos, and you set her on a path with Cutter, knowing he’d take her out for you. Keep both your hands clean of her death.”
Novak approached me and dropped to one knee, resting his forearm across his thigh. “Who told you this?”
Rebecca didn’t tell Craig she told Susan about the photos, did she? At least I wasn’t the only one she kept some secrets from. She saved Susan’s life.
“Not as untouchable as you think, are you? Those skeletons in your family’s closet are about to come out. Diana stopping your planned attack, or working on cold fusion as energy, will be the least of your problems.”
His light complexion became paler. He closed his eyes, and I could so easily free my wrists and circle my hands around his throat and strangle the life from him right then.
“Rebecca was never supposed to die.” The words squeezed out so slowly, I almost believed him. When his blue eyes flashed open, maybe I even did.
He pushed back up, careful not to slip in my blood, then went for a 9mm at his back. Resting it at his side he went on, “Paulsen loved your wife. But you know that, too, don’t you?”
The truth and the weapon meant I was now on borrowed time. He was going to tie up loose ends and search for Diana another way.
“So, remove the guilt from your chest the way your head of security tried to do before you had him killed in that boating accident. Absolve your sins.” I did my best to shift my wrists and ankles around as subtly as possible to loosen the knots even more for when it was time to make my move.
“I have no sins. Everything I’ve done is for the greater good.”
“Hey, whatever helps you sleep at night.” I rocked back on the hind legs again, preparing for the moment I’d launch his way and spring into action. Unfortunately, I wouldn’t be able to pry the information about the other members of the group from him. I’d have to find another way to get to the truth. One problem at a time.
