“Would I keep the princess waiting? Of course not. I wouldn’t miss this for the world. Here’s a special code when you’re asked by the gatekeeper.”
He gave it to her before clicking off, leaving Helen to stare down at the intercom speaker. That man was too damn cryptic. He had something up his sleeve. Dammit, now he had her using clichés, too.
She went to the computer panel in the wall and used her security code to access the COMCEN map. She typed in Room 18 and studied the directions that came up on the screen.
She had never been to the interrogation sector before. That hadn’t been part of her training, not yet anyway. Interrogation was something behind-the-scenes that all Intel agencies tended to hide from even their own.
As a contract agent, this part of the shadowy world of cloak and daggers hadn’t really concerned her before. She had been trained by GEM to resist certain interrogation techniques, but had been fortunate so far. She had been in danger a few times more than she’d cared for, but had never been forced to give information.
By the time she reached the level where Room 18 was located, she was definitely feeling more than a niggle of pain. She smothered a yawn. That was the first indication her body was coming back to normal. Which was good, wasn’t it? She felt the bottle of painkillers Dr. Kirkland had given her in her pocket.
At the buzz and command of the electronic voice, she keyed in the code Armando Chang had given her. The doors slid open. Armando was standing there waiting, leaning against the wall, arms and legs lazily crossed, scruffy black T-shirt untucked from his black jeans.
“You look tired already,” he said, his eyes keenly studying her face as he straightened from his lazy stance. “It’s almost here.”
“What’s almost here?” she asked.
“The reckoning.”
Helen rolled her eyes. “Oh, please. You don’t let up with the act, do you?”
“And the act is?” he asked as he turned to walk down the corridor. “How’s the leg?”
“The leg’s fine.” Helen followed. “I meant the vampire act. The reckoning. You make me sound like I’m going to undergo a gothic horror change any minute now and will turn into the undead.”
Armando slid an amused glance in her direction. A small smile played on his lips. “That’s why I like you, Helen. You’re funny and scary at the same time.”
“Iam funny and scary? Haha. Have you looked in the mirror lately?” Hell mocked back.
“Oh yes. Mirror, mirror on the wall, I say, and you know what? It answers back sometimes.”
She darted a quick look back at him. Sometimes, she wasn’t sure whether he was serious or not. “And what does it say?” she asked casually.
“Here’s Room 18.”
Armando pressed some buttons and the door unlocked with a click. It was dark inside. The only source of light was from the two-way mirror, coming through from the other side of the observation room. Helen stared at the scene for a long moment.
“That’s Heath with one of the Cummings,” she said.
“The female half. Caught by our Number Nine. Unfortunately, her husband escaped and we want him here, too.”
There was no sound coming in from the other side, even though Heath was speaking. He looked different, somehow, from when she’d met him in the truck. Then he turned and looked in their direction for a second. Helen blinked. His eyes—they were so cold compared to that melting puppy-dog gaze to which she’d been introduced earlier.
“Want to turn up the volume?” Armando asked.
She would love to hear what was being said but that wasn’t why she was here. Armando first. Then, if there was time, Heath. And Jed—she wanted to know whether her mistake had cost him his target.
She shook her head. “I’m feeling more tired by the minute. I want to talk to you first, Chang. And please be as pithy as you can because I really, really don’t want to fall asleep at your most interesting revelations.”
She pulled out the bottle in her pocket and poured out two capsules. She popped them into her mouth.
Armando chuckled. “There’s a certain irony here, I think, to be interrogated at the interrogation sector. There’s a water fountain to your left.”
“No doubt you’re doing this on purpose to amuse yourself,” Helen noted, as she went to get herself a drink.
“That, too, but I was serious about the cameras. You don’t want your downtime to be recorded by the COMCEN cameras, do you? It’ll be studied by every medical intern in the facility.”
“What, they’ve never seen a woman fall asleep before? Or are you suggesting I’m really going to change into a vampire of sorts?” Helen joked, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. There was a short silence. She sniffed and added, “Come on, Chang. I need info here. What happens next?”
