Page 40 of PSYCHOlogical

“And the ‘M’? What does that represent?”

“Military training.”

“You don’t have family, either?”

She shook her head. “I’m an only child. My parents died in a car crash when I was in college.”

“I never had a real family,” I admitted, “The Marine Corps ended up being my family.”

“I’m so sorry about all of this,” she said. “I feel like you’ve lost a brother. I wish I could have done more.”

“Are you convinced my mindset is right on this?” I asked.

“What do you mean?”

“Do you believe that we’re going to be eliminated when they’re done with us?”

She swallowed heavily and nodded. “I do, now. I’m just afraid Wallace might…”

“He isn’t going to have time to do a damned thing,” I assured her. “Don’t worry about him.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m going to interrogate him. I’ll find out everything he knows, don’t worry.”

“What if he won’t talk?”

I laughed. “He’ll talk.”

“Then what?”

“We’ll have to be prepared to act based on what I find out,” I said. “It’s not going to be easy, but I think we can do it.”

“We?” she asked, her voice nothing more than a squeak.

“I’m not going up against them alone,” I responded. “We’re going to do it.”

She gasped. “What?”

“I need your help. I want electronic copies of every file, field report, intel sheet, name, target, mission, signature, everything. Load it on a flash drive and we’ll get it to a safe place. That’ll be our insurance policy.”

Her eyes went wide. “Our insurance policy?”

“After what we just talked about, do you really think you can get out of this alive?”

She lowered her head into her hands. “I don’t like thinking about it.”

“Take a minute and think about everything we’ve talked about,” I said. “Then, tell me if you think you’re beyond their grasp.”

A moment or two of silence followed. She lifted her head. “Do you really think you can win this?”

“I’m sure I can,” I responded with the utmost of confidence. “I know how each of them think. They, on the other hand, have no idea how I think, or that I’m coming for them. I’ve got the element of surprise in my favor.”

“What’s your plan?”

“My first step is to interrogate Wallace.”

“What if you find that your fears are correct? What if you find out they had Shephard killed?”