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She stared at him coldly. “I’m doing my job. You’re the one trying to bring this country down. You’re the enemy. You broke in here. You are a spy. You are a traitor.”
“And you are full of shit.”
“We even have evidence of your participating in a drug smuggling scheme.”
“Oh, that’s a good one coming from you.”
“By the time we’re done with you, you’ll tell us everything we want to know.”
“You may torture me into saying what you want, but that won’t change the real truth.”
“And what’s that?”
“That you’re insane,” he snapped.
She turned to the guard. “Take him to the next level. And take him hard.”
Before the guard could react the cell door opened and another man wearing a suit came in followed by two other armed men.
“What are you doing here?” Valerie snapped.
The suit said, “Ian Whitfield sent me to deliver instructions to you.”
“Instructions from Whitfield? He has no authority over me.”
“Perhaps not, but this person does.” He handed a piece of paper to Valerie. As she scanned the contents Sean, who was watching her closely, knew exactly what had just happened: The woman had been left as the scapegoat in a classic Washington power move that would be instantly recognizable to everyone operating within the Beltway and totally foreign to the normal population.
Valerie folded the paper and put it in her pocket.
One of the guards stepped forward, spun Valerie around and handcuffed her. As she was being led away Valerie glanced at Sean. Their positions had just been neatly reversed and he didn’t intend to waste the opportunity. In a voice strained but clear, he said, “Better get yourself one fucking great lawyer, lady, because you’re gonna need it.”
CHAPTER
91
THE NEXT DAY SEAN AND MICHELLE were flown separately to a private hospital where it seemed they were the only patients. They had no idea where the facility was and no one there would answer any of their questions. However, they were given top-notch care. After several days of IVs, and long, uninterrupted periods of sleep, followed by two weeks of solid food and limited exercise, they both were nearly back to normal.
The doctors had kept Sean and Michelle segregated, refusing to tell them anything about the other. Finally Sean would have no more of it. Wielding a chair before a cowering nurse and attendant, he demanded to see Michelle. “Now!” he screamed.
When Sean walked into her room, she was sitting over by the window looking out at a depressing gray sky. As though sensing his presence, she turned around, cried out, “Sean,” and raced to him. They stood there in the middle of the room clinging to each other, trembling.
“They… they wouldn’t tell me anything about you,” she began as tears welled in her eyes.
“I didn’t even know if you were alive,” he stammered. “But it’s all over, Michelle,” he said. “We’re safe. And they arrested Valerie.”
“Did they put you in the coffin?” she asked.
“More than once. They said you never cried.”
“I cried, Sean. Trust me. I cried a lot.” She looked out the window. There was a bed of flowers below her window. Their blooms were done for the season; their stems drooping. “A lot,” she added.
“I’m sorry, Michelle.”
“For what? You got the same treatment in there that I did.”
“It was my idea to go over the fence.”
“I’m a big girl, Sean. I could have let you go it alone,” she added quietly.
