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“Sounds pleasingly clear-cut.”
“He’s a bad guy, Orphan X.”
“Like me.”
“No,” she said. “Not like you at all.”
“So our head of state, a onetime constitutional attorney, is willing to act ‘outside the purview of American and international law’ in order to rid herself of this inconvenience.”
Naomi drew in a breath, held it for a moment. “Devine has accrued almost unimaginable influence. He is willing to use it however he pleases. We don’t really understand what he wants, what motivates him. And none of his machinations aretechnicallyillegal.”
“That’s why you need someone you can deny any knowledge of to neutralize him. Someone you can wash your hands of. Someone expendable.”
“Yes.” Naomi looked pained. “Look,” she said. “This is some DoD secret-handshake shit. I’m not comfortable with it either. I’m not a handler. This isn’t my bailiwick.”
“Then why are you here?”
“Because the president trusts me. And I’m the only one who knows you. As much as anyone can know you.”
“So my job is to infiltrate his superyacht while strapped to this restraint chair and garrote him with my ankle bar?”
Naomi seemed at a loss.
“Yes,” she said. She even said it with a straight face, but he could see the skin tighten around her eyes. He showed mercy and grinned first.
“We both know that at some point you have to end the security theater and unlock me, right?” Evan said. “Let’s just save time and do it now. Consider me sufficiently cowed into acquiescence. Or do you need me to lie to you first, maybe shed a few tears, tell you I’ll do anything you want?”
“After all our effort, that might be rewarding.”
He held her gaze. After a moment she crossed to him. Looked down. He was close enough to see the flecks of gold in her eyes. She reached out a hand to the strap at his chest. Her fingers were trembling slightly. Her knee brushed his knuckles.
He kept his stare locked on hers. Pressure released at his chest. He exhaled fully for the first time in hours. He kept his hands motionless in their cuffs, not wanting to startle her.
She exhaled. Her breath smelled clean—like tea and mint. “That’ll do for now,” she said, easing back a few steps.
“Did you document me in any way while I was unconscious?” he asked. “Photographs, biometrics—anything?”
“No.”
“Don’t lie to me.”
“I’m not. I won’t.”
He looked at her. Believed her. “Here are my terms,” he said.
“You’re hardly in a position to—”
“You will not document me in any way. If you do, I will not help you. I want out of this chair. I want out of this building. I’m not staying in a government facility.”
She coughed out a note of disbelief. “Where do you think you’ll stay?”
“The Beverly Hills Hotel will do for now. If you want to use me as an asset, you’ll have to let me go be an asset. And I want my clothes. I want my phone.”
“We’re processing your phone.”
“Don’t waste your time. You’ll never hack it. It’s got three dozen autowipe features. Give it to me.”
“Why?”
