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Claude shook his head, drawing my attention again. “Santiago was real smart about that kind of thing. He kept all the information to himself. He didn’t want anyone else to know and mess it up or get ideas of their own.”
“That doesn’t help us, Claude.”
He put up his hands in a placating gesture. “But Santiago was clever in another way. He never told anyone, but he kept records.”
“Records? What do you mean?”
“I mean he kept a file on everyone he ever did business with. Communications, logs, contact information, everything. He kept all of it on a memory stick. A thumb drive.”
That was as good as gold. That could give us a name and prove involvement. Hope welled up in my chest. “Where is it?”
Claude tilted his chin up and his face relaxed. He realized he had something we wanted. I bristled, annoyed at myself for forgetting to play it cool. I tapped a finger on my tablet for several seconds before I walked back to the table and sat down. I motioned for Claude to do the same, and he slowly sank into his chair.
I leaned forward, giving him a long, hard look. “Listen to me very closely, Claude. I am going to offer you a one-time deal. One time only. It expires in two minutes, so listen carefully. You tell me what I want to know, you give me accurate information that leads to this file, and I will take the death penalty off the table.”
He sneered. “That’s it? That’s not much of a deal.”
I glared at him. “That’s a big difference. You can live the rest of your life behind bars, or you can be sentenced to death. They’ll start trial in maybe six months. Give it another two for a conviction and sentencing. Six months of appeals, if you’re lucky. You’re dead in a year. This is an open and shut case. You have no defense. The prosecution won’t need to offer you a deal. They will get the death penalty. I promise you I will make sure they do. I would think twice before I turn this down if I were you.”
Claude watched me with hooded eyes. “I want the deal in writing and signed.”
I nodded. “Done.”
He closed his eyes before giving me a piercing look. “No tricks, Agent Carter.”
I shook my head as Jordan disappeared out the door. “No tricks. I want this just as much as you do.”
“Yeah, I doubt that,” he grunted.
Within half an hour, we had the paperwork ready. I was relieved at the swiftness with which we had broken him. We had gotten lucky with the video. Without that, it would have been a different story altogether.
I set a pen and the papers in front of him. “It’s already been signed and sealed. Just need your signature.”
Claude eyed it before he wrote out his name. He set the pen down and sat back in his chair. I took the paper and passed it off to Jordan. “Now, tell me where to find the file.”
He looked between the two of us, calculation in his eyes. I leaned forward on my elbows before he could say anything. “Think very carefully before you speak, Claude. We have a deal. You give me the information, and the death penalty goes off the table. But let me make sure you understand if you give me false information, I’ll charge you with treason.”
His jaw dropped. “What?”
I lifted an eyebrow at him, feeling my face harden. “I’ve been very careful so far not to refer to anything you’ve done as treasonous, but that can change in an instant. I’ve decided to only charge you with the attempted murder of Kit Matheson, but if you give me bogus information, I might have to change that to treason, conspiracy to commit murder, aiding and abetting, attempt to destabilize, the list goes on. Do you know what we can do with you once you’re charged with treason?”
The threat hung thick in the room while Claude glared at me. I shrugged, unaffected by his look. “I don’t want to have to do that. Give me accurate information and nothing happens. Lie to me, and I’ll make your life miserable to the point you’ll wish you were dead.”
The silence stretched. I let it. I let him stew and think about it. I watched him carefully and only relaxed when resignation settled on his face. “Santiago kept a memory stick listing everyone he’d ever worked for. There’s a lot of information I’m sure you’ll want.”
“We didn’t find it on his ship.”
Claude shook his head. “He wanted it kept away from him in case anyone ever infiltrated his ship.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Why didn’t he keep an online file?”
He shrugged. “Santiago was paranoid. You can hack into a system and destroy files easily. A disconnected copy is a lot harder to get rid of. He kept a home of sorts on Viridis. A hideout in case something ever went south. The file is there.”
“How do you know that?” Jordan queried.
“Santiago had me help stock the place. I wasn’t supposed to know about the file, but he was always hinting that he had blackmail on everyone he’d ever worked for. We stopped on Viridis after we kidnapped the chancellor. It was a quick detour, but I went with him to the hideout to stock a few things. I saw him with the file on the computer. He turned it off as soon as I came in, but I still saw it.”
All signs were saying that he wasn’t being deceptive. He believed he was telling the truth. There was no guarantee the file was still there, or that it contained anything about the person or persons who had hired Santiago to kidnap Barrows, but we had to check it out. If nothing else, a file of dirty laundry could be useful in other cases.
