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“Why are you doing this, Puck?What purpose does kidnapping me serve?You had to have had a game plan when you set all this in motion.”
“I’ve told you time and again that I want your help finding Seshat.”
I shook my head.“And as I’ve said time and again, you could’ve just come to me and asked.”
He studied me, one brow raised.“Could I have?And you would’ve done what?Exactly as you have done?”
“I cannot say, given you never allowed me the opportunity.”
“That’s bullshit, and you know it.You would’ve insisted the deaths of Beak and Vulcan had sent me over the edge, most likely recommended therapy.If I, in turn, insisted the woman at the command center in Shere was not Seshat, you probably would’ve sent me to the loony bin straightaway, particularly after the imposter convinced you I was mad.”
“Puck—”
“Can you honestly tell me you and the rest of the teams haven’t come to that conclusion anyway?That I’ve gone off the rails and that was why I disappeared?”
“I cannot.”
“When the imposter abducted Oleander, would you have looked at me as an accomplice?”
I shook my head.“I cannot say definitively.”
He looked down at the floor.“Tell me it hasn’t crossed your mind.”
“I cannot,” I repeated.
“Ikidnappedyou, and yet your every thought is that I’m delusional.You haven’t even entertained the idea that everything I’ve told you is true, but you want me to naively believe that all I had to do wasaskfor help.”
I had nothing to say.Quite frankly, he was more lucid than I’d seen him thus far.He was also right.No one would’ve taken him seriously.No one would’ve listened.Wewouldhave arranged for psychiatric care.We would not have believed his claim that the woman on the UK task force was an imposter.Nor would we have acted on it.“Where do we go from here?”I finally asked.
“First, you give me your solemn vow I will not be prosecuted for abducting you.Second, you will back an investigation into Seshat’s disappearance with the full force of SIS.”
Apparently, whoever was feeding him information hadn’t informed him of my change in status.“While I’ll do what I can, I am no longer chief b of MI6.”Based on his reaction, I was right in thinking he hadn’t been made aware.Before he could respond, his mobile vibrated.
Puck walked to the opposite side of the room and swiped the screen.His eyes widened.“Iknewit.Fingerprints have confirmed the body in the morgue is not Seshat.”
I was about to ask who he’d received the information from, but stopped myself when his entire demeanor changed and he returned to the chair.He stuffed his mobile in his pocket and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees.“There’s more.I told you I was there when Oleander was rescued.”
“I recall.”
“I received a message from Seshat the day before it went down.”He took a deep breath and scrubbed his face with his hand.“She said she left England because she feared for her life as well as that of our child.”
“Your child?”
“Apparently, Seshat learned she was pregnant after I disappeared.It’s one of the reasons I started tracking the imposter again that afternoon.”
It was enough on its own that Seshat was missing and perhaps in danger.Adding a child to the scenario went a long way to explain Puck’s state of mind.
“You said you just received the message two days ago?Why did she wait so long to contact you?”
“I don’t know, Z, but there’s proof now that itwasn’tSeshat who abducted Oleander.Whoever it was, was working for AMPS.”
“You said she looked nearly identical.”
He nodded.
“Does Seshat have a sister?”
“Not that I’m aware of.”
