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“You can and you will.”
A tiny spark flashed in those eyes she loved so much. He held her gaze for a long moment. “Anything.”
“First, you’re going to give me your word on something.”
He rubbed a hand across the back of his neck. “I promise to keep my shit together.”
“Don’t make promises you can’t keep.”
He did that blink like earlier and she saw the old Moe rising to the surface. “I’ll do whatever you want.”
“Yes, you will. Your future with SFI andmedepends on it.”
Was that hope in his eyes now? She released her grip. “Everything that happened was part of my plan. I knew you would attack Maddox and Lori would panic and attempt to intervene. I wanted to see her reaction and I did. What I don’t get is Maddox. Why did he give himself up? Not exactly the diabolical mastermind she’s led us to believe, is he?”
“We know this is about her, not the watch or whatever blackmail Lydia’s led her to believe is on it.”
A part of her internally sighed with relief. She had him thinking rationally again. “If he’s as crafty as Lydia wanted Lori to accept, and he wanted to eliminate Lori, he could have done it without all this subterfuge a long time ago. Why not do it while she was in that Siberian prison? She’d be dead and unable to verify anything Lydia had on him, right? None of this adds up.”
“He didn’t even hide his vehicle or take the keys with him. Either he was planning a quick escape, or he knew he wouldn’t need it any longer because we’d be marching him out of here.”
“All of them think you’re unhinged, and that’s the card we’re going to use to figure this out, once and for all. None of them have been completely honest with us since the start, and I don’t know about you, but I’m sick of it.”
He scanned her face and a tiny grin surfaced. “You want to pit them against each other. See who breaks first?”
“It’s been a long time since I’ve gotten to interrogate someone, and today, it’s like Christmas. There are three of them.”
“I like it when you’re evil.”
He hadn’t seen anything yet. Beatrice might be the smartest of them, and Vivi the best at getting inside someone’s head, but she wasn’t without skills.
She picked up the weapon and handed it back to him. “Keep that at the ready and slouch in the corner, glaring but quiet. I want them to believe I can have you kill them at the drop of a hat and bury them out here where no one will ever find their bodies. Can you do that?”
“Like I said.” He emptied the magazine and the chamber, stuffing the bullets inside a vest pocket. “I’m at your service. Whatever you want me to do, I will.”
That was a promise she believed. “One more thing.”
He searched her face. “Anything.”
“When we get back to HQ, promise me youwillset up an appointment with Vivi.”
He scrubbed a hand over his face. “I thought I shouldn’t make promises I can’t keep.”
“This is non-negotiable.”
“I know.” His shoulders drooped. “Truth is, I’m already talking to the brain picker.”
“No way. Likeactualtherapy?”
“Sort of? It’s complicated.”
“Of course, it is. This is you we’re talking about.” Surprise and something akin to pride mingled in her expression. She patted his arm, turning him toward the building. “Let’s go be evil together.”
THIRTY-TWO
The team huddled in the main area like a group of football players running their next play before they broke to line up.
Parker’s voice was low but confident as she laid out her scheme to interrogate all three prisoners and figure out who was lying. Beatrice, Emit, and Rory were listening in.
