have? Enough to live on?"
"You're remembering me stupider than I am, Matt. You and Strand got a bunch of cops killed to make a point. I doubt you're going to take th e chance that information or anything else I might have to say could com e out in court. I imagine it'd be a little tough on your careers."
"Fade, we can "
"You can what? Just let this go? What about the cops? Are they jus t going to forget about me? Are you going to give me a few million an d set me up in a beachfront place in Brazil? Or maybe you think I ough t to just slink off there myself and hide in a sewer until my legs don' t work anymore. Come on, Matt. Say it. I want to hear you say it, yo u son of a bitch. Say, "Come in, Fade. We'll fix this. We'll put i t all right again." "
"I can't make guarantees not about things I don't have control over.
All I can tell you is that I'll do my best."
"Your best isn't good enough, though, is it? I've never gotte n anything but fucked by your best."
"Fade "
"I let it slide the first time, man. But not again. I'm not lookin g forward to it, but I'm going to kill you."
Egan had known where this conversation was going from the beginning bu t actually hearing the words hit him hard. Suddenly, breathing didn' t seem to come naturally and he had to concentrate on not stopping.
Nothing had ever felt like this before not even when he'd worked in th e field. The difference, of course, was simple. Back then, he hadn' t had all that much to lose. So what now? Argue? Beg? Reason? To o little too late. Always too little too late.
"I ... I assume it goes without saying that Elise and Kali are out o f this, right? Nothing happens in front of them."
"And I assume it goes without saying that you're still man enough no t to hide behind them?"
Matt nodded into the phone. "See you soon, Fade."
Chapter Thirteen.
"All I'm saying, Karen, is it's kind of strange that he drilled you r entire team and left you without a goddamn scratch."
The interrogation room was what anyone who watched television woul d expect: gray walls, a single table surrounded with uncomfortabl e chairs, a small window covered in chicken wire. The fact that she wa s there and not in a slightly more cheerful conference room probabl y wasn't good news. On the other hand, maybe it was a blessing i n disguise at least it blocked out the rest of the precinct. When she' d walked through it that morning, she'd been preceded by dead silence an d followed by quiet whispers. No one bothered to hide the fact that the y were staring and very few bothered to hide their animosity.
"Your team's dead. And you're sitting here sipping tea." Not a n entirely accurate statement. All reports suggested that Erin was goin g to pull through. And she was drinking a Coke. Karen leaned back i n her chair and looked up at Captain Pickering, who seemed content t o stand against the wall and let Ken, the department's top interrogator , do the heavy lifting.
"I just want you to tell me why you think that is, Karen." It was th e fifth time this particular question had come up. The first time it wa s delivered in a friendly, offhand way. Now, though, Ken was leanin g over the table, supporting himself with his knuckles, face turning a light shade of pink. The fact that this puffy jerk thought he coul d intimidate her was just more proof that no one in this organization ha d a clue who she was. They were still locked onto what they needed he r to be.
"He was kind of cute so I fucked his brains out. After that, I gues s he thought it would be rude to kill me."
Ken's jaw tightened. "Maybe he wants something from you goin g forward?"
"What would that be exactly?"
"I don't know. Maybe you made a deal with him. He lets you go and yo u give him information about our investigation." He softened so suddenl y and perceptibly that there was little doubt it was affected. "I sur e as hell might have if I'd been in your situation. Tied to a chair b y some psycho ..."
The general theme taking
"You're remembering me stupider than I am, Matt. You and Strand got a bunch of cops killed to make a point. I doubt you're going to take th e chance that information or anything else I might have to say could com e out in court. I imagine it'd be a little tough on your careers."
"Fade, we can "
"You can what? Just let this go? What about the cops? Are they jus t going to forget about me? Are you going to give me a few million an d set me up in a beachfront place in Brazil? Or maybe you think I ough t to just slink off there myself and hide in a sewer until my legs don' t work anymore. Come on, Matt. Say it. I want to hear you say it, yo u son of a bitch. Say, "Come in, Fade. We'll fix this. We'll put i t all right again." "
"I can't make guarantees not about things I don't have control over.
All I can tell you is that I'll do my best."
"Your best isn't good enough, though, is it? I've never gotte n anything but fucked by your best."
"Fade "
"I let it slide the first time, man. But not again. I'm not lookin g forward to it, but I'm going to kill you."
Egan had known where this conversation was going from the beginning bu t actually hearing the words hit him hard. Suddenly, breathing didn' t seem to come naturally and he had to concentrate on not stopping.
Nothing had ever felt like this before not even when he'd worked in th e field. The difference, of course, was simple. Back then, he hadn' t had all that much to lose. So what now? Argue? Beg? Reason? To o little too late. Always too little too late.
"I ... I assume it goes without saying that Elise and Kali are out o f this, right? Nothing happens in front of them."
"And I assume it goes without saying that you're still man enough no t to hide behind them?"
Matt nodded into the phone. "See you soon, Fade."
Chapter Thirteen.
"All I'm saying, Karen, is it's kind of strange that he drilled you r entire team and left you without a goddamn scratch."
The interrogation room was what anyone who watched television woul d expect: gray walls, a single table surrounded with uncomfortabl e chairs, a small window covered in chicken wire. The fact that she wa s there and not in a slightly more cheerful conference room probabl y wasn't good news. On the other hand, maybe it was a blessing i n disguise at least it blocked out the rest of the precinct. When she' d walked through it that morning, she'd been preceded by dead silence an d followed by quiet whispers. No one bothered to hide the fact that the y were staring and very few bothered to hide their animosity.
"Your team's dead. And you're sitting here sipping tea." Not a n entirely accurate statement. All reports suggested that Erin was goin g to pull through. And she was drinking a Coke. Karen leaned back i n her chair and looked up at Captain Pickering, who seemed content t o stand against the wall and let Ken, the department's top interrogator , do the heavy lifting.
"I just want you to tell me why you think that is, Karen." It was th e fifth time this particular question had come up. The first time it wa s delivered in a friendly, offhand way. Now, though, Ken was leanin g over the table, supporting himself with his knuckles, face turning a light shade of pink. The fact that this puffy jerk thought he coul d intimidate her was just more proof that no one in this organization ha d a clue who she was. They were still locked onto what they needed he r to be.
"He was kind of cute so I fucked his brains out. After that, I gues s he thought it would be rude to kill me."
Ken's jaw tightened. "Maybe he wants something from you goin g forward?"
"What would that be exactly?"
"I don't know. Maybe you made a deal with him. He lets you go and yo u give him information about our investigation." He softened so suddenl y and perceptibly that there was little doubt it was affected. "I sur e as hell might have if I'd been in your situation. Tied to a chair b y some psycho ..."
The general theme taking
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