The Escape (John Puller, #3)(73)

“Now, walk forward and turn into the living room. Sit in the chair nearest the television.”

“You seem to know my house very well,” said Reynolds calmly as she began to walk in that direction.

She turned into the living room and sat in the designated chair. When she reached for the light on the table next to her the voice said, “I’ll do that.”

She slowly pulled back her hand and laid it in her lap while the person behind her turned on the light to its lowest setting.

“How did you get in here? The alarm was on.”

“An alarm is only as good as the password, and yours wasn’t very good.”

“But then you reset it? Why?”

“Well, not resetting it would have given my intrusion away, wouldn’t it?”

He moved fully into the room but kept behind her.

Robert Puller had on a hoodie pulled up and a ski mask that covered everything on his face except his eyes and lips. His gun was pointed at the back of Reynolds’s head. Across the room he had placed a mirror he’d found in her bathroom on a table. It was angled so that he could see her face reflected in it, while he remained hidden from her. He wanted to see her face, and more important, her reactions to his questions.

He said, “I would presume that you’re armed. Take your weapon out holding it by the muzzle or the next sound you hear will unfortunately be the last one you ever will.”

She drew out the compact Sig nine-millimeter by the muzzle and placed it on the carpet.

“Kick it behind you.”

She did so and Puller reached down and pocketed it.

“What do you want?” asked Reynolds. “I have some money in the study. My credit cards are in my purse. I don’t have gold bullion on the premises, if that’s what you’re looking for,” she added snidely.

“Who paid you to lie about what you saw?” Puller asked.

She stiffened and Puller added, “I thought you would have recognized my voice before now, Susan.”

“It’s been two years.”

“Over two years, actually. But still, I remembered your voice.”

“I’ve had a lot more to do over the last two years than you.”

“Actually, I’ve had a lot to think about, if that counts.”

“And what did you conclude, Robert?”

“That you were well compensated, judging by the size of your house and the luxury car you drove up in. Uncle Sam doesn’t pay that well for someone at your level.”

“I invested smartly and I had some money to start with. It’s all been checked out. My security clearances justify that.”

“Not always, as you well know. Granting security clearances these days is not what it used to be. But I’m not here to discuss your financial circumstances, other than to find out who paid you off.”

“Nobody paid me off. I saw what I saw. You stole classified information from STRATCOM. The DVD was found in your pocket. The evidence doesn’t get much clearer than that.”

“Which is why you put it there, pulled the fire alarm, and then told others to search me.”

“Oh, so now it’s my fault? Do you have any idea how many people are after you? You killed a man to get out of prison. You didn’t get the death penalty for some reason last time, but this time you will. Oh, and your brother was here to interview me. It was clear that he believes you’re guilty.”

“So you won’t tell me who hired you?”

“No one hired me. Being at DB must have made you delusional. And on top of it you’re now a murderer. I hope God will have mercy on you after they stick the needle in you, Robert.”

“I think God will have mercy, but it won’t be directed at me, because I don’t require any.”

“And what about Niles Robinson? Spin that one.”

“I don’t have to spin it. He lied. Same as you. You were in it together. Bought off by the same party.”

“Well, this is obviously getting us nowhere.”

Puller said, “How did you end up at the Center for Combating WMDs?”

“How did you know about that?”

“Please, Susan, don’t insult my intelligence.”

“I’m at the center because it’s a job. There, satisfied?”

He studied her face in the mirror. But her expression was inconclusive. And her hands remained in her lap.

“But it’s an unusual job for someone like you. Your work in the past had to do with inspection of nukes, but your more recent specialty was not in that arena.”

“That’s my business.”

“But it does make sense in one respect.”

Reynolds stiffened once more, Puller noted as he watched her in the mirror.

“To combat WMDs one must know where they are located. Is that why you’re working there, Susan?”

“I have expertise in WMDs from when I worked on the START verification program. Now would you please leave so I can call the police?”

“I’ll get to the truth one way or another.”

“So, you’re going to kill me too? Like you did the man back at DB?”

“He was sent there to kill me. I don’t know if you were told that part of the plan or not.”

“Have fun explaining that convoluted mess to the MPs.”