Color of Blood(125)

“This agreement is specific to this incident,” she said.

Dennis stared at her for a moment and then reached for the clipboard. There was a ballpoint pen underneath the clip, and he pulled it out.

“Before I sign, I have a couple of questions. First, what happened to Marty? I gather from the people who interviewed me that Marty was hard up for money.”

“We can’t comment on anything like that,” she said.

“Will I see Marty again?” Dennis said.

“I strongly doubt that.” The man finally spoke.

“Is he incarcerated?” Dennis asked.

The man looked at the woman, then back at Dennis, and simply nodded.

“Second question: where is Massey, and what happened to him?”

Silence.

“Come on, folks,” Dennis said. “What’s the point of keeping this stuff away from me? I’m the guy who nearly got killed so that Massey could protect his little program.”

Silence.

“Well then, I’m not signing it,” Dennis said, returning the clipboard to the woman.

“You have to sign it,” she said, pushing it back. “You can’t leave here until you do.”

“You’re kidding?”

“No, Mr. Cunningham, we’re not kidding. This is a very sensitive subject.”

Dennis took the form back, clicked the ballpoint pen, frowned histrionically, and signed it. He gave it back to the woman.

“You’re not expected back to work until thirty days from now,” the man said, standing up. “You are free to travel anywhere within the contiguous United States and are forbidden to travel abroad, and that includes Australia. We don’t want you falling into any third-party hands in transit. It appears several non-friendly services have discovered what you’ve been up to.”

“What!” Dennis said. “I can’t travel?”

“Relax, Mr. Cunningham,” the woman said. “You’re still recovering.”

“And to ensure you aren’t tempted to leave the country, your friend, Judy White, will be back in the States next week,” the man said. “We’ve arranged for her to be released from her Australian police duties for a month to join you here. We thought you’d appreciate that.”

“Seriously?” Dennis said. “You got the AFP to release Judy for a month?”

“Why would we lie?” the man said.

“Please don’t start,” Dennis said.