Destiny Mine (Tormentor Mine #3)(11)
11
Sara
“I told you, I don’t know where he is,” I repeat for the fourth time. “I don’t know how he got in and out of the country undetected, and I don’t know the man who drove me from the airport—I’ve never seen him before. I’m sorry, but I really can’t help you.”
Agent Ryson stares at me, his eyes cold in his weathered face. “You might want to rethink that, Dr. Cobakis. You’re facing some very serious charges, and the less you cooperate, the worse it will go for you.”
“I’m cooperating fully.” My nails cut into my palms under the table, but I maintain a calm tone. “I’ve told you everything I know. I was kidnapped and taken to a remote mountain in Japan, where I stayed for the past five months except for a brief sojourn to Cyprus, where my failed escape attempt resulted in a two-week stay at a clinic in Switzerland.”
Ryson leans in, and I catch a whiff of stale coffee breath. He must’ve had to chug quite a bit to stay alert at this late hour. “How idiotic do you think we are, Dr. Cobakis? Nobody’s buying into your act again. One of Sokolov’s shell corporations owns your house and has for months. We have eyewitness reports of your meetings with him at Starbucks and in a club downtown several weeks before your so-called abduction—not to mention, the recordings of all your phone calls to your parents.”
“I already explained all of that.” I’m holding on to my calm by a thread. “What I told my parents on the phone was an attempt to allay their worry about me—nothing more. As to my meetings with him, yes, they happened. After breaking into my house—when he drugged and waterboarded me, remember?—he disappeared for a few months, and then he returned and began stalking me. I reached out to you at that point and told you I felt like I was being watched. I asked you if he could possibly be back, and you assured me I was safe. But I wasn’t. He was there, watching my every move, and you had no clue. You failed to protect me from him, just like you failed to protect George, so don’t pretend like I had no basis to think that turning to you might be worse than useless.”
The agent’s mouth thins as he leans back. “So you what? Decided to handle this psychopath on your own when he did show up? Do you really expect us to believe that?”
My face burns at the derision in his voice. “In hindsight, it wasn’t the best decision, but at the time, I didn’t see a lot of options. He said he’d come after me no matter where you hid me, implying that more people could get hurt that way—and I believed him. I didn’t know what to do, so I went along with what he wanted, taking it one day at a time until I could figure out a better solution.”
“Oh, really? And what was it that he wanted?”
I meet Ryson’s accusing stare with one of my own. “What do you think?”
He’s the first to blink and look away. Sighing heavily, he rubs his forehead in a weary gesture, and for a moment, I almost feel bad for him. If he accepts that I’m innocent, he’ll also have to accept that he failed at his job—that he allowed a monster to invade my life and snatch me away right under their noses. It would be so much easier if I were the villain in this story, if they could somehow prove that I plotted against them all along. Except the facts don’t really support it, and they know it.
I’ve been here for over an hour, and for all their threats and posturing, they still haven’t charged me.
A knock on the door is followed by a female agent poking her blond head in. “Agent Ryson? We need you for a sec.”
He follows her out, leaving me alone in the small interrogation room, and I slump in my uncomfortable metal chair, exhausted. Then I recall that I’m likely being watched and sit up straight, trying to avoid looking at my pinched, pale face in the big mirror on the wall. I’m so stressed I’m on the verge of breaking, but I don’t want them to know that. The interrogation, combined with the inevitable effects of jet lag and my worry about Mom, has taken everything out of me, and if I could, I’d collapse and sleep for the next eighteen hours. Unfortunately, I have to stay sharp and alert.
I have to convince them of my innocence, so I can be there for my parents.
After the SWAT team stormed the hospital and dragged me out, I decided my best bet is to answer the agents’ questions as truthfully as I can, omitting only what I’m certain I can get away with. Peter didn’t give me any instructions in this regard, so he must expect me to reveal everything and is already taking steps to mitigate the fallout—moving the team to a different safe house and so on. As for the Kents, I’m pretty sure they’re untouchable with all their wealth and connections, but I’m still playing it safe by not mentioning their names—there is no reason for the Feds to assume such details would be shared with me, a prisoner.
The main thing I intend to conceal, though, is the current state of my relationship with Peter—and that he’ll come back for me soon.
“Any news about my mom?” I ask Agent Ryson when he returns to the room a few minutes later, and he nods, taking a seat across from me again.
“The surgery went well,” he says, and a giant knot of tension unravels between my shoulder blades. “They found the source of the hemorrhage and fixed it,” he continues. “It’s still too soon to pronounce her stable, but it’s looking more encouraging.”