Chapter Twenty
Adam
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“CAN I HAVE A GLASS of water?” I stared at the vacant expressions of the two men and one woman sitting opposite me, ignoring the incessant throbbing pain growing in my head.
The headache had started not long after I’d been brought into custody, beginning as a low-lying gnaw and ballooning into something more tiresome.
Probably only dehydrated, I tried not to worry, but after my recent neurological issues, the pain was only another reason to be concerned. “Bitte, ein Glas Wasser.”
“Commander General, these are important questions.” The same officer who’d read me my rights pressed her lips into a thin line. “And we’d appreciate your cooperation before you reach The Hague.”
“Yes, and I’ve been answering your questions for hours.” Or, at least, the pain in my head gave that impression.
There was no way of judging time in the small box they’d kept me inside since I’d been driven to the main police station in the city.
My eyes scanned the beige walls around me for the twentieth time, apparently hoping a clock had manifested on the wall, but inevitably, it had not.
The ache in my head, though, told me I’d been sitting on that hard chair for a long time.
Too long.
Frowning, my thoughts returned to Caroline.
Where was she? Was she okay?
They’d said they’d brought her with us, but I hadn’t seen any evidence of that since I’d arrived.
“How did you find us?” It was one of the questions that had been pinballing around my head ever since they’d appeared at the front door. “Did someone rat us out?”
Logically, someone like Hans or Claude at the bank were the most likely candidates, yet I’d had no sense that they’d betray us. How bad had my judgment become when I hadn’t even seen that threat coming?
“I’m not at liberty to divulge that information.” She stared at me. “And really, this whole process will be easier for you if you answer my questions, Commander General.”
“Okay, but please,” I tried again, thoroughly unamused to having to beg for anything I wanted, let alone having my basic needs met. “Where is Miss Craness? Can you at least tell me if she is all right?”
The guy sitting to the officer’s left let out a long sigh. “Why the interest in Caroline Craness? Was she not your former prisoner in Great Britain?”
“Yes.” Guilt clawed at my chest with the admission.
Sitting there, I couldn’t believe the things I’d put her through while following Ian’s instructions.
Whatever happened to me, I’d never be able to reconcile that guilt.
“She was once my prisoner, but we fell in love.” Why was I even telling them about that?
As if the people sent to interrogate me gave a shit about my feelings.
“I got her out of Britain. That’s why we’re both here. ”
The two men opposite me exchanged a skeptical look.
“Is she okay?” I directed the question at the woman, hoping Ian’s old rhetoric about women being the more caring gender was at least grounded in some truth.
“Miss Craness is being looked after.” The officer’s chin rose as she met my eyes, but her stare was cold and dismissive. “She is no longer your concern.”
No longer your concern.
Those words flew at me and whipped me in the face.
I closed my eyes at their sting, perturbed as the reality of my new situation dawned.
The officer was right. As far as I was concerned, Caroline was gone.
I had no jurisdiction over her anymore, no way of getting to her, of holding her, of telling her I loved her. ..
She was out of my life... maybe forever.
Pain echoed in the place my heart had once been, but I knew the organ wasn’t there anymore. It couldn’t be. Not when it belonged to Caroline.
I’d always been immune to love and had assumed I’d remain so until I found her. Sitting there, though, there was nothing but pain to show for our accomplishments. What had been the point of caring, of getting away, or in any of it, if, in the end, we were to be apart?
She’s the point. I straightened at the conclusion. I saved her.
The answer floated through my mind as one of the men spoke again, but I wasn’t listening. My mind was filled with Caroline, and everything we’d already lived through.
Without me, Ian would have killed her. My lips jerked at the acknowledgement. Whatever happens to me, it was worth it.
She’s worth it.
“Commander General!” The stranger, whose introduction had already slipped my mind, snapped at me.
“Yes.” My voice was weak, the sound irritating me.
I was stronger than that, wasn’t I? Sure, being stuck in police custody was one hell of a setback, but I’d got through much worse than that.
I’d navigated Ian’s evil intent for years, doing my best to keep the women in my custody alive, and, in the end, I’d managed to rescue Caroline, as well as scores of other women.
I was no hero, but whatever the three officers could throw at me, I could handle it.
“We’d like to hear what you know about President Jackson’s plans for Fortorus.”
Stretching my neck, I blew out a breath at the woman’s inquiry.
The growl in my head was getting louder, and given my recent run-in with a heavy decanter and Armitage’s unmet request that I see another specialist, the headache worried me.
“I’ve told you. I was in charge of running the camp.
There were different blocks to accommodate different groups of women and—”
“No, no.” The woman shook her head. “This, we already know. Tell us about the president’s future plans.”
“Future plans?” Tension twisted in my stomach at her inference. Did the foreign authorities know about Ian’s so-called solution to those he deemed unworthy? Was that what the interrogation was really about?
“Ja,” she continued. “We know a little of what he intends, but your help could sure up our knowledge.”
“So, let me get this straight.” I placed my palms on the metal table between us, grateful that my cuffs had been removed. “You want me to sell out my country’s state secrets by revealing the president’s plans?”
Her lips twisted. “We would prefer to call it aiding international justice, Commander General.”
Oh, I’m sure you would.
“And we’re not certain Britain is really your country anymore.” She shrugged. “After all, how would your president react to your betrayal?”
She had a good point. Ian had never been a forgiving man, and based on my decisions, he’d have likely strung me up naked from his London palace.
“He wouldn’t be happy,” I conceded. “But running and telling tales are two different things. You understand? Er denkt nicht, dass ich ein Verr?ter bin. I am no traitor.”
“You do not like this name.” She smiled. “I understand this, but I would say you’d prefer to tell the tales than spend a good proportion of the rest of your life behind bars in a foreign country, Commander General.”
She had me there.
“I would.” I pressed my palms together, unsure if I was just enjoying the freedom of uncuffed wrists or actually considering prayer.
“And Miss Craness,” she pressed. “You would like for her to be safe.”
“You said she’s no longer my concern.” My tone was terser than I’d intended revealing, if my previous testimony hadn’t helped them to guess already, just how much I cared for Caroline.
“Ah, yes.” Her smile stretched wider.
“This has nothing to do with her.” My hands clenched together until my fingernails dug into my palms. “She’s done nothing wrong.”
“And no harm shall come to her,” the officer replied. “She is now able to claim refugee status and shall be offered support for the things she has endured.”
I pulled in a steadying breath, hoping the air would clear my head.
The outcome wasn’t the life I’d wanted for Caroline.
It wasn’t the two of us together, entwined in the sexy magic we’d created, but it was something.
She was alive, she was safe, and she had a shot at a future, even if that was one without me.
“Thank you.” I worked hard to keep my tone even.
“And so, to your intel.” She neatly steered the conversation back to Ian’s nefarious intentions. “Aside from what you have already told us. There is more, ja?”
“Yes, there’s more.” Resignation rang out in my voice. I wasn’t getting out of there, and the sooner I wrapped my pounding head around that fact, the better.
This must have been what it was like for all the women we captured. I scowled at the unwelcome comparison. This harrowing acceptance was what it was like for Caroline.
“If you tell us what you know, perhaps we can help you in return.” Her tone was softer, as though she sensed my emotional turmoil. Maybe it was written all over my face.
“Everything you know,” the man on her other side corrected. “You would need to divulge all that you have seen, heard, and expect the president to do.”
“What kind of help?” My heart picked up its pace again.
After all the hours I’d been sitting there, dehydrating without so much as a drink, or the offer of a toilet break, let alone legal counsel, the suggestion of an ‘exchange’ of sorts had been the first tangible hope I’d heard.
Desperate and without other options, I clung to it, like the debris of a sinking ship on the open ocean.
“A glass of water, at least.” The older man smirked.
My gaze shot to his. “How about a plea deal?”
I scanned the line of faces gawping at my question.
Their expressions said they were shocked at my audacity, but I didn’t know why.
Clearly, they didn’t know much about the man they had in custody if they thought I was humble and modest. I was prepared to ask for just about anything in order to help my cause.
“You are not in a position to negotiate, Commander General,” the smirking man replied.
“I think I am.” I leaned toward him a fraction.
“I worked closely with the president for many years. We studied together, and I know him personally. I helped to establish the regime he now presides over, and I ran the camp he proudly uses to contain those he no longer wants to participate in his society.”
I paused, allowing my words time to resonate. “I don’t believe there was anything Ian Jackson didn’t tell me about his hopes, his intentions, and his plans, and it seems as though you’re rather keen to know more about those things.”
A strained silence fell over proceedings as one of the men passed a hand-scrawled message in German past the woman to the other one. I resisted the urge to read the message, although I could have. His handwritten words didn’t matter. I finally had their attention.
“Do you have details of the things you mentioned?” the officer who’d arrested me asked. “Can you describe the layout of Jackson’s buildings and provide dates, a timeline, and other numbers?”
“I do have details.” Emboldened, I straightened at the smug admission. Up until the day I’d left, I had all the fucking details. “And yes, I can provide them. No one knew Ian better than me.”
“And you would be prepared to share all of this with us?” the cynical guy asked.
“It seems as though you need my information.” I looked between them, still unclear what they wanted the information for, yet prepared to throw Ian under the bus to save my own skin. “Is that correct?”
“Your intel would aid the international case against Jackson, yes.” The woman nodded. “He is the ICC’s main target.”
An international case against Ian?
My brow rose as I wrestled with his probable reaction. Would he be horrified at the thought of being enemy number one, or would he be predictably arrogant that he was their ‘most wanted’?
“This is news to you, I think.” She smiled. “You did not realize that you were, how to put it, ‘wanted men’?”
She laughed, her colleagues joining in her amusement as I shifted in my chair.
“Ian never thinks about anyone except himself,” I told her. Until recently, it was one of the few things we had left in common. “So, no, he gave zero thought to international law or its consequences.”
“And you?” Her tone was more derisory then. “Did you consider that what you were doing was not only morally repugnant, but also criminally punishable?”
I recoiled at her question, glancing away at the light brown wall again. “I knew it was wrong.”
The pain amplifying in my head was making it difficult to think, and glancing around, I looked for a wastepaper basket I could vomit into if the urge swelled.
“And yet it took your love for Miss Craness to change your mind?” She sounded almost imperious.
“Yes,” I assured her, certain that if they only took away one thing from my interview, I needed it to be that. “Caroline changed everything. She made me realize that those women weren’t state property, they were people. That’s why I had to get her away from Ian. That’s why we had to run.”
Her eyes widened at the passion in my voice. “It is good for her that you love her.”
“Yes.”
Though right at that moment, all my love had bought her was freedom from her cell in Fortorus, only to find herself in another one in Switzerland. I had no idea where they were holding her, but I hoped it was somewhere more inviting than the box I’d been tossed into.
Closing my eyes briefly, I considered my next words. “I know I have no right to ask, but is there any chance I can see her? Even if only for a few moments?”
“That is not possible.” She dismissed my request in an instant, dashing my recently elevated hopes. “But on the other matter, maybe there is room for negotiation.”
“What other matter?”
I couldn’t fathom a world where I didn’t get to see Caroline again. Sitting there, staring at the end of our love affair, the idea just didn’t seem possible.
“Your plea deal.” She smiled as she rose from her seat. “I shall speak to my superiors and have an answer for you soon.”