Chapter Twenty-Two
Adam
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“WE HOPE THESE SURROUNDINGS are more to your liking, Commander General.”
The annoying little man who’d so enjoyed smirking at me earlier gestured around the room they’d moved me to, and glancing at the new four walls, I took stock.
Larger than before, and with one large window away to my left that revealed the torrential rain outside, the space was certainly preferable.
Plus, the latest location also benefited from two large sofas, a double bed, and a coffee table, as well as the regulation table and chairs, where they presumably intended to continue interrogating me.
“It’s much better, thank you.” I forced a smile as he steered me toward another of those uncomfortable-looking chairs. “And look, a glass of water.”
My smile was more genuine as I noticed the collection of full glasses already waiting on the table. The hammering in my head hadn’t got any better, and the water looked more appealing than ever.
“Nichts als das Beste für Sie, Commander General.” His smirk was back as he offered me the snide comment, and sliding onto the seat, I repeated it back to him.
“Nothing but the best. Thank you. I’ll remember that.” I met his gaze as he took the seat opposite me. “Will your friends be joining us again?”
The female officer who’d arrested me had left with his male colleague before I was moved there, and aside from the improved surroundings, nothing seemed to have progressed since then. I was no closer to establishing a plea deal, and there seemed to be no chance of ever seeing Caroline again.
“Officer Kaspar shall rejoin us when she’s ready.” He motioned to the glass closest to me. “Please, help yourself.”
I eyed the water thirstily, but for a split second, I hesitated. Why was he suddenly being so accommodating to my needs? Had the prospect of receiving new information about Ian been enough to lubricate the wheels of cooperation, or was there an ulterior motive for his sudden pleasantries?
“It is quite safe,” he assured me, laughing at the idea that the water could be poisoned, when I was sure we both knew examples when suspects had been harmed, or even killed, in similar circumstances.
In the end, the desire to try and clear my head won out, and reaching for the glass, I drained most of its contents.
I hadn’t dared allow myself to explore the idea that the head injury Caroline had caused me had exacerbated somehow, pushing its nagging possibility to the back of my mind. The pain was still there, though, plaguing me with uncertainty as I placed the glass back on the wooden table.
“Thank you.” I glanced out at what looked like a tiny garden, its beauty mainly obscured by the cascading rain.
“Here I have some questions we require answers to.” He produced a wad of papers from the folder he’d been carrying and slid them across the table to me. “They are in German, but I can have them translated for you if you don’t mind waiting.”
“German is fine.” I cast an eye over the reams of inquiries, hoping my head was up to the task. “Although it’s been a while since I’ve written it.”
“You can answer in English.” Opening his jacket pocket, he seized upon a pen and passed it to me. “I’m afraid we will need your answers before we can move forward.”
Taking the pen from him, I paused. “Hang on, I’m not revealing details unless I have some guarantees.” Did he think I was born yesterday? “I’ll need immunity from prosecution, at least.”
“That is a big ask, Commander General.”
“In return for the secrets of the British state,” I reminded him. “Your colleague, Kaspar, seemed to think it was a fair exchange.”
“She will need to speak to our superiors,” he corrected me.
“And has she?”
“She is checking as we speak.” His smile was disingenuous. “But there is a lot to go through, so feel free to make a start.” He signaled to the pile of papers in front of me.
“I’d prefer to wait.”
I leaned back in my seat, prepared to play hardball and gamble that they needed my information on Ian more than the ICC wanted another war criminal in the dock.
Nobody had said so explicitly, but I got the sense there was a larger plan at play there, and Kaspar had mentioned that Ian’s was a scalp her bosses would like to see hanging on their walls.
“As you wish.” A conceited sneer lit up his face as he straightened, and right on cue, the door at the far end of the room opened, revealing Kaspar.
“I see you have made a start on our questions.” She nodded at the armed guard waiting outside the door as he closed it behind her, and she walked toward the table.
“I was waiting to see what your commanding officers thought about my plea deal,” I replied before her colleague had a chance to answer for me. “Do we have a deal?”
Amusement glinted in her brown eyes as she took her place beside her colleague. “How is it that you English say it?” She shook her head. “Ah, yes, you do not miss a trick, do you, Commander General?”
I chuckled at how she made that sound, aware suddenly that the pain in my head seemed to be diminishing.
Thank God. I pressed my shoes against the carpeted floor beneath them. I was only dehydrated after all.
“I’m good at taking care of the details,” I offered diplomatically. “Particularly when those details involve my life.”
“You are granted your deal.” She reached into her pocket to reveal a folded A4 piece of paper. “The information is enclosed.”
Placing the paper down on the table, she slid it slowly in my direction.
“May I?” Gesturing to the paper still caught under her finger, I waited for her to release the details.
“Ja.” She removed her hand and reached for her own glass of water as I unfolded the paper and hurriedly devoured the contents.
“I presume it is all to your liking?” Her sardonic tone melded into the background as I processed the minutiae.
It seemed the ICC, of which the Swiss police were unusually acting on behalf of, was prepared to grant me full impunity if I complied with the terms set out in the other paperwork and answered all of their questions to Kaspar’s satisfaction.
“Will I be issued a European passport?” I peered up at Kaspar. “Given that my mother is French.”
“That is a matter for the European Union, and specifically the French government.” She placed her glass back on the table.
“If you agree to the terms and we are satisfied you have met them, you will be eligible to claim asylum either here in Switzerland or another safe country. From there, you may go to France and request your passport.”
“Like Caroline?” Hope echoed in my voice. “Has she been offered asylum?”
“Ja.” She smiled. “Miss Craness has been offered the same.”
Gripping the edge of my chair, I steadied myself.
If I could give the authorities everything they wanted and get the hell out of the Swiss police’s clutches, there was still a chance Caroline and I could be together.
Compared to the despairing gloom that had nearly suffocated me earlier in the day, that hope was everything.
“Okay.” I dropped the paper onto the table before me. “Where do I sign?”
“Okay?” she parroted. “You agree to cooperate?”
“In return for impunity and the right to legally stay, then yes. I can’t return to Britain. It wouldn’t be safe for Caroline or me.”
“We understand.” She spread the paper out in front of me again. “Please provide your signature on the space indicated at the bottom of the page.
With one quick glance over the sheet for good measure, I signed my name where she’d indicated and the deal was done.
“Danke.” She motioned to the papers in front of me. “If you could make a start on delivering the specific information we require. I also have particular questions for you.”
Great. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes as I picked up the pen again.
“Any chance of a refill?” I nodded toward my glass. “Apparently, I was thirstier than I thought.”
“That can be arranged,” she replied. “Michel, would you mind bringing us a jug of water?”
The man sitting beside her scowled at the request, but he rose to his feet and headed for the door. Suppressing the impulse to smile at his reaction, my attention fell to the first of many questions on their list.
***
“SO, THIS ULTIMATE SOLUTION.” Kaspar’s brow creased as she stumbled over the term Ian had so loved to bandy around his top table meetings. “The president wants this to start when?”
“As soon as possible.” My tone was terse, conveying the deadly nature of the implication. “He wanted it actioned by the end of the year, but I managed to persuade him Project Rehome should take precedence.” I shrugged. “Now that I’m out of the picture, though, who knows what he’ll do?”
Kaspar’s eyes widened. “And remind us again about Rehome?”
We’d been discussing the finer details of Ian’s macabre plans ever since I’d finished answering the bulk of their queries by hand. My scrawled answers were currently being mulled over by Kaspar while she probed deeper.
“Rehome is designed to send women deemed to be worthy to appropriate homes throughout the country.” I’d told her as much at least twice already. “There, they are paired with men who will impregnate them.”
“Wait.” Her palm rose. “Deemed appropriate by who? The president?”
“Primarily, yes.” The details sounded even worse when she said them out loud, but of course, they were dreadful.
No one man, or even group of men, should ever have held that power over the rest of the population.
I’d been crazy to think I could control Ian’s maniacal ways.
“A group of us conceived the original framework for the regime, but Ian honed it to his will as time went on. By the time he was crowned the supreme leader, we’d effectively signed away all our rights to curtail whatever agenda he chose. ”
My brows furrowed as I tried to make sense of the plan I’d agreed to.
Once upon a time, it had all seemed rational, the next logical step on our way to take control, but I’d lost sight of what that meant.
Government should have been about public service and giving back to the country that had given us so much.
As it turned out, though, it had only ever been about power.
Power over those we wanted to destroy.
Ian’s power.
“So, democracy is dead in Britain?” Her tone was as despondent as the way I felt on the subject.
“The President was democratically elected,” I confirmed. “But yes, he’s taken power for himself, and that makes him damn near impossible to stop.”
She cast me a look, half-bewildered and half-withering, and in that moment, I saw myself through her eyes, with her questions bounding through my weary head.
How could I have been so stupid as to have allowed a man like Jackson to take charge? How could the British people have fallen for his lies, and how had I ever lorded over Fortorus?
They were all good questions, and sitting there, I didn’t have a decent response for any of them.
I’d been younger, hungrier, and perhaps even a little na?ve. I thought I had Ian in hand and could temper his bigoted rhetoric, but ultimately, I’d been wrong.
“What does the ICC hope to do with this information?” I watched as she scribbled a note beside one of my answers. “Does it want to indict Ian?”
“That’s not my decision.” Her reply was immediate. “I am only tasked with your arrest, and with your cooperation, discovering as much as we can about Mr. Jackson.”
“I understand.” I knew all too well about not digging above my pay grade. For years, I’d known deep down what Ian’s plans for the women discarded at Fortorus were, but I’d buried the reality in the hope that the bleak scheme would go away.
More fool me.
“I see you’ve listed the names of the other men involved in Jackson’s top ranks.” She pointed to the relevant list of names.
“Yes.”
Many of those clowns had once called themselves my friends, but the last time I was in London with Caroline, it had become clear that I had little time for any of the morons.
“There’s a lot of information here.” Her smile was satisfied. “Thank you, Commander General. You’ve been most helpful.”
“So, that’s it?”
I couldn’t believe the process was going to be so straightforward. Yes, I’d been there, going through question after question for bloody hours, but as far as I knew, it was still the same day of my arrest. The darkening sky outside my window neither confirmed nor denied my conclusion.
“Not quite.” Her lips jerked in what I assumed was an attempt to stifle her wry laughter. “My bosses will send this to their counterparts in The Hague. If they are satisfied, then you may not need to travel there after all. Until they are happy, though, you’ll remain in our custody.”
“But our deal?” Panic surged through me, elevating my heart rate as I shoved the paperwork I’d signed in her direction.
“Still stands,” she assured me. “This is just protocol. You understand?”
“How long?” The throbbing in my head was back with a vengeance. “How long will I have to be here?”
“I do not have an exact timeline for you, I’m afraid.” Clutching the wad of papers I’d completed against her chest, she rose to her feet. “But be assured, Commander General, your answers are most eagerly awaited in the Netherlands.”
I watched as she strode away, listening to the click of her heels when the carpet turned into hard flooring by the door. She was right by the exit before she turned and spoke again.
“In the meantime, and as a thank you for your collaborative approach, I have someone who wants to see you.” Kaspar pulled the door open, and I saw her signal to someone outside.
Time lengthened around me as I stared out into the doorway, my pulse spiking, and from out of the stark lighting strode the one woman I’d given it all up for.
Caroline.