Chapter 39 #2
“You know, I met your father, the paranoid schizophrenic murderer. You must wonder if it’s hereditary, that kind of psychosis.
Is that why you tried to find something that would erase the kind of trauma you experienced?
Your own father got you burned in a fire.
How does a guy grow up to be normal after something like that? ”
“Just stop…talking,” Seth said through gritted teeth.
The guy in the uniform moaned and got to his knees. A swift kick to the jaw sent him reeling backwards. His head bonked against the wall and he slumped to the floor, out cold, at least for now.
She had at least a few minutes to get whatever she could from Seth.
“That’s why you called it Night Light, isn’t it? After the murder that changed your life, forced you to leave the one place where you were happy? Jessie understood that, didn’t she? I could see it in her watercolor, so much love and nostalgia.”
“Don’t talk about her.”
She was getting under his skin. Keep going.
“You know, I can almost see what Jessie saw in you.” Tina tilted her head, surveying him dispassionately. “Maybe you should have walked away from all the criming and stuck with her. You could have had it all. A beautiful wife. A summer place on Sea Smoke Island.”
A wince shivered across his face. “Jessie was too damaged. She needed me. She needed intervention. Anyway, I didn’t want to come back here.”
“Your sister asked you to come, didn’t she? But Celine won’t save you. She’s not involved. You cut her out because you wanted this to be your thing. You wanted all the glory, so you freelanced it.”
He frowned briefly, a quick flash that disappeared almost immediately. She’d gotten something wrong. What was it? She kept going.
“And now you’ve screwed it up completely. I’m surprised you aren’t running out of here and begging Celine to let you hide out on her yacht like a little bitch.”
“Just shut up.”
The panic in his voice echoed off the concrete walls of the bunker.
“Did you murder Benny Clyde? Did he want a bigger cut? Did you set our car on fire at the hospital?”
“I’m not a murderer! I just want to help people! I told Jessie that too, but she wouldn’t believe me. Anyway, we don’t have time for all this. We have to get the crates and get out of here, now.”
“Or what? You’ll miss the boat? They’ll leave you holding the metaphorical bag with all the goods?”
She saw from his expression that she’d nailed it. They were clearing out of Sea Smoke Island, which meant this would be her last chance to find out where this drug was coming from.
“You have one chance to save yourself. Tell me who’s making Night Light and where. If you do that, I’ll vouch for you with the DA. You might not even serve time.”
“This isn’t about me. I’m trying to change the world!”
“Maybe so, but what about Hendrik the billionaire? What does he want to do to the world? He’s in charge now, isn’t he?”
Adam lunged at her. “Shut up!”
She sidestepped him and he stumbled forward, slamming his head against the bunker wall. He reeled back, crying out in pain.
The other man came to and dragged himself onto his knees, still cradling his injured wrist. She turned the gun on him. “Where’s this shit coming from?”
“I don’t know anything.” He held up his hands. “I just make sure it doesn’t get confiscated at the border.”
“Is it getting shipped out or in?”
Seth leaped to his feet and punched his colleague in the mouth before he could answer. He spat out blood, then collapsed onto the floor, unconscious once again.
Tina stared at the fallen man, then at Seth. He really hadn’t wanted the guy to say one more word. There was something major he was still keeping to himself.
“Weren’t you just saying you weren’t the bad guy? You sure aren’t acting like it, punching out your own guy.” She trained the flashlight and gun on Seth. “You stay with him.”
“Wait! You’re leaving me down here in the dark?”
She didn’t point out that he’d done the same thing to her.
“You’ll be fine. Feel free to help yourself to some Night Light.”
She sidestepped to the crate, grabbed a few baggies from inside the tote, backed out of the storage room, the gun still pointed at Seth. She’d have to hope there was an outer door that she could secure somehow, locking them inside. But at least she’d have some evidence with her.
The tunnel seemed to go forever, probably because she had to walk backwards to make sure Seth didn’t follow. When she finally reached a half-open steel door, she was relieved to see a Master lock dangling open on a latch. They hadn’t even bothered to close it before coming into the tunnel.
Before slipping out the door, she paused and listened for sounds from outside. Were there others waiting for Seth to help with the Night Light? She didn’t know how many crates there were, but surely more than two men could carry.
A bird chirped. Wind rustled the leaves of a tree. She heard no human sounds beyond this door. And she had to get moving because one of the two men behind her might have decided to come after her.
She stepped outside, quiet as she could manage, and played the flashlight around the clearing,.
This part of the bunker was so overgrown by vines and blackberry bushes that it was amazing anyone had located it.
The footpath leading to it had barely been cleared.
Maybe this was a new, temporary storage spot.
She closed the door behind her and clicked the Master lock closed. Either Seth or the other guy had the key, but they couldn’t use it from inside. Once she contacted law enforcement, she’d send someone to fetch them, and the rest of the Night Light.
A rustle in the woods caught her attention. She crouched, looked for a place to hide, but before she could find one, a woman clawed her way past the thicket of sumac branches and stumbled into the clearing.
Even though the young woman shielded her face from Tina’s flashlight, Tina could make out windblown red hair, as if she’d just gotten off the water. Jessie.
She came toward Tina, her expression one of desperate relief. “I need to get inside that bunker before it’s too late. Can you help? Do you have the key?”
But she didn’t get a chance to finish. Tina dashed toward her, swept her feet out from under her, and, when she was flat on her stomach, set down her flashlight and pulled Jessie’s hands together behind her back.
“Where’s Jack?” she demanded.
“What do you mean? Stop! Why are you hurting me? I need to get inside the bunker!”
“Where’s Jack?” Tina repeated. “He must have found you in Clyde’s house and brought you out here. Where is he now?”
“I…I…”
She pulled a baggie from her pocket and shoved it in front of Jessie’s face. “You want more of this, don’t you? It’s addictive. I know. I know how you’re feeling right now. I hated every second I was on this stuff, but part of me still craves it. You’ll get through it.”
Jessie’s body strained toward the baggie, then she gave a cry and went limp. “Help me,” she whispered. “I’m sorry. You have to help me. Tie my hands together. I don’t trust myself.”
Tina snatched up a vine and broke off a piece long enough to act as a stretch of rope.
“My name is Tina Chen, and I’ve been working with your brother Jack. Did he mention me?”
“Are you Officer Badass?”
She couldn’t help laughing a little. “I suppose I am. Now, do you know where Jack is?”