Chapter Twenty-Three #2
“Based on what we’ve seen so far, we’re not impressed.” Andre clamped his hand over Nathan’s mouth and went back to work.
Long minutes later, Nathan’s head hung low, and he uttered soft moans constantly even after Andre released his hold and stepped back.
Her man caught her eye and inclined his head toward Nathan. “Want some water, Nathan?”
He glared at her.
“You’re sweating like a pig, and you’ve screamed for at least half an hour. Your throat must be raw from imitating a little girl.”
“I won’t trust any water you give me.”
“No sweat.” She snorted. “No pun intended. I’ll have Elias give you the water, all right? We’ll break the seal in front of you so you’ll know we didn’t tamper with it.”
He studied her for a moment as though weighing her sincerity and truthfulness and finally nodded.
She hopped down from the stool and circled the counter to the kitchen’s refrigerator. With Nathan watching her every move, she grabbed a bottle of water and handed it to Elias, who broke the seal in front of Nathan.
“Satisfied?”
The other man nodded. After Nathan had guzzled half of the bottle of cold liquid, he turned his head to show he was finished. The exhaustion was clear on his face and in every line of his body. “What do you want to know?”
Andre looked at Riley.
She gave a slight nod. Yes, indeed, her old boss was finally telling the truth.
Elias shoved his hands into his pockets. “What do you know about Joe Rutland?”
Nathan’s jaw muscles flexed.
Excellent. He realized he couldn’t withhold the information but was reluctant to do what he’d told her never to do. Talk.
“He’s hired muscle.”
Andre rested his hand on Nathan’s shoulder, a silent reminder of what was to come if he didn’t fully cooperate.
Nathan tensed. “He likes to hurt people, all right?”
“Why did you hire him?”
“I didn’t.”
Andre shifted position enough to make Nathan shy away.
“No, wait. Please. I’m telling you the truth. I didn’t hire him.”
“Who did?”
Nathan grimaced. “Sam Cowan.”
“Why send Rutland?”
“We needed to talk to Riley.”
The three operatives stared at him. “You’re serious?
” Elias rolled his eyes. “Dude, haven’t you ever heard of a phone?
Holy smoke, man. You and your crazy buddy could end up in jail if Riley presses charges.
If you sent those goons after me, I’d press charges and hire the sharpest lawyer out there to win me a pot of money to spend while you waste away in prison for the rest of your life. ”
Another glare at Riley from Nathan. “We wouldn’t be in this mess if you had cooperated with the talent we sent to retrieve you.”
“Call next time.”
Andre scowled. “There won’t be a next time, or I’ll drop Berkley into a pit of vipers.”
Brilliant tactic there. Andre had skimmed the information she’d put together on Nathan. Since being bitten by a snake as a child, her old boss was deathly afraid of snakes.
Nathan paled and broke out in a heavier sweat. “I’m sorry. It won’t happen again. I swear.”
“You bet it won’t,” Andre said right beside his ear. “If it does, I will kill you. Am I being clear enough, Berkley?”
“You can’t threaten a federal law enforcement officer. I’ll have you arrested.”
“Try. I’ll be happy to explain to the arresting officers how you sent a hitman after Riley, and I’ll have witnesses to corroborate my story.”
Nathan swallowed hard.
“Now, let’s try this again. Why did you want to talk to Riley?”
“I’m not the one who wanted to bring her in. Cowan demanded that we talk to her.”
“I’m losing my patience, Berkley. Why did you want to bring Riley in?”
“To find out what she knows about Obsidian Storm.”
Now they were getting somewhere. She kept her gaze locked on her computer screen, typing a bunch of gibberish since she couldn’t concentrate, and waited for Andre and Elias’ next move.
“I can answer that for her.” Andre tightened his grip on Nathan. “Nothing. Do you know why that is, Berkley?”
He shook his head.
“Riley hasn’t been a government asset in two years.
She works for another group and had no knowledge that Obsidian Storm was rebuilding until a few hours ago.
You wasted your time if that was your only aim.
” Andre was silent for a beat. “But I don’t think that’s all you wanted.
Am I right?” He emphasized that point by bearing down on another area of nerves higher up the shoulder.
This time, Nathan’s screams of agony didn’t stir her sympathy one bit. Andre had been right. After all she did for them, Berkley and Cowan had planned to kill her as a reward for her loyalty to The Company. Jerks.
Five minutes later, Andre eased up. “What was the plan, Berkley? What else did you and Cowan plan to do?”
Tears streamed down his face as his body continually shuddered in reaction to Andre’s work. “K-k-kill her.”
“Why?”
“She killed a person important to the Storm.”
“Garcia?”
Nathan’s head jerked up. “You talked about a classified mission, Riley? Are you crazy? That’s against the law.”
She laughed. “Oh, that’s rich coming from you. I told my friends what they needed to know to make an informed decision about whether to remain in my vicinity. Apparently, being around me isn’t safe. Know anything about that, Nathan?”
He stared. “You’re breaking every rule I taught you about how to interrogate prisoners.”
Elias smiled. “Maybe you’re not as good as you think you are. Let’s get this party back on track. So, Berkley, you sent assassins after Riley to kidnap her and bring her to you. Where was Rutland supposed to take her?”
“I don’t know, I swear. That was Sam’s part in the plan.”
“And what was your role?”
“Kidnap her.”
Another beat of silence, then, “And you farmed it out to someone else?” Elias shook his head. “You couldn’t stomach the idea of kidnapping and terrifying a woman who had been nothing but loyal to you for years. This is how you repay her? Dude, you are pathetic.”
Andre adjusted his hold on their prisoner. “What about Cliff Carter?”
Nathan lowered his head. “Same deal. He was to kidnap Riley and bring her to us to interrogate and kill.”
“What about tonight? You’re lurking in the trees like a Peeping Tom. How do you explain that?”
“It’s the same. Kidnap and kill.”
“Try again.” Andre’s voice was just above a growl. “You had nothing on you except your weapon and your phone. Why did you come here?”
Nathan groaned. “I was supposed to kill Riley. But it wasn’t my idea. I didn’t want to do it. I planned to help her get away from here and into a kind of witness protection so she could live her life in peace.”
Riley rolled her eyes. “Give me a break, Nathan. That’s a crock of lies, and you know it. You brought nothing because you planned to kill me. End of story.”
“It was Cowan’s idea.”
She finally caught on. “You planned to run off with me, didn’t you?” Seriously? As if she would have fallen for anyone like him after getting to know and fall in love with Andre Marsh. No one held a candle to him. “You never stood a chance of that happening. I have someone in my life.”
He scowled. “The whole time you worked for me, you dated no one. You’re gone for two years, and you got involved with one of those thugs at Fortress? You’re unbelievable.”
So, he’d known all along where she had gone.
Not much of a surprise there. Riley had decided not to change her identity when she left the agency and joined Fortress.
She refused to hide. Since the CIA had eyes and ears everywhere, they would find her if they wanted her, anyway.
No place to hide when an agency that large with spies everywhere wanted you.
“Next question, Berkley.” Andre spoke into his ear. “Where did you get the money to fund the kidnappings?”
“I juggled the accounts. Piece of cake.”
“At which bank did you set up the fund?”
A snort. “You must be joking.”
“I’m deadly serious, Berkley. If I were you, I’d cough up the answer quickly because I’m running short of patience.”
“I don’t know where the account is. Cowan took care of that part.”
“Of course he did.” Elias shook his head. “Are you able to think for yourself, Berkley, because from what I’m hearing, you do little on your own.”
Nathan’s face reddened. “Now, wait a minute.”
“Now for the big question, Berkley.” Andre added pressure to his hold. “How involved are you with Obsidian Storm?”
Berkley closed his mouth and refused to say another word no matter how much persuasion Andre used. Since they wouldn’t kill him, their options were limited.
Andre signaled Riley to ask Violet to come to the suite with her mike bag.
She slid off the barstool and left to knock on Violet’s door. Noah opened it and motioned for her to come inside.
“What’s up?”
“Andre and Elias captured Nathan Berkley and have interrogated him. Andre asked for Violet to bring her mike bag to the suite.”
His eyebrows soared. “They injured him?”
She shook her head. “I think they want him at a black site until this is over. We were right, Noah. He’s one of the key players in this game.”
“I’m sorry. I’ll get Violet.” He entered a bedroom and returned a moment later with his wife and her mike bag.
“Let’s go.” The team’s medic winked. “I have plans that don’t include company.”
Riley flinched. “That’s TMI.”
Violet laughed as they left the suite.
A moment later, the three of them entered Riley’s suite to find Nathan sitting in the chair with a blindfold over his eyes. His head swiveled constantly, trying to figure out where the danger would come from.
Andre met them in the living room. “I need him out for the next twelve hours. I’m sending him to a black site. Brent is dispatching the site team. They should be here in the next ten minutes.”
“You’ll have to hold him down and control the scream.”
“You’ve got it.” He looked at Noah. “You want in?”
“Absolutely.”
In less than a minute, Violet had prepared the hypodermic needle. She ripped open an alcohol wipe, cleaned the injection site, and eased the needle into the vein.
Seconds later, Nathan was unconscious.
“You can release him now.” Violet put the used needle into a hard case for disposal later. “Who is this guy?”
“The man who intended to kill Riley tonight.” Andre inclined his head toward Nathan. “Meet Nathan Berkley, traitor to Riley and to the United States.”
“You know this for a fact?” Noah asked.
“He caved early in the proceedings, much to my dismay.” Andre grimaced.
“Once we got past the early stages, he spilled everything until I asked him how involved he was with Obsidian Storm. He clammed up. No matter what type of persuasion I used, he still wouldn’t talk.
Since I couldn’t kill him, I called Brent.
He gave us permission to dump this joker into a black site. They’ll let him out sometime.”
“I just want him out of the way until we finish this mission.” Elias wrapped his arm around Iona’s shoulders. She’d been watching the interrogation from the shadows. “I wouldn’t care if the black site team conveniently forgot to remind us to come get him. What will we do with him long term?”
“I’m sure the feds will be interested in the information he has to share.” He smiled. “After we wring him dry first.”
At the ten-minute mark, they heard a knock on the door. Elias checked the peephole and opened the door for the black site team. “You got here fast.”
A beefy guy named Caleb shrugged his shoulders. “We had another pick up near here. Luck of the draw.”
“Lucky for us.” Elias shook his hand. “Thanks for taking this guy off our hands.”
“Sure. What do you want us to do with him?”
Andre gave a wry laugh. “Is dropping him into the nearest active volcano on the list of options?”
A snort. “Afraid not.”
“Too bad. In that case, hold on to him and squeeze out every drop of information in his head. Nathan Berkley is involved with Obsidian Storm and wouldn’t tell me how deep.”
“Couldn’t get the job done, Marsh? I’m surprised.”
“Not couldn’t. I didn’t want to push my limits that far. I’m involved with Berkley’s intended target. I can’t be objective about the job.”
“Understood. Good call, buddy. Maddox doesn’t like it when the feds come calling, demanding an explanation for something one of his operatives did.”
“Believe me, I know.”
Caleb clapped Andre on the shoulder, knocking him off balance. “We’ll take care of him for you. Whatever intel he knows, we’ll find out.”
“Thanks, Caleb.” Andre stepped back and watched as the muscular men cut Berkley loose, then draped one arm over each of their shoulders and hauled him out of the suite.
“Well, that was fun.” Noah smiled. “What are you doing next for entertainment, Andre? And by the way, the next time you need to call in the black site team, the least you can do is give me and Seth a head’s up so we can enjoy the show, too.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Need me for anything else, Andre?” Violet asked.
“No, ma’am. Thanks for your help.”
“You did the hard work.” She headed to the suite door with Noah a few steps behind her. “See you in a few hours to make a plan. I don’t like it when jerks target one of my best friends.”
“Understood.”
Another thought popped into Riley’s head. “Wait, Violet.”
Andre turned toward her. “What is it, Riley?”
“We have to go after Sam Cowan tonight.”
“Why?”
“Cowan and Berkley always had a scheduled check-in every few hours, even during the night. The calls seem erratic, but there’s a rhythm to them.
We don’t know when Nathan contacted Sam, but I’m betting a scheduled call can’t be too long from now since Nathan always rises around 5 o’clock.
If we don’t grab Sam now, he’ll go underground, and we’ll never find him. ”