Chapter 27
Garrison
A man sits at the interrogation table, wearing a dark sweater, dark pants, and an annoyed expression. His head is shaved to the scalp, his face clean-shaven as well. But as he stares straight ahead, I have the sick realization that I’ve seen him before: standing outside the coffee shop.
“Do you recognize him?” Leopold asks me.
“I’ve seen him before. He was lurking outside the coffee shop. He’d been on the phone, and a woman had been with him, so I let it go.”
“His name is Andrew Thorn. He’s a professional football player,” Jack offers. He’s been here roughly an hour, arriving right as Leopold was booking this guy. The other one is still in the hospital under guard. Apparently, it’ll be a while until he’s drinking through anything but a straw.
Thank you, Cowboy.
“Let me guess. West Coast Wranglers?” I growl.
“That would be the one. I have a team searching Earnest Marks’ place right now, but so far, they don’t have anything.”
“They won’t find him there. He wouldn’t have gone far. Not when he still wants Thomas.”
Jack turns to Leopold. “You feel like seeing if this guy can give us a location?”
“It would be rude to keep him waiting,” Leopold responds. “We’ll be back,” he tells me right before he and Jack leave the room.
“We’ll get them back,” Zane tells me.
I nod, unable to speak. I have no doubt that we’ll find Katelyn and Sawyer…but will they be alive?
The door to the interrogation room opens as Jack and Leopold step in. The guy sitting at the table grins at them, then leans back in his seat, arrogance pouring from him. “My lawyer arrive yet?”
Leopold takes a seat across from him while Jack remains standing. “Not yet, his invitation must have gotten lost in the mail,” Jack retorts. “Tell you what, until then, how about we chat?”
“I ain’t saying nothing without my lawyer.”
Jack leans forward. “You remember that guy who messed you up? You know, when you were trying to kidnap Thomas Ellis? Well, he’s right on the other side of that glass, and I know he would love to come visit.”
“You can’t touch me. I know my rights.”
“Yeah, I bet you do.” Jack opens the file in his hand. “Over a dozen arrests in the last two years alone. Assault. Driving while intoxicated. Your lawyer must be working hard for that retainer.” He tosses it onto the table.
“I tell you what. Since you’re not feeling overly chatty, how about we paint a picture for you?
” Leopold’s demeanor changes as he sheds his nice guy tone and showcases why he’s the guy people count on when things go sideways.
He leans forward and clasps both hands in front of him on the table.
“Your boss decided he wanted to make an example out of an innocent woman and her son. You, being the dedicated employee that you are, jumped at the chance. You came here to abduct them but ended up taking her and a highly trained member of a Navy SEAL team. Great idea, by the way. That’s going to go over super well. ”
At that, Andrew’s mouth twitches. A crack. He didn’t know who Sawyer was.
“Now, three other members of that same team are standing just on the other side of that glass,” Leopold points toward us.
“You met the fourth earlier. He was the one who made smoothies your buddy’s new meal of choice.
” He drops his hand. “Now, the three that are here? They would just love to tear you apart, limb by limb, until you sing like the canary we both know you are. Two lives are at stake, and I’m the only reason they haven’t ripped you apart yet. ”
“You. Can’t. Do. Nothing.”
Leopold stares at him a moment, then glances up at Jack. “Up for a coffee break? He’s clearly not going to talk.”
“Sure thing. We’ll be back when your lawyer shows up.”
Taking that as the invitation I sincerely hope it is, Ryker, Zane, and I leave the viewing room.
“You’ve got five minutes with him,” Leopold says. “Please don’t break anything,” he adds with a pointed look at Ryker.
“I’ll do my best.”
We step into the room, and Andrew’s eyes go wide. “Hey! You can’t do this!” he yells.
Zane closes the door carefully behind him, then crosses over to take a seat at the table. There’s a reason he’s the leader of our group. And not just because of the rank he once carried.
Zane Knox is as level-headed as they come.
He can face down sure death and still not break a sweat.
Right now, all I can think of is extracting information by brute force, but Zane will get there faster. And the information will be more reliable because it wasn’t disclosed out of desperation.
“You took something of ours,” Zane says calmly.
“I ain’t saying nothing.”
“You will,” Zane replies.
Andrew snorts. “Not a chance.”
“You’re going to tell me everything I want to know, or I’m going to unleash Tank on you. Then Demo, here, will finish off the pieces. See, you didn’t just take our brother; you took his girl, too.”
Andrew snorts. “Your girl is a tramp. Always has been.”
I lunge forward, hands clenched into fists, but Ryker pulls me back by gripping my arm. I take a deep breath, trying to calm myself. He’s baiting me, shifting the attention from him to me in an attempt to buy time.
“You’re not getting the kid,” I tell him.
“You’re not getting out of here because we have proof that your boss was responsible for this kidnapping and the murder of Yasmin Hernandez.
” The last one is a bluff, of course. Elijah hasn’t actually been able to find a connection, but based on Andrew’s face? It’s one hundred percent true.
He murdered Katelyn’s friend to keep her quiet.
“You can’t prove that.”
“Oh, I can. The FBI is tearing apart his life as we speak. How long do you think it’ll be before we get to you?”
Andrew looks from me to Zane, who’s crossed his arms and is watching every subtle move Andrew makes.
“Sing, canary,” Zane says. “It’s your only chance to save yourself.”