Chapter 11 #3
I’m in the enemy’s den now, and there’s no going back. My nervousness leaves no room for other emotions. I’m not scared, worried, reluctant, regretful, indecisive … I’m all nerves and determination. Iris knows what she has to do. No going back. In seventeen minutes, my world will change forever.
Hopefully for the best. Possibly for the worst.
Only time will tell.
“Miss Walker?” a feminine voice asks to my left.
I turn toward it, finding a woman in a light-gray pantsuit, which contrasts well with the darkness of her skin.
Her hair is buzz-cut so short it almost looks shaven.
I’d guess she’s somewhere in her forties, but her skin barely shows any sign of age, especially with that slender and athletic silhouette.
As she comes closer to me, I note the assertiveness of her walk and the confidence of her posture.
“I’m Special Agent Lewis. We spoke on the phone earlier this week.”
“Yes, of course.” I take the hand she extends and shake it.
“Thank you for coming all the way here, Miss Walker.”
“Of course.”
“If you’ll follow me, my partner and I have a few questions prepared for you.”
She’s a lot friendlier than I expected her to be.
But then, she’s probably trained to incite trust in the people she interrogates.
Everything in her attitude tells me she’s a seasoned agent.
Surely, a woman with her experience is used to prying information out of people.
She’s the one who realized I needed to be interrogated when her colleagues had deemed it unnecessary.
She knows what she’s doing, and I can’t lose sight of that.
We reach our destination, and she opens the door for me. It looks more like a conference room than an interrogation one. This would probably work on me if I didn’t realize this is to make me let my guard down.
A man in his late fifties is already here.
He has an enormous mustache that must be to divert the eye from the balding situation—or compensate for it.
There’s also a camera on a tripod, ready to film the whole thing.
A shiver crawls up my back. If they tape this, I have to deliver an Oscar-worthy performance.
“Miss Walker, this is Special Agent Powell,” Lewis introduces. I shake the man’s hand, eyes drawn to the over-the-top facial hair.
I refuse the water she offers, and we sit down, with them in front of me. Powell turns on the camera and states the date, time, and place. There it is. My irrefutable alibi.
“Thank you again for coming, Miss Walker,” Special Agent Lewis says.
“No problem. Like I told you on the phone, I’m surprised we’re doing this so late in the investigation.”
“From the transcript I’ve read, Mr. Coleman presented you as an employee he was casually seeing, which led my colleagues to think you weren’t a person of interest in this matter.
But since you have moved into his apartment, and are one of the two people on his list in the state penitentiary, I believe you’re more than that, aren’t you, Miss Walker? ”
So, they do listen to our phone calls … There’s no point in denying it, and I’ve learned that the best way to lie is to stick as close to the truth as possible, which is why I say, “I mean … I’d like to think we’re more than that.
But I mainly moved to his place because my roommate’s boyfriend was at our place all the time, and I was kind of done listening to them bang. ”
I do this the entire interview. I downplay my relationship with Lex as much as I can, keeping in mind she’s heard our conversations.
When I can, I try to pass as a little vapid and materialistic.
Anything to make her think I’d never go to extreme lengths for him.
It’s all very basic, and I’m almost offended they’d make me come all this way for answers they can find in the HR logs at Kelex.
It’s clear that Lewis is the one in charge of the interrogation, as Mustachio barely speaks, sitting there with his arms folded in front of him. The few times he opens his mouth are usually to ask something hardly relevant, and I can’t help but notice it annoys his very efficient partner.
Time passes, and I lose track of it. But it’s better that way.
Not knowing what’s going on right now with the heist allows me to remain in denial.
Maybe it hasn’t happened yet, or maybe it did, and it all went well.
The moment it’s done, the Nammota website will come to life again, nearly five years after Lex shut it down.
On it, the manifesto that comes with the heist, like he used to do, and the twenty-five names that were given some much-needed karmic retribution.
“Okay, Miss Walker, now I’d like to talk about Mr. Bianchi. Katherine Knox’s ex-boyfriend. I saw from the court transcripts that you didn’t remember well the events that involved him. Would you mind if we tried going over that timeline again, to see if anything comes back to you?”
Fuck … I was such a mess during the trial that I’m not sure I’ll remember all the details I gave. I know I was vague and did my best not to incriminate Lex, but if I contradict myself now, it won’t look good for me.
“I don’t mind.”
“Can you walk me through what happened? Whatever you can remember for now, we’ll go into details later.”
I take my time as I recount the events, being precise enough not to be asked for more details, but vague enough to protect myself and Lex. Once I’m done, she sits back and looks at me with a pointed stare.
“We know, thanks to Mr. Bianchi’s computer, that it was hacked not once but twice.
You’ll understand that the timing has us wondering what happened there.
We’ve looked into Miss Knox and her entourage.
There isn’t really anyone who could do anything like that.
No one but you, that is. But in your entourage, Miss Walker …
you’re surrounded by people who’d be able to pull it off. ”
I can feel a pulse in my throat, probably my heart beating so fast it has migrated there. “And?” I ask.
“And I’m wondering if you’ve shared Miss Knox’s misfortune with anyone other than Mr. Coleman. We haven’t looked into who that second hacker might be because it’s a small fish compared to Nammota, but I’m now thinking we should. There might be some answers there.”
Jesus … If she does this, the trail will lead her right to Oli.
Fuck, we talked on Kelex’s messaging app on the Monday that followed.
I thanked him in Kate’s name. Told him how grateful she was for it.
We weren’t discreet about it because no one was ever supposed to look into the case as arduously as they have.
The small panic attack I’m prone to becomes hard to hide. I can’t believe Oli might end up wrapped in all this, after all.
Two quick knocks pull the agents’ attention to the door. The handle turns, and a man who looks important steps in.
“Powell, Lewis, a quick word,” he orders.
They’re swift to follow their superior’s command, and I sit there alone. With a brief glimpse, I confirm the camera is still rolling, so I force myself not to show any signs of my turmoil. I can barely hear them, blood drumming in my ears.
I can’t stay in denial anymore. At least an hour has gone by since I arrived, so the heist has gone through. What if the man came here because of it? What if I left a trail that led them right back to me?
What if I messed up? This interview would turn into an interrogation. The agents would lead me to a small gray room with a one-sided mirror and question me. I’ve been so focused on preparing the hit that I never planned for its aftermath. I’m not ready to face the consequences if I failed.
Stop panicking, I tell myself. It worked. Oli agreed it would. I take deep, soothing breaths. In through my nose, out through my mouth. I’ll be fine. And soon, Lex will get out.
Once I’m calm enough, I notice the voices aren’t in the hallway anymore. At some point, the agents and their superior must have left. What do I do now? I’m about to stand up when the door opens again.
It’s Agent Lewis, with a young, blonde agent.
“Andrea, thank you for coming,” she says, stepping into the room. “We’ll contact you again if we need to ask you more questions.”
“Are we done?” I innocently ask.
“Yes, something came up, and we have to look into it. We’re not keeping you any longer, but as I’ve said, we might contact you again in the future.
” There’s something slightly frustrated in her tone, as if she’s letting me go against her better judgment.
It’s as though she knows I’m supposed to be here, but she isn’t allowed to make me stay.
Again, this woman must be fucking brilliant at her job.
Or she would be, if they gave her free rein.
“Special Agent Davis will escort you back to the main hall,” she continues, motioning at her blonde colleague.
I nod, grab my bag, and stand. On my way out, I offer a small smile to Lewis.
Then, Special Agent Davis takes me all the way to the hall I arrived in, and it takes everything I have not to check my phone.
I don’t even do it once I’m back in my car.
Instead, I drive back to my parents’ place, like I said I would. There, I’ll know.
If I succeeded and saved Lex, then every news channel will be talking about Nammota’s unexpected return. They’ll talk and speculate on a loop, questioning Lex’s detention, and demanding answers.
If I failed, though …
I’d rather not think about it.