But I couldn’t let Michael answer.
“Exactly—that’s who I’m trying to find,” I said, hoping Hunter and McKinley would buy it. Hoping they’d think Michael Sullivan wasn’t well in the head—his body was full of Crackdown, so of course he wouldn’t even know what he was talking about. Of course, he was going to try to make things up. “Myfriends.Just tell me their names, and we’ll be out of your hair in no time.”
Please, work. Please, work. Please, work.I prayed as I held Michael’s eyes, too afraid to look at my colleagues. What if they didn’t buy it? What if they started asking more questions?
What if Michael actually started describing Dominic? What if he knewhis name?!
He looked at me without ever blinking, chewing on his bottom lip as if he was forcing himself to keep his mouth shut.
Nobody said a single word for a long minute, and when it all got to me, I couldn’t take it anymore. Gathering the pictures in the folder again, I stood up.
“We’ll be right back.” I nodded at Hunter and McKinley to tell them to follow me outside, and they did. Now, the cold air of the interrogation room was no longer doing anything to keep me calm.
Damn you, Dominic Dane.
“He’s not going to tell us anything,” Hunter said out in the hallway.
“He lies when he says he doesn’t know,” McKinley said.
I nodded. “Yeah, I think I’ll know when he’s not lying. You don’t need to stay here anymore, Agent McKinley. We’ve got this.” I smiled, and he returned it, almost relieved that I’d let him go.
“If you need me, I’m at my desk,” he said and didn’t hesitate before he turned around and walked down the hallway lined with offices.
“He really thinks they’ll kill him if he talks,” Hunter said. “And he’s definitely on that thing. Did you see his eyes?”
“Yeah,” I said, a bit breathless. God, I hated to lie, and I especially hated to lie to my family and friends. “I need a favor—can you arrange for someone from the Research crew to come up here and take a sample of his blood? Maybe they’ll find enough traces of it, since he’s still alive.”
Hunter raised his brows. “You want to go back in there alone?”
“Yeah. I think I have a better chance at getting him to relax on my own. You know—I’m tiny. And pink, as you always like to remind me.” My laugh was so fake it hurt my own ears. And Hunter didn’t buy it.
“What was he talking about when he saidone of you? Who else was there last night?”
I fisted my hands tightly until they stopped shaking. “Nobody. It was just him and those three guys. Maybe he imagined it—I’m pretty sure he was on Crackdown last night, too.” My voice didn’t waver. I’d spent such a long time lying to my family that I’d actually gotten good at it, no matter how much I hated it.
“Yeah, makes sense,” Hunter mumbled, then pulled out his phone. I wasn’t sure if he believed me, but I took it anyway. What other choice did I have—tell him the truth? “I’m gonna arrange the crew from here, just in case. Just call if you need me.” And he leaned against the wall right next to the door, typing in the request on his phone.
“Thanks, Hunter. I owe you,” I said and opened the door to the interrogation room again, feeling a thousand pounds heavier.
It tookMichael Sullivan two hours to give me a location. Two whole hours of me pretending to be his friend, of putting up with his lies, and his stupid jokes, bringing him food and drinks—even a cigarette to smoke. I was starving by the time he blurted the address, almost as if by accident.
“What was that?” I said, straightening in my chair. I’d taken off my jacket and had let myself put my feet over the metal table, just to give him the impression that I was completely at ease here, and he could be, too.
Michael blinked. He looked more awake now—perfectly alert. More so than he had been in the beginning.
Then, he looked down at the ashtray in front of him. “You heard me.”
I did hear him.Pier seventy-four on the Hudson.A location.
“Are your friends there?” I asked next.
“I don’t know who’s there,” he said in a whisper. “Why didn’t you tell them about your friend?”
A lump the size of a tennis ball formed in my throat. We were alone—but there were two cameras at the corners of the room, and they had audio, too. The Chief could play this whole thing back and listen to it as many times as he wished.
“There was no friend,” I forced myself to say. “It was just me.”
Michael smiled. He put the cigarette out in the ashtray and leaned closer on the table before he whispered, “Just tell him to be careful. Once you crack, there’s no going back.” He winked.