“You mean after I released the dozen men you had already stuffed in that cell in the mine shaft?” I paused for a minute, starting to feel anger replace my fear. “And a teenage girl. No one ever told me what you guys planned to do with her. I can only imagine.”

That seemed to hit a nerve. The man said, “We didn’t want her there any more than she wanted to be there. We were trying to figure out how to keep the national-security aspect of the detention center intact. No one was looking to do anything weird with your cousin.”

“You mean weird like locking her up in a mine shaft?”

Now he stepped forward. It felt like the conversation was over. I had to wonder what else was over. The muscular man held the gun with confidence, even if my arrival surprised him. He showed no nerves. His voice was calm and even.

Dammit, I hated professionals.

I took another step away from my brother. Now my mind was starting to work clearly. I needed the man to focus on my brother for just a moment. I just needed a momentary distraction. Anything to occupy the man’s attention.

Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Now the man was completely in the living room with my brother to his right as he focused on me to his left.

Like anyone familiar with weapons, the gun moved wherever his eyes did. I didn’t like that. He wouldn’t be tricked easily.

I engaged him. I wanted a conversation. The longer something like this went, the less vigilant the gunman usually is. It was human nature. I had nothing to make small talk with. Finally, I said, “What was your name again?”

He let out a laugh. “Jackson, Rick Jackson. I don’t think you’ll forget it again.”

“How’d you get out of jail?”

“What jail?”

“You were arrested for the shit you’ve pulled at the mine shaft. I mean, you kidnapped my teenage cousin. That’s a crime by itself.”

“I didn’t kidnap anyone. I was just doing my job. I was hired by the government. The US government. My job was to maintain a detention facility. I didn’t question who came into it. Your cousin wasn’t harmed. She had food and water. I didn’t even throw her in a cell with anyone else. I was never arrested. I just got a ride from the feds.”

That pissed me off. I felt myself make the full shift from being scared to being angry. I said, “You never spent a day in jail.”

He smiled. “Not in my entire life.”

“So nothing happened to you guys at all?”