Page 24 of Dragon's Desire

"Now that you mention it, I hope they poison you."

They turned to Mr. Bryce, who looked like he might actually vomit.

"You feeling okay, Mr. Bryce?" Peter asked. "You're looking a little green around the gills. That wouldn't be guilt or fear of getting caught, would it?"

"No. This is just poor timing. My quarterly review is coming up."

"You care more about your own ass than the innocent people hurt because you gave a rogue witch some very nice tech?" Kiercy asked as Peter leaned across the desk, the goggles dangling from his finger.

"No. I didn't mean that. Yes, it's unfortunate."

"For you or the people who can't speak anymore?" Kiercy's voice was cold.

She wasn't playing good witch, but Peter could work with it.

"Can't speak? Did people die?" Mr. Bryce looked shocked and perhaps about to pass out.

"Oh, I think we might just be misunderstanding Mr. Bryce here," Peter said, laying the southern charm on thick. "Obviously, he's not stupid enough to do something like this when it'd blowback on him at such an inconvenient time."

"Exactly." Mr. Bryce was all too happy to take the lifeline Peter had thrown him.

"So there is a time you'd do it?" Kiercy asked.

"What? No. Never. I'd never do this. And not just because of my job security. I joined Xander Technologies to help people. Those goggles were meant to be a tool for law enforcement and soldiers. To keep people safe."

"Then how did they get into the hands of someone else?" Kiercy pressed him further.

"I really don't know. I wish I did. I would have reported it to security immediately," he said.

Peter saw an angle. "Could it have been security? Who is directly responsible for something like this?" Peter asked.

Again, Mr. Bryce eagerly took the rope Peter gave him.

"Yeah, it could have been security. Or one of the research and development technicians. Hell, even custodial staff. While we keep the dangerous things, like weapons under heavy security, something like a set of night vision goggles wouldn't rank that high to spend money to have them under such tight security."

"So you got lazy?"

Peter might have been handing Mr. Bryce the rope, but Kiercy was tying the noose around his neck.

"What? No. I followed our security procedures to the letter. I make sure my division is following all policies and procedures."

"So the bare minimum required?"

Peter was starting to worry that if Kiercy pressed this guy any harder, he might start crying.

"Also, you're pretty quick to throw your subordinates under the bus." Kiercy kept going. "When we start interrogating them one by one, should we make sure they know it was you who pointed the finger at them?"

The way this guy looked about ready to fly apart, Peter was pretty sure he wasn't a criminal mastermind. Some people can get in over their heads, but this guy seemed legitimately surprised by the whole thing. Peter's gut was telling him that if this guy knew anything, he'd have spilled by now.

Peter was ready to call Kiercy off when there was a knock at the door. He figured it was probably the secretary with the coffee.

"Come in," squeaked Mr. Bryce, probably very relieved for the distraction.

17

KIERCY

Kiercy had to admit that Peter was right about his way with people. He played Arnold Bryce like a fiddle. Granted, she didn't have to dig that deep to pull off the "bad cop/witch" part of the equation. She was pissed. If someone was giving technology out to a psycho like Legermain, then it was her job to find out who.

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