Page 59 of Black Bay Enforcer
“I’ll clear it with the general. Besides, this is your home now. Your mom will want to see where you live.”
Relief filled her. Her mother was an important part of her life and she didn’t want to keep secrets from her anymore.
Kong had set her up in the observation room on the other side of a two-way mirror that would allow her to see and hear her father without him seeing her. Currently, the interrogation room was empty, but she’d been told August Cleary would be brought in momentarily.
General Davies hadn’t been pleased with her insistence she be there. Both he and Kong had attempted to talk her out of it, warning her that it could get rough. From what they’d told her, questioning done at Black Bay didn’t fall under normal law. There were no Miranda rights, no rights at all really. There would be no expensive, high-powered lawyer interceding on her father’s behalf. He was on his own, and they planned to force the answers from him. Still, she’d insisted on staying.
Grudgingly, the general had acceded to her wishes, and Kong, before he’d left, had reminded her that if it got to be too much, she could leave the room at any time. Perrin was stationed right outside and would take her back to the residential area.
And maybe it would be too much. But the stakes were too high for her to be squeamish. If her father was trying to start a war, he needed to be stopped, and if she could help, even a tiny bit, she needed to try.
Burying her apprehension, her fingers traced over the necklace Kong had given her. The feeling of the metal that had warmed against her skin gave her strength. Suspended from a delicate chain was a gold infinity symbol and within the loops, their names had been engraved, entwined forever.
She’d already been emotional from the phone call with her mother, and opening that beautiful, thoughtful gift had pushed her over the edge. She’d burst into tears.
Poor Kong. He’d been so upset that he’d made her cry, thinking she hated it. “I can get you something else,” he’d frantically told her.
“I love it!” she wailed, bawling even harder.
He’d ended up holding her until her tears finally subsided. He’d still been holding her when he’d received the call that the van transporting her father had arrived outside the tunnel to Black Bay. Her fragile emotional state was probably why he looked so worried when he settled her into the observation room but she was sure she could do this.
The door to the interrogation room opened and Katherine sat up taller, steeling herself for what was to come. Her father was escorted in, his hands secured behind his back, and a guard on each side of him propelled him forward. His hair was a mess and his light blue polo shirt and khaki pants were rumpled but he seemed calm, almost happy as he was secured to a chair in the middle of the room. It weirded Katherine out. How the hell could he be happy when he was accused of trying to incite a war and currently detained for questioning? She narrowed her eyes. He must think he had some sort of ace up his sleeve.
The escort left, closing the door behind them and a few minutes later, General Davies, Kong, and Lark entered the room. Their expressions were aggressive, they were ready to get some answers and Katherine leaned forward a bit in her seat, ready to assist them in any way she could.
“August Cleary,” General Davies, began, kicking off the questioning. “It looks like you’ve been a busy boy.”
Kong leaned back against the wall of the interrogation room, his arms crossed over his chest as he tried to keep his head in the game. It wasn’t easy, not when he knew Katherine was on the other side of that glass about to see and hear things that might traumatize her even more. While he loved how strong she was, his protective instincts were raging at him to go in there, pick her up, and carry her out so he could keep her safe. She wouldn’t appreciate the gesture. She didn’t want to be sheltered. She wanted to be part of the team – accepted. From the moment she’d arrived at Black Bay, that’s what she’d wanted. And Kong wanted to give her that, but in this instance, it was damn hard.
“Seems you’ve been trying to start a war.”
August Cleary’s smile was condescending. “You have no proof of that.”
“Actually,” the general contradicted. “We do.” He paused for a beat. “Oh, did we forget to tell you we recently took Terrence Godwin into custody?”
Cleary’s smile fell.
Lark began playing the recording they had of Godwin’s interrogation and the weapons manufacturer’s face drained of color.
“He’s lying! I have no idea who that man even is.”
Kong shook his head at the sad attempt to cling to his innocence.
“Allow me to introduce you to Lark,” General Davies continued almost casually. “She has some unique gifts. One of which is she can mesmerize her prey, ask them questions, and they can’t lie.” The general smiled in victory. “Let’s put it to the test.”
Cleary shrank back in his chair, the stink of his fear reaching Kong’s nose. “No! I want my lawyer! I want –”
He couldn’t finish that sentence, Lark had stepped forward to snag his eyes with her hypnotic gaze.
Within minutes, they had the story. Yes, Cleary had been trying to start a war – but not just any war, he wanted to orchestrate a world war. His great-grandfather had put Cleary Industries on the map during World War I, his grandfather taking it even higher during World War II. Each successive war had only skyrocketed the company to greater and greater success. But under August’s leadership, profits had dwindled. They’d branched out too far, too fast, and made some poor investments. He needed a new war to restore not only his business but his name. He refused to be the Cleary that toppled the empire his family had built.
Kong shook his head, disgusted. August Cleary had been willing to sacrifice millions of lives for greed and pride.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
When Katherine’s mom reachedthe first checkpoint of the tunnel entrance, she’d apparently given Matt Davies quite the talking to when he didn’t immediately allow her entry, stating, “Young man, my daughter needs me. I’ve just spent almost four hours in a car to be with her, and I swear by all that is holy that if you don’t open that gate this minute, I will see you fired.”
“She’s scary, man,” Matt had told them when they were notified of her arrival.
