Page 76 of Alien Mercenary's Wife
She bit back her amusement. Basic interrogation bullshit. Turn on each other or else. Who did they think they were dealing with?
"We're not conspirators. We're veterans seeking justice."
"Justice." He frowned as he repeated the word "An interesting choice, given your association with alien terrorists who attacked federal facilities."
She arched an eyebrow. "What alien terrorists?"
"The Warborne mercenary group. Known criminals and murderers who've been linked to multiple attacks on government installations." He consulted his tablet again. "Surveillance footage clearly shows you boarding their vessel after the metro bombing incident."
Great. Of course they had footage.
"They saved my life." She folded her arms.
"You mean that they extracted a valuable asset after a failed terrorist operation," Morrison corrected. "The bombing was designed to eliminate witnesses to your conspiracy, wasn't it? Clean up loose ends before they could compromise your network?"
Holy shit. They were flipping everything around.
She laughed. "That's insane."
"Is it? Or is it the logical conclusion when we follow the evidence?" Morrison stood again, pacing the small cell with a confident energy. "A disgraced military officer with psychological problems. A fabricated lawsuit designed toundermine public confidence in federal institutions. Alliance with known criminals and terrorists. The pattern is quite clear."
Reese's vision blurred as another muscle spasm ripped through her back. The damaged nerves were firing random signals, her nervous system slowly crumbling. Soon she'd be back to stumbling, falling, and needing help for the most basic of things.
"I need medical attention," she said, though asking felt like defeat.
"I'm sure the facility physician can provide appropriate psychiatric care." His smile was smug. "Medication for anxiety, counseling for trauma-related stress. Whatever psychological support you require."
Mental health care, not actual medical treatment.
"The other veterans in our lawsuit," she said. "Are you planning to arrest them, too?"
"What other veterans?" Morrison's expression was perfectly innocent. "According to our investigation, the lawsuit was primarily your operation. A few mentally unstable individuals were convinced to participate in fraudulent litigation, but nothing approaching an organized conspiracy."
"You won't get away with this," she said, but the words felt hollow as soon as they left her lips.
"Get away with what? Investigating terrorist activity? Protecting federal interests from anti-government extremists?" He gathered his tablet and moved toward the door. "Captain, you've been watching too many conspiracy theories. This is simply law enforcement doing its job."
The guards prepared to follow him out, but Morrison paused at the threshold.
"One more thing. Your alien friends? They won't be coming to help this time. Any attempt to interfere with federal custodywill be considered an act of war against Earth. I doubt even the notorious Warborne are prepared for that level of escalation."
The door sealed, leaving her alone with fluorescent buzzing and the pain radiating through her body. She slumped against the wall, no longer able to maintain the pretense of strength.
T'Raal's face filled her mind—the careful way he'd held her during nightmares, the look in his eyes when he'd carried her to safety, and how carefully he'd touched her. The memory made her chest tight with emotions she'd been too afraid to voice.
She loved him.
It hit her suddenly, cutting through everything else, and a tear tracked down her cheek.
She loved his stubborn determination to protect everyone around him. Loved the way he'd built a family from outcasts and warriors. Loved how he'd accepted her broken body and fierce independence without trying to fix either.
And she'd never told him.
The regret was worse than the muscle spasms, worse than knowing her body was failing again. She'd had the chance to say the words that mattered most, and she'd wasted it on pride and fear and the stupid assumption that there would always be more time.
Her left leg gave out completely, sending her sliding down the wall to the concrete floor. The landing jarred her spine, sending fresh waves of pain through her system. But the physical pain was nothing compared to the possibility that she might never see T'Raal again.
Never get to tell him she loved him.
