Page 115 of A Fearless Heart
“Ohhhhh, you mean the verocine.”
“Yes. Do you have more?”
“Well, there’s a slight problem with the verocine.”
“What’s that?”
“It’s not real.”
Gabe blinked rapidly. “What?”
“I made it up. Like aphrodisiacs, truth serums don’t really exist. But since most people believe they do, I thought that if I told you a chemical was loosening your inhibitions to speak, you’d be more open to saying the truth.”
“Wait. You’re telling me that that night, I wasn’t under the influence of anything at all?”
“No. Whatever you told me, you told me because you wanted to. I just made a few suggestions to, er, encourage you.”
His expression was one of disbelief. “Cady, that’s the most devious thing I’ve ever heard of.”
“I doubt that.”
He sighed. “Fine. Well, you can still pull the same trick on him. He’ll probably want to tell you the truth about everything anyway. I know that type. He wants you to know everything he did.”
“I need you there,” she said. “You know much more than I do about all the crimes he committed. And this might be your only chance to find out the details.”
“Start your interrogation,” Gabe advised. “I’ll join you in a little bit.”
She didn’t like how weak and distant he sounded, but he was right that she should take advantage of the time she had.
Accompanied closely by the pair of wolfhounds, Cady followed Bond to the room where Mr Addison was being held. Jem was keeping watch on him. He leaned against one wall and never took his eyes off the prisoner.
“I’ve brought you something to drink,” Cady told Mr Addison, holding up a glass of wine.
“Don’t need it,” he said in a thin, helpless voice.
“You’re parched, and I have questions. Indulge me, Mr Addison. As a favor.”
He looked up at her. Cady kept her expression as open and earnest as possible.
After a moment, he drank the wine down. “Thank you.”
“No, thank you. I’ve been wanting to know how my verocine works on a subject other than myself. Can you imagine how frustrating it is test a truth serum when you know all the answers?” Cady quickly spun a new version of her imaginary chemical, and discovered that Addison seemed even more susceptible to the idea than Gabe had been.
“Why did you kidnap Gabe?” Cady asked, thinking she’d begin at the end, where memories were freshest.
“So it’s Gabe, is it?” Addison asked, sounding put out.
“Yes, not that it’s any of your business.”
“Oh, Cady. Your family is very much my business. Your mother asked me to look after you, should anything happen to her and your father.”
“Look after me? How exactly?”
“However I saw fit. Remember when I proposed to you?”
“I assumed it was a formality.”
“Certainly not. And if you’d accepted, then none of this would have been necessary.”
