Page 4 of All He Sees
Felix shook his head. "I'm not an artist."
Nicky was silent. She didn't want to give up, but she didn't know what else to say.
"There's a gym here," she said. "You like sports, don't you? I could talk to the warden, get you access to it."
"I'm not interested in your toys," Felix said.
Nicky took in a deep breath. She was getting nowhere. She considered what else she could offer him. He wouldn’t take threats—he also wouldn’t take bribes. So, what the hell did he want?
Felix started to laugh.
"You're wasting your time, Agent Lyons," he said. "But you know what? You've given me some entertainment for today, and I've enjoyed our time together. I'll tell you what: I'll give you one little hint."
Nicky's heart stalled. Was he being serious? She didn’t want to get her hopes too high—to trust this deranged lunatic—but she had no choice. "Tell me what you know," she said.
Felix's grin widened. "It all comes back to your father."
Nicky paused. Her father? What did he have to do with this? Nicky didn't even talk to him. And after Rosie disappeared, her father always blamed her. He was a deadbeat drunk who could barely hold a job. He still lived in Nelly, West Virginia, where Nicky was from.
"Why is it all about my father?" she asked.
"Oh, no," Felix said, shaking his head. "That's more than I'm willing to give you. I'll say one thing: you'll find what you're looking for when you find him."
Nicky frowned. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
"I'm not going to tell you," Felix said. "What kind of game would that be?"
He was twisted. But still, at least he was talking. It was more than Nicky had gotten out of him before. It wasn't much, but anything was better than this strained silence. But the concept of Nicky's father knowing anything was laughable at best. Her dad was too drunk to walk straight back then, let alone know anything about the kidnapper. It made no sense.
"You're lying," Nicky said. "My father has nothing to do with this."
"Doesn't he?" Felix taunted. The smile left Felix's face, and he looked at Nicky for a long pause. Then his eyebrows crinkled, and he seemed to think something over.
Nicky gritted her teeth--just as a guard knocked on the door and poked his head in. "Agent Lyons? There's a call for you."
Nicky frowned. Her cell phone was turned off in her pocket--she hadn't wanted anything to interrupt her time with Felix, but her boss, Chief Eric Franco, knew she was coming here today. It had to be him.
Shooting Felix one last glare, Nicky stood up. "I'll be seeing you, Felix," she said. "Enjoy your stay here."
And she turned, following the guard out of the room.
Nicky walked through the halls of the prison, following the guard to his office where he handed her the phone.
"Hello?" she said, her eyes darting around. She was nervous to be in this place, and she wanted to get out as fast as possible.
"Nicky, it's Chief Franco," said a voice on the other end of the call. "I need you to get back to HQ now."
Nicky frowned. "What's going on, Chief?"
“It's about one of the names on your list. We thought she was an isolated kidnapping, but we may have been horribly wrong.”
Shit. This could be huge. “I’ll be right there, sir,” Nicky said, then hung up. With that, she began speeding out of the prison. She couldn’t waste any more time on Felix, not now.
She was needed elsewhere.
And by the sound of the chief’s call, she had some girls to save.
CHAPTER TWO
